Odessans for a Bright Future, a political action committee to advocate for Ector County ISD’s bond has formed, and they’re planning a kickoff for 11 a.m. Sept. 6 at UP&S, 212 E. Second St.
Sarah Moore is the chair of the PAC. She owns and operates UP&S along with Clay Moore and Riley Hunter.
ECISD is going for a $436,109,000 three-proposition bond in the Nov. 7 election that won’t require a tax increase.
It encompasses a wide variety of items — a new middle school, career and technical education facility, new transportation building, new transition learning center, technology and maintenance, among other things.
The second proposition is to reseal the concrete at Ratliff Stadium, which is cracking, and also lighting for the parking lot.
Proposition C is to build an indoor training facility at Odessa High School and replacing artificial turf at Permian High School’s practice facility.
“What we’re hoping to accomplish with the bond reaches to every campus and to every part of Ector County — north, south, east and west,” Moore said. “It’s really for every citizen.”
She added that the improvements and additions in the bond benefits the students, but also staff and the community.
“We are training and raising our leaders and workforce for tomorrow, so we’re trying to look ahead to the future. This bond will be the first step in planning what we need for the next coming years. It’s a one and done thing. This is the beginning and we have a threshold of money that we can call for that will result in no tax rate increase for us,” Moore said.
“The bond committee that made the proposal … wants to take advantage of that first and foremost. Let’s make our big first step come with no tax rate increase,” she added.
If the district addressed every single need, it would cost more than $1 billion.
Midland ISD is currently trying to pass a $1.4 billion bond. “If we can make this first step with the threshold of money that we have that will not affect our tax rate … I think that’s the smart thing to do fiscally. Like I said, we also have $1 billion worth of need, so I think approaching with a more measured plan is better,” Moore said.
In five years, hopefully, after the work from this bond is finished, another bond can come forward.
“We really need to get used to the idea that we’re going to have to rely on a series of bond elections in order to keep the school system up and competitive with other school systems,” Moore said.
“For our students, technology is changing so quickly. You have to move fast these days to keep up. … We’re almost a quarter of a century into the new millennium, so the millennium’s not new anymore. We need to do what we can to get things at the proper level. We need a good environment. We need good technology. We need safe and secure schools. Some of the bond money that we’ve asked for will go toward security systems and telephone systems and things that are really, really old,” Moore added.
You can’t even get parts for some of the items anymore.
“It’s time to refurbish and replenish,” she said.
ECISD’s buildings are an average of 61 years old.
“Technology has changed. We don’t need two plugs in the wall. We need 20 plugs in the wall. It just takes a lot these days,” Moore said.
Things are different than when she went to school from the curriculums and technology to the teaching methods.
“Everything about it is different and yet our buildings and our facilities are still the buildings and facilities that we attended when we were going to school. It is kind of hard to get your mind wrapped around it sometimes, but when you really take the time to look at what the bond includes and how far reaching it is for all parts of the county,” Moore said.
The population has grown and the City of Odessa and particularly Ector County look a lot different than they did back in the 80s and 90s.
“We have to catch up and we have to prepare for the future, too,” Moore said.
She said the political action committee is going to run a 60-day campaign.
“People are going to work hard and fast. We’ve got a lot of volunteers and a lot of material. We’ll be able to direct people to not only the school district website, but also our PAC committee website and there’ll be a lot of detailed information where you can learn more about exactly what the bond is going to encompass,” Moore noted.
The website is odessansvoteyes.com
“We have a lot of positive people. We all have to clear our minds a little bit and maybe learn from our past experiences some, which I believe we have,” she said.
This time, the bond is spread equally across the county. “Every school campus will have some work and some repairs and maintenance … Every area of town will have things done,” Moore said. “It’s really important, I think, that we pass it this time; sort of step out and take that new direction because the future’s here so we have to get busy and be ready.”
While Moore is the chair of the PAC, she has co-chairs Lisa Wyman and Kevin Searcy. She estimated that there are 15 PAC members, but there are also a lot of others involved from bond committees, to teachers and business owners.
“They are taking really, really heavy roles. Kevin does all the IT. Lisa is helping with data. She’s an experienced campaigner. This is my first rodeo, so I have adopted let’s divide and conquer (approach). Different people are taking charge of different aspects — volunteers and scheduling presentations. We’re all equally in it up to our necks,” Moore said.
Anyone who wants to volunteer their time can register online on the website and leave your contact information as a lot of volunteers will be needed.
