The Ector County ISD Board of Trustees Tuesday unanimously approved calling a bond with two propositions. If both pass, it will be just over $398 million.
The election will be May 7.
Proposition A is $215 million for maintenance and lifecycle, repairs and replacement, a new career and technical education center and classroom technology upgrades.
Proposition B will be $183 million for a new high school.
Board Vice President Steve Brown made the motion to approve calling the bond and Chris Stanley seconded.
The board also decided to form a bond oversight committee to ensure all the funds are spent the way they are meant to be.
Asked by Board President Tammy Hawkins whether the district considered partnering with anyone else on a career and technology facility, Superintendent Scott Muri said they have been having ongoing conversations with Odessa College on that.
Hawkins asked why the district was focused on a new high school.
Muri said there are about 4,000 students each at Odessa and Permian high schools. He added that there are 38 teachers between the high schools that don’t have classrooms.
A new high school would have 2,500 to 2,800 students and be a 6A school. Muri said a new high school would reduce student population by about 1,000 students each at OHS and PHS.
Muri said there is no clear middle school feeder pattern for the high schools currently, so he’s not sure what the feeder pattern would look like with a new high school.
Muri said all 43 schools in the district all would be impacted by a bond.
It will take about three years before a high school will be completed as this includes a year of planning and two years of construction.
On a separate item, trustees voted 6-0 to approve the 2022-23 academic calendars, which are now posted on the ECISD website.
The district calendar committee helped design the academic calendar for 2022- 2023. It provides students with 180 instructional days, which will qualify the district for funding for our Additional Days School Year (ADSY) Summer Learning for prekindergarten through fifth grade students, the board recap said.
Special features in the calendar included a phase-in for seventh and eighth grade and 10th through 12th grade students. This allows sixth and ninth grade students to transition to middle and high school with support and guidance, the recap said.
Two days will be used to transition sixth and ninth grade students in 2022-2023.
As required by the Texas Education Agency, ECISD may instruct students for a minimum of 240 minutes and receive full average daily attendance funding for the day, and may release students early so teachers can engage in professional learning; Odessa Collegiate Academy/OCTECHS academic calendar will run the same days, with the exception of the bad weather days and early release days, the recap said.
They will have theirs on Fridays to align with the Odessa College calendar.
The board also voted 6-0 to approve Dr. Don Hembree and David Simpson as the board’s representatives on a naming committee to consider naming the football field at Bonham Middle School.
They approved Marcia Cleaver and Gilbert Vasquez as the board’s representatives on a naming committee to consider naming the auditorium at Blackshear Elementary School.
>> Special presentations included the donation of seven checks for $1,000 each, from the Young Professionals of Odessa to seven ECISD elementary schools; the announcement of this year’s TMEA All-State Musicians; recognition of the 4 employees who just completed the Emerging Leader Academy; and the introduction of the five employees who have been selected for the Aspiring Principals Academy.
