Among the items on the Ector County Independent School District Board of Trustees agenda today is further discussion of rezoning attendance lines for elementary and middle schools.
The meeting is scheduled at 6 p.m. today in the first-floor board room of the administration building, 802 N. Sam Houston Ave.
Supplemental agenda information shows the rezoning would be conducted due to overcrowding at some campuses and projected growth. At the elementary level, the far north schools, such as Jordan and Buice, are not only over crowded but are in high, rapid growth areas, the material stated.
During a March 6 work study session, trustees discussed the idea of reconfiguring some elementary schools to grades prekindergarten through second and grades three through five and pairing those schools inside one boundary zone.
Two different studies conducted over the last year identified early childhood literacy as one of the biggest challenges facing ECSID. The campuses that would be paired together would be geographically close to each other, one with grade levels prekindergarten through second and the other with grades three through five.
The attendance zones for the paired elementary zones would be combined and possibly expanded, the board recap from March 6 said. “Possible pairings are Goliad/Ross, Pease/Noel, Zavala/Travis, and Blackshear/Dowling,” the recap said.
Boundary zones for elementary schools also will be discussed tonight.
In 2015, when the work from the 2012 bond was completed, boundary zones for all middle schools and elementary schools were updated.
It was the first time comprehensive boundary changes had been made in nearly 25 years. At the time the school board and administration said the boundary lines would need to be evaluated every two to three years and adjusted, if necessary, the recap said.
“The imbalances in school enrollment are beginning to show again and some adjustments are necessary to keep the students numbers relatively even among the campuses. In the case of elementary schools, the idea of pairing some schools will have an impact, too. Of the greatest concern right now is the area in north Odessa where Jordan and Buice Elementary project to more than 900 students in the next couple of years,” the recap said.
The agenda also includes:
- Discussion of improvement required campus updates. ECISD has eight schools on improvement required under state accountability standards.
- Discussion and approval of board constraints.
- Discussion and approval of ECISD Board of Trustees Procedures Manual.
- Recognition of Odessa High School as an AVID National Demonstration School. Its designation was revalidated in February. AVID stands for Advancement via Individual determination and is a college preparation program.
- Some of the items on the consent agenda are to approve the 2018-19 Gale Pond Alamo Year-Round school calendar; and a request for approval to add diesel tech and teaching pathways to the career and technical education dual credit matrix.
