Among the members of Ector County ISD’s largest teacher organization, TSTA, there is a positive consensus about the upcoming $436,109,000 bond issue.
The bond will not affect the ECISD tax rate of $1.014 per $100 valuation. Last year’s total tax rate was $1.17 per $100 valuation.
People 65 and older will see zero tax impact. The only things that would change that is if you have added to or renovated your home or there is a change in state law, which hasn’t happened.
The bond is divided into three propositions and people can vote for all of them, one of them or two of them.
“I think it’s like with any other sub population within Odessa, there’s going to be those that are opposed to any kind of bond that the district tries to pass. But overall, I think the consensus is that this is something that the district and our kids and our staff desperately need across the board. The TSTA executive board recently voted to put our full support behind all three propositions of the bond. As an organization, we are prepared to come out and say that we support all three propositions of the bond and that they’re all positive things that this community needs and has needed for a while,” local TSTA President Krista Vivian said.
But when you see the shape some of the buildings are in and the environments students are expected to spend six or seven hours a day in, it’s quite upsetting, she said adding the organization’s local leadership has partnered with the state organization to push out notifications through a system called Hustle urging members to vote.
“We have some members that have been volunteering with the PAC (political action) committee for the bond. I expect that to continue. We have some membership that’s vocal; very outspoken about the fact that this is something that we need that we’ve needed for a long time,” Vivian said.
Then there are some who say it doesn’t “matter if you give me a refund on my taxes, if this passes, we’re not voting for this bond.”
“Those exist within our profession, too, unfortunately,” Vivian said.
She added that there is also a misconception that the district can use the money it gets from the state for buildings. But it can’t.
“There are certain things that can only be done by bond. No matter how much money they save throughout the year on salaries of the superintendent … It doesn’t matter. It has to be done by bond. I think there are a lot of people in our community that just don’t get that. I hear a lot. Well, if the district would just be smarter with their dollars, then we wouldn’t have to have a bond to build a new school. … It doesn’t matter how smart the district is with their dollars. We still have to have a bond to build a new school. … We’re going to try to work hard toward addressing that and trying to set the record straight on some of those things so that some of those misconceptions that maybe would be a deterrent to them going out and voting won’t be there anymore,” Vivian said.
The local TSTA chapter has about 850 to 900 members that they are urging to turn out to vote whether it’s for the bond or not.
“No matter how you vote, vote. That’s your civic responsibility. It’s your civic right. It’s a right that a lot of people in other countries don’t have. They don’t have a say in what happens. You do, and yet you choose not to. They always tell us … if all the teachers would just get out and vote,” Vivian said.
They have had regular information sessions. The bond political action committee, Odessans for a Bright Future, came and answered a lot of questions. Vivian said they are having another meeting this coming week and plan to have the PAC again.
“I think the PAC is doing a great job and I think the district, this time, is really doing a great job with their videos that they posted on social media of the walkthroughs of some of our campuses showing firsthand the conditions that these kids are going to school (in). I think overwhelmingly most people in our community support Proposition A, just because it does address all of those things. But when it comes to the Ratliff property and then Prop C, they’re more like, oh, no, we’re not spending a lot of money on athletics. Well, it’s not necessarily about athletics. If you go out and go into a restroom at Ratliff Stadium you can see the cracks in the ceiling, which is the steps like the seats above it from where we’ve had all the earthquakes and such. If we don’t take care of those now, 10 years down the road, that price tag just like all of the other maintenance stuff that we’re now paying astronomical price tags for in Proposition A. It just grows every year if we don’t take care of it now,” Vivian said.
She added that they have had it checked and it is structurally sound.
“The cracks are just starting surface level. It’s still a structurally sound facility, but over time, it’s going to get to where it’s not and these surface level cracks that we could spend this amount of money to stop now is going to become not surface level and it’s going to cost, even if you don’t consider inflation, it’s still going to cost astronomically more,” Vivian said.
Besides the shape the facilities are in, she added that they have outgrown the current facilities.
“We have hundreds of kids on a waiting list to get into some of our programs through CTE (career and technical education). If we don’t find a way to expand and have more space and provide more sections of those courses. That’s another reason why kids come to school kids come to school, to learn welding. Kids come to school, to be involved in those kinds of opportunities, to graduate with a career path in front of them and not have to take that college route,” Vivian said.
“We’re a big oilfield industry. Everybody here doesn’t go to college when they graduate from high school. We have a huge workforce out there that’s needing workers and if we can get them trained while they’re in high school and have them graduate from high school with a career that will support them and a family if they choose to have one, then our community is better off. Our community benefits from this bond, not just our students, not just our district, but the whole community is going to benefit from this,” she added.
The Permian Strategic Partnership has said it will contribute to the CTE center, as well.
The bond will not impact the ECISD tax rate. The board approved a total tax rate of $1.014 per $100 valuation. It was a total of $1.17 per $100 valuation last year.
Although the tax rate is lower, a 2019 state law says the ballot language has to say it’s a tax increase.
“It’s pretty remarkable, in my opinion, that the district has managed to pay off the debt so far ahead of schedule that we can reduce the tax rate, but that’s another hurdle to the bond because the law says they have to put that there will be a tax rate increase on the ballot. It’s one of those things that we’re out here telling people there’s going to be no tax increase, we actually decreased the tax rate; no tax rate increase. … They’re going to get to the polls, and it’s going to say tax rate increase. How many of those people, if we can’t get the word out and convince them that we’re not lying now, that it’s just a requirement of the state to put that there, how many are then going to go oh, there goes the district is trying to get one over on right down the line,” Vivian said.
