Kicking off its first quarterly meeting Tuesday, the Ector County ISD Bond Oversight Committee reviewed the construction calendar, timeline and finances for spending the $424,263,000 bond that was passed Nov. 7, 2023.
Just one proposition of three passed in what was a $436,109,000 bond.
Proposition A for $424,263,000 includes a new career & technical education center; new middle school in West Odessa; districtwide maintenance and repairs; a new transportation facility; bus purchases; technology purchases and replacements; fine arts renovations, instrument purchases and uniforms; JROTC facility needs; replacement of the Transition Learning Center; compete replacement of classroom buildings and bars at the Agriculture Farm; LED lighting at the Odessa High School baseball and tennis stadiums; LED lighting at the Permian High School baseball stadium; resurfacing of tennis stadiums at all middle schools; replacement of indoor bleachers in main gyms of all middle schools; and purchasing land for the new middle school.
The committee was appointed for five years, the life of the bond. It includes Feliz Abalos, Thomas Blackstone, Charles Cotten, Andrea Goodson, Darlene Mays, Sara Moore, Kevin Searcy, David Sovil, Willie Taylor and Mari Willis. Mays could not attend Tuesday night.
The committee’s charge includes:
- Ensuring the bond projects remain faithful to the priorities identified in the 2023 bond plan approved by voters Nov. 7, 2023.
- Reviewing and evaluating on a quarterly basis information from staff on all projects and expenditures of the bond funds on the timelines established in the 2023 bond plan to ensure accountability and transparency.
- Reviewing and evaluating on a quarterly basis a 2023 bond plan budget status report.
- Providing an annual report to the board of trustees on the progress of the 2023 bond plan.
Superintendent Scott Muri said they will talk about the charge before every meeting. Ultimately, he said, the seven members of the board of trustees are responsible for implementing the bond package.
Cotten pointed out that one way to not need a committee like this is to build community trust.
Muri said what happens in the quarterly meetings is public information.
“I encourage you to share every single thing that we talk about in this room with the people out there” and in your networks, Muri said.
Right now, he added, this committee is crucial because the community needs to know that what the district said will happen will happen.
Muri said there are maintenance items throughout the years of the bond. Statewide, he said, districts spend 9.5 percent of their budgets on maintenance. ECISD spends 11.5 percent of its budget on maintenance because of the age of its facilities.
Associate Superintendent (Athletics/Human Capital/Operations) Anthony Sorola said a lot of the construction is planned for the first two years.
Muri said construction on the large projects like the middle school and CTE facility will take place along the same timeline. This year, it will be the design and planning with construction in 2025 and opening in August 2026.
Escalation costs are built into all these items.
Having land donated by Grow Odessa for the CTE center will give ECISD some flexibility as well, Muri said. The facility is set to cost $80 million, but the Permian Strategic Partnership has said they will contribute to it. That amount has not yet been made public.
Chief Financial Officer Deborah Ottmers said the bonds haven’t been sold yet.
Depending on market conditions, Muri said they could all be sold at once or in chunks.
“Many factors that go into all that. We’re trying to find the most prime time. We also have to consider the fiscal year because there’s time and accounting issues that go into all that,” Ottmers said.
Muri noted that the big projects will come first.
“Sixty-nine (69) percent of expenditures happen in the first two years …,” Muri said. “As long as markets stay healthy we’re in great shape.”
For the middle school on South Tripp Avenue, the district paid $720,000 and is under contract to purchase it. Muri said they expect to close in March.
It will have all the utilities needed.
Muri said roads are in and 180 homes are expected to be built.
The CTE center is on 37 acres located off East Murphy Street and South Meadow Avenue. The land was donated by Grow Odessa. Muri said the land is valued at $2.7 million.
“We are working on the exchange of a deed,” he said.
The facility will be used by Odessa College and local businesses may want to use it to educate their personnel.
The CTE facility will have 400 students there all the time and 2,000 will be bused in for classes.
The district is also working on the non-bond related purchase of the Sunset Golf Course at 9301 Andrews Highway. It is being purchased for future growth and includes 169.3 acres. ECISD is buying it for $3.4 million.
Sorola said they are hoping to close on it in February or March.
Muri said the bond will be managed internally and externally.
Maintenance and some of the smaller projects will be handled by the district and/or subcontractors.
Muri said the district will need to hire on people to help with the CTE facility, new middle school and PHS auditorium.
He added that they are in the process of identifying property to build a new transportation facility on.
A request for architecture and engineering qualifications was posted Jan. 10 and a recommendation to award is expected to be brought to the school board in February.
There is new Bond 2023 website at ecisdbond.com
The next Bond Oversight Committee meeting is scheduled for 5:30 p.m. April 30 in Conference Room A/B of the administration building, 802 N. Sam Houston Ave.
