By Bob Thayer
I stepped into the Arena last February. I was minding my own business, doing what I do in a community that has become home to me and my family. Then a text message, a call, a meeting and a week of prayerful consideration and the next thing you know, I’m running for a school board position. To my surprise, I was elected.
I’ve been representing District 7 since June, 2023. The learning curve has been steep with all the acronyms, names, filings, programs, state laws and did I mention acronyms? I’ve now had the opportunity to see things from both sides of the ballot. Again, the learning curve has been pretty steep. But today, I write not as a Board member, but as a citizen of Odessa and a parent of two ECISD students.
We have a group of caring professionals who are working long hours turning our District around. When many of them arrived some 5 years ago, our district was in shambles. Do you remember that we were close to loosing local control of our own District? Want to know the kind of stress we avoided? Look no further than Houston ISD.
Through some tough decisions and solid practices, the District is no longer just trending in the right direction, it’s gaining momentum. We are stronger this year than we have been in many years in nearly every aspect. There’s room to improve. It’s not perfect, nor can anything ever be but we should acknowledge the students, teachers, principals, and Administrators who have worked hard to get us where we are. This is important. The District Leadership we knew 6-10 years ago is not the same District Leadership we have today, which brings us to a critical moment.
As a community, we are at Decision Point. We can decide to reach for something great or fall backwards. A community decision to push forward by making a significant investment that will change the future of our entire community. It’s like an ownership team signing a free agent who will accelerate the momentum of the team. The window for this only opens for a short time and Ownership either goes for it by signing the free agent or risks stalling or worse, falling backwards, having to start over.
For us, that decision comes in the form of a Bond. We have a lot of good things and people in place, but the Citizens of Odessa (the Ownership Team) are going to have to decide to go for it. The window is open right now with lots of good things and people in place, but we must collectively decide. It’s risky, for sure, but this is Oil Country! Our forefathers built all we have by taking calculated risks.
If we want our community to thrive, our School District must thrive. As the District goes, so goes our medical, economic, housing, infrastructure, City and so much more. It’s all connected. Want a better everything, then we citizens are going to have to come together as “One Odessa” and vote. Not North, South, East or West Odessa. We have to come together as “One Odessa.” Not those who are mad about the past or naive about tomorrow. But those who come with the wisdom from the past and a willful optimism about tomorrow. We have to rally around one another and strive for better. It’s risky, but the alternative is worse.
As a District, we aren’t where we were, which is good. We aren’t where we want to be as a District, which is the challenge. But right now, we are a community at a Decision Point between yesterday’s disappointment and tomorrow’s opportunity. Where will we focus our minds? I hope we’ll be able to flip the page and push forward to an exciting opportunity. Odessa isn’t perfect, but it’s ours! Let’s make it great before the window of opportunity closes.
Bob Thayer is on the ECISD Board of Trustees.
