By Craig Stoker
I support Proposition A because I strongly feel that our students need and deserve new and modern facilities that are appropriate for the subject matter. The current middle schools are overcrowded and building a new comprehensive middle school in West Odessa is essential. The students from West Odessa deserve a middle school that is easily accessible to them, as bussing them to schools east of the loop is inconvenient and diminishes their overall student experience. Our students deserve better, and we can provide that with the new middle school.
The ECISD Transition Learning Center is a program that can greatly benefit from a new facility. This program, which is not widely known, is designed to train students with special needs for employment and also equips them with everyday life skills that can enable them to live more independently. The program caters to individuals who might otherwise be ignored or excluded from society. Seeing the hard work and amazing results that the Transition Learning Center produces from an old office building makes it one of the programs that I am most proud to support. Imagine the positive impact that a purpose-built facility tailored to the needs of these students could have. It would be an incredible way to show support for these children who are often overlooked.
Of the big-ticket items in Prop A, and perhaps the most important to our economy, is a new Career & Technical Education Center (CTE), which will be purpose-built and not shoehorned into an old bakery. This training center and the education it will provide is vital to our most important industry, oil & gas. The Permian Strategic Partnership, which represents 24 major Permian Basin oil and gas companies, has pledged to support the CTE construction with a significant grant. The CTE will be a great example of a Public Private Partnership which will further grow and enhance our community. We cannot continue to turn away students who want to learn technical skills, like welding, simply because we refuse to build an appropriate facility.
Our community has a unique opportunity to support three bond proposals that will bring various updates and upgrades to every school campus in ECISD, without increasing our tax rate. Supporting these proposals is crucial for the future of our workforce and the education of our children. For too long, our children have been neglected, crowded, ignored, and bussed all over town, and it is our responsibility to change that. Let us come together to support and foster the future of the children of Ector County.
Please join me in voting YES to Prop A, Prop B, and Prop C during early voting October 23rd – 27th, and October 30th – November 3rd, with election day being November 7th.
Craig Stoker is Executive Director at Meals on Wheels of Odessa.
