The former principal of George H.W. Bush New Tech Odessa, Tina Lopez, has been reassigned to the Ector County Independent School District curriculum and instruction department to work on changing the focus of two elementary magnet schools.
Gale Pond Alamo, a year-round leadership magnet elementary, and Hays Magnet Academy, plan to change their focus next fall to include STEAM, which stands for science, technology, engineering, art and math, Superintendent Tom Crowe said.
Magnet schools have a specific theme they focus on.
Crowe said Lopez’s specialty was project-based learning. The Edutopia website said project-based learning is an approach to teaching in which “students explore real-world problems and challenges.”
Crowe made the decision to reassign Lopez last week after receiving concerns from teachers.
Crowe said the move had to do with ensuring that proper credits were given in the proper places. He said Carrillo was placed back on campus to ensure that all the credits given to the students were correct.
Crowe has said Director of Guidance and Counseling Nancy Vanley will conduct an audit to make sure everything is right.
Crowe said the credit issue only impacted a few seniors and related to a speech class. Credits from the first six weeks will be made up through Odysseyware, a credit recovery software.
Public Information Officer Mike Adkins said Lopez, who was in her second year as New Tech principal, and New Tech counselor, Clelia Carrillo, were placed on paid administrative leave.
Adkins said the counselor was placed back at the campus. However, Crowe named Gerardo Ramirez as interim principal and Amy Hoxie as assistant principal. Both were part of the original team at NTO, he said.
Ramirez was an assistant principal at Permian High School. Hoxie, who was a teacher at New Tech when it opened, was in her third year as an assistant principal at Odessa High School, Adkins said.
Crowe said Ramirez had been dean of students (assistant principal) at NTO for three years and Hoxie had been a teacher at New Tech.
Adkins said Lopez and Carrillo were placed on paid administrative leave while Crowe gathered more information about the complaints. When Crowe got the information he wanted, Adkins said he made the decision to reassign Lopez, put in a new administrative team and place the counselor back at NTO.
