Now that the Ector County ISD Board of Trustees has called a bond election, the district is making plans to inform the public about what will be in the package.
The election is scheduled May 7 and early voting will be April 25 through May 3.
The total package will be $398,255,000.
During his media call Wednesday, Superintendent Scott Muri said community meetings will be set up.
“Right now, we’re in the process of lining up those meetings. It will be a few weeks before we’re ready to do that. Again, the board just approved this last night (Feb. 15) and it will take us a little bit of time to put presentations and information together to make that ready for our public … ,” Muri said.
Once it is ready, Muri said they will be “very visible throughout the community and would encourage any group or interested organization to reach out to us if they would like to have the school system come and talk about the proposed bond. We’d be happy to do that.”
The board’s Feb. 15 vote to approve two separate propositions came in response to recommendations from a Community Bond Committee that worked for six months evaluating the conditions of all ECISD facilities, a news release stated.
In January, members of the bond committee presented their findings to trustees identifying four main areas of focus. The school board used those recommendations to shape its decision to move forward with a bond, a news release said.
Proposed bond projects would include:
>> Proposition A, $215,255,000 which would include maintenance and life-cycle repairs/replacement for school buildings ($130,255,000). This will include various projects for electrical, mechanical, plumbing, fire and life safety, and others at schools and auxiliary buildings.
>> Construction of a new Career and Technical Education Center ($70 million). This would include classroom and lab space for programs like welding, construction, health science, automation and process technology, HVAC, plumbing and others estimated at 150,000 square feet; includes furniture, fixtures, and equipment.
>> Classroom technology upgrades ($15 million). This will include classroom and/or campus audio, visual and multimedia refresh or additions.
>> Proposition B, $183,000,000 for a new comprehensive high school
>> The high school would be designed for 2,500 to 2,800 students and cover an estimated 400,000 square feet. This would include furniture, fixtures, and equipment.
The release detailed district leaders anticipate the bond will create a tax rate increase of between 14 and 15 cents. For a home with a taxable value of $100,000, the release stated the tax increase would equate to approximately $12 per month.
There would be no tax increase on residence homesteads for taxpayers 65 and older, as state law dictates that the tax rate and the amount paid on a residence are frozen when that person turns 65 years old and applies for the exemption. ECISD gives local taxpayers a 20% homestead exemption, which is the maximum allowed by law.
The board on Feb. 15 also indicated they would like to have a bond oversight committee to make sure the dollars are spent the way they were intended. An oversight committee was also formed after the passage of a tax ratification election about four years ago.
There was discussion during the call of where a new high school might be located. Muri said the board has not made that decision yet.
“Wherever the location of the high school may happen to be, it’s going to provide some relief for the existing high schools. Odessa High School, Permian High School, both have student numbers approaching 4,000. Those high schools were not built to hold that number of students,” Muri said.
“In addition, between Permian and Odessa, currently 38 teachers do not have classrooms. We have run out of classrooms. In fact, we ran out of classrooms a few years ago on those campuses,” he added. “So currently, 38 teachers between Odessa High School and Permian High School must travel throughout the school to find classrooms to teach children. So again, this new high school would provide relief for those particular teachers, as well as students regardless of the location of that high school within our community.”
“But once again, that decision about a specific location has not been made and our board will consider a variety of factors before they make that decision,” he added.
Muri said the district currently owns 100 acres.
“That is the largest property that we own. To build a new high school of the size we’re talking about would require between 75 and 100 acres, and so yes, we can use the property that we own, or the district could purchase a new property. Either one of those options is available to us,” he added.
On a separate topic, Muri said the board approved the school calendar for the 2022-2023 school year.
“It will look very similar to the school calendar from our current year. We developed three options. Those options were shared with members of our community. About 450 families took time to respond to that survey and provided feedback, as well as staff members in ECISD,” Muri said.
“There was an overwhelming winner and that calendar was adopted by the board of trustees and is now available on the Ector County Independent School (District) website for information,” he added.
Muri noted that one of the things the district adopted during the pandemic and will continue to use is a phase-in process for students at the beginning of the year.
“Parents will see next year that the first day of school is not the same … for every student. Our prekindergarten through sixth grade, as well as our freshmen, will all begin school on one day and then a couple of days later our seventh graders, eighth graders and then 10th through 12th graders will begin school, again, on a separate day,” Muri said.
Trustees also recognized a group of emerging leaders — teachers within ECISD that are interested in entering leadership opportunities, perhaps an assistant principal, principal or other leadership positions within the organization.
“They were selected to be a part of our emerging leaders program. We’ll now grow them and develop them, and prepare them for an opportunity of leadership within the organization,” Muri said.
“In addition, the board of trustees also recognized our aspiring principals; a group of current assistant principals that are aspiring to be principals within the organization. They were recognized last night.”
“We will take these individuals on a one-year journey as they prepare for the potential of a principalship in their future. We’re excited to recognize these two groups of people this week and are excited about the leadership opportunities that are available for all of our employees within Ector County Independent School District,” Muri said.
