Board decides to move forward on bond process

Oct. 12—After reviewing why the $398,255,000 May 7 bond failed, Ector County ISD board members reached a consensus to move forward on a new possible bond.

There is no timeline, amount or idea of what should be built yet.

Trustees asked Superintendent Scott Muri to give them proposals for a bond timeline, a proposal for a bond committee structure, and help establish listening opportunities for trustees to talk with staff members and parents.

Muri said he will heavily rely on trustees for names of committee members. He was also supportive of actively listening to the community as he did when he first arrived and conducted a look, listen and learn tour.

Trustees discussed voter apathy, low voter turnout and that ECISD and parents did not vote in May.

Muri said of the people that voted, 8 percent were parents of ECISD students, "so our parents did not make a decision about their own children. Nine percent of voters were employees."

"Less than half of our employees in our county are registered to vote. Some don't live in the county, so we certainly have to pay attention to that," Muri said.

Board member Tammy Hawkins said she would like board members to talk to small groups to get them involved.

Trustee Donna Smith said the needs are not going away and they're not getting less expensive. She has talked to people who voted against it and they agree.

"I do think we need to try again," Smith said.

She'd like to see what they are going to do differently than last time.

"We're getting conflicting information on why it failed," Smith said.

She added that the east side-west side division has to be paid attention to. Smith said following board member Delma Abalos' comment about poor customer service at ECISD it feels like "we need to do a better job about taking people's concerns seriously."

Board Secretary Chris Stanley said he and his wife moved to Odessa 30 years ago.

"I've never moved to a town before that had such self loathing," Stanley said.

He said it made no sense to him why people lived in a town they didn't love and they made fun of it. At that point, he said he decided to do something to change that.

"I am perplexed by other people that don't feel the same way about their community," Stanley said.

He added that getting involved is never pretty work you don't get awards for it, credit for it.

"The problem is, there seems to be this disconnect between our wants and our needs" and it breaks down across all kinds of lines, Stanley said.

"I think we need to work fundamentally to try to figure out what our vision is for Odessa" and think about what the city is going to look like in the 22nd and 23rd century, Stanley said.

Trustee Carol Gregg said it's hard for her to say at this point why the bond failed.

"At this point, I don't think the problem is per se in our community. I think it's a problem in our state and nation. There's a lot of negativity," Gregg said.

When it comes to trusting the people who run institutions and paying those people, the community didn't want to pay the price.

Smith said she feels like kids need to be convinced so they can influence their parents.

"I'm a west sider. I'm an OHS graduate. I wanted to put in the west side and south side. There were excellent reasons for not doing it. I want there to be serious conversation about that. There needs to be serious conversation about getting people registered and getting people to vote. We lost because hardly anybody voted," Smith said.

Board President Steve Brown said he is a native Odessan who went to Odessa High School. He has three brothers who also went to OHS.

His mom was a housewife and his father was a firefighter who had an off-duty job.

The philosophy at home, he said, was to contribute to the community and vote for bonds.

Brown said if you look at schools in terms of violence and avoidance of schools, you can attribute that to overcrowded conditions, particularly at the high schools.

"For many people," Brown said, "crowds are not their friends."

The May bond was in two separate propositions. This came in response to recommendations from a Community Bond Committee that worked for six months evaluating the conditions of all ECISD facilities.

In January, members of that Community Bond Committee presented their findings to trustees identifying four main areas of focus, the district's website said. The school board used those recommendations in shaping its decision to move forward with a bond election. The proposed bond projects included:

Proposition A, $215,255,000 which would include:

Maintenance & life-cycle repairs/replacement for school district buildings ($130,255,000). Various projects for electrical, mechanical, plumbing, fire and life safety, and others at schools and auxiliary buildings.

Construction of a new Career & Technical Education (CTE) Center ($70 million); 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. This would have included furniture, fixtures, and equipment.

Classroom technology upgrades ($15 million).

Classroom and/or campus audio, visual and multimedia refresh or additions.

Proposition B, $183,000,000 for a new comprehensive high school.

This would have included construction of a new high school designed for 2,500-2,800 student capacity; estimated at 400,000 square feet; it would have included furniture, fixtures, and equipment.

District leaders anticipated the bond would create a tax rate increase of 15 cents and, for a home with a taxable value of $100,000, would equate to a tax increase of approximately $12 per month, the website said.

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, applies for the exemption and is approved by the Ector County Appraisal District. ECISD gives local taxpayers a 20% homestead exemption.

In his opening remarks, Muri congratulated the school board as well as all 4,200 members of Team ECISD for receiving the 2022 Outstanding School District award from the Mexican American School Boards Association. Trustees attended the award ceremony at MASBA's annual conference this past weekend.

In other discussion:

— Trustees received a report using Beginning of Year assessment data. This item gave school board members a look at where MAP (Measure of Academic Progress) growth stands today when compared to scores from the fall semester of 2021. The results show above-projected growth in many of the areas tested. Trustees also looked at how this assessment connects to projections for STAAR test performance, if the STAAR was taken right now. ECISD gives the MAP assessment multiple times each year (September, January, April, and then in June after Summer Learning), in order to measure student growth from the beginning of the year through the end of the year, the recap said.

— STEM education (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) is a priority for ECISD. In this update, trustees learned this year's work is heavily focused on strengthening teachers' understanding of best practices — Leveling Up.

Looking at student data from the 2021-22 school year shows improvement across the board: MAP Math scores, all grade levels K-8 met expected growth projections; STAAR Math data, grades 3-5, 8 of 9 measures showed growth; grades 6-8, 8 of 9 measures showed growth while one remained the same; and in Algebra I all three measures increased.

Looking at science results, using MAP, grades 3, 4, 5, 7 and 8 met or exceeded growth projections; STAAR science for 5th and 8th grades showed growth in 6 of 6 measures and STAAR biology show growth in all three measures. As teachers become better and better at teaching math and science, students' results will increase.

Computer Science is a strategic area of emphasis for the school district as it prepares students for any number of future endeavors. Statistics show 67% of all new jobs in STEM are in computing; just 10% of STEM graduates are in Computer Science. In just the last two weeks, ECISD announced a million-dollar partnership with the Permian Strategic Partnership and the Cal Ripken, Sr. Foundation to put STEM Centers in 28 elementary schools; a grant from BootUp and Amazon Future Engineer to pay for resources and professional development for Computer Science teachers; and a donation from Oncor for STEM education.

This supports what parents are saying — 90% want their children to study computer science, however, just 45% of high schools teach it. ECISD is building a reliable K-12 pipeline of Computer Sciences classes for students from kindergarten through 12th grade, the recap said.

— Trustees heard the annual performance update on district partnerships developed through Senate Bill 1882.

The review of the 2021-22 academic and financial performance, is focused on the agreed-upon goals with Odessa Family YMCA and Third Future Schools (which operates Ector College Prep Middle School). The STEM Academy at UTPB is also an SB 1882 partnership but it began this year so there is no performance to review yet.

SB 1882 came from the 2017 legislative session, and provides benefits for districts to contract with education partners to promote innovation and improve student outcomes. The district's partner manages the school and is responsible for outcomes, and has autonomy over personnel, curriculum, calendar, assessments, and budget. The district holds partners accountable through a performance contract.

The YMCA hosts 3-year-old prekindergarten classes. Key measures of Phonological Awareness (+13%), Mathematics (+14%) and Family/School Connectedness (+6%) all exceeded first-year goals; and enrollment has already increased from 115 students in 2021-22 to more than 200 this year with afternoon classes added to the morning classes offered last year.

At Ector College Prep, the school's STAAR Accountability score jumped from 58 to 86 (an F to a B) due to student growth. Math and Reading scores increased substantially in 6th, 7th and 8th grades. ECISD has three-year agreements in place with its SB 1882 partners and is in year 2 with both the YMCA and Third Future Schools, the recap said.