A lengthy bond update, approval of new PK boundaries, and a new principal hire all part of very full meeting agenda

The Ector County ISD Board of Trustees held its March board meeting on the 25^th. A recap of the agenda is below.

 

1.      Roll Call. Delma Abalos was absent.

 

2.      Verification of compliance with open meetings requirements.

 

3.      Kyndall Key Hudnall and Chase DeArmond from Burnet Elementary led the pledges of allegiance.

4.      Lead Pastor Ben Ford from Grace Christian Church gave the invocation.

 

5.      During the special presentations, the Young Professionals of Odessa awarded five (5) elementary schools $1,000 each as part of the YPO’s mid-year re-supply program; two football players, Gavin Black from Permian High School and Kobi Baldonado from Odessa High were recognized for earning Texas Sportswriters Association All-State honors; and the Academic Decathlon teams from New Tech Odessa, Odessa Collegiate Academy, and STEM Academy were honored for finishing in the top ten in the state competition this year.

 

6.      In opening comments, Superintendent Dr. Keeley Boyer said ECISD proudly hosted two events this week with AVID Center to focus on high quality AVID implementation and preparing all students for college and career. Monday evening it was about 40 campus administrators and teachers learning best practices for implementing AVID schoolwide, and earlier today our District hosted an AVID Principals Collaborative with internal staff and others from Regions 17 and 18. More big news, one of our own Permian High School Seniors, Bryannah Moreno, has been selected as a student speaker during San Antonio AVID Summer Institute. See more about AVID in ECISD.    

 

7.      In public comments, two Decathlon students addressed the school board. Betanya Hailu from Odessa Collegiate Academy told Trustees Academic Decathlon changed the course of her high school career. It created a genuine love for learning, real-life application of that knowledge, and home within the school walls. She called the team her family, and thanked the teachers, school and district for supporting Academic Decathlon. Joel Ramos from New Tech Odessa echoed those sentiments, telling the board Decathlon was so much more than a club or a competition; it had brought him some of his greatest friends and greatest memories. He said it changed him and who he will become and he, too, thanked those who make Decathlon possible.

 

8.      Bond 2023 Update

 

A.     Update:

The report began with a look at ongoing projects. The District has now received 75% of the construction documents for the Career and Technical Education high school and conducted a page-turn look at the design with architects earlier in March.

       The site work on the new middle school is busy with electrical, plumbing, and foundation work is underway. The footprint of the school is clearly taking shape. This project is about 6% complete.

      Permian High School’s auditorium renovation is nearing the end of the design development phase. Look for construction to start in June.

      Negotiations are ongoing for a potential contractor for the new JROTC facility at PHS. While no on-site activity is happening at this time, construction could start as soon as April.

      The new Transition Learning Center is now in the construction drawing phase and will move to procurement next with construction beginning in June.

      That TLC timeline is similar to the one for the new Ag Farm. It is currently in design development and construction could begin in June.

      The technology update reveals Burleson and Pease have been completed for public address (PA)/Bells/Alarms/Clocks upgrades. Sixteen (16) schools are in the cabling process, and five (5) schools are now installing equipment. New surveillance cameras are now installed at Odessa High School, PHS, New Tech Odessa, and Ector Middle School. Bowie Middle School is next on the schedule.

      The Fine Arts Department has ordered 1,054 instruments at a cost of $1.695 million; 952 of those have been delivered with 179 being for elementary school classrooms. New middle school choir risers have been delivered to Bonham, Ector and Wilson & Young.

      An updated look at the bond finances, as of March 1, shows about 6% of bond funds have been spent with another 31% encumbered for specific purchases. That is approximately $157 million to this point.

 

B.      After the monthly update, Trustees received a report from the Bond Oversight Committee. This committee of ten (10) community members was formed after the bond package was approved by voters in November 2023. The group began meeting in January 2024 and plans to meet quarterly throughout the implementation of bond projects. The group has its own page on the ecisdbond.com website where its meeting dates and presentations are posted. The Bond Oversight Committee has four charges: 1. Ensure bond projects remain faithful to the priorities identified in the bond plan approved by voters; 2. Review and evaluate information on all projects, bond funds, and timelines to ensure accountability and transparency; 3. Review and evaluate the bond budget status; 4. Provide an annual report to the Board of Trustees on progress. Sixteen months since the successful election, and all projects are underway to varying degrees. At meetings, committee questions have been answered to satisfaction and guest presenters, such as architects, have made themselves available for the committee, too. There is no indication now that any projects are over budget or significantly behind schedule. The committee is pleased with the detailed level of communication, openness to suggestions, and follow-up from the ECISD administrative team. Several oversight committee members have also been able to serve advisory committees for individual projects.

 

C.      Next, Trustees voted 6-0 to approve Betsy Rhodes to be a member of the Bond Oversight Committee, replacing an original member of the committee who moved.

 

D.     Trustees voted 6-0 to approve Wayne Byrd and Kevin Searcy for the Naming Committee for the new middle school. Local board policy states a school naming committee shall be made up of two (2) members of the Education Foundation selected by the Foundation, two (2) members appointed by the school board, three (3) community representatives who reside with in the District and have been selected by the District Continuous Improvement Team (DCIT), and three (3) parents who reside in the District and have been selected by the DCIT.

 

E.      Purchases over $50,000 related to the bond was pulled from the agenda.

 

9.      Trustees voted 6-0 to approve revisions to Local Board Policy BAA(Local): Board Legal Status: Powers and Duties. The revisions come in response to recent guidance issued by the Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights regarding compliance with civil rights laws and the use of race in educational decision-making. The administration examined the written guidance from the U.S. Department of Education with a Texas Association of School Boards (TASB) policy consultant and legal counsel, reviewed all local board policies and regulations to ensure ECISD’s compliance, and identified one instance for revision is page 2 of BAA (Local).  

 

10.  Action items

 

A.      Trustees voted 6-0 to approve purchases over $50,000. Items on this list this month are just over $2 million to Netsync for fiber router refresh Category 1 network equipment; $1.9 million to Henthorn Commercial Construction for demolition and construction of a new cafeteria at Austin Elementary; $303,000 to Netsync Network Solutions for upgrading the Network Operations Center’s core servers; $299,000 to Bruckner’s Truck & Equipment for a new refrigerated truck for School Nutrition; and $15,000 to CSI Lubbock for upgrades to network cabling at Burleson.

 

B.      Trustees voted 5-0-1 (abstention) to approve the cancellation of the May 3, 2025, Elections for Single Member District Position 2, Position 4, and Position 7, and certify the unopposed candidates “Elected.” Position 2 is Delma Abalos, Position 4 is Christopher Stanley, and Position 7 is Bob Thayer.

 

C.      Trustees voted 6-0 to approve new Prekindergarten boundaries. In February 2024, the school board approved a plan to close Burleson Elementary School and repurpose it as a PreK center for 3-and-4-year-olds which then required a demographic study to help develop new boundary lines for all prekindergarten programs. For PK-3 (three-year old prekindergarten), Burleson EEC will have an attendance zone as will the Odessa YMCA Family Learning Center. Austin Montessori’s PK-3 Choice program will not change, and Carver EEC and Lamar EEC will continue to offer three-year-old special education programs. The alignment for PK-4 (four-year old prekindergarten) was a more involved task as Burleson will join Carver EEC, Lamar EEC and 13 other elementary schools (some Choice campuses, some not) that offer a PK-4 program. In the proposal, children who live in the attendance zones for Burleson, EK Downing, Goliad, San Jacinto and West elementary schools would be zoned for PK-4 at Burleson (of course, all four-year-old students may apply for a Choice PK campus regardless of PK attendance zone). The proposed maps below were approved.

 

 

 

11.  Trustees voted 6-0 to approve the Consent Agenda. The consent agenda is a group of routine, or previously discussed items presented together for a single approval vote. This month’s Consent Agenda included minutes of meetings; bills for payment; acceptance of donations over $10,000*; a cooperative agreement of affiliation with Odessa College; out-of-state travel for Permian High School Business Professionals of America students to the National Conference/Competition in Orlando, Florida; and a contract amendment with Parkhill Architects for Priority 1 and Priority 2 projects.

     Trustees requested that one item on the Consent Agenda, a memorandum of understanding with Compass Academy for the provision of School Resource Officers, be pulled from the consent vote and discussed further. Currently, ECISD has 61 of 62 police officer positions filled and has additional applicants. The agreement with Compass would provide two (2) officers, hired and supported by ECISD, for Compass’ campus every day. Compass would pay all salary and benefits while ECISD would supply all equipment. After the discussion Trustees voted 6-0 to approve the memorandum of understanding.   

 

 

12.  Reports/Discussion Items

 

A.   Trustees received a report on Results-Driven Accountability (RDA) which monitors three groups of students – Emergent Bilingual, Other Special Populations (such as homeless, foster and military), and Special Education. Under RDA, a lower score is better, and the goal for each performance level is to earn a 0 and determination level is a 1 (meets requirements). The performance levels equate to the final determination level. The Other Special Populations earned a determination level of 4, in part due to low performance on STAAR Social Studies and Science assessments. Special Education earned a determination level of 3, in part due to low performance on STAAR Social Studies and Science. Bilingual earned a determination level of 3. The District has undergone comprehensive strategic support planning to improve RDA reported metrics. 

 

B.   Trustees received an update on the work being done by the Special Services Department during the 2024-25 school year. A review of the special education staff was provided, thanking the Board of Trustees for their support in the increase of staff. The additional staff includes diagnosticians, speech pathologists, PEIMS clerks and paraprofessionals who support our virtual team on campuses. The initial evaluation timelines were reviewed, providing a three-year review of the initial evaluations completed over time. In addition, the update provided the criteria for special education eligibility and each special ed category of services ECISD provides our students with disabilities. The Significant Disproportionality numbers on discipline removals of special ed students was reviewed, as reported by our Results Driven Accountability system and showed ECISD is on track to be below the Risk Ratio of 2.5 in the 24/25 academic year. The goal for all special education students is to be Life Ready, Future Focused, Global Citizens and positive Community Influencers, as described in our Portrait of a Graduate. 

 

C.   Trustees continued their budget discussions for the 2025-26 school year with an update from the ECISD Finance team. While school finance discussions are already taking place in the Texas Legislature, nothing has been determined yet. ECISD’s budget process is moving quite quickly and department requests for their 2025-26 budgets are due in the coming weeks. One year ago, in a lean financial year, Trustees approved a 3% one-time retention incentive for returning employees while taking money out of fund balance to operate the district and approving a deficit budget of $12 million. Tonight’s discussion centered on raises again, with all Trustees emphasizing the need to reward employees as they are the core of the school district’s work. If it requires taking dollars from fund balance to ensure all employees see a pay increase they are in support of that but also ensuring fund balance remains at or above recommended levels. The budget will be officially adopted in late June, allowing as much time as possible for the legislature to make decisions.

 

13.  Trustees moved to closed session to discuss hiring a principal for Zavala Elementary.

 

A.     Trustees voted 6-0 to approve Denise DeLoera as the principal for Zavala Elementary starting with the 2025-26 school year. DeLoera is currently a principal intern at Pease Elementary and completed the Holdsworth Campus Leadership Program. She has two years of assistant principal experience and was named ECISD’s Elementary Assistant Principal of the Year in 2023-24. She served as a principal for Summer Learning, and she taught 4^th and 5^th grade at Buddy West Elementary for four years.

 

14.  Information Items – https://meetings.boardbook.org/Public/Agenda/1406?meeting=675557  

 

15.  There were no closing remarks.

 

16.  The meeting adjourned at 8:28 p.m.  

 

 

* $33,350 from the Permian HS Tennis Booster Club for half of cost of resurfacing the PHS tennis courts

   $33,350 from the USTA Tennis Venue Services for half of cost of resurfacing the PHS tennis courts

   $25,687.24 from the Barbara Bush Literacy Foundation for six (6) books per student in a backpack

   $10,000 from the Education Foundation of Odessa for naming sponsorship of the Awards for Excellence student banquet