School district, community leaders break ground on new CTE high school facility

Ground is now broken, and construction will soon begin on Ector County ISD’s new Career and Technical Education (CTE) Center, a facility that will be unlike any other in the region. School district leaders were joined by business and community partners for the official groundbreaking ceremony Tuesday morning.  

“It is going to be state-of-the-art,” said ECISD Superintendent Dr. Keeley Boyer. “I think our opportunities are endless. The facility is built to be adaptable. In the future if we need to change some of our programs to meet the needs of the community, we can do that, and there is also room for expansion.”

When it opens in 2027, the CTE Center will be a full-time high school campus for 400 students with an additional 2,000 students traveling to and from the school daily for CTE elective courses. It sits on a little more than 37 acres in the industrial complex on the newly renamed Martin Luther King, Jr. Street near the intersection with Meadow. The land, valued at approximately $2.8 million, was generously donated by Grow Odessa.

The project has a Guaranteed Maximum Price of $86,591,081and received a significant boost when the Permian Strategic Partnership (PSP) gave $10 million in support of the center. The President and CEO of the PSP Tracey Bentley spoke at the ceremony and said having this center to provide training to the region’s talented workforce is a game-changer.

“Students will have the chance to earn industry recognized credentials, apply classroom learning to real-world situations, and enter the workforce with confidence and competence,” said Bentley.

The PSP estimates the Permian Basin will need to add 180,000 skilled workers by 2040, and it touts education as the cornerstone of a thriving community and a strong workforce.

ECISD School Board President Tammy Hawkins and Bond Committee Co-chair Sarah Moore specifically thanked voters for supporting Bond 2023 and making this CTE Center a reality. Both lauded the partnerships with higher education, local government, and the community at-large to take this step forward together and to serve our students as best we can.

The CTE Center will initially house pathways like Health Sciences, Welding, Oil & Gas, Construction Trades, and Culinary Arts to name just a few examples. The planning included visits to other CTE facilities, input from CTE staff, industry partners, and a community advisory committee that has met numerous times. They have poured over design standards, building organization, and budget constraints, always working according to these tenets – Emulate the workplace; Create an environment where collaboration thrives; Engage and welcome community, industry, and business; Inspire innovation and discovery in a flexible and adaptable building.

“The CTE programs that will be in this facility were carefully selected by a committee based on what our community needs and what our workforce needs,” added Dr. Boyer. “So it is critical and very valuable that we are going to be able to provide our students with the skills and certifications needed to immediately join the workforce when they leave our CTE high school.”