Trustees adopt tax rate for the 2025-26 school year

The Ector County ISD Board of Trustees held its September Board Meeting on the 16th. A recap of the agenda is below.

1.      Roll Call.

2.      Verification of compliance with open meetings requirements.

3.      Charlotte Kuehlem and Asael Muniz from Cavazos Elementary led the pledges of allegiance.

4.      Associate Minister Randy Unruh from Stonegate Odessa Church gave the invocation.

5.      The special presentations included the introduction of 71 teachers who Leveled Up their Teacher Incentive Allotment designation last year, and the announcement of 113 students who earned AP Scholar awards for the 2024-25 school year. Eleven of the students were introduced in person – those who earned AP Scholar with Honor and AP Scholar with Distinction. Pictures from the presentations can be seen on our Ector County ISD Facebook page.  

 

6.      In opening comments, Superintendent Dr. Keeley Boyer pointed out yesterday began Hispanic Heritage Month and schools will be celebrating through the month. She also updated the board to the fact that the District is down to just 21 teacher vacancies right now.

 

7.      There was no public comment.  

 

8.      Bond 2023

A.     Bond Update: the presentation started with the new Career & Technical Education (CTE) high school where building pads are complete, permits have been received from the City of Odessa, and foundation excavation has started.

Work continues at the new middle school where walls and the roof are in place. Utilities installation, electrical and plumbing, and steel erection are all ongoing.

The contract for the new Transition Learning Center was approved by the school board last month and work will begin within a week or so.

The demolition phase of the Permian High School Auditorium is almost finished, and concrete subcontractors are working in the drama theater.

At the Permian HS JROTC facility, earthwork and pad levelling continue and concrete will be poured soon.

The school board is approving the construction contract for the new Ag Farm facility tonight. See item 8-B.

Upgrades to the new Transportation Facility are in the design phase right now.

The first of the roofing projects is complete. That is at Burleson Early Education Center. Fly, Travis, and Zavala elementary schools are in progress. Additional work at Travis includes plumbing lines throughout the building.

The technology surveillance project is 50% complete with about six (6) months remaining for the installation of more than 2,000 cameras.

Fine Arts has ordered 1,412 new instruments with 1,312 having arrived. Of those 232 were delivered since the beginning of August.

Checking on the finances, more than $208 million – or 49% - of the bond dollars are now encumbered through purchase orders for specific projects. About 25% of fund have already been spent.

Keep up with the progress at www.ecisdbond.com.

 

B.      Trustees voted 7-0 to approve a contract with Henthorn Commercial Construction to Build the new Ag Farm facility. The cost of the construction is $6,597,996.

 

C.      Trustees voted 7-0 to approve an A121 Standard Form of Master Agreement for job order contracting for Priority 1 and Priority 2 renovations in the bond program.

 

 

9.      Action Items

A.      Trustees voted 7-0 to adopt a total tax rate of $1.0048 for the 2025-26 school year. The adopted rate is slightly lower than the tax rate last year. A school district’s tax rate is broken into two parts: Maintenance & Operations (M&O) which provides funding for day-to-day operations; and Interest & Sinking (I&S), also known as debt service, which provides the funding for debt (bond) payments. The total tax rate approved by the board breaks down as follows:

$   .7504 for M&O – this rate is lower than last year’s rate of .7596

$   .2544 for I&S – this rate is the same as last year

$ 1.0048 total tax rate – this rate is lower than last year’s rate of $1.014

To note, based on property values in July 2025:

·        The total tax rate is less than the prior year.

·        The M&O tax rate is less than the prior year.

·        The I&S tax rate is the same.

·        The total tax rate is at or below the voter approval rate, and therefore, is less than the maximum tax rate allowed without a tax rate election.

·        The M&O tax rate is at or below the voter approval tax rate.

·        The I&S tax rate is at or below the allowable to cover bond costs.

·        The decreased total tax rate exceeded the No New Revenue total tax rate of $0.9532 calculated by the Ector County Appraisal District

The tax rate will effectively be raised by 5.4% and will raise taxes for Maintenance & Operations on a $100,000 home by approximately $15.

 

B.       Trustees voted 7-0 to approve purchases over $50,000. The single item on this month’s list is $127,043 to Ace Mart Restaurant Supply Co. and Sam Tell and Son for new kitchen equipment.

 

C.       Trustees voted 7-0 to approve budget amendment #2.

 

D.      Trustees voted 7-0 to approve an easement for Oncor Electric delivery. The easement, behind Buice Elementary, will help Oncor increase the electrical capacity to this area.  

 

E.      Trustees voted 7-0 to approve the 2025-26 campus improvement plans (CIP). Each school, regardless of rating, is required to build a CIP annually. That plan serves as the blueprint for how each school will uniquely address campus-specific needs identified in their comprehensive needs assessment.

 

10.  Trustees voted 7-0 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 resolution for extracurricular status of 4-H and adjunct staff members; out-of-state travel for New Tech Odessa Skills USA students (Washington D.C.), Permian High School choir students (Orlando), and Permian High School orchestra students (Orlando); three separate memorandums of understanding with Permian Basin (GOPB), Inc. Head Start for children with disabilities, the Parent Power Program, and the School Readiness Academy; and reapproval of a TEA alternate approver for superintendent.

 

11.  There was no closed session.

12.  Information items - https://meetings.boardbook.org/Public/Agenda/1406?meeting=705495    

13.  There were no closing remarks.

14.  The meeting adjourned at 7:16 p.m.  

 

 

*$150,000 from Exxon Mobil for STEM resources

$145,750 from IXL Learning for student licenses to math platform

$ 71,206 from the Education Foundation of Odessa for ¼ salaries for E.F. executive director, director of STEAM initiatives and special projects, a part-time aide.

$ 18,000 from the Permian HS Baseball Booster Club for short brick/chain link fence.