Trustees approve name and mascot for new middle school

The Ector County ISD Board of Trustees held its August Board Meeting on the 19th. A recap of the agenda is below.

1.      Roll Call. Delma Abalos was absent.

 

2.      Verification of compliance with open meetings requirements.

 

3.      Ian Rodriguez and Vanessa Rodriguez from Cameron Dual Language Elementary led the pledges of allegiance.

4.      Director of Youth & Young Adult Ministries Orel Dawson from First Methodist Church gave the invocation.

 

5.      The special presentations included recognition of Odessa High School’s Shijay Sivakumar as a State Qualifier in UIL Spelling & Vocabulary, recognition of 11 high school students awarded medalist honors at the State Visual Arts Scholastic Event in the spring, and the announcements that ECISD’s Fine Arts programs have again been honored with the Texas Art Educators Association’s District of Distinction for visual arts (5 consecutive years), and the National Association of Music Merchants Foundation (NAMM) designation of Best Communities for Music Education (11 consecutive years.)

 

6.      In opening comments, Superintendent Dr. Keeley Boyer offered a few first-week statistics to the board. Enrollment is 31,969 which is lower than last year at this time; 28,749 meals are being served each day; about 600 more students are riding buses – and 12 more drivers have been hired since last year; there are 44 total teacher vacancies compared to 32 a year ago.

 

7.      In public comment, Margia Fox-Flores spoke about her experience with the Community Outreach Center. She said she dropped out but as she looked for options to return the COC offered her support and resources that made it possible for her to earn her diploma and she is now enrolled at Odessa College. Next, Julius Hall explained that he, too, struggled with the traditional school setting but that Ector Acceleration Academies gave him flexibility and hope to earn his diploma. Both said they were grateful for these flexible options available to them.  

 

8.      Bond 2023

A.      Bond Update: The new middle school in West Odessa continues to progress. Walls have gone up and project is about 21% complete right now.

The new Career & Technical Center is beginning to show visible progress with building pads nearing completion and tying rebar for foundations.

The design for the new Transition Learning Center is finalized and a contractor is being recommended to the school board.

Construction is underway on the Permian High School auditorium. Utility work was evident in the PHS parking lot throughout the summer and, inside, a wall has been built to separate the work zone from students moving around the building.

Earthwork is underway for the JROTC facility at PHS, and they are preparing to pour the foundation.

The design of the new Ag Farm is finalized, and a contractor is being recommended to the school board.

Eight (8) schools are now 100% complete for PA, Bell, Alarm and Clock refreshes; cabling will begin next at Downing, Buice and West elementaries. ECISD police now has three surveillance camera walls to be monitored by police staff. Installation of new cameras at schools is 50% complete.

In the Fine Arts update, 1,408 instruments have been ordered; 1,080 have arrived; and $2.6 million has been spent. The middle school risers will be installed by the end of the fall semester.

In the finance update, about $51 million (12%) has been spent with another $199 million (47%) now encumbered through requisitions for specific projects.

B.      Trustees voted 6-0 to approve the name of the new middle school set to open in August 2026. A local, board-appointed committee began working in July, members reviewed some 80 suggested names and 30 potential mascots, ultimately selected Adela & Gilbert Vasquez to be the namesake for the new school. The mascot will be the Diamondbacks.

Adela was born in Odessa. She attended Zavala Elementary, Ector Junior High, and graduated from Ector Senior High School in 1967. After teaching in Lubbock and working for Region 18 Education Service Center, she was hired by ECISD in 1981 as a counselor serving elementary and junior high students. She was hired as the district’s public information officer in 1985 and later as the director of guidance, counseling, and testing. She helped bring the Student Assistant Services program into existence. She retired in 2009 but returned as a supervisor in the counseling department and, finally, an SAS counselor at Permian High School. She served in public education for 44 years. Additionally, she advocated for kids as a home study evaluator for the adoption of children through judicial district courts in the Permian Basin. Adela passed away in January 2022.

Gilbert’s family moved to Odessa when he was five years old. He attended Austin Elementary and Lamar Elementary, Crockett Junior High and graduated from Odessa High School in 1967. His teaching career began in 1975 as a Spanish teacher/In-School Suspension teacher and counselor at Odessa High. He held counseling roles for migrant children and in the Special Education Department, as well as assistant principal positions at Bonham Junior High, OHS and Crockett JH. He served as the principal at the alternative center and at Hood Junior High before moving downtown to become director of Human Resources, and eventually the assistant superintendent of HR, before retiring in 2009. Like Adela, he returned to education in different roles including mentoring new teachers. Today he is an Odessa City Councilman.

C.      Trustees voted 6-0 to approve bond purchases over $50,000. This month, $20 million is designated to several vendors for general construction services; a little more than $7 million to Henthorn Commercial Construction for the Ag Farm facility; and $3 million to three electrical vendors for addressing and resolving Priority 1 and Priority 2 electrical issues.  

D.     Trustees voted 6-0 to approve a contract with Henthorn Commercial Construction to build the new Transition Learning Center at a cost of $6,195,000.

E.      Trustees voted 6-0 to change the delivery method for Priority 1 and Priority 2 roofing projects from the Competitive Sealed Proposal (CSP) to Construction Manager at Risk (CMAR). This change will result in significant savings for the District.

F.       Trustees voted 6-0 to approve an amendment to the CMAR contract with Teinert Construction for the new middle school project to include roofing projects and the Guaranteed Maximum Price (GMP) amendment for additional roofing projects. This action adds roofing projects at Burleson Early Education Center, Fly Elementary School, Travis Elementary, and Zavala Elementary for $7.47 million.

 

9.      Board Policy

A.      Trustees voted 6-0 to approve TASB Board Policy Update 125. The Texas Association of School Boards (TASB) regularly sends recommended updates to school districts keeping local policies aligned with changes in legal policy. You can see all of the polices and recommendations at https://meetings.boardbook.org/Public/Agenda/1406?meeting=697730.  

 

B.      Trustees voted 6-0 to approve revisions to board policy EFB (Local): Instructional Resources: Library Materials. This is based on Senate Bill 13 and changes to how library materials are selected and challenged. The District will continue to use the existing library materials advisory committee; the role of the school board in approving adoption/acquisition of new library materials is the biggest change.

 

C.      Trustees voted 6-0 to approve revisions to board policy FD (Local): Admissions. This is a minor change, clarifying that ECISD does not permit homeschooled students to participate in curricular or extracurricular activities including UIL activities.

 

D.     Trustees voted 6-0 to approve revisions to board policy FNCE (Local): Student Conduct: Personal Telecommunications/Electronic Devices. This goes along with House Bill 1481 and the ban on the students’ use of personal electronic devices. The ECISD Code of Conduct addresses student consequences for not following this new rule.

 

10.  Action Items

A.      Trustees voted 6-0 to approve purchases over $50,000. The six items on this month’s list are $520,000 to Communities in Schools for on-campus support for At-Risk students; $150,000 to 3 companies preventative maintenance and repairs of School Nutrition Department refrigerators and freezers; $120,000 to Star Tech Group for the ACCESS platform that connects students to career experts and college advisors; $111,205 to Emergent Tree Education for Special Education Department behavioral framework; $80,000 to 7 Mindsets for supporting mental health concerns, improving behavior, and enhancing academic performance; $57,   520 to Teachers First LLC for curriculum management software for International Baccalaureate schools.

 

B.       Trustees voted 6-0 to approve budget amendment #1.

 

C.       Trustees voted 5-0-1 (Dr. Steve Brown abstained) to approve an interlocal agreement with Purchasing Cooperatives to receive better value on goods and services through pooled purchasing power.

 

D.     Trustees voted 6-0 to approve the application to renew the Optional Flexible School Day Program (OFSDP). The goal of the Optional Flexible School Day Program is to allow students an opportunity to have flexible hours to be successful and receive a high school diploma by offering courses needed for graduation while the district receives funding for students in attendance. The program has two main objectives. The first is to allow a student who has dropped out of school or is in danger of dropping out of school an option other than the regular classroom setting or school day. The second objective is to enable a student the opportunity to recover credits lost due to lack of attendance. OFSDP is offered at the Community Outreach Center, Ector Acceleration Academy, and on campus. This year 338 students were recovered after dropping out, or prevented from dropping out, and of those 120 graduated and 126 are continuing in school (73%).

 

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*; the annual investment report; an interlocal agreement with Communities in Schools of the Permian Basin; the UIL exemption list for the 2025-26 school year; T-TESS and T-PESS appraisers; T-TESS and T-PESS calendar; an interlocal agreement with Region 18 Education Service Center for Reading Academies; amendments to the Student Code of Conduct; a memorandum of understanding with Odessa College and another with the University of Texas Permian Basin for the Teacher Residency programs; an amended certification of provision of instructional materials survey 2025-26; and a resolution amending authorized representatives for Frost Bank and NexBANK.

 

12.  Trustees moved to closed session to discuss hiring. Upon returning from closed session Trustees voted 6-0 to retroactively approve the hiring of Dr. Carole Campbell as executive director of human resources and Dr. Kristen Vesely as executive director of academics. Both were hired in July but because there were no school board meetings the board’s official approval comes with this vote.

 

13.  Information items - https://meetings.boardbook.org/Public/Agenda/1406?meeting=697730.  

 

14.  There were no closing remarks.

 

15.  The meeting adjourned at 7:45 p.m.  

 

*$972,000 from Phillips 66 for ST Math software license

  $ 33,500 from USTA for Permian High School tennis courts

  $ 19,000 from Odessa HS Band Booster Club for trailer for OHS band equipment

  $ 13,500 from Diamondback Energy for Gifted & Talented Super Saturday and Check for Champs