After pondering — and in some cases wrestling — with the proposed bond issue, the Ector County, Texas, Independent School District Board of Trustees approved calling a Nov. 7 bond issue election for $291,172,291 during a special meeting Thursday.
A separate item on the ballot is a tax ratification election that would raise the total tax rate to $1.28 per $100 valuation.
The board voted to approve both items unanimously. Trustee Ray Beaty did not attend the meeting.
This is $4.5 million more than was initially proposed and would go for girls' locker rooms at Permian High School, upgrade the weight room at Odessa High School and renovate all of the bathrooms at Ratliff Stadium.
The addition was proposed by board member Steve Brown who said he had comments brought to him about these items. During the Bond Advisory Committee meetings this summer, athletic improvements were discussed but not made part of the priorities.
Along with the locker rooms, weight room and restroom improvements, the priorities now include:
- Life cycle projects for $29,563,545. These are items such as roofing, HVAC, plumbing and window replacements at every campus. Because of the recent hail storm, Crowe said the price of some of the roofs was reduced because replacement would be covered by insurance.
- A new comprehensive high school, with 2,500 students for $131,000,480.
- Converting Ector Middle School back to a high school for $30,037,460.
- A new middle school for $62,514,557.
- Secure front-entry vestibules at $1,123,500. Superintendent Tom Crowe has said keypads, intercoms and buzzers will be used across the district. Some already have been installed, along with welcome centers as the ones at the administration building and Odessa High School.
- Priority 1 fire and life safety upgrades for $5,317,044. A priority 1 designation means it must be done in the next one to two years.
- District-wide fiber network for $27,115,705. Crowe said it's likely the project would qualify for federal E-Rate funds which would reimburse ECISD about 85 percent.
ECISD's current total tax rate is $1.15 per $100 valuation. This includes $1.04 for maintenance and operations and 11 cents for interest and sinking, which goes to service the district's debt.
If it passes, the tax ratification election would bring the maintenance and operation rate to $1.17 per $100 valuation for 2017. This would add $130 a year on a $100,000 home for 2017, Chief Financial Officer David Harwell said.
The bond would add about 17 cents to the interest and sinking rate, Harwell said.
The tax impact on a $100,000 home would be $170 per year, or $14.23 a month. Harwell said the earliest this would be levied would be 2018.
For a $104,244 home, the average home in Odessa, it would be $14.23 a month, or $170.75 per year.
Trustees also voted 6-0 to approve a budget amendment, contingent on a successful tax ratification election, to increase appropriations by $20,335,675, the board recap said.
On June 20, the board adopted a budget that included cuts totaling almost $18 million dollars, the recap said.
Some of the items cut were half of vacant teaching positions; district supply budgets; and raises for all staff members. District officials also cut approximately $13 million from the budget during the 2016-17 school year, the recap said.
Harwell said this would include raises for staff.
Board Secretary Donna Smith said the board has to prioritize getting people money. Smith added that employees can't go multiple years without raises.
Doyle Woodall, vice president of the board, said he had wrestled with whether to vote for the bond, but talking to Crowe Thursday afternoon helped him.
"It's revised because if we tell the people we're going to do it then we have to do it. I think that we're going to be able to knock (off) 30 percent. That's going with hard bids and working with the architects like I have been promised that we're going to do," Woodall said.
He said he has extensive construction experience and board member Nelson Minyard has some and he has a friend with lots of construction experience, as well.
"We can get these drawings down to where we still have a good building that's going to last us 50 years, but it doesn't have all of the unnecessary things that many school buildings have attached to them," Woodall said.
"I think we're going to be able to cut the cost by going this route by 30 percent," Woodall said.
He added that he thinks $30 to $60 million could be reduced from the cost.
"I really think we can reduce this by a tremendous amount, but since we've promised to do all these things we have to vote on a number that we know can accomplish all these things," Woodall said.
As for sticker shock, Woodall said he had some initially, but after realizing the cost could be brought down, he thinks the bond projects are doable. He said going with hard bids is going to be essential.
Last time, the district went with a construction manager at risk which was a decision made before he got on the board. Woodall said he always felt uncomfortable with that. This time, if it goes over the construction company would have to eat the cost, he said.
Woodall said this is something ECISD should have done back in 1982.
Smith said she had struggled with her decision on voting to call the bond.
"There were a lot of unanswered questions. I really want us to have the two high schools," Smith said. She added that she wanted to honor the legacy of Ector High School by converting it from a middle school.
She wants to see enthusiasm generated to come out and vote for the bond.
"We are potentially changing the face of education far beyond our lifetimes," Smith said.
Board President Carol Gregg said she also struggled with how to vote. She said she is going to support this request to the public and everything in the bond will be beneficial to students and the community, but at the same time the board has to make sure the funds are wisely spent.
Gregg added that the board is aware that there are other entities asking for money. "There are lots of needs. We just had a bond issue, but those schools are already filled. ... Our community is growing. These are things that should have been done a long time ago. ...," she said.
Trustee Delma Abalos said everything in the bond will help the district.
"This is only touching the surface of what we need to fix in our district," Abalos said.
Bond committee member Gene Collins said he was pleased with the result of Thursday's meeting.
"I appreciated the comments by the board even more," Collins said. "Some of them were surprising to me. The fact each one of them said they thought deeply about it means that maybe the committee did its job ... in identifying some of the issues and challenging them to make a commitment. But they were unanimous and that was pleasing. I know we have a lot of work to do. We're just up for the task. It's been a long time coming."
Texas State Teachers Association President Chris Barlett also voiced support for the bond issue.
