Bond update for August reveals name for new middle school

The Bond update given to the school board in August started with the progress on the new middle school in West Odessa. 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.

After the presentation, 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 Odessan. 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.

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.  

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.

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.

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.