Ector County Independent School District trustees received a detailed update on Bond 2023 projects and approved a series of contract agreements and construction change orders to advance campus work and renovations.

The update covered large capital projects now under construction: a Career and Technical Education center with building pad and spread footers completed, work at Adela and Gilbert Vasquez Middle School (concrete, window and roofing progress), Permian High School auditorium renovations (scaffolding, acoustic panels, and a stage extension), demolition at the Whitaker site to prepare a Transitional Learning Center, a new pre‑engineered JROTC building behind Permian, an early-stage agricultural farm project, and site and utility work for a new transportation facility. District staff said the CTE and middle school work remain on a multi‑month schedule, and that crews are coordinating demolition, asbestos abatement and “make safe” work before heavy demolition begins.

The board approved a set of bond-era procurement actions and contractor agreements that the administration said are needed to continue work across those campuses. Approvals included vendor pools and job‑order contracting awards for priority 1 and 2 repairs and campus renovation packages; the board book listed multiple vendors and line‑item amounts (examples cited in the presentation included a $10 million pool for furniture, fixtures and equipment and roughly $2.2 million for PA and alarm system replacements through CSI Lubbock). The administration identified Amstar as a primary job‑order contractor on several packages and Time Construction as the construction manager at risk overseeing the overall bond program.

Trustees ratified and approved construction contract documents and change orders tied to Amstar and specific campuses. The administration asked for and received board approval to ratify an AIA A104 agreement for contractor work at Burleson related to an early‑education conversion; the administration said that locally funded conversion work cost about $192,620.19. The board also approved G701 change‑order forms for site‑specific unforeseen work: a $233,081.42 set of change directives tied to conversion and city code items (identified in the presentation in connection with Ferguson Elementary/early childhood conversion) and a $223,883.29 change order for sewer and manhole work at Travis Elementary.

District staff outlined near‑term milestones: a groundbreaking planned in mid‑November for the Transitional Learning Center site after demolition, a potential “top‑out” structural steel ceremony for one campus in November or December, and continued coordination to limit disruption to campuses while work proceeds. Staff also reported bond program financials in the board packet: the administration said cumulative expenditures and encumbrances have increased and that only a small number of projects are complete so far.

Why it matters: the approvals and change orders keep scheduled school renovation and conversion work moving toward openings and facility improvements paid for by Bond 2023. Trustees asked for continued communications about timelines, local vendor participation and oversight as projects move into weather‑sensitive winter months.

Ending

Trustees approved the vendor pools, AIA agreements and the listed change orders as presented. The administration said it will bring design presentations for the transportation facility in December and will circulate invitations for groundbreakings and a top‑out event when dates are finalized.