ECISD moves forward on CTE center and celebrates West Odessa middle school groundbreaking

Ector County Independent School District trustees on Jan. 21 received detailed progress reports on Bond 2023, including design work for a Career and Technical Education (CTE) center and a groundbreaking held last week for a new middle school in West Odessa.

The board heard that the CTE center has reached 50% completion of construction documents, a milestone that moves the project closer to a guaranteed maximum price from the district’s construction manager at risk and toward procurement. “We started off with the mission to design a high school that will serve 400 students every day,” said Ryan Merritt, executive director of Career and Technical Education, who led the CTE presentation. Merritt said the center is also being planned to serve approximately 2,000 CTE travelers each school day once satellite transportation is in place.

The middle school project, approved earlier through a guaranteed maximum price, began clearing vegetation in January and the district held a ceremonial groundbreaking last week at the 40-acre West Odessa site. District presenters said construction has already started on site work and that the middle school is now an active construction project.

Design details presented for the CTE center include five program wings arranged around a central courtyard to maximize instructional space and visibility. Planned program areas include health science (with flexible simulation labs and a shared simulation lab), an energy wing (construction, oil and gas and related trades), extensive welding capacity (the presentation described seven welding labs with about 20 booths each), a machine shop, automation and supply‑chain/warehouse space, a culinary wing with multiple commercial kitchens and a second‑floor high‑school-of-choice with classrooms and a library. The design team and district said the layout emphasizes community space, visibility for instruction and separation of noisy labs from quieter classroom spaces.

Bond project managers also reported progress on other bond components: final design work and permitting for the high‑school auditorium renovation, completed design for a JROTC facility (with contractor proposals expected later this spring), design development underway for a transition learning center and the agricultural farm, and geotechnical and surveying work beginning on select sites. The district also said it is under contract to buy a 35‑acre property currently occupied by Weatherford for a new transportation base; the new site would replace the district’s current roughly 6‑acre transportation lot.

Officials said technology upgrades tied to bond projects are under way: cabling and PA/alarm installs were completed at three campuses, hardware installation began the week of Jan. 13 at another campus, and the district’s surveillance camera project is being rolled out (Odessa High School expected to finish in the next weeks, followed by Permian High School).

District staff said design and construction work will continue through spring; color‑selection and advisory committees will meet again this month and the bond oversight committee will hold its quarterly review at the end of January.

The presentation included district and community partners who served on advisory committees and helped specify lab equipment; planners said some equipment will move from existing sites to the new center and the district is pursuing grants to offset FF&E costs.

If there are no further board questions, presenters said, staff will finish design phases, complete permitting and continue procurement and site work schedules through the spring and summer.