ODESSA, Texas —
There's not a lot of options for parents when it comes to childcare in the Permian Basin. However, Ector County ISD is hoping to help change that by using part of Travis Elementary as a childcare facility.
The decision to use Travis Elementary for childcare comes after all the students in Travis were moved to a different school.
“So, the board made a decision several months ago to repurpose Travis where we have some elementary schools that were in need of a larger population. So we've consolidated two schools, that left the facility, Travis Elementary, vacant and what were we going to do with that, and one need that is pretty significant in our community is childcare,” said Dr. Scott Muri, superintendent for ECISD.
Ector County Judge Dustin Fawcett said addressing the need for childcare in the county would also go along way in addressing other issues in the community.
“What we're seeing is it's impacting our educational attainment on one side, but also our workforce development on the other side, which then in turn impacts your county's GDP and it affects your unemployment rates and a number of other issues," Judge Fawcett said. "So childcare is at the heart of a lot of this. And so, finding a solution is a great step forward.”
However, it wouldn't be the district running the childcare facility, but rather someone else in the community.
“Our board at our meeting next week will be asked to approve a resolution that allows a portion of that building to be used for a childcare facility, birth to age three within our community," Dr. Muri said. "We would work with a community partner, somebody who already runs a childcare program, to really operate that facility for us. And so, we would be basically leasing the facility for them to use for childcare.”