ECMS timeline called into question
By BRENDA SOMMER bsommer@leader-news.com

Getting A Leg Up On The Job Dozens of construction workers continue trying to meet a proposed Jan. 22 deadline to have instruction under way at the new El Campo Middle School facility off FM 2765 behind the Civic Center. This worker puts ties in place to help hold up and strengthen fixtures located above the ceiling. L-N Photo by Chris Barbee

Although the move-in date for the new El Campo Middle School is still set for Jan. 22, the district should be prepared for that date to be pushed back.

That's according to information in El Campo ISD board members' agenda information packets prepared for the trustees' meeting Tuesday, which will also include discussion of changes in language and other courses.

"We are still looking at occupation of the building on Jan. 22, 2008," Superintendent Mark Pool said in his board briefing. "Although the finish work goes much slower, I have not been told that (builder) Durotech will need additional time. However, I think we should always be prepared for some delay. I know that subcontractors will have a difficult time maintaining the number of workers they need through the holiday season."

He stated much of the new furniture for the facility on FM 2765 was delivered Dec. 10 and is being stored in the new school's commons area. It will be moved into other areas of the building as work is completed.

During Tuesday's meeting, the board will be asked to formally accept the new high school practice gym and make a fi- nal payment. The practice gym and the new middle school are both being built as a result of a $19.9 million bond package approved in 2005.

Last month, after several meetings and a public hearing, a board subcommittee studying the fate of the old middle school on MLK Boulevard recommended some buildings be demolished, some gutted but saved, and that the entire property listed with a real estate agent for sale.

The board is expected to decide whether to go with that plan during Tuesday's meeting.

Trustees will be asked to approve El Campo High School principal Rich DuBroc's recommendation to eliminate German as a language offering, after the school failed to find a replacement for long-time instructor Paul Soechting, who retired in May.

The district, which took on no new German students this year, would continue to offer German III for the 2008-2009 school year in an electronic virtual classroom through the Region IV Education Service Center.

This will allow the students currently enrolled in German II to complete the foreign language requirements for the Distinguished Achievement Graduation Plan. By doing so, those students would fulfill the foreign language requirements at most universities.

As well, trustees will be asked to offer a Beginning Conversational Spanish class at Myatt Elementary for students in kindergarten and first grade. The program would consist of two 30-minute sessions each week, taught by a bilingual instructional aide already on staff.

DuBroc also recommends adding Math Independent Study to the high school curriculum to give students who have completed Algebra I, Geometry and Algebra II the opportunity to earn college credit in either College Statistics or College Trigonometry.

The El Campo Independent School District board meets at 7 p.m. Tuesday, Dec. 18 in the ECISD board room, 700 W. Norris. Meetings are open to the public.