A Catholic campus that was slated to be built in Midland has been delayed due to the pandemic and its resulting shutdowns.
“We do not anticipate moving into our new building this school year,” Head of Holy Cross Catholic High School Carolyn Gonzalez told the Midland Times. “COVID-19 and the economy plummeting after the pandemic spread are challenges to our completion of a new school building.”
The additional school building was planned to be an extension of the St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Church in Odessa. The new school is needed because both Midland Independent School District (ISD) and Ector County ISD project that their high school populations will increase by 2,000 students each over the next eight years, according to Holy Cross Catholic High School’s website.
| https://holycrosschs.org/
Currently, senior high school enrollment in Midland and Odessa exceeds 6,000 students, and a total of 4,000 new students in Midland and Odessa are expected to attend by the year 2026.
“We have added 11th grade this year (2020-2021) and will add 12th grade the following year,” Gonzalez said.
All four senior high schools in the area are above capacity as the booming oil and gas industry is driving companies to relocate to the area in record numbers, the Holy Cross website states. Despite the threat of the coronavirus, students returned to in-person learning on Aug. 12 but without participating in Texas Association of Private and Parochial Schools (TAPPS) athletics events.
“Last year we had a small number of students that played sports,” said Gonzalez. “We did not know the incoming students at the time so we did not want to commit to TAPPS until we had enough athletes to participate fully. We plan to join in 2021.”
After cases surged in border states, a total of 592,137 coronavirus incidents were reported statewide as of Aug. 27, with 11,805 deaths, according to the Texas Department of State Health.