The Levelland ISD Board of Trustees held their December meeting before the Christmas break with a focus on approving housekeeping items ahead of the new year.
To kick off the meeting, a public hearing was held for the results of the FIRST Report. The Texas Education Agency has finalized the results of the 2022 2023 School Financial Integrity Rating System of Texas. In accordance with Title 19, Texas Administrative Code, Section 109.1005, each district is required to conduct a hearing for public discussion on the results.
Beginning with the 14-15 year ratings are now “A” equals Superior, “B” equals Above Standard, “C” equals Meets Standard and “F” equals Substandard Achievement.
It was explained that the district is required to conduct a hearing and to discuss the indicators on the report and the overall rating of the district. They are also required to distribute the report to each of the campuses in the district. The report was scheduled to be sent to each campus following the meeting.
Districts were evaluated on information derived primarily from their annual audit reports and from PEIMS data submissions. Levelland ISD scored a 100 out of 100 which earned an “A” or “Superior” rating on the 20232024 School FIRST. The report is available at the central office.
Moving forward, the Learning Acceleration Support Opportunities (LASO) was presented to the board. The LASO grant is a new application cycle that consolidates multiple grant funding opportunities aimed at accelerating learning and supporting innovation.
Levelland ISD is seeking support in the application for the Strong Foundations Implementation (SFI) grant. The grant provides funds to LEAs for technical assistance and professional development, supporting the effective implementation of Texas’ open education resources (OER) instructional materials.
Levelland ISD plans to implement the following OER materials: Bluebonnet Learning K-5 Reading Language Arts, Edition 1 (to replace Amplify).
Bluebonnet Learning K-5 Math, Edition 1 (to replace Eureka).
Bluebonnet Learning Secondary Mathematics, Edition 1 (Grades 6-8 and Algebra I) [to replace Carnegie].
Bluebonnet Learning materials align with Texas standards and closely mirror the previous curriculum, ensuring minimal changes for students and staff.
Additionally, digital OERs are free, providing both a better curriculum for students and reduced costs for the district.
The administration recommended the Board’s support of the LASO Strong Foundations Implementation Grant, which was approved.
Laslty, the Intruder Detection Audit (IDA) process is designed to evaluate the safety and security of campuses based on a set of physical and procedural criteria, developed in coordination with the Texas School Safety Center (TxSSC) as required by TEC, §37.1084. The Texas Education Agency (TEA) contracts with Regional Educational Service Centers (ESCs) to conduct campus IDAs. The ESC inspectors utilize a rubric that is divided into three sections, or Phases. The phases are:
Phase 1: Intruder Access Phase 2: Exterior Door Audit / Door Sweeps: Door Logs Phase 3: Interior Doors As a result of a finding in one of the phases during the District’s most recent IDA on November 19, 2024, Levelland ISD is required to provide public notice, through a posting in the board agenda for the next board meeting (December 18, 2024), as well as discussion of the intruder detection audit finding.
The District must submit through Sentinel a copy of the agenda from the school board meeting showing that a report of the Intruder Detection Audit was discussed, as well as other corrective actions, within 60 calendar days (deadline is January 18, 2025).