The Levelland Independent School District (LISD) school board held a regular meeting on Wednesday to consider payment methods of bond issues, as well as hear about learning progress in school campuses.
The presenter said they would take about $2.8 million out of the district’s existing interest receiving funds and put it into an interest-bearing escrow account.
The combined money from interest earnings and the amount invested would be used to pay off about $3.5 million in 2020 issue bonds.
The board was told since the year is a taxable issue of bonds, they can get as high of a return as they can; there is no yield on returns like on tax-exempt issues.
The board was told it is a risk regardless of the decision made. The benefit of the decision could depend on what they can gain on their own by keeping it in their investments, as well as fluctuation of interest rates.
The agenda item died for a lack of motion.
Multiple reports were presented to the board during the meeting.
Presentations from Levelland Academic Beginnings Center, Capitol Elementary and South Elementary all addressed topics like attendance and subject proficiency progress under House Bill 3.
For the three schools, presenters told the board that they are addressing and working toward closing gaps between current progress and the school year goals in math and reading proficiency. Solutions included new faculty and student intervention, among other ideas.
Class sizes that exceed the student to teacher ratio outlined in an LISD District of Innovation plan were also presented to the board.
According to the meeting agenda, Texas law requires the student to teacher ratio for average daily attendance in Kthrough- fourth to stay below 22to-1. However, an exception was granted in the LISD plan.
At Capitol Elementary School, four 2nd grade homeroom classes and four 3rd grade homeroom classes exceed the ratio.
Attendees were told that parents of affected students will receive notice soon.
The superintendent report began with facility updates for the schools.
Regarding glass at the schools, the presenter said they’re still waiting to receive the supply as campuses express worries about wood surrounding glass on the campuses. The current plan is insulation surrounding the wood.
Recent rain caused roof leaks on the high school and Cactus Education Center campuses. The high school campus repairs are complete, but Cactus is still in progress.
The board was told the leaks have been plugged since, but repairs on inside damage from the water are being worked on.
Additionally, water well issues at the high school and Cactus campuses may lead to the need for two new ones being drilled.
A superintendent appraisal was part of the report, and an item highlighted was the reinstatement of a campus-to-campus transportation shuttle for staff.
The report for the Safety and Security Committee’s October meeting was presented as well. According to the meeting’s agenda, the committee includes local first responders and district personnel.
Six topics were discussed at the committee’s meeting, including an emergency operations plan update focusing on a cybersecurity annex and use of Sentinel – a school safety system for organizing collected safety and security information.
Bus drivers and bus aides underwent CPR and first aid training at the beginning of the month, the agenda reported. School safety standards comply in all required area, the board was told during the presentation.
A Teacher Incentive Allotment (TIA) report outlined potential designations for teachers in the district. According to TIA’s website, the program identifies and rewards top preforming teachers.
As listed on the agenda item, there were 10 possible new designees in the district, majority coming from Capitol Elementary and Levelland High School. Four received recognized, four received exemplary and two received masters.
The board was told that through TIA, teachers have the possibility of moving up during the process. Three designees had the possibility of moving from exemplary to masters.
An expansion/modification will add other subjects including fine arts and science classes in April 2025. The expansion will include about 25 more teachers, the board was told, but they won’t know if the submission will be approved until July.
Data collection for the expansion will not be submitted unless they are sure it will be accepted, the presenter said.
Other reports given included past fundraising activities in the district, a bilingual exception waiver identifying 25 teachers with exceptions, and athletic achievements.
Regarding personnel, a superintendent approval brought along the hiring of a 3rd grade math teacher at South Elementary under a non-certified contract with an addendum.
According to the meeting agenda, there were four resignations, six auxiliary hires and two changes of assignments – one change resulting in the addition of a new bus driver.
Safe and Supportive School Program teams for the 2024-2025 year were approved by the board.
According to the meeting’s agenda, a team serves each school campus in the district and conducts behavioral threat assessments to figure out how to best work with those involved in threats.
Teams are composed of staff with knowledge in areas like counseling, school safety and security, emergency and behavior management and mental health.
The board was told that teams were already in place and operating prior to the approval, so the approval was a bit delayed.
Team members for each campus, as well as districtwide coverage, are outlined on the Levelland Independent School District website.
An October financial report for the district was presented and approved during the meeting. The expenditures were outlined in the agenda.
Major expenditures included items like supplies for student organizations and operational payments.
The board approved a consent item on the agenda in one motion. It included approval of minutes for three October meetings, as well as superintendent credit card activity.
A public forum during the meeting included two speakers, and comments were made about sealed bids for LISD property and funding for the district’s Future Farmers of America (FFA) program.