Lots of Personnel Changes at May’s LGISD Board Meeting
On the front page today are the Leopard Academy graduates who were honored at Monday’s monthly meeting of the La Grange School Board.
Here are some other highlights from the meeting: Comments from the Public Kenneth Kruse spoke first. He addressed the board, thanking the administration for representation at baseball games and the coaching staff for the professional manner in which they have handled themselves at games.
The second speaker was Zach Ezer. He spoke to the board about his decision to remove his children from the public school system and home school them. He said that the library book policy was a key factor in that decision. He said, “For all the parents that are out there that are not happy with public education, that dream of a better path forward, I’m here to tell you that it’s within your grasp.”
Personnel
There were several new hires at Monday night’s LGISD board meeting. They are: April Brossmann - 18+ SPED Teacher; Natalie Fellers - Elementary School Teacher (Music); Raylynne Fillman - Elementary School Teacher (3rd ELAR); Kara Koether - Elementary School Teacher (4th ELA); Samantha Mc-Mullin - Elementary School Teacher (4th SPED); Ryan O’Neal - High School Teacher and Coach· (G. Basketball/G. Coord) Joseph Riley - High School SPED Teacher (ELA); Abigail Sullivan - Elementary School Teacher (K SPED); Brooke McNaney - Transfer from ES Teacher (4th ELAR) to ES Counselor; and Kassidy Huelsebusch - Child Nutrition Supervisor.
Resignations were received from: Phillip Brummett - Elementary School Music Teacher; Katie Christen - Elementary School Teacher (3rd MSS); Katrina Delgadillo - Elementary School Teacher (3rd ELA); Stephanie Galvez - Elementary School Bilingual Teacher (2nd); Katherine “Katie” Gross - Licensed Professional Counselor; Haley Olsovsky - Elementary School Teacher (4th ELA); Madison Stafford - Elementary School Teacher (4th MSS); and Kylee Zapalac - High School Teacher (Ag).
Administrative Reports
Superintendent Andy McHazlett reported that the current enrollment is at 1,839 with the average daily attendance of 95.02%. He then went over several of the accomplishments for the year including: • Band – achieving multiple awards and performing at an exceptional level;
• Sports – making it to playoffs in volleyball, football, basketball, baseball, softball, swimming, track;
• Academics – Winning UIL district meet several years in a row and having students qualify to compete at the state level
• Drama – One Act Play advancing to Area Assistant Superintendent Stacy Eilers gave a report on the status of UIL Academics. She stated that two students were competing at the state level this week – Riley Lowe in ready writing and Eleanor Carey in literary criticism. She was excited to report that the Head Start program is growing. There are currently 8 children in the 2-year-old program, 15 in the 3-year-old program, and 14 in the mixed group.
Director of Operations Sharon Muzny told the board that she is currently in the process of getting vendor quotes for the high school field house roof, HVAC, and showers. She also reported that she is still waiting on the delivery of the new bus. And on school safety, she told the board that all three campuses successfully completed the TEA unannounced door audits this year.
Library Update
Library personnel Amy McCord and Pam Keilers gave an update on the library and its use to the board. They told the board that the goal is to build and maintain a strong library program. McCord stated, “Why have a strong library program? Well, strong library programs show impact on student literacy and learning. And so, libraries are often the only factor that shows a consistent and positive effect across schools.” She went on to say, “So, how do strong library programs improve student literacy? Well, one of the basic things is increasing students’ intrinsic motivation to read, and that’s the wanting to read.”
McCord told the board that the average copyright date of the books in the Pre-K-6 library is 2009 and the average copyright of the middle school/high school library is 2006. Keilers reported on the many things the middle school/high school library is used for. Some of these are:
• AP (advanced placement) testing – 8 tests with 225 students participating
• TSIA (Texas Success Initiative Assessment) college readiness test – with 240 students participating
• After school testing center used by students who were absent on day of testing – 746 students were given over 856 tests during the first semester this school year
• A professional library used by the students in dual credit classes Activities at the elementary library include:
• Read alouds and book talks • Birthday books from the book vending machine
• Draw alongs with an illustrator of children’s books via web
Swearing in of Board Members Three board members were re-installed at Monday night’s meeting. They were Anthony Wessels – Place 1, Travis Ulrich – Place 2, and Mary Gunn – Place 3. Officers for the next term were elected were re-elected: Gary Drab – president, Mary Gunn – vice-president, and Anthony Wessels – secretary.
Budget Amendments
There were three budget amendments made at the meeting.
1. Lorelei Carillo, drill team sponsor, asked for money to purchase new uniforms for the drill team. $7,500 was transferred from Instruction to Extracurricular Activities for this purchase.
2. Tammy Kubos, transportation supervisor, asked for money for repairs of the aging bus fleet. $20,000 was transferred from Instruction to Transportation for this expense.
3. Dr. Regina Walker, elementary principal, requested funds for classroom furniture. $3,315 was transferred to Instruction from other unspent budgetary items.
Insurance
The board approved the auto, liability, property, and workers’ compensation policy that was submitted by TASB Risk Management Pool. They were the only two companies that responded to the request for proposal, and only one, TASB Risk Management Pool, submitted a quote. The cost for the insurance for the next school year will be $356,308 which is an increase of $30,979 over last year.
Custodial Services
The board approved a oneyear contract renewal to the custodial service agreement with IQS. Inc.
District of Innovation
The board approved amendments to the District of Innovation Plan at Monday night’s meeting. The amendments include teacher contract days to match the adopted school calendar but not to exceed more than 187 days.
There was also a discussion of the Depository Contract Term during this time. Currently, the district has a depository contract for a term of two years, with the possibility of extension for three additional two-year terms if both parties agree. They discussed the possibility of allowing the district to extend the contract beyond the total six-year allowable if the district determines contract pricing remains competitive and there is no operational or financial reason to send the district’s banking service out for bid. The board approved the amendments with the understanding that the depository contract would be discussed at the time of extension.