Climate Control Innovation Could Save School Money
Highlights from Monday’s monthly meeting of the La
Grange School Board:
Ideal Impact Services The school board voted to approve an agreement to work with Ideal Impact Services and they also approved a payment plan for those services. Ideal Impact will be making improvements to the HVAC units as well as other improvements to accomplish this task of reducing the amount of energy used. The presentation from the representative of Ideal Impact Services stated that there is no upfront cost to the district. LGISD will pay 80% of the actual gas and electric savings until the net payment meet the total project fee of $465,784. If 80% of actual electric and gas savings in each quarter equals less than the minimum quarterly fee of $14,556, Ideal Impact will send LGISD a check for the difference.
Monarch Energy Monarch Energy Development approached LGISD about tax breaks for a proposed $300 million hydrogen electrolyzer plant in the district at the May board meeting. The board consulted with school’s attorneys this week and authorized them to negotiate a draft agreement with Monarch Energy Development, LLC as discussed in closed session and authorized the Superintendent to approve the final draft agreement for submission to the Comptroller subject to certification by the Comptroller and final agreement action by the board. Monarch is considering several sites for the plant, and La Grange is one of those sites being considered.
Administrative Reports Superintendent Andy McHazlett reported that the current enrollment is at 1,882 which is approximately 10 students more than at the same time last year. The reported ADA (average daily attendance) for the district is 1762, or 95.5% of total enrollment. He also reported that the district had two separate security audits. The first one was conducted by Region 13 and gave the district a lot of good information. The second one was conducted by the state. They chose to audit the middle school campus. They were unable to breach the external security. They also checked all the points on the campus and found no problems.
Assistant Superintendent Stacy Eilers told the board about the multiple activities that took place on the professional development day, Oct. 10. The activities ranged from Stop the Bleed and CPR training to parent conferences to departmental meetings, and others. She also told the board of supervision of new staff with more intensive training and support.
Director of Operations and School Safety, Sharon Muzny reported that the roof replacement at the high school/middle school cafeteria is scheduled to take place over the Thanksgiving break. She also mentioned that there are three buses in the shop right now. She stated that the EOP (emergency operating procedure) was submitted to the state.
Campus Reports The campus principals were in attendance to give their quarterly reports. Here are some of the highlights: La Grange Elementary Principal, Dr. ReginaWalker, told the board of the vision for the campus this year – One Team LEPS. LEPS stands for leadership, excellence, pride, and scholars. She also spoke of intervention practices that have been implemented this year. There is now a Reading Lab and a Math Lab available for all students in the 6th grade who need extra help this is in addition to the regular instruction in those subjects. There will also be tutoring available after school. Gifted and Talented instruction is taking place every day this year. La Grange Middle School Principal, Dr. Sarah Otto, reported that the vision for the campus is Better Together. The idea behind this is that they collaborate on all aspects of learning. Dr. Otto’s goal is for her campus to become a Blue Ribbon school. Area for growth this year is math. Safety is a priority. She stated that we tell the students “If you see something, say something,” and then we need to do something. She has added a 12 minute “brain break” each day. At this time the students can have a snack and interact with one another – no electronics. This is in an effort to help facilitate the improvement of the mental health of the staff and students on the campus. La Grange High School Principal, Mr. John Pineda, reported on many of the accomplishments by the several of the organizations at the high school campus. The focus at the high school is to help the students become college, career, or military ready. There were 110 students who took the PSAT in the La Grange Gym recently. By taking this test, the students will receive information from multiple colleges. There will be a college and career fair with 62+ exhibitors coming up on Monday, Oct. 24. There were 27 students inducted into National Honor Society recently bringing the number of students in NHS to 40.
Policy Update on Health Service The board approved a policy change to allow the purchase and administration of opioid antagonist medication (NARCAN). This will only be administered in the event of an emergency and only by designated school personnel. Increase in Adult Meal Prices The USDA (United States Department of Agriculture) requires that the charge for adult meals, at a minimum, must be greater than the amount of total reimbursement received for a free meal plus any other supplemental payments received and per-meal-value of USDA foods used for meal services. Beginning in August of 2018, each cafeteria has provided free breakfast and lunch to all LGISD students, however, students are still charged for seconds and snacks. After completing the Adult Meal Calculator Worksheet provided by the Texas Department of Agriculture, it was determined that the adult meals should now be $3.25 for breakfast and $4.50 for lunch. This is an increase of $.25 per meal.
New Bus to Be Purchased The board approved a purchase of a new bus in the amount of $129,203. This will be taken from ESSER funds (Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief Fund, a federal program administered by the Department of Education in response to the COVID-19 pandemic).
New Hires and Resignations The following paraprofessionals were hired: Karen Bellue-human resources clerk, Betty Pittitola-educational aide, Ashley Hernandez-route dispatch specialist, Leonard Acosta-Cerda-Little Leps Afterschool Care counselor. Two professional staff resignations were received at Monday night’s meeting– Trentisa Carltonelementary SPED (effective immediately) and Anna Hasher- elementary PE (effective December 2022.) David Dobbs is retiring from the transportation department as of December 2022.