Construction & Custodians Top School Board Business
Drab Re-Elected Board President
Even with school facilities closed to students, the La Grange Independent School District Board of Trustees continues to plan ahead. They held their monthly meeting Monday. Here’s a roundup of items discussed:
Construction Update
The bond construction was on the agenda for the La Grange School Board on Monday night. Tony Neilsen from Claycomb Architects presented the board with an update. The district offices located in the old ag building are moving along. The concrete for the parking has been poured. The offices are nearing completion. The bus lane and parking at the elementary school is almost complete as well. They have begun working on the band hall for the elementary school which will be located in the old library. This is ahead of schedule since there are no students using this building currently. The scheduled date of completion is January 1, 2021.
Outsourcing Custodial Services
LGISD will be outsourcing the custodial services to Industrial Quality Services (IQS). The company is a family-owned business with offices in Texas and Louisiana. They have been highly recommended to the district by schools in the area (Giddings, Smithville, Lexington and Caldwell.) They plan to employee the current custodial staff. Finance Director Diana Fitzpatrick calculated the district costs associated with custodial services (such as wages, benefits, equipment and supplies) and found that the district was spending $692,442.67 per year. IQS quoted a price for a turnkey custodial service of $659,028 per year. The board entered into a three-year contract on Monday evening.
Board Members Sworn In
The LGISD board of trustees had two incumbents re-elected due to having no opposition in the school board election for 2020. Gary Drab and Marc Fitzpatrick were sworn in for another term on the school board and then the board was reorganized for service. Gary Drab was re-elected as president, Marc Fitzpatrick was re-elected as vice-president and Donald Mayer was re-elected as secretary.
Alternate Health Insurance
The employees of LGISD will have more choices for their insurance coverage during the next school year. Currently the district offers TRS-Active Care. Next year the district will offer an additional choice through the Texas Schools Health Benefits Program.
Administrative Reports
Superintendent Bill Wagner reported that the high school scholarship program will take place on Wednesday, May 27 at 8:30 a.m. It will be in the parking lot with graduates and their families remaining in their cars and the graduates coming up one at a time to receive recognition for the scholarships that were awarded. The graduation exercises are currently scheduled for Thursday, June 25.
Assistant Superintendent Stacy Eilers reported that plans are underway for summer school. There will be a delayed start date, probably mid-June. She spoke to the board of the cybersecurity training that they would need to complete online. She told the board that all of the district staff members were working on completion of this training and that almost all were done. There were many waivers that had to be applied for due to the COVID-19 crisis preventing the district from completing these activities.
The district applied for the Educator Appraisal Waiver, the ASVAB Waiver, the Instructional Materials Waiver, and the CPR for Seniors Waiver.
Director of Operations Neal Miller reported that the drive-thru meals are going well. They are now serving approximately 500 meal packets (5 breakfasts and 5 lunches) per week.
New Hires and Resignations
The board approved probationary contracts for Katey Crowley - Hermes/Intermediate teacher and Euan Blackman - high school science teacher. Resignations were accepted from Cherie Oltmann - ARD Facilitator with CRC (Colorado River Cooperative) and Courtney Grafton - Hermes/Intermediate teacher.