LG Calendar Set for Next School Year

Highlights from Monday’s monthly meeting of the La Grange Indepdendent School District Board of Trustees:

2022-23 Calendar Approved

The 2022-23 La Grange ISD calendar was approved at Monday night’s board meeting. It will be very similar to the 2021-22 calendar. The first day of school will be Aug. 17. There will be four early release dates for instructional planning – Sept. 16, Oct. 28, Feb. 10, and March 31, as well as two early release dates at the end of each semester – Dec. 16 and May 25. Student holidays include Sept. 5 and 30, Oct. 10, Nov. 21-25 (Thanksgiving week,) Dec. 19-Jan. 3, Jan. 16, Feb. 17 and 20, March 13-17 (Spring Break,) April 7 and 10 (Easter weekend). The last day of school and graduation will be May 25.

New Band Uniforms

The board approved the purchase of new Leopard Band uniforms, drum major uniforms, and color guard uniforms for a maximum cost of $88,949.96. The current uniforms have now been used for 10 years and are beginning to fade. They are purchasing 135 new uniforms for the band and drum majors along with new uniforms for the color guard. This purchase will allow for the growth of the band program.

Budget Amendments

The board approved amendments to the budget for the purchase of a 12-passenger van, a maintenance truck and a mower.

La Grange ISD has had a need for a fleet vehicle for transporting staff and/or small numbers of students for the purposes of professional development, academic competitions, and other extracurricular activities. The use of a white fleet vehicle is fiscally advantageous for the district as well as improving the availability of drivers as a CDL is not required for the operation of this type of vehicle. The district was fortunate to locate and procure a previously owned 2020 Ford 12-passenger van locally from La Grange Ford.

Earlier this year, the need for a maintenance truck, as well as a mower, was realized by the maintenance department. A 2018 Chevrolet pickup was located and procure locally from Oviedo Chevrolet. The district solicited bids for a 72-inch mower and purchased one locally from Kleiber Tractor.

Student Recognition

Jose Estrada was honored at Monday night’s meeting for his earning a place in the 2022 ATSSB All-State Band. Out of over 10,000 competitors, only 286 earned this honor. (Pic of Jose, Cooper, Drab and Wagner)

Administrative Reports

Superintendent Bill Wagner gave an update on attendance. He stated that the current enrollment was 1,860 students. The percentage of students in attendance during the month of February was 93.77% which was up from 83.97% in January.

He reported that there were three candidates running for each of two places on the school board. and Anthony Wessels, Blake Harbers, and Jan Hill for Place 1, Travis Ullrich, Brandon Schielack, and Jim Howse for Place 2, and Mary Gunn will run unopposed for Place 3.

The board learned that 232 students and 55 staff have tested positive for COVID during the first six weeks of 2022.

There will not be any makeup days for the missed days due to the weather at this time. There were enough minutes built into the calendar to allow for some missed time.

School Board President Gary Drab reported that the search for a new superintendent is going well. The board will meet in closed session again next week to further discuss the candidates.

Assistant Superintendent Stacy Eilers reported that high school UIL is well underway. The CX debate team of Alivia Eindorf and Bianca Veitch will advance to the state competition on March 18-19. UIL one-act play district competition will take place on Friday, March 4 in La Grange. The event will start at 12:30 p.m. La Grange will be the second group competing. The public is welcome to attend. The bi-district competition for one-act play will also be in La Grange on March 22. Other UIL academic events will take place on March 21-29.

Superintendent Bill Wagner gave the report for Director of Operations Sharon Muzny as she was attending a training this week. There is a water leak under the home side parking lot at Leopard Stadium. It was reported that trying to locate the leak would destroy the parking lot so that line will be abandoned, and the city will run a new line. The roof on the cafeteria will not be replaced at this time, but instead will be repaired. Hermes Gym 1 and Hermes Gym 2 will receive some updates. The floor at Gym 1 will be repaired. Both gym floors will be sanded and re-striped.

New Hires and Resignations

Charles “David” Dobbs was hired in the maintenance department. Christina Boyd and Ana Buckert were hired in transportation. Resignations were received from the following professional teaching staff: Arcenia Auguste-La Grange Elementary, Gayle Wesson-La Grange Elementary (retirement), Patrick Walker-La Grange Middle School Coach, Michael Mazoch-La Grange High School AEP (retirement) and Diana Stevens-La Grange High School Counselor (retirement). Also, resignations were received from at-will employees Alma “Gabby” Marulanda and Arcenia Navarro.

The board approved contract renewals and extensions for administrators for the 2022-23 school year.