LGISD Enrollment is Up, Bus Fleet Breaking Down

Here are some highlights from Monday’s monthly meeting of the La Grange ISD school

board: Roof Replacement The high school/middle school cafeteria will finally get a much-needed roof replacement. After receiving bids from two local roofing companies, the school board awarded the contract to Haworth Roofing and Seamless Gutters. They submitted a bid of $147,665.00 which was several thousand dollars less than the other company’s bid. The money for this project will be reimbursed to the district by the ESSER grant.

Administrative Reports Superintendent Andy McHazlett reported that the current enrollment is at 1,886 which is up by 16 students over the same time last year. He attributes some of the increase to students returning to in-person learning from home schooling. The current attendance rate stands at 95% district wide, with the 7th grade class leading the school with the highest weekly percentage.

Assistant Superintendent Stacy Eilers told the board that there are 41 children registered in the Head Start program with 16 on the waiting list.

Director of Operations Sharon Muzny reported that 7 of the buses in the LGISD fleet are currently in the shop. She said that we have an aging fleet and she anticipates coming to the board to approve the purchase of new buses in the near future. She also gave a report on the lockdown drill that took place last week. She stated that local law enforcement was involved and it was reported that things went well. There was also an unannounced safety and security audit performed by Region 13 and LGISD received a good report on that as well.

Each year, LGISD is required to make an annual report on the bilingual/ESL (English as a Second Language) program for the district. Nicole Ramirez, director of special programs, presented the following information to the board at Monday night’s meeting:

The district offers two types of bilingual programs. The first type is a traditional early exit program where the student receives literacy instruction in their first language and all other subjects are taught in English. The district offers this program from prek thru 2nd grade, and has an exception for this program for grades 3-6 because they have not been able to hire bilingual certified teachers for those grades. The larger program is the ESL program. This program serves all students in grades prek-12

There were 319 students identified as English Learners in the 2021-22 school year

Strategic Planning Services

Dr. Millie Klein, chief deputy executive director at the Region 13 Education Service Center presented a proposal on strategic planning services that are provided by the center. She demonstrated how strategic planning empowers stakeholders – families, community members, staff, and students – to collaboratively shape the future of their district. This process forges strong partnerships and builds a collective sense of responsibility among stakeholders as they work to complete a 3-5 year plan. The administration brought this information to the board for discussion

Fayette CAD Board of Director

The appraisal district board of directors serve two-year terms. LGISD has three representatives as the taxing entity with the largest taxable value in the county. The three representatives are Dudley Piland, Evelyn Grant and Glen Altwein. Both Mrs. Grant’s and Mr. Altwein’s terms are up. They were contacted and bother are willing to serve another term. The board voted to appoint Evelyn Grant and Glen Altwein for another two-year term on the Fayette County Appraisal District board of directors.

Canine Contraband Detection Service Contract

La Grange ISD has entered into an agreement with Accurate Detection Canines for the 2022- 23 school year. The cost for this service with be between $5,000 and $6,000.