LGISD News: Track Done, Board Spots Up for Election
The monthly meeting of the La Grange ISD school board was held Monday. Here’s a roundup of the action:
Public Comment
Patsy Parker spoke to the board asking for them to “lead Texas in the nation with graduating students ready for firm foundations in their town and profession knowing where to turn for any answer – Jesus and his word.”
Jan Hill also addressed the board concerning two issues. The first one was school activities on Wednesday nights. She feels that students should not have to choose between a school event and a church activity on the same night. The second issue was school security. She stated that school security should not be only when there is a threat. We should be prepared every day. She feels that the solution is to install metal detectors at all the entrances to the school.
Call for Board Election
Three LGISD Board of Trustees places are up for election. The election will be held on May 7, 2022. Place 1 is currently held by Dr. Don Mayer, Place 2 is held by Greg Trlicek, and Place 3 is held by Mary White Gunn. The administration is recommending that the Fayette County Elections Office administer the early voting period of April 25, 2022 through May 3, 2022 at the administration office and conduct the election day voting on May 7, 2022 at La Grange City Hall.
Track Ready for Use
Tony Nielsen of Claycomb Architects reported that with the exception of a few final punch list items to complete, the new track at LGISD is ready for use.
Financial Management Report
The Financial Integrity Rating System of Texas (FIRST) is a financial accountability system for Texas school districts developed by the Texas Education Agency (TEA) in response to Senate Bill 875 of the 76th Texas Legislature in 1999. LGISD received an “A = Superior” on the report for the 2020-2021 ratings which are based on the 2019- 2020 school year data. LGISD received a numerical score of a perfect 100 on this report.
Roofing Contractors
The district was seeking quotes for the needed roof replacement. District personnel reached out to three vendors: Vincent’s Roofing, Inc., Haworth Roofing, and Coryell Roofing and Construction, Inc. Weaver and Jacobs had also submitted a change order proposal for consideration. Quotes were received from Vincent’s Roofing, Inc. and Coryell Roofing and Construction, Inc. Haworth Roofing did not submit a proposal. No decision was made at this meeting.
HVAC Assessment at LHS
The high school building has many original HVAC units approaching 30 years old. There are units that are non-functioning and units nearing critical failure. The maintenance department has repaired and maintained units as much as possible, but at any given time, one or more of these can (and have) failed leaving the classroom space uncomfortable or unusable.
Trane Energy Solutions provided an assessment of the current and needs at the high school building. The district also inquired about conditioning the spaces of the middle school locker room, weight room, and concessions – all located at Leopard Stadium. Trane provided a list of HVAC units with their assessment, and the district converted it into a five phase plan reflecting the district’s needs from the highest priority to the lowest.
Administrative Reports
Superintendent Bill Wagner reported current enrollment is 1,871 students. He also stated that there have been no new COVID cases since Thanksgiving. He commended the staff for how they handled the recent threat to the safety of the school.
Assistant Superintendent Stacy Eilers reported that there are three upcoming in-service days in January. Jan. 3 will be a teacher work day, Jan. 4 will be a campus in-service day and Jan. 17 will be a district in-service day.
Director of Operations Sharon Muzny told the board that some maintenance will take place during the Christmas break. One of the projects scheduled to take place during that time is replacement of some of the carpet in the pre-k/kindergarten building.