School Board Approves Staff Changes, Borrows $2 Million

The La Grange School Board met for their monthly meeting Monday with lots to talk about: 

Staffing Updates

New teacher/professional staff for the 2024-25 school year are: Angela Griffinreading intervention (middle school); Virginia Limer-1st grade self-contained teacher (elementary school); Robert Barber-transfer from teacher/ coach history (high school) to AEP teacher (high school); Tara Bennett- transfer from integrated technologist (elementary school) to science teacher (middle school); Jill Hutchins-transfer from assistant principal (elementary school) to special education teacher (elementary school); Jesus Martinez-transfer from special education teacher (elementary school) to educational aide structured/behavior (elementary school); Zachary Mueller-transfer from physical education teacher/coach (elementary school) to technology applications teacher/ coach (middle school); Jeanette Sullivan-transfer from special education teacher (middle school) to structured behavior special education teacher (elementary school).

Resignations were received from the following professional staff: Carlos Guevara-Spanish teacher/ coach (high school), Taylor Jensen-special education support specialist, Mary Matocha-1st grade teacher (elementary school); Brenna Munsch-1st grade teacher (elementary school), Lorena Naiser-English teacher (high school); Katy Scott Williamsscience teacher/coach (middle school); Caitlin Urban-reading lab teacher (middle school).

Paraprofessional staffing hires included: Janine Grimes-food service manager in training. Resignations were received from Leonard Acosta-bus shop/driver; Ana Buckert-bus driver.

Maintenance Tax Notes 

The board has been in consultations with PFM Financial Advisors discussing the possibility of a maintenance tax note. A representative from PFM attended the April board meeting and shared with the board their preliminary findings. Previously, it was reported that if LGISD issued a $2 million maintenance tax note at a rate of 4.75%, the total debt service would be approximately $2.8 million. At Monday night’s meeting, PFM reported that after sending the proposal to many banks, Webster Bank came back with an interest rate of 4.495%. This would result in a yearly payout of $194,000 to $198,000 over the next 15 years.

The board voted to move forward with this plan.

What does this all mean for the district? In the past, the district had budgeted approximately $190,000-200,000 each year for maintenance expenses. Often this resulted in necessary repairs being delayed for one or more years. With a $2 million note, the district can have the money to make necessary repairs without having to wait, and the yearly expense will be approximately the same.

and Officer Election 

Calvin Mersiovsky and Karen Roberts were sworn in for their new terms as school board members at Monday night’s meeting. After their inductions, the board was reorganized with the following officers elected: Gary Drabpresident, Mary Gunn-vicepresident, and Anthony Wessels- secretary.

Comments from the Public 

Rebecca Hegar, former University of Texas professor and current resident of La Grange, spoke to the board about book banning concerns. Many of the books that are on the list of challenged library materials have a similar theme: difficult life events and how kids cope with them. She went on to say, “In these books, the kids often don’t feel they fit in. That’s because most adolescents feel they don’t fit in, right? One boy is a loner and has no friends and thinks he has the face of a gopher. One is about three scholarship kids at a fancy prep school. One is about a Mexican-American family from San Antonio in the 1930s who have moved to East Texas because there is work in the oil boom. All kids who don’t fit in and part of the backstory is often that their parents are absent or have died. Some people may think that’s a commentary on modern family structure, but actually children’s literature is full of orphans like Huck Finn and Jane Eyre, Oliver Twist and Heidi, Anne of Green Gables. You could go on and on because one of the preoccupations of adolescence is ‘How would I handle this on my own?’ And these books capture that. Some of the things that kids have to confront in theses books are: friends who die. In one case, a girl dies after drinking and goes out in her car and crashes it. That’s not a bad object lesson. Another theme is that disasters happen. Two of the books are based on actual disasters – Hurricane Katrina and the horrible explosion at an elementary school in East Texas due to an absolutely preventable gas leak. These books are not about romance, they are about friendship. In one, a young couple who are in love are determined to wait for graduation and marriage before they proceed with intimacy. Is there adolescent drinking? – Yes. Is there crude language? – Yes. I would say just about the minimum of crude language to make it clear that kids are talking. Mark Twain was criticized for this same thing when he wrote Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn, because he wrote them the way kids talk. Do these teens have sexual impulses and do they try to figure out how to handle them? – Yes. But somebody on the Supreme Court once said, ‘I can’t define pornography, but I know it when I see it.’ I do not see it in these books. The themes are friendship, coping with life, and they are very positive.”

Administrative Reports 

Superintendent Andy McHazlett reported that the current enrollment is 1,907 students which is up from 1,891 at this time last year. The breakdown of the student population is elementary school – 1,009; middle school – 305; and high school – 593.

Assistant Superintendent Stacy Eilers told the board that the district had five students compete at the state level in UIL academics. Head Start has 33 students with nine staff members in three classrooms currently.

Director of Operations Sharon Muzny reported that the transportation staff is planning for the summer school bus routes. School safety upgrades will be made over the summer. The largest one will be replacing door hardware and locks across the district.