The Littlefield Independent School District’s Board of Trustees met in regular session Monday at noon to discuss an 18-item agenda.
Prior to the meeting being called to order, Superintendent Mitch McNeese introduced the senior football players and cross country athletes that earned Academic All-State Honors, as well as their coaches.
The meeting was called to order by Board President Gary Birkelbach at 12:05 p.m.
The minutes from the previous meeting were approved by general consent and the invocation was given by Will Williams. There was nobody present for public forum and there was no administrative or Superintendent reports.
Item five was to deliberate and take possible action to approve the 2023-2024 LISD School Audit.
Mr. Jarrod Bryant, CPA of BSGN was on hand to present the Audit Report to the Board.
“As expected before the audit started and it was confirmed after the audit was completed, the district received an unmodified audit, meaning that all of your financial records are in good shape and there were no significant findings,” Bryant said. “The work that Bev and Destiny and their teams do keeps everything running smoothly and on track.”
The motion to approve the audit was made by Pat Demel and seconded by Williams. The motion carried.
Item six was to deliberate and take possible action to accept the resignation of At large Trustee Pat Demel, who term expires May 2025.
Board President Birkelbach stated that he had a letter from Demel stating his official resignation on Dec. 31st of 2024.
The motion to approve the resignation of Pat Demel was made by Hervey Valdez and seconded by Williams. The motion carried.
The Board skipped down to item nine, which was to deliberate and take possible action to approve the Lamb County Shared Services Arrangement Agreement.
“LCSSA meets annually, which they did last week, to review the agreement,” Supt. McNeese said. “Approval of the Agreement by each member district Board is an integral part to meet TEA requirements and I recommend the Board approve the LCSSA Agreement.”
The motion to approve the Lamb County Shared Services Arrangement Agreement was made by Sal Acevedo and seconded by Demel. The motion carried.
Under Texas Government Code 551.074 the board went into executive session to discuss several items on the agenda at 12:26 p.m. The Board returned from executive session at 1:51 p.m.
Upon returning from Executive Session it was decided to table items seven and eight for a special session in January, which were to deliberate regarding the process for filling the Trustee vacancy for At Large Position until the next trustee election, and deliberate in closed session under Texas Government Code 551.074 to discuss possible candidates to be appointed to fill the At Large vacancy until the next trustee election (May 2025).
Item 10 was to deliberate and take possible action to approve the purchase of football stadium lights.
“I recommend we go with option A with Musco to purchase football stadium lights,” Supt. McNeese said.
The motion was made by Acevedo and seconded by Valdez to approve the purchase of football stadium lights with Musco. The motion carried.
The next item on the agenda was to deliberate and take possible action to approve the purchase of a suburban.
“I recommend we purchase a suburban from Levelland Chevrolet, Buick and GMS,” Supt. McNeese said.
The motion to approve the purchase of a new suburban from Levelland Chevrolet, Buick and GMC was made by Johnny Castillo and seconded by Valdez. The motion carried.
Item 12 was to discuss the Facilities Maintenance Priorities Plan.
Bryan Gregory gave an update on the construction at the high school saying, “The two glaring things that you will see when you walk through there, one is that the asphalt on the south side has not been poured yet. They are looking for pristine weather; they would like it to be 70 degrees or better, but that’s not going to happen. I do fully believe they will have that asphalt in before kids arrive on Jan. 13th.”
He added, “You walk thorough the CTE areas and it looks like they’re a mile away, but they’re making progress every day. That kind of got delayed at the beginning of the project because they miscalculated the type of drainage around the outside, but they got it resolved and are playing catchup. Coach Green and his people have a herculean task ahead of them this week and next week to get everything moved in.”
No action was necessary. The next order of business was to deliberate and take possible action to approve trust property disposition.
“I recommend that we reject the purchase of the property that was gifted to us by the City of Littlefield,” Supt. McNeese said.
The motion was made by Williams and seconded by Reese Rogers to reject the property from the City of Littlefield. The motion carried.
Item 14 was to deliberate and take possible action on a budget amendment.
Destiny Chavarria went over the budget amendment with the Board, saying it was a $1,200 donation towards the softball program. No action was necessary.
Chavarria also went over the Financial and Investment Review and Report.
The motion to approve the Financial and Investment Review and Report was made by Williams and seconded by Acevedo. The motion carried.
Item 16 on the agenda was personnel matters including resignation, appointment, employment, evaluation, reassignment, duties, discipline, dismissal and/or compensation of individual employees.
There was no action for Certified Personnel.
At-Will Personnel: Paige Oman was hired as a Pre-K Paraprofessional.
Mayra Bryant gave her resignation letter. Supt. McNeese said he did not have any Board Training info for the Board at this time.
With no further business to discuss Board President Birkelbach declared the meeting adjourned at 2:01 p.m.