The Littlefield Independent School District’s Board of Trustees met in regular session on Thursday during lunch to discuss a 15-item agenda.
The meeting was called to order at 12 p.m. by Board President Pat Demel and the invocation was given by Gary Birkelbach.
There was nobody present to speak during Public Forum and the minutes from the previous meeting were approved as presented.
Assistant Superintendent Amber Hays gave the Superintedent Report, saying, “Enrollment for Primary is 324 students, including 97 pre-k, 65 kindergarten, 68 first graders and 94 second graders. Elementary has a total enrollment of 227 students, including, 73 third graders, 70 fourth graders and 83 fifth graders. Junior High is sitting at 294 for enrollment, with 103 sixth graders, 88 seventh graders and 103 eighth graders and High School has 362 students, including 85 freshmen, 96 sophomores, 92 juniors and 88 seniors.”
She added, “We are currently TELPASS’ing in all four buildings and we are also gearing up to start STAAR Testing at the beginning of April from Elementary on up. They’re also doing a pizza program at Primary, they also do Coins for Kids every year, which goes towards childhood cancer; they’ve raised $861. They will have an Easter Bonnet parade in March and another family night coming up in April. Elementary had 14 students recognized at Rotary the Thursday before Spring Break and they will have spring pictures on April 3rd. Junior High had their track meet on Thursday and the Both bands competed at Sundown, where they both made sweepstakes. NJHS inductions were in February. High School had a very successful Cake Auction this year and student council has decided that the proceeds will go towards Coach Ragland to help with costs for his surgery. One-Act Play did not advance, but they did well. We have several earn All-Star Cast awards, Honorable Mention and we had one student with a tech award. Prom is Saturday and District UIL is on Tuesday.”
Item five on the agenda was to deliberate and take possible action to approve the cancellation of the May, 4, 2024, General Election for Precinct 1.
Superintendent-Elect Mitch McNeese said, “Precinct 1 was unopposed, Precinct 3, Lance Broadhurst resigned from his position and Reese Rogers was appointed to fill the expiring term of Lance Broadhurst. Reese Rogers and Brian Acevedo have signed up for Precinct 3, therefore both candidates will be on the ballot for the May 4, 2024 Election. To cancel an election the governing body must first receive and accept the certification of the unopposed candidates form. The cancelation order for ordinance must be adopted in open meeting and the candidates are not required to be present. Certificates of Election should be prepared for each unopposed candidate, however the Certificates of Election should not be issued until after the election day, May 4, as follows. Section 2.053 provides that the Certificate of Election shall be issued in the same manner and at the same time as for a candidate elected at the election. Therefore the candidates who have been declared elected at the meeting ordering the cancellation must wait until after the official election day even though no election is held and no earlier than the prescribed canvassing period even though no canvas is held to be sworn in and assume the duties. Candidates may complete the Statement of Elected Officer prior to the the Election day. The statement should be kept locally and does not need to be sent to the Secretary of State’s Office. Copies of this ordinance must be posted on Election Day at each polling place that would have been used had the Election not been cancelled.”
A motion was made by Birkelbach and seconded by Johnny Castillo to accept the Certification of Unopposed Candidates for Precinct 1. The motion carried.
Another motion was made by Castillo and seconded by Birkelbach to approve the Order of Cancellation for Precinct 1. The motion carried.
The next item on the agenda was to deliberate and take possible action to approve the 2024-2025 School Calendar.
“We went over that calendar last month, we’re going to make one change, Supt.-elect McNeese said. “We got ahold of UT, Texas A&M and TTU; they put out their calendar and their spring break is March 17-24th, so we’re going to move our spring break from the 10th to the 14th to the 17th throuh the 24th to coinside with the colleges. Other than that, the calendar is the same as we presented it in February.”
The motion was made by Birkelbach and seconded by Sal Acevedo to approve the 2024-2025 School Calendar. The motion carried.
Item seven on the agenda was to deliberate and take possible action to approve a Certification Waiver.
After coming out of Executive session, Supt.-Elect McNeese stated, “This waiver will allow us to have Brent Green serve as our High School Principal while he is completing his Principal Certifications. It must be approved by the certification board with the Texas Education Agency and I recommend its approval.” The motion to approve the Certification Waiver as presented was made by Castillo and seconded by Birkelbach. The motion carried.
The next order of business was to deliberate and take possible action to approve a Low Attendance Waiver. “This waiver will allow us the opportunity to waive our low attendance that occurred on Tuesday, Jan. 16th, after a threat was made on a student’s personal voice message,” he said. “We ended up having about 400 kids absent from school that day, which comes out to about $15,200, so we’re going to push for this waiver.”
The motion was made by Castillo and seconded by Acevedo to approve the Low Attendance Waiter as presented. The motion carried.
There were no trust property dispositions or budget amendments to discuss. Bryan Gregory went over the Facilities Maintenance Priorities Plan giving an update on the construction projects going on in the district.
“There is not a lot to talk about, the building process is going really, really good,” Gregory said. “They started with the brick process recently and they plan to set the cornerstone this week. Internally there is a lot going on, for all intensive purposes they’ve got most if not all of the walls up. They’re handing duct work, they are running electrical, they’re running plumbing; there is a tremendous amount of activity in there daily. The front parking lot on the north side has been taken out and they’re going to rebuild that and the plan is to have that complete by May 3rd, so it should not interfere with Graduation or anything.”
He added, “They’re also making progress in that infield area for the junior high as well. They’re going to try and get a roof on that thing before they pour the concrete, but everything is going accoring to plan. Two of our busses that we ordered are scheduled to be here around the first week of May and the following two are scheduled to be here around the first week of June. The Suburban that we ordered is scheduled to be here around the middle of May and the two pick-ups are due to be here around the first half of June.”
No action was necessary. Gregory also gave the Financial and Investment Review and Report.
The motion was made by Birkelbach and seconded by Acevedo to approve the Financial and Investment Review and Report as presented. The motion carried.
Pursuant to Texas Government Code Section 551.074 the Board went into Executive Session to discuss personnel at 12:20 p.m. They came back from Executive Session at 1 p.m.
For Certified Personnel, which includes Primary, Elementary, Junior High, High School, Lamb County Shared Services Arrangement, Athletic Coaches, Food Services, Maintenance and Custodial and Central Office Personnel: The motion was made by Birkelbach and seconded by Acevedo to approve contracts for Probationary Contract Certified Staff members as recommended by Mr. Read, Mr. McNeese, Principals, Athletic Director and LCSSA Director. The motion carried.
Another motion was made by Birkelbach and seconded by Acevedo to approve contracts for Term Contract Certified Staff members as recommended by Mr. Read, Mr. McNeese, Principals, Athletic Director and LCSSA Director. The motion carried.
Resignation letters were presented on Teresa Mitchell, Brenda Johnson and Jayde Elliott.
For At-Will Personnel: The motion was made by Birkelbach and seconded by Acevedo to present letters of reasonable assurance of employment to all At-Will Service/Support Personnel as recommended by Mr. Read, Mr. McNeese and Principals. The motion carried.
Supt.-elect McNeese presented Board Training information to the Board members and with their being no further business to discuss, Board President Demel adjourned the meeting at 1:05 p.m.