The Littlefield Independent School District Board of Trustees met in regular session on Monday, April 14th in the Board Room of the Jerry Blakely Administration Building.
The meeting was called to order by Board President Gary Birkelbach and he also gave the Invocation.
There was nobody present to comment during public forum and the minutes of the previous meeting were approved by general consent.
Primary Principal, Staci Sumners, Elementary Principal Jerry Russell and Junior High Principal Monica Acevedo were on hand to give updates on their respective campuses, while High Principal Brent Green couldn’t attend, but sent in a report for the Board to hear on his campus.
Item five on the agenda was to deliberate and take possible action to approve a Low Attendance Waiver.
“First off, The waivers that we put in for Jan. 21st and Jan 24th did get approved by TEA,” Superintendent Mitch McNeese said. “Then came the wind storm of March 16th. To put it into perspective, we had about 76% attendance, which comes out to about 260 kids gone that day.”
The motion was made by Hervey Valdez and seconded by Graham Henley to approve the Low Attendance Waiver for the March 14th Wind Storm. The motion carried.
The next order of business was to deliberate and take possible action to approve Student Health Accident Insurance.
“LISD carries the Texas Kids First Accident Insurance, which is supplemental to anything the parent might have,” Supt. McNeese explained. “If they don’t have insurance, it becomes the primary. Last year we paid $40,800, and this year it’s down to $36,820, so it’s one of the few things we pay for that went down.”
The motion was made by Reese Rogers and seconded by Sal Acevedo to approve the Student Health Accident Insurance for the 2025-2026 school year. The motion carried.
The next item on the agenda was to deliberate and take possible action to approve Staff Development Minutes Waiver for the 20252026 School Year.
“With this waiver it allows us to use up to 2,100 of the 76,500 school minutes as Staff Development, which we’ve been doing these last couple of years. This upcoming year, those days are September 29th, November 3rd, January 6th, February 16th, March 23rd, and April 13th.
The motion was made by Henley and seconded by Valdez to approve the Staff Development Minutes Waiver for the 2025-2026 school year: September 29th, November 3rd, January 6th, February 16th, March 23rd, and April 13th. The motion carried.
Item eight on the agenda was to deliberate and take possible action to approve a Director of the Lamb County Appraisal District for the 2025-2026 term.
The motion was made by Johnny Castillo and seconded by Rogers to approve James Sykora as the Director of the Lamb County Appraisal District for the 20252026 term. The motion carried.
The next item on the agenda was to deliberate and take possible action to approve Trust Property Disposition: No Action Necessary. The next order of business was to discuss the Facilities Maintenance Priorities Plan.
Bryan Gregory gave an update, stating, “The front yard of the new high school and the landscaping will be complete before graduation. They will probably start on that in the next couple of weeks. The practice field in the back that will ultimately be our junior high practice field, but more importantly will be our band practice field as well. They are telling us they will have that leveled and seeded and grass standing before next school year starts. We’re continuing to work on the punch list at the new high school, they’re making progress, but there is still a lot to be done. They are chipping away at it everyday.”
He added, “The construction at the new junior high is coming along well. All of the interior framing should be done next week. They have to reinforce a bunch of joints for the rooftop units and that should be done by next week. The HVAC duct work should be done by the end of this month, and a fire/sprinkler system is about three or four weeks out. The roof tying in of the new building is looking to be done next week. We did get our lights installed and we’ve tested them and know they work.”
No Action Necessary. The next item on the agenda was to deliberate and take possible action to approve the Financial and Investment Review and Report.
The motion was made by Acevedo and seconded by Castillo to approve the Financial and Investment Review and Report as presented by Destiny Chavarria. The motion carried.
Item 12 on the agenda was to deliberate and take possible action on a Budget Amendment.
The motion was made by Castillo and seconded by Valdez to approve the budget amendment. The motion carried.
The next order of business was a report on Board Member Training Hours.
“As Board President I’m required to announce the name of each member who has completed the required continuing education training: myself, Gary Birkelbach, Will Williams, Johnny Castillo, Hervey Valdez, Sal Acevedo, Reese Rogers and Graham Henley,” Birkelbach said. “All board members have nine hours of continuing education credit, which meets the annual requirement that is recommended by law.”
No Action Necessary. Item 14 on the agenda was Personnel Matters Including the Appointment, Employment, Evaluation, Reassignment, Duties, Discipline, Dismissal and/or Compensation of Individual District Employees.
Pursuant to Texas Government Code Section 551.074 the Board went into executive session to discuss personnel at 7:44 p.m. The board returned from executive session at 8:51 p.m. a) Certified Personnel The motion was made by Castillo and seconded by Valdez to hire Jena Montgomery as Junior High Principal and approve her contract for July 1, 2025. The motion carried.
Another motion was made by Acevedo and seconded by Rogers to hire Dr. Russell Pettitt as Director of Bands for the 20252026 school year. The motion carried.
Another motion was made by Valdez and seconded by Castillo to hire Rebecca Patterson (Algebra 1 Teacher), Cody Montgomery (Athletic Trainer/Teacher), and John Barry (Assistant Band Director). The motion carried.
Resignations were presented on: Tammy Green (High School Librarian), Gina Muela (JH Band Director), Nathan Hobbs (Teacher/ Coach), Emily Miller (Elementary Teacher) b) At-Will Personnel No Action Necessary. Item 15 on the agenda was to deliberate and take possible action to adopt a resolution declaring an Emergency Procurement.
The motion was made by Acevedo and seconded by Rogers to adopt a resolution declaring an Emergency Procurement. The motion carried.
The next item on the agenda was to deliberate and take possible action to approve TEKS Certification for the 2025-2026 School Year.
“Every year we certify that all of our curriculum teaches 100% of the TEKS, so we went back through that and review all of that, including the new curriculum that we adopted last year for this school year, which was our science are all on the instructional materials approved list and they all are,” Assistant Superintendent Amber Hays explained.
The motion was made by Rogers and seconded by Henley to approve TEKS Certification for 2025-2026 School Year. The motion carried.
Item 17 on the agenda was to deliberate and take possible action to approve Open Resource Instructional Material Transition Plan: “TEA has purchased their own curriculum, for math they purchased Eureka and Carnegie, which we had already moved to,” Asst. Supt. Hays said. “But, because it is now TEA, we have to write a transition plan of how we’re going to transition to their purchases. The plan says everything we’re doing to be successful, which is giving the teachers and admin the support they need.”
The motion was made by Valdez and seconded by Acevedo to approve Open Education Resource Instructional Material Transition Plan. The motion carried.
Supt. McNeese provided the Board with Board training opportunities.
With there being no further business to discuss, Board President Birkelbach declared the meeting adjourned at 8:55 p.m.