The Littlefield Independent School District’s Board of Trustees met in Regular Session on Monday, December 15th, in the Board Room of the Jerry Blakely Administration Building.
The meeting was called to order at 7 p.m. by Board President Reese Rogers.
Item two on the agenda was Public Hearing.
No action was necessary. There was nobody present to speak during Public Forum.
The Minutes of the previous meeting were approved by general consent. 5) Administrative Reports: High School Principal Brent Green, Elementary Principal Jerry Russell, SPED Director Brette Southard and Athletic Director Brent Green were on hand to give an update on their respective campus or department.
High School Cross Country Coach Jarrod Thomas also introduced junior state qualifier, Noah Villanueva, who was recognized for his accomplishments in cross country for the 2025 season.
Assistant Superintendent Amber Hays gave an update on Junior High and Primary campuses.
Superintendent Mitch McNeese also stated, “I know this semester has flown by, but I know this group as a whole has worked extremely hard and I appreciate everything that every single one of these folks are doing. Mrs. Hays has been working really hard with the administrative team academically and trying to find the sweet spot of what we’re trying to do. If something isn’t working, we pivot and we try something different.
He added, “With the administrative team that we have here and the effort they’re putting into this, we’re going to get where we need to be, it’s not for lack of effort. Some things are working and some aren’t working, but I know we will find a solution to help get these kids where they need to be. I have complete faith in what these guys are doing; it is a tough job, but we’re going to get where we need to be. Great things are happening.”
Item six on the agenda was a discussion and possible action on the Amendment No. 2 to Agreement for Limitation on Appraised Value between the District and Continental Dairy Facilities Southwest, LLC, Texas Comptroller Application Number 1137, pursuant to Chapter 313 of the Texas Tax Code, as that statute existed immediately before its expiration pursuant to Section 313.171(a).
“ Fred Stormer, he’s a lawyer at the Underwood Law Firm. He reached out to me to let us know that they’re changing ownership, so for that to happen and make sure that the 313 agreement stays the way that it is and we fulfill that for the next year, because it ends in 2026, that we have to recognize this. Nothing changes other than the ownership.”
He added, “I move that the Board approve the Amendment No. 2 to the agreement for Limitation on Appraised Value between the District and Continental Dairy Facilities Southwest, LLC, as presented, thereby modifying the agreement for Limitation on appraised values dated Dec. 1, 2016, the Texas Comptroller application Number 1137 to reflect the agreement has been transferred and assigned to CDI Texas, LLC, and authorize the Board President to execute the Amendment No. 2 on behalf of the district and further authorize the Superintendent to take such other action that may be required under Chapter 313 of the Texas Tax Code, as the statute existed immediately before its expiration pursuant to Section 313.171(a) or as required by the Comptrollers related rules.”
A motion was made by Sal Acevedo and seconded by Will Williams to approve Agreement Amendment No. 2. The motion carried.
The next order of business was to deliberate and take possible action to approve the 2024-2025 LISD School Audit.
Ty Harpenau of Bollinger, Segars, Gilbert & Moss LLP was in attendance to present the 2024- 2025 LISD School Audit Report.
“I’ve been here when Bev was here and transitioned through Destiny, and when you do something like that, you get nervous, because Bev had so much knowledge. We weren’t worried about Destiny so to say, but when somebody like Bev leaves, you wonder how you’re going to replace all of that. I’m happy to say that Destiny has done a really good job with that this year. As a result of that, you guys got a clean opinion, unmodified opinion on financial statement.”
He added, “That is the best you can get, that is what you’re looking for and Destiny really handled that transition well.
A motion made by Garry Ozbirn and seconded by Hervey Valdez to approve the 2024-2025 LISD School Audit. The motion carried.
Item eight on the agenda was to deliberate and take possible action to approve Lamb County Shared Services Arrangement Agreement.
“Brette went over this in the Superintendent Report and I recommend we approve that.” Supt. McNeese said.
A motion was made by Shawna Hastings and seconded by Johnny Castillo to approve Lamb County Shared Services Arrangement Agreement. The Motion carried.
The next order of business was to deliberate and take possible action to approve Resolution to Declare a Good Cause Exemption for House Bill 3 Armed Security Officer Requirement.
“Back in the Day when we first got the Guardian Program, we had a Marshall Program, we had a Guardian Program and a Peace Officer,” Supt. McNeese said. “HB 3 requires the Board to ensure that at least one armed security officer is present during school hours at each district campus. It also requires that at least one armed security officer at each campus be a commissioned peace officer, namely a school district peace officer or a school resource officer or a commissioned peace officer employed as a security personnel. If the Board of Trustees of the District is unable to comply with this section the Board may claim a Good Cause Exemption if the district’s non-compliance is due to the availability of funding or qualified of personnel.”
He added, “I did call the City Manager and spoke to Ray Resendez and I talked to Police Chief Sammy Garcia, and he said they have to hire four police officers and those guys would be assigned to us. At this time, they couldn’t fill those positions, so that is why we’re going to ask for a Good Cause Exemption for HB3, which will take us through the remainder of this school year. I said I would talk to Ray again in the summer and ask him if he could find four more certified peace officers and how would we share them and what percentage of their pay would the school cover and what percentage would the City cover.”
A motion was made by Acevedo and seconded by Valdez to approve Resolution to Declare a Good Cause Exemption for House Bill 3 Armed Security Officer Requirement. The motion carried.
Item 10 on the agenda was a discussion of Facilities and Maintenance Priorities Plan.
Bryan Gregory gave an update on projects going on around the district stating, “ Teinert still has a few people still on sight and subcontractors are still in and out. They were supposed to be done a month or two ago, but they’re still not quite done. They’re continuing to take care of the little things that need to be taken care of. We had a one-year walk through with Teinert at the High School and there are dozens of minor things that have to be taken care of. Teinert will take care of everything as long as we need them to. At some point they will write us a warranty log that they will give us that will tell us how long everything they didn’t accomplish will be under warranty.”
He added, “We also did a walk through at the Junior High, and there are multiple cosmetic things that they’re committed to taking care of. I anticipate that it will be in the January, February time frame before they’re done. But, it is looking good. I’m excited about all of our CTE programs, but I really think we hit a homerun with our Autotech program, as well as the person we hired to teach that program. For all intensive purposes that building is complete, we’ve got a few minor things here and there. The Auditorium, which was not part of the bond agreement, is being painted as we speak. We also got some lights and speakers for it and the stage was resurfaced as well. Trees are planted at the stadium and we’ve got quotes on speakers for the football stadium.”
No action was necessary. Item 11 was to deliberate and take possible action to approve Budget Amendment.
No action was necessary.
The next order of business was to deliberate and take possible action to approve Financial and Investment Review / Report.
Destiny Chavarria presented the Financial and Investment Review and Report.
A motion was made by Acevedo and seconded by Ozbirn to approve the Financial and Investment Review and Report. The motion carried.
Item 13 on the agenda was Personnel Matters Including the Appointment, Employment, Evaluation, Reassignment, Duties, Discipline, Dismissal and/or Compensation of Individual District Employees. a) Certified Personnel b) At-Will Personnel No action was necessary. Supt. McNeese informed the board of training oppor-tunities.
With there being no further business to discuss, Board President Rogers declared the meeting adjourned at 7:59 p.m.