The Littlefield Independent School District’s Board of Trustees met in regular session Thursday at noon in the Board Room of the Jerry Blakely Administration Building.
The Meeting was called to order by Board President Lane Broadhurst and there was nobody present for the Public Forums.
The minutes from the previous meeting were approved as read.
Assistant Superintendent Mitch McNeese gave the administrative reports for the campus principals beginning with the high school stating that their enrollment is at 348 total students, including 95 freshmen, 94 sophomores, 78 juniors and 81 seniors.
“Benchmarking this month has gone very well,” he said. “We have data-drive plans to target needs of our students. We have work to do, but we are moving in the right direction.”
He added, “On March 2nd, we have the annual Cake Auction, Cheer tryouts and student council elections. The Band trip to Hawaii is during Spring Break.”
He stated that the junior high is sitting at 287 total students, including 99 sixth graders, 90 seventh graders and 98 eighth graders.
“Our first Focus Friday was Feb. 11th and our next one is Feb. 18th, and we’ve had a good turn out so far,” he said. “Basketball had their last basketball game on Feb. 11 th against Brownfield. We had a good season and are ready to start Track season. Our first track meet will be in Muleshoe on Feb. 24th.”
He added, “We had our second dance of the year; the students have been working hard since the last dance to earn their privileges to attend this dance. They had a great time and this time, the dance was put on by the student council. We had our first TELPAS training on Feb. 11thto prepare them for test security and confidentiality and the TELPAS Administration Process Review for all writing sample collectors. All ESL learners will be tested on March 23 rd . Cheer Practice starts on Feb. 22 nd and tryouts will be on March 2 nd . 7 th and 8 th grade Maroon Honors Band are getting geared up for the Pre-UIL Band Meet on Feb. 23 rd . The NJHS induction will be on Feb. 24 th to recognize current members and induct new members. Pete Christy will be the speaker.”
Elementary is sitting at 277 total students, including 93 third graders, 96 fourth graders and 88 fifth graders.
“Our attendance is getting better and we actually had a day this week with single-digit absences,” he said. “Fourth Grade took the ELA field test on Tuesday and are currently working on STAAR numbers and accommodations for assessments in May. We had a lot of kids for Focus Friday.”
Primary has 302 students, including 57 in Pre-K, 87 in Kindergarten, 85 first graders and 73 second graders.
“Monday, Feb. 28th, a Seusical Family Fun night in honor of Dr. Seus’ birthday and Read Access Across America Day,” he said. “We will have families at the Primary from 5:30 p.m.-6:30 p.m. and will be working with encouraging reading in the home. Activities will be set up around the campus spotlighting different Dr. Seus books and encouraging literacy.”
He added, “Focus Friday went great last Friday and we had 124 students attend. We worked with the kids in small groups and all staff was involved in the work. Eureka Math has been introduced in K-2 classrooms and teachers are excited about the curriculum.”
Asst. Supt McNeese summarized the Annual Student Performance Report, saying, “Each year from third grade to juniors we take 20 tests, so what I did was I took our tests and compared it to the region. On our tests as a whole from third grade to juniors, we were down 7% on our scores from our 2019 year, which was pre-Covid-19, compared to the region, which was down 4%. The region dropped in 17 out of the 20 tests that we take, where LISD only dropped 11 our of the 20 exams. In fifth grade reading, we were up 16% in the meets category and 15% in the masters level; in 7 th grade reading, we went up 12% in meets and 9% in masters.”
He added, “In eighth grade where we took tests in reading, math and science, across the board on average we are up 7% in every one of those tests. In English I, we are up 14% in approaches and 11% in meets; in English II, we’re up 16% in approaches and 20% in the meets category. In Algebra I, we are up 5% across the approaches and meets categories and in U.S. History, we are up 5% in approaches and 13% in masters. The percentages are up from the 2019 pre-Covid era, so we actually made some growth despite what we’ve went through the last two years.”
The motion to approve the Annual Student Performance Report, including the 2020-2021 Texas Academic Performance Report, Federal Report Card, District Accountability and Accreditation Status, and Student Performance Summary as presented by Assistant Supt. McNeese was made by Adrian Solis and seconded by Will Williams. The motion carried.
“Yellow House has requested we make the Reinvestment Zone instead of the County,” Supt. Read said.
President Broadhurst Read:
“Pursuant to Chapter 312 and 313 of the Texas Taxcode, I move that the Board approve the Doppler resolution that is presented designating the Yellow House Wind Reinvestment Zone, establishing the boundaries thereof, providing for the day February 17, 2022, as the effective date of the resolution and that the Superintendent or his designee be authorized to take such further action as may be required to establish the Yellow House Wind Reinvestment Zone.”
Superintendent Mike Read recommended the approval of the Yellow House Reinvestment Zone Resolution and the motion to approve the Yellow House Reinvestment Zone Resolution was made by Hervey Valdez Jr. and seconded by Williams. The motion carried.
“Our students have to go a total of 75,600 minutes in a school year, so we develop two drafts,” Supt. Read said. “Draft one is very similar to what is in place this year with the Focus Fridays. Draft two allows for staff development twice a semester. After we finish our first six weeks in the Fall of 2022, that Monday would begin a new six weeks and would be a staff development day, where principals could meet with staff and go over things, so that we could become more date driven.”
He added, “We put this out for principals to talk to their staff at each campus and draft two was hands down recommended.”
The motion to approve draft 2 of the 2022-2023 Littlefield ISD School Calendar was made by Gary Birkelbach and seconded by Williams the motion carried.
The Board had one trust property disposition located at 1304 W. 4 th Street. The motion to approve the sale of trust properties was made by Williams and seconded by Solis. The motion carried.
The motion was made by Birkelbach and seconded by Solis to recognize Brandon Albus as an adjunct faculty member for the 2021-2022 School Year, as recommended by Supt. Read. The motion carried.
“On the ESSER III funds, our total allocation was $3,801,123 and we’re going to use this American Recovery Plan over the course of 2020-2024,” Supt. Read said. “Regarding health and safety, we’ve done a pretty good job trying to mitigate some of the issues with Covid. The installation of bottle fillers is complete at every campus. We have the option of wearing a mask still out there. One of the best things we have done with this funding is Germ Blast.”
The motion to approve the review of LISD’s safe return to Inperson and continuity of service plan for Littlefield ISD was made by Solis and seconded by Williams. The motion carried.
Supt. Read read the recommendation from the Citizens Committee, which stated, “It is with great pleasure that our Citizens Committee recommends that you call for a Bond Election for May 7, 2022. After reviewing the Facilities Needs Assesment and the District’s Strategic Plan for Education, we believe that the Long Range Facility Plan developed represents the right path forward for the students of Littlefield Independent School District. Improving the educational environments in our schools and constructing a Career and Technical Education Center will benefit our community for generations to come. We appreciate what you do for our schools, students, staff and community.” The motion to approve the order calling for a Bond Election on May 7, 2022, was made by Johnny Castillo and seconded by Williams. The motion carried.
“I presented a budget amendment for function 52, which is security,” Bev Boldes said. “That is due to the fact that we are getting into the Guardian Program and there are some substantial costs involved with that. We did not plan for that during budgeting for this year, so we needed to do an amendment for costs and any costs that may come up. The offset of keeping a balanced budget is we still had some room from the additional money from the Dairy, so we upped the local revenue by that amount to keep a balanced budget.” Asst. Supt. McNeese brought the Board up to speed on where they’re at with the Guardian Program process.
The motion to approve the budget amendment was made by Williams and seconded by Birkelbach. The motion carried.
Boldes also went over the Financial and Investment Review and Report and the motion to approve those reports was made by Birkelbach and seconded by Castillo. The motion carried.
Pursuant to Texas Government Code Section 551.071 the Board went into executive session at 12:59 p.m. to discuss personnel matters. They returned to regular session at 2:03 p.m.
Certified Personnel: The motion was made by Valdez and seconded by Williams to approve the extension of contracts of Assistant Superintendent Mitch McNeese, Chief Financial & Operations Office Bryan Gregory, Business Manager Beverly Boldes, PEIMS Specialist Rachel Moreno, Principals-Staci Sumners, Tom Whistler, Adam Solis, and Amber Hays. Assistant Principals-Monica Acevedo and Brent Green. LCSSA Director Brette Southard, Band Director Bonnie Anderson, Athletic Director Jimmy Thomas and Technology Director Tim Gau, as recommended by Mr. Read. The motion carried with one Abstaining [Adrian Solis].
Recent At-Will Personnel hires include: Blake Green, who was hired as an Aide.
Supt. Read went over Board Training opportunities with the Board and the meeting was adjourned at 2:05 p.m.