The Littlefield ISD School Board of Trustees met in regular session on Thursday, July 21, 2022 at 7 p.m. in the Board Room of the Jerry Blakely Administration Building.
Will Williams gave the invocation and the meeting was called to order at 7:02 p.m.
Members present were Gary Birkelbach, Johnny Castillo, Jr., Pat Demel, Adrian Solis, Hervey Valdez, Jr., Will Williams and Superintendent Mike Read.
The member absent was Lance Broadhurst. Guests present were Vince Vialle, Alan Wolf, Mitch McNeese, Bryan Gregory, Bev Boldes, Rachel Moreno, Sal Acevedo, Michelle Acevedo and Samantha Pontius with the Lamb County Leader News.
No one spoke for public forum.
Item number three on the consent agenda items was to approve the minutes from the previous meeting. Will Williams made a motion to approve the minutes, which was seconded by Adrian Solis. The motion to approve the minutes carried.
The next item on the agenda was the consideration and deliberation to approve the financing plan for Specialized Public Finance. A motion was made by Gary Birkelbach and seconded by Hervey Valdez, Jr. to approve the financing plan for Specialized Public Finance. The motion carried.
Item number five was the consideration and deliberation to modify policy EIC (LOCAL) Academic Achievement. A motion was made by Will Williams to approve the modifying policy. The motion was seconded by Johnny Castillo, Jr. The motion carried.
The next item on the agenda was the consideration and deliberation to approve LISD ESSER III Plan Review. A motion was made by Gary Birkelbach to approve the ESSER III Plan Review. The motion was seconded by Hervey Valdez, Jr., and was carried unanimously.
Item number seven was the consideration and deliberation to approve Milk Bid. A motion was made by Will Williams to approve the Milk Bid submitted by Food King #8. The motion was seconded by Gary Birkelbach. The motion carried.
The next item on the agenda was the consideration and deliberation to approve Lamb County Appraisal District Budget. A motion was made by Hervey Valdez, Jr. and seconded by Will Williams. The motion carried.
Item number nine was the consideration and deliberation to approve the 2022-2023 T-TESS Calendar. A motion was made by Will Williams to approve the calendar and seconded by Adrian Solis. The motion carried.
The next item on the agenda was the consideration and deliberation to approve the District of Innovation Plan Renewal. A motion to approve the plan renewal was made by Johnny Castillo, Jr. and seconded by Gary Birkelbach. The motion carried.
The next item on the agenda was the consideration and deliberation to approve the Trust Property Disposition. A motion was made by Adrian Solis to approve the disposition. The motion was seconded by Gary Birkelbach. The motion carried.
Item number 12 on the agenda was a policy update 119, affecting CPC (LOCAL) Office Management – Records Management, DMA (LOCAL) Professional Development – Required Staff Development, EHAA (LOCAL) Basic Instructional Program – Required Instructions (all levels), EHBB (LOCAL) Special Programs – Gifted and Talented Students, EIF (LOCAL) Academic Achievement – Graduation, FFBA (LOCAL) Crisis Intervention: Trauma – Informed Care and FFH (LOCAL) Freedom from Discrimination, Harassment and Retaliation. Super-intendent Mike Read explained to the board what each of these are. A motion was made by Adrian Solis and seconded by Johnny Castillo, Jr., to approve the policy update. The motion carried.
The next item on the agenda was the consideration and deliberation to approve the Student Handbook, Code of Conduct and Employee Handbook. A motion was made by Johnny Castillo, Jr. to approve the handbooks and code of conduct. The motion was seconded by Will Williams. The motion carried. The Student Handbook, Code of Conduct and Employee Handbook can be found on the Littlefield ISD website.
Item number 14 on the agenda was the consideration and deliberation to approve the Professional Services Agreement for Parkhill. A motion was made by Gary Birkelbach and seconded by Will Williams. The motion carried.
The next item on the agenda was the consideration and deliberation to approve construction delivery method for 2022 Bond Improvement Projects. A motion was made by Johnny Castillo, Jr. and was seconded by Adrian Solis. The motion carried.
Item number 16 on the agenda was the consideration and deliberation to approve the proposal evaluation criteria for Construction Contractors for 2022 Bond Investment Projects. A motion was made by Gary Birkelbach to approve the proposal evaluation cri teria. The motion was seconded by Hervey Valdez, Jr. The motion carried.
The next item on the agenda was the consideration and deliberation to approve the Proposal Evaluation Committee for Construction Contractors for 2022 Bond Improvement Projects. Adrian Solis and Gary Birkelbach volunteered to be on the committee. A motion was made by Solis and seconded by Will Williams to approve the Committee for Construction Contractors for 2022 Bond Investment Projects. The motion carried unanimously.
Item number 18 on the agenda was the consideration and deliberation to approve the 2021-2022 Budget Amendment. A motion was made by Gary Birkelbach and seconded by Johnny Castillo, Jr. to approve the budget amendment. The motion carried.
The next item on the agenda was to discuss Budget Meeting #2. No action was necessary.
Item number 20 on the agenda was to discuss and approve the Financial and Investment Review and Report – Federal Funds for 2022-2023 Planned use. A motion was made by Will Williams and was seconded by Hervey Valdez, Jr. to approve the financial report as presented. The motion carried.
The next item on the agenda was to discuss and approve the Facilities Maintenance Priorities Plan Update. Bryan Gregory explained the seven official items on the plan. Starting with the softball field update, they signed the contracts on Thursday, July 21, 2022. Gregory assured the board if there are any delays, the field will be playable.
The primary school playground equipment has been ordered. The equipment will not be delivered until Oct. 10 and installation is scheduled for Oct. 17, 2022.
The high school courtyard will have panels installed on Monday, July 25 and the gates will be installed Monday, Aug. 1, 2022. There are currently physical locks installed on those panels and gates, but a key card will be added when the new security equipment comes in.
For the school security and surveillance update, the school has received 25 boxes of phones on Thursday, July 21, 2022. Cameras will be added to the admin building with an intercom so Jackie Milligan can see who is coming up to the schools.
The HVAC units for the primary and gym are being upgraded. Cur rently, 19 of the 21 units at the primary are sitting on the building and at least two are delayed. They are scheduled to be delivered the second week of Aug. Those units can be replaced over a weekend. For the gym, seven of the 11 units will be installed on Monday, July 25 and they will be operational by July 29. The other four are delayed until either Aug. 27, Sept. 3 or Sept. 10, 2022. The board has elected to keep two of the old units just in case. Bryan Gregory wanted to emphasize the fact they are in no danger of being without air. The units they are replacing are operational.
For the football stadium update, the problems on the home side have been taken care of. The visitors side is in no danger and can be pushed until next year. Gregory told the board an engineer come out to look at the stadium. According to Gregory, the engineer said all that needs to be done on the visitors side is to level up the ground and it should be good for 15 to 20 years.
Last item on the official facilities maintenance priorities plan update is the Headstart playground. Gregory said they wanted to replace the soft surface under the playground equipment, which will be done by the week of Aug. 8, 2022. They also added grass underneath the big trees on the west side of the playground.
Gregory wanted to mention some items that were not part of the update. He talked about replacing the internal door locks at the junior high and high schools. Every door in the building will operate with a master key, along with individual keys. The cost to replace all the locks was $6,300. The master keys will be given to administration and to law enforcement. The master keys will be centrally located on each campus for safety and security.
Another update not on the official list was the playground equipment update for the elementary school. A slide was cracked and the metal walkways for the kids was rusted. Originally, the quote for a new walkway was $154,000, but they found three brand new walkways for $80,000. Gregory said they will have another quote in the middle of next week.
The last unofficial item was an asbestos inspection that took place on Thursday, July 21, 2022. The Texas Department of Health and Human Services requires asbestos inspections every three years. Gregory said the inspection went fine, no findings or issues at all and the paperwork was in good order.
A motion was made by Hervey Valdez, Jr. to approve the Facilities Maintenance Priorities Plan as presented. The motion was seconded by Will Williams. The motion carried unanimously.
The board then moved into an executive session at 8:35 p.m.
Pursuant to Texas Government Code Section 551.071 the Board went into executive session to discuss personnel.
The board returned for regular session at 9:11 p.m.
Item number 22 on the agenda was the consideration and deliberation of personnel matters including the resignation, appointment, employment, evaluation, reassignment, duties, discipline, dismissal and/or compensation of individual district employees.
For certified personnel, a motion was made by Hervey Valdez, Jr. to approve contracts for Probationary Contract Certified Staff members Abigail Cobb, Stephanie Westmoreland and Madisyn Franklin as recommended by Superintendent Mike Read and Principals. The motion was seconded by Adrian Solis. The motion carried unanimously.
For at-will personnel, Elizabeth Holloway was hired as a SPED Aide. Resignation letters were presented on Ashley Dendy and Russann Snider.
The last item on the agenda was to discuss Board Training Information. Mike Read provided the board with upcoming training information.
With there being no further business to discuss, Vice-President Pat Demel declared the meeting adjourned at 9:15 p.m.