The Littlefield Independent School District’s Board of Trustees met in regular session on Thursday in the Board Room of the Jerry Blakely Administration Building.
The meeting was called to order by Board President Lance Broadhurst at 7 p.m. and the invocation was given by Will Williams.
Matt Meredith spoke during public forum concerning school safety and the minutes from the previous meeting were approved by general consent.
Dr. Amber Hays gave an update on primary, starting with enrollment, saying that they have 68 Pre-K students, 73 kindergarteners, 86 first graders and 92 second graders.
“April 26 th is kite day, it’s parent involvement; we will be around the schools from 5 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. that day. Kindergarten and second grade have field trips planned for May 4 th , also our big bug musical will be at 1:30 p.m. at the football field. May 12 th is our Primary Field Day for K-2nd; kinder graduation is going to be May 21 st and we are also wrapping up our end of year benchmarks.
Dr. Hays also gave an update on the High School stating that they have 96 freshmen, 79 sophomores, 87 juniors and 89 seniors.
“April 29 th we’re going to do a drug and alcohol awareness assembly; we were supposed to do Shattered Dreams this year, but due to having to move it to the spring we couldn’t do it,” she explained. “May 4-6 we have STAAR testing, May 5 th we have our seniors going to SPC, May 6 th is Senior Skip Day, May 8 th is Prom, May 10 th is our NHS induction, May 12 th is the Wildcat Wish Presentation, May 13 th is our Bands concert, May 16 th is Baccolarate, May 17 th is our Chamber Awards, semester tests will be the 17 th through the 19 th , and the awards assembly will be May 20 th in the morning. Graduation will wrap things up on May 21 st and then we will move on to summer school.”
Elementary Principal Tom Whistler gave an update on his campus stating that they have 96 third graders, 91 fourth graders and 99 fifth graders.
“We had our practice tests for fifth grade this week, as we get ready for the STAAR Test. Our STAAR Test will be on May 11 th , 12 th , and 13 th . Third, fourth and fifth grade will be testing on the 11 th and 12 th and fifth grade only on the 13 th ,” he said. “We have a music program coming up on May 7 th and our awards assembly is going to be during the day, one grade at a time on May 6 th .”
He added, “Our fifth grade D.A.R.E. field trip is scheduled for May 15 th .
Junior High Principal Adam Solis said that they have 86 sixth graders, 97 seventh graders and 93 8 th graders.
“We have STAAR tests coming starting with eighth grade science on May 6 th , May 7 th will be eighth grade social studies, May 11 th will be eighth grade math and May 12 th will be the eighth grade reading test. April 30 th our chess club will be going to Atkins Middle School in Lubbock.”
He added, “May 7 th is going to be eighth grade graduation at the junior high at 6 p.m. May 10 th sixth grade is going to be taking a field trip to First United Bank in Littlefield. May 14 th NJHS and Student Council will be going to Joyland for their field trip, May 17 th LJHS awards assembly will take place at 10 a.m. at the junior high auditorium, May 17 th , 18 th and 19 th are our semester tests and on May 20 th we have a student field day.”
Athletic Director Jimmy Thomas gave an update on athletics, saying, “We’re already through district track, our tennis and golf teams have completed their season. Ian Cozart was a second-place medalist in golf and then competed at the Regional Golf Tournament this past Monday and Tuesday and did good. We had a really, really good Area track meet; all three of our boys relays made it to Regionals, as well as our girl’s sprint relay. Individually, Javier Ibarra made it to regionals in the 100-meter dash, Jordan Trevino in the long jump and Kevie Hood in the shot put and discus.”
He added, “On the girl’s side, individually, Madison McNeese made it to regionals in the high jump and both hurdle events; Ashtyn Parker in the shot put and Lindsey Coffman in the high jump. Softball made the play-offs for the first time since 2016, and will be going south in the first round. The first round match-up depends on the outcome of Saturday’s contest against Muleshoe. Baseball is 5- 0, needing one more win for the district championship. They have a special situation because they could do it here on senior night on Saturday night. Lastly, the Athletic Banquet will be on Monday, May 10 th .
Brette Southard gave an update on his program, saying, “my staff has worked fast and furious to catch up with testing. We started behind because of COVID-19, but my diagnosticians have done an excellent job, as well as our speech therapists.”
Lisa Kloiber provided the Board an update regarding their current taxable values and their appeal. No action was taken.
There was also no action taken regarding the Guardian Program or Trust Property disposition.
Mitch McNeese presented a Discipline Point System for the 2021-22 school year, saying, “I think this is something that is going to benefit our administrative staff greatly. I’ve been doing this for 14 years, and when me and Mr. Hobbs were at the high school we were always calling the junior high, and when I was at junior high, I was always calling Mr. Read or Mr. Golden and we were always bouncing ideas off of one another. With this point system, it takes all of the guessing and calling out of the picture. You just go by the points, you follow the system, it’s easy for adminstrators to track and the parents will know the point system as well.”
He added, “ You can rack up 10 points before you’re removed from the classroom. At the end of the semester, you points will be erased and will start over with the new semester. The good thing about this system is that it keeps everything uniform from junior high to high school.”
The motion to approve the Discipline Point System was made by Adrian Solis and seconded by Pat Demel. The motion carried.
Mike Read presented the Facilities Maintenance Priorities Plan, saying, “Last meeting, I talked to you guys about some things I would like to see accomplished: refurbishing the press box on the visiting side of the football stadium and new lights at the football stadium. The other thing was looking at putting a scoreboard in the center of Wildcat Gym above the court.”
The motion to approve the Facilities Maintenance Priorities Plan was made by Solis and seconded by Gary Birkelbach. The motion carried.
Mr. Read explained to the Board that Webb, Webb & Wright is no longer auditing schools, therefore they have to choose a new auditor. The motion to approve Bolinger, Segars, Gilbert & Moss as the new auditor for LISD for the 2021-22 school year was made by Solis and seconded by Birkelbach. The motion carried.
Pursuant to Texas Government Code Section 551.071 the Board went into executive session to discuss personnel matters at 8 p.m. The Board returned to regular session at 8:46 p.m.
In regrads to certified personnel, the motion was made by Solis and seconded by Williams to approve contracts for Probationary Contract Certified Staff members: Lisa Kelly and Logan Mitchell) and Term Contract Stafff member (Staci Sumners) as recommended by Mr. Read, Principals, and Athletic Director. The motion carried.
Resignations were presented on Martha Carabajal, Bryson Calaway, George Davis, Sandra Culwell and Madison Mikeska.
Mr. Read presented the Financial and Investment Review and Report and the motion to approve the Financial and Investment Review and Report was made by Hervey Valdez Jr. and seconded by Solis. The motion carried.
Board Training information was presented by Mr. Read and the meetin was adjourned by President Broadhurst at 8:59 p.m.