LHISD Board Briefs

Dear Liberty Hill ISD teachers and staff,

Our Board of Trustees have spent countless hours over the past several months in budget workshops, carefully weighing the difficult choices needed to balance our budget while keeping our focus on students and staff. Over the last two years, our district has cut and realized deficits of more than $10 million from our budget—that has left class sizes too high, reduced many student support programs and has limited us from being able to continue paying our staff at a competitive enough rate to the region.

As you’ll see in the press release below, the Board voted to call for a Tax Ratification Election, also known as a TRE or Prop A, this November. If approved, this would help restore some of the programs and staffing we’ve lost and prevent further cuts. I encourage you to visit LHvotes.com to learn more about Proposition A and how it impacts our schools and community. Early voting is October 20-31, and Election Day is Tuesday, November 4, 2025.

Attached is the Liberty Hill ISD Prop A Ethics handout that clarifies our role as school district employees during an election. We will follow these guidelines. Please review this handout and save it for future reference. The school district is responsible for sharing factual information only about the proposed bond package with voters.

Over the next couple of weeks, I’ll be visiting campuses to join staff meetings and answer your questions directly. I look forward to connecting with you, sharing more details, and listening to your thoughts. Thank you for continuing to make a difference in the lives of our students and families.

Sincerely,
Travis Motal
LHISD Interim Superintendent

LIBERTY HILL, Texas – During the August regular board meeting, the Liberty Hill Independent School District Board of Trustees unanimously called for a tax ratification election, also known as Proposition A, to be placed on the Nov. 4, 2025, election ballot.

If approved by voters, Prop A is designed to generate $10.9 million in new revenue for the Maintenance & Operations Budget, which would be used to pay for expenses such as student programming and instructional materials, safety and security standards, teacher and staff salaries, and utilities.

“The reality is that budget cuts over the last two years reduced student program opportunities and increased the burden on our teachers and staff,” said LHISD Interim Superintendent Travis Motal. “Prop A is about restoring what was lost—programs, resources, and staffing—so that we can deliver the level of education that meets Liberty Hill ISD’s vision of building champions in academics, character and community.”

The district is facing budget constraints due to growth, inflation, underfunded mandates, and a previously failed tax ratification election. In response to these budget challenges, the district has had over $10M in cuts and realized deficits in the past two years. These cuts led to increased class sizes, the consolidation of the Gifted and Talented, English as a Second Language (ESL), STEM, and library programs, and reductions in teacher support.

If Prop A passes, Liberty Hill ISD will reinvest in the programs and the staffing that were cut. The funding would focus on the following priorities:

Student Programming
Safety and Security
Teacher and Staff Retention

“Our Board has worked diligently to balance the priorities of a growing district with a commitment to financial responsibility,” said LHISD Board President Megan Parsons. “We want to stay at a balanced budget; however, it came at such a high cost to get here. Prop A gives voters the opportunity to restore what was cut due to budget shortfalls and prevent additional cuts in the future.”

If Prop A is approved, the average monthly impact on a $470,000 home would be an additional $29 per month, or $1 per day. The tax impact includes the most recent compression and assumes the homestead exemption of $140,000 to be voted on in November.

The Texas Legislature passed House Bill 2 during the 2025 session. This money was earmarked for state mandates. It was not general funding to be utilized towards the increasing costs stemming from inflation and growth.

Legislation also included significant property tax relief measures aimed at homeowners aged 65 and older. This means eligible individuals can now receive a total school tax exemption of up to $200,000 if approved by voters in November. The existing school district tax freeze for seniors remains, ensuring that school district taxes on their home won't increase after they qualify, unless they make major home improvements.

More information about Prop A can be found on our website, LHvotes.com. The district will also host community meetings in the coming weeks.

Election Guidance for District Employees

LHISD School Board and Interim Superintendent Honor Kathy Major as she resigns from the Board of Trustees

LHISD Board of Trustees honor the Panther Pit Crew for their generosity to our students

- Click on the underlined areas to visit that part of the board meeting live stream. -

Public Comments

There were no general public comments at this meeting.

Public Hearing

A public hearing to discuss the 2025-26 budget and proposed tax rate was presented by Chief Financial Officer Rosanna Guerrero.
Community member Zeb Miller had public comments thanking the Board and district staff for their hard work stating that we cannot afford more cuts and that he hoped the Board would call for the VATRE.

Communication Items - District Updates
Interim Superintendent Travis Motal shared district updates with the Board to include:

We had a great first day and week of school. We ended the week with 10,300 students. 4,189 students rode the bus on the first day. Lots of smiling kids and staff. We appreciate the community for their patience with the increase in traffic.
Convocation was a great way to start the school year with our teachers and staff! We began our year "student focused" as we had student emcees and videos highlighting the thoughts of our students.
We hosted a PTO meeting last week where we shared demographics and attendance boundaries, and a budget update.
LHHS and LRHS homecomings are coming up soon.
Legislative updates - Special Session #2 began Friday.
Demographic update - we are always trying to stay ahead of the growth.
Accountability update - campuses either stayed the same or increased their scores. We're very proud of all of our campuses.
Funding provided by the Tax Ratification Election would not be additional funding, rather it would fill the hole that was made by all of the cuts in student programs, staffing, and department/campus budgets.
If the Tax Ratification Election does not pass, an additional $4M in cuts would need to be made. Mr. Motal identified several areas where cuts would be possible to include the possibility of not opening one or both of the new campuses, further reducing transportation routes, additional class size increases, and more. In addition, there would be a possibility of significantly increasing rental fees and potentially creating/increasing fees for participating in extracurricular activities.

Consent Agenda

The Board moved additional services for the LHISD Operations Services Center to Action Items during the meeting. They approved consent agenda items to include:

Tax collection summary
Cash position and investment report
Finance summary report
Budget amendments
Purchases over $50,000

District vehicles
Bus equipment

Bond status report
Enrollment report
Police reports
Accept donations
Hazardous traffic areas
Off-campus private or commercial PE substitutions for the 2025-26 school year
Food services adult meal prices for the 2025-26 school year
Adjunct faculty agreement with AgriLife Extension - Williamson County and Resolution for extracurricular stats of 4-H members
Joint election agreement with Williamson County
TTESS appraisers 2025-26
Virtual homebound waiver
Additional off-campus private or commercial PE substitutions for the 2025-26 school year