Elected Officers
- President Megan Parsons announced that the individuals who were elected for Board positions during the May election. Each Elected Trustee then took the Oath of Office.
- Place 3: Michael Ferguson
- Place 4: Kathy Major
- Place 5: Brandon Canady
Public Comments
- James "Cotton" Smith proposed that the Board consider changing the name of Liberty Hill Middle School to Purser Middle School, as it was built on the former Purser property.
- Aleta Brochue thanked the Board and Superintendent Snell for their time and the work on the PAC. She requested consideration on providing a Fine Arts Director that has a wealth of experience.
Budget Workshop
- The third budget workshop was presented to the Board by Chief Financial Officer Rosanna Guerrero and Chief of Strategic Planning and Partnerships Kristin Coulter.
- This budget workshop focused on staff benefits and cost savings.
- The U.S. Employee Benefits Services Group (USEBSG) benefit provider Regional Director of U.S. Benefits Brett McConico presented employee benefits updates, which will provide many rate reductions for the 2024-25 school year.
- District Cost Saving Measures
- Rebidding of operational costs, fuel, facility insurance
- Conducting energy assessment
- Conducting financial efficiency audit
- An efficiency audit is an investigation of the operations of a governing entity regarding fiscal management, efficiency, and utilization or resources
- The audit will include the review of attendance rate accountability, enrollment, operating expenditures, payroll expenditures, staffing ratios, student demographics, teacher turnover rates, and general operating fund balance
- A full report of the audit findings will be shared with our community.
- List of budget recommendations
- The district presented to staff groups all around the district
- Cost-savings staff survey - staff and teachers provided ideas such as
- four-day work week
- department budget cuts
- staffing ideas
- reducing supply expenditures, and
- energy conservation
- Feedback from superintendent advisory committee was shared as well as suggestions regarding priorities from the finance committee. The committee is comprised of staff, community members and parents.
- Phase 1 Recommendations - Totals $1.5 million in cuts
- Freezing the hiring of non-teaching positions that are unfilled
- Cuts for campuses and department operational budgets averaging 10-25%
- Reducing staff overtime by
- Allowing comp time options
- Alternating shifts with auxiliary staff
Communication and Information Items
- Superintendent Steven Snell provided district updates on:
- Upcoming events
- May 21: RISE Graduation and Senior Awards
- May 23: Senior Walks
- May 24: Graduation at 8 p.m. Number of total graduates will be 462.
- May 28: Staff End-of-Year Celebration
- June 4-6: District leadership team will receive leadership training from Milliken
- We heard back regarding the appeal we placed with TEA due to the School Health and Related Services (SHARS) cut from $1.1 million to $258,000. Some districts will be able to have their appeals heard and the Board will continue to receive updates as we learn more.
- Bond sale #2 will be officially funded on May 23, 2024.
- We are working with the City of Liberty Hill and the YMCA as the YMCA is interested in finding a possible location in Liberty Hill ISD.
- Softball Regional finals in Corpus Christi on May 23, 2024 at 6 p.m. Games two and three (if needed) will be Saturday at Northside ISD as both schools have graduation on Friday.
- Construction updates of 18+ building, Middle School #3 building and TRES. They also discussed Bar W and the HVAC systems that have been having some issues.
- The Santa Rita Middle School branding update was presented by Chief of Schools Travis Motal
- SRMS and their community decided that the mascot will be the Stallions.
- The community and students also selected the colors to remain purple and black.
- Branding package has been approved for use by campus, PTOs and booster clubs
- The Board approved the amendments to the District of Innovation Plan to align with our fast-growth district initiatives, including recruitment and retention, Teacher Incentive Allotment (TIA), and flexibility in designing school calendars.
The Board approved the consent agenda to include:
The Finance Summary Report
Budget Amendments
Bond, Food Service, Enrollment and Police Reports
Purchases over $50,000 including:
- Televisions and carts
- Network switches to accommodate the increase in growth
- Legacy Ranch Middle School Athletic Equipment
- Additional Buses
- Replacement of commercial laundry equipment at Liberty Hill Middle School
- Resolutions for hazardous routes
- Acceptance of donations from subcontractors for the staff end-of-year celebration
Action Items
- The Board approved a memorandum of understanding for an interlocal cooperative agreement with Leander ISD to allow students to participate in a program called Project Search. This is a training program at Ascension Seton in North Austin for students who are eligible for our 18+ program. This would allow these students to work on skills that will allow them to work at Ascension Seton or to apply for competitive work once they complete the program.
- Amendments were approved by the Board that align with initiatives to support recruitment and retention, Teacher Incentive Allotment (TIA), and district flexibility in the school calendar.
- The Board approved the schematic design of new transportation facility provided by PBK.
- The Board approved installing playground turf and walkway improvements for Rancho Sienna ES as part of the 2021 Bond program by Chief of Operations Mark Willoughby and Director of Construction Dustin Akin.
- The Board approved the Board of Trustees Reorganization as follows:
- President Megan Parsons
- Vice President Kathy Major
- Secretary Kendall Carter
The Board tabled the electrical utility easement and land purchase for Liberty Hill High School #1 for a discussion at a future meeting.
The Board approved additional teacher/professional contracts, resignations and employment of personnel.
Board President Comments
- LHISD Board President Megan Parsons tabled the Board of Trustees nomination for a txEDCON24 Convention Delegate and Alternate to a future meeting. The event will be Sept. 27-29, 2024 in San Antonio, Texas.
To listen to an audio recording of the May 20, 2024 Regular School Board Meeting click here.
The next Regular Board Meeting will be on June 17, 2024.
