The Livingston ISD Board of Trustees welcomed two new members and reorganized officer positions in November’s regular meeting Monday at the high school library.
Megan Rowe and Steven Grimm were sworn in as the LISD board’s newest members, after their victories a few weeks ago in the latest election. Rowe is the sister of trustee Mandi Pipes, and Steven Grimm is the brother of trustee Kevin Grimm.
Soon after, a discussion was held about amending a board policy, which was passed in 2018. The policy required a board member to serve for three or more years before being eligible to serve as board president and two years for any other office. Pipes shared a concern that a board member would need to be elected to two four-year terms before being able to serve as a president. The board passed the elimination of the eligibility clause of local board policy by a 5-2 vote, with Bea Ellis and Kevin Wooten voting against.
The board was then reorganized by vote, resulting in the approval of Andrew Boyce, who will serve as president; Pipes, vice president; and Megan Rowe, secretary. Also approved were the depository signatures to reflect new board positions. The board also passed the change of board officer positions from two-year to one-year terms.
Livingston superintendent Dr. Brent Hawkins recognized outgoing board member John Allen Slocomb.
“On behalf of the district, I appreciate the contributions of John Allen over the years to the district,” Hawkins said. “Everyone brings something to the table. The refunding of the bonds and the financing was a strength that this man brought to the board conversations. John Allen has always brought a unique perspective to serve the kids of our community.”
The board approved several items under the consent agenda, including a Lamar State College-Orange Rural East Texas Center memorandum of understanding, and the Schneider Electric Energy Services Contract. The contract updates the building automation system at Livingston High School and Creekside Elementary campuses. Also included are the replacement of approximately 9,000 LED fixtures at Creekside, Cedar Grove, High School, Timber Creek, the junior high, Pine Ridge, DAEP, the administration building, distribution warehouse, and the Baseball-Softball Complex. The project comes at a price of $4,003,321.
Hawkins also gave a “good things” report in the spirit of Capturing Kids Hearts, the program used by LISD that focuses on social-emotional well-being, relationship-driven campus culture, and student connectedness.
“Today, we had an aspiring teacher fair at the Polk County Commerce Center. This program is in place to better align with the needs of our community,” he said. “This program is developing a pipeline of teachers. At the beginning of the school year, I met with all the paraprofessionals to discuss the need for more teachers. This is a very exciting time because we have the opportunity for our staff, an educational aide who has worked for more than a school year, and our substitute teachers, who have worked more than 180 hours, to have a major part of their education paid for. The TLL foundation has provided an MOU for our students, but they also are giving a grant to Sam Houston State University to help push this program forward. I’m very hopeful we can encourage our instructional aides to work toward their education degree by taking their courses here locally.
“We also have 678 students at Livingston High School who are currently taking dual credit courses. This number will increase in the spring, because the dual credit enrollment is always higher in the spring.”
The November meeting opened with a public hearing for the Financial Integrity Rating System of Texas (FIRST) report from LISD Chief Financial Officer Craig Davis. This is the sixth year in a row that the district has received a perfect score of 100. The report is based on 21 indicators, including timeliness of payments, a healthy fund balance, assets to liability ratio, debt ratio, financial transparency, and a clean audit by the state.
Hawkins commented to Davis, “Thank you to you and your department for ensuring we hit all of the timelines. I would also like to thank the board of trustees. It’s truly an anomaly to be sitting in the financial setting where we are by being good stewards and to be in this good spot.”
LISD Chief Curriculum Officer Lisa Cagle presented a reading report for first and second grade. The TPRI Early Reading Assessment was given from Sept 9-20 to 290 students. The Texas Education Agency requires the annual exam.
The Title III Bilingual-ESL 2024 annual report was also offered by Cagle. The district works toward a student exiting ESL by fifth grade, but the goal is for English language learners to master the state curriculum. The Summit K-12 Supplemental curriculum is supported with Title III Funds.
Samantha Legg gave a presentation regarding The Talking Treehouse, a counseling program. Legg requested that the board change the policy, which would allow her to pull students for consultations during the school day.
