This story originally appeared in the Polk County Enterprise on July 24, 2025. For more local coverage, visit https://www.easttexasnews.com
Having completed his first 60 weekdays as the new superintendent of Livingston ISD, Dr. Jeff Pack took a moment to thank everyone for their support and partnership during the regular meeting of the Board of Trustees of Livingston ISD Monday evening.
“It’s been an exciting and productive start and I’m proud to share some highlights of what we’ve accomplished together. I launched a listening tour, visiting every campus, hearing directly from teachers, staff and community members about what makes Lion Country special and where we can continue to grow. We completed our ‘Team of Eight’ training, strengthening our shared commitment to governance excellence and student-centered leadership.
“We made bold moves to increase compensation for our staff, ensuring we are competitive and more importantly, showing our people they are valued and appreciated. We reviewed and revised key local policies and regulations to better support our campuses and classrooms. We invested directly in students by adding elementary art, hiring a GT teacher, and adding a Bilingual/ESL support teacher, expanding opportunities for enrichment and support.
“We strengthened leadership capacity with a new high school principal, junior high principal, elementary principal at Cedar Grove Elementary, and added to our central office leadership team with a new chief academic officer and personnel director. And that’s just the beginning. At next week’s convocation, we will launch the theme ‘Livingston ISD: Education That Defies Gravity.’ Our message will be clear – this district is on the rise. We will focus on student success, staff support, and building a culture of pride and excellence.
“Thank you for your trust in me. Together, we’re creating something special in Livingston ISD – and we’re just getting started,” Pack said.
Justin Turbeville and Myra Kerscher, the new principals at Livingston High School and Cedar Grove Elementary School, respectively, were introduced and welcomed.
Turbeville has been with LISD for 14 years, serving as associate principal of LHS, assistant principal at LHS, assistant principal at Pine Ridge Elementary and math teacher at LHS. He earned a bachelor’s degree in meteorology from Texas A&M University and M.Ed. in education leadership from the University of Texas at Tyler.
Kerscher comes to LISD having served as assistant principal at Splendora ISD’s Timber Lakes Elementary School and previously served as an assistant principal of Cleveland Middle School from 2021 to 2024. She has eight years of teaching experience. She was a Kingwood Middle School math teacher for seventh and eighth grade, an Algebra I teacher at MacArthur Ninth Grade School and also at the Aldine Ninth Grade School. She earned an educational leadership M.Ed. from Lamar University and anticipates the completion of her superintendent certification in December. She will resume her doctoral studies in January with completion in the Spring of 2027.
LISD Chief Academic Officer Dr. Marley Morris presented the Spring 2025 academic report, the top five institutional priorities and Vision 2026. While the academic report illustrated the subject areas and grade levels that need attention, it also reflected numerous areas in which the district’s scores are significantly higher than the state average.
Grace Smith, a representative of Schneider Electric Energy Services, presented an update. The project, which kicked off in January, includes updating the building automation system at Livingston High School and Creekside Elementary and replacing approximately 9,000 LED fixtures at Creekside Elementary, Cedar Grove Elementary, Livingston High School, Timber Creek Elementary, Livingston Junior High, Pine Ridge Primary, DAEP, the administration building, distribution warehouse, and the baseball/softball complex. The project price is $4,003,321 with a guaranteed savings of $6,451,590 from Schneider over the next 20 years. Smith reported that districtwide, the project is 97% complete. Areas still to be completed include the Pine Ridge Primary exterior, the baseball/softball complex and the auditorium.
Will Clayton, Will Turner and Tracy Kimball – representatives of Claycomb Associates Architects – presented a donation of school supplies for the district. Along with a representative of Berry & Clay Construction Managers, they also provided updates regarding construction of the new stadium, even leading the board on a site visit. The underground work is complete; the bleachers and grandstands will arrive on Jan. 4 and Jan. 10, respectively; and things are moving along smoothly and looking forward to completion.
In action items, the board approved a purchase over $50,000 for Accelerate Learning, a STEM curriculum for kindergarten through fifth; proposal #23-05 for property and casualty insurance; a resolution for participation in the Texas SmartBuy Membership Program; a resolution regarding the extracurricular status of the 4-H organization; and the quarterly investment report.
The board also approved the adoption of Local Policy Revisions – FDA, FM, and GKD; the adoption of the revised FD (LOCAL) policy as presented; and adding, revising and deleting local policies in accordance with the proposed changes resulting from the policy review session.
The consent agenda – which included minutes of the previous board meetings, TASB Policy Update 125 and the financial statement report – was approved.
