During its June 6 meeting, the Leander ISD Board of Trustees agenda included: 

Meeting Agenda
Meeting Recording

Board Recognitions

Leander ISD is beaming with pride as we shout-out to these incredible students for dominating with excellence! A big high-five to their teachers, coaches, and mentors for achievements at the highest level.

The Board recognized the following:

  • UIL Tennis State Medalists
  • Special Olympics Summer Games Awards
  • International Science and Engineering Fair Award

Celebration of Graduation through the Superintendent’s Report

Leander ISD Superintendent Bruce Gearing, Ed.D., used his report to shine a light on nearly 3,300 students who graduated as part of the Class of 2024. 

Video: Congrats, Class of 2024

This stellar group of graduates included nearly 2,000 Texas Scholars, recognizing students distinguished with honors in their graduation plan; more than 1,200 students in Advanced Placement; and nearly 800 involved in the Dual Credit Program, earning valuable college credit before leaving high school.

For links to photo galleries and the video recording of each ceremony, visit the Graduation page.

District Receives Property Value Estimates, Proposes Budget for 2024–25

Budget presentation: Death by 1,001 Cuts

🎬 11.C.1. Discussion of 2024 Certified Estimated Property Values and Recapture
🎬 11.C.2. Discussion of 2024-2025 Proposed Budget

Building the budget relies on knowing local property values, which sets the rate for one of the school district’s main revenue sources. Following estimates received by Williamson and Travis counties, the district’s total overall estimated freeze-adjusted property value is projected to increase by 7.46% compared to last year’s certified net freeze-adjusted taxable value.

It’s important to note that the increase in projected tax revenue is offset by an increase in the amount of recapture that will be due back to the State. For the 2024–25 school year, that recapture amount is estimated at $11.5 million. The funding used toward day-to-day expenses, such as employee salaries, does not increase with property value growth.

The proposed General Fund Budget for 2024–25 results in a total deficit of $13 million, which is within the 3% budget parameter approved by the Board at the start of the budget process. This budget reflects LISD doing its best to keep up with expanding programs, while absorbing losses from other funding sources and no additional state funds, despite Texas’ record surplus during the latest legislative session.

The 2024-25 budget provides for the cost of salary increases based on a 2.5% compensation increase at midpoint. It also covers the formation of a police department, start-up costs for Hisle Elementary School, and the continued expansion of the Early College HS program, among other expenditures.

“It’s worth saying at every opportunity that public school districts across the state are in this position because of the lack of adequate funding from our legislature while the state of Texas sits on a record surplus amount,” Board Treasurer Christine Mauer said. “Despite those obstacles, we want to commend the work of our Business & Financial Services department for the work they have done to find savings where they could and keep us on a solid financial footing.”

The Board will approve the final budgets for the General Fund, Debt Service Fund and Child Nutrition Fund at the June 27 meeting. 

Previous Updates

School Health Advisory Committee (SHAC) Presents Annual Report

SHAC presentation

🎬 11.A.1. 2023-2024 School Health Advisory Council (SHAC) Annual Report

As part of an annual report, members of the Student Health Advisory Committee (SHAC) made recommendations to the Board regarding:

  • Physical Activity and Nutrition
  • Social and Emotional Well-being
  • Human Sexuality

Special thank you to SHAC Chair Stepahnie Holdren, along with her fellow committee members – Darron Jurajda, Kelli Merchant and Kim Oelfke – for presenting the work their committee has done over the past year.

“This Board appreciates the work the SHAC committee has done,” said Board President Gloria Gonzales-Dholakia, Ph.D. “You can see the intentionality by looking at what was presented last year and building on it to pull those pieces through.”

The Board will review the recommendations and then direct district administration if any action should be taken. Details of the recommendations can be found in the SHAC presentation.

Leading Measures Data Tracks Progress in Goal Areas

Leading Measures presentation: Math K-8 data

🎬 11.A.2. Discussion of Leading Measures

Building on formative review presentations of past board meetings where district administrators outlined the work happening in each of the five goals laid out in the Strategic Plan, at Thursday’s meeting, Trustees received a leading measures update for the third quarter.

During these quarterly updates, quantitative and qualitative data relating to the district improvement plan and the Superintendent’s Evaluation provides Trustees with a better picture of where LISD is at in a variety of different focus areas.

LISD uses universal screener data points – such as NWEA MAP Growth for math and Istation’s Indicators of Progress (ISIP) for reading – to track progress throughout the year. This data, presented at this aggregate level provides a 30,000-foot view of how students are growing in our system, but the power is when students and teachers are looking at it more granularly at the individual level.

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