During its Nov. 6 meeting, the Board of Trustees agenda included:

The Board will meet next for a regular meeting Thursday, Nov. 20.

Meeting Agenda
Meeting Recording

Spotlight on Learning: North Elementary

Student voices drive learning and leadership at North Elementary. Members of the NASA Team — North Alliance of Students and Administrators — shared how they plan events, lead service projects and collaborate with teachers to improve their school. Through activities like team-based science challenges and “Empower Hour,” students explore interests from coding to art and performing.

Way to go, Navigators!

Board Reviews Early Draft of 2026–2027 Academic Calendar

Academic Calendar presentation

🎬 7.A.2. Discussion of 2026-2027 Academic Calendar Planning

Trustees reviewed the initial draft of the 2026–2027 academic calendar, marking the start of the district’s annual planning process. The discussion outlined the timeline for community engagement, adjustments based on feedback, and a final recommendation to come before the Board in February 2026 for approval.

The draft maintains a Wednesday, Aug. 12, 2026 start and an end date of Friday, May 28, 2027, which is before Memorial Day next year. It includes 172 instructional days for students and 187 contract days for teachers, in compliance with state requirements. The proposal preserves two early release days — Dec. 18 and May 28 — and built-in flexibility for bad-weather make-up time.

The fall and winter breaks remain unchanged, while feedback from last year’s calendar has led to discussion about possible minor shifts to the October and February breaks to better support family schedules and extracurricular events. Trustees also discussed professional learning days, including potential adjustments to better balance workload and testing windows.

Community feedback continues to play a central role in shaping the calendar, including through survey responses and comments made through a listening tour. The online survey closes Dec. 2, 2025.

Previous Updates

Instructional Materials Planning Shaped by State Incentives & Local Priorities

Instructional Materials presentation

🎬 7.A.1. Discussion of Instructional Materials Review & Approval Process

District leaders provided an update on how Leander ISD is navigating the statewide changes to instructional materials adoption under House Bill 1605 from the 88th Texas Legislative Session in 2023, along with the new Instructional Materials Review & Approval process.

The new IMRA system gives the State Board of Education expanded authority over what materials are eligible for funding and replaces the traditional eight-year adoption cycle with an annual review process. Districts may now receive $40 per student for state-approved instructional materials and $20 per student for state-developed digital content, “Bluebonnet.”

For Leander ISD, this amounts to about $13 million in instructional materials funds, including roughly $11 million available for new adoptions once ongoing costs are subtracted. However, leaders emphasized that these changes come with constraints — a limited number of publishers, a later release of the approved list and the need to carefully weigh state incentives against local alignment and instructional quality.

This year, LISD is piloting two elementary programs — Reading Horizons for phonics and Amplify Desmos for math — to study effectiveness and teacher support ahead of any large-scale adoption. In addition, the district continues refining its Math and Literacy Frameworks, which define what high-quality instruction looks like in LISD classrooms and will guide future selection decisions.

A formal selection process involving community feedback will follow once the State Board of Education finalizes its updated materials list later this fall, with the district expected to bring recommendations to the Board in Spring 2026.

Previous Updates

Hiring Announcement: Danielson MS

Leander ISD is pleased to announce that Katie Stewart, a proven campus leader within the district, has been selected as the new principal of Danielson Middle School. The Board of Trustees approved her hiring at Thursday night’s meeting.