Leander ISD Trustees locked in district goals while settling on a new meeting schedule at its regular meeting Thursday night. Trustees also acknowledged the incredible efforts of teachers and staff during the pandemic. 

Review entire agenda | Watch the video

Trustees continue discussion of district improvement plan, goals and core beliefs 

The Board adjusted its performance objectives under its seven adopted goals as it moved toward adopting an annual District Improvement Plan that includes goals and performance measures for success, which also sets a framework for Campus Improvement Plans (CIP) for each school. 

“The Trustees tonight adopted identified goals and multiple measurements to increase student achievement,” Leander ISD Board President Trish Bode said. “The District Improvement Plan supports at a minimum state goals, but goes beyond that for the purpose of improving performance of all students. The district doubled down on this continuous improvement focus, putting forward an instrument that is more reflective of our community needs.”  

Board tables local policy updates to allow for further review

Trustees opted to table until next month the potential local policy updates so that they could have more time to consider feedback from the community and the possible formation of a Board subcommittee to study the policy. Policy updates include new Title IX regulations which define sexual harassment under Title IX and establish detailed procedures for how districts must respond to notice or allegations of sexual harassment. 

“There’s a lot of information and it would be nice to have more of an opportunity to get a grasp on the landscape before we make decisions that impact our students,” Trustee Jim MacKay said. “It will give us a chance to look at the information, come back to the next board meeting, and if there’s appetite for a subcommittee, I’ll be inclined to support it.”

Board revises meeting schedule

The Board adopted a revised board meeting schedule and format that will make more efficient use of meeting time. With the challenges of gathering virtually during the pandemic and following multiple meetings going well past midnight, Trustees preferred to meet primarily on the second and fourth Thursday of the month. Instead of an agenda review (non-voting) meeting followed by a regular (voting) meeting, Trustees will have a rolling agenda, where topics are added to a meeting for discussion and voted on at the next.  

Board approves funds for water bottle filling stations

Water bottle filling stations are coming to all campuses after the Board approved reappropriating funding to cover 99 additional stations. Under the plan, the schools will each have: 

  • two stations at elementary schools, 
  • four stations at middle schools, and 
  • eight stations at high schools. 

The stations will be installed by January 2021. Campuses with existing water stations would not get additional stations.  

Board examines budget update, one-time payment to staff options

As mentioned in recent Board meetings, the district has seen a net decrease in enrollment to below the numbers from the same time last year. That has a real impact on our budget and our planning. Read more about Dr. Gearing’s message to the Board, including how the district is working to “recapture” students and the possibility for a one-time payment to all employees in November.