EDUCATION BRIEFS
News from Leander ISD & Austin Community College
RECENT HIGHLIGHTS LEANDER ISD Trustees approved a resolution Feb. 10 to pay district employees while LISD was closed Feb. 4 due to winter weather and icy road conditions. Nonexempt employees would otherwise not be paid for the missed time. The district was also closed Feb. 3, but this date will be made up April 18. The goal was to maintain regular paychecks, ensure safety during emergency periods and promote employee retention, according to LISD. LEANDER ISD A new COVID-19 testing site opened in February at Running Brushy Middle School in Cedar Park. The Curative-run testing site will be open Monday-Friday from 8 a.m.-6 p.m. The school is located at 2303 Lakeline Blvd., Cedar Park. PCR tests are open to the public, and appointments can be scheduled at www.curative.com. AUSTINCOMMUNITY COLLEGE The rst company at Austin Community College’s manufacturing incubator, Impact Lab, was added Feb. 21. The company, Austin-based Zpryme, will create advanced sensing drones to reduce the impacts of severe weather events, according to ACC. Impact Lab is located at the Highland Campus in Austin and o ers students training in advanced manufacturing programs. More incubator information can be found at www.austincc.edu/impactlab. Leander ISD board of trustees Next meetings: March 10 and 24, 6:15 p.m. 300 W. South St., Leander 512-570-0000 www.leanderisd.org Austin Community College board of trustees Next meeting: April 4, 3 p.m. 5930 Middle Fiskville Road, Room 201, Austin 512-223-7000 www.austincc.edu MEETINGSWE COVER
Lowattendancecouldhave largee ect on funding
BY TAYLOR GIRTMAN
Gearing also shared information about the 1,916 students who left the district between Aug. 16 and Feb. 10. Almost half of these students have moved to other Texas public schools and schools outside of Texas. About 1,000 students left LISD for other schooling options, according to the district. This includes 551 students who moved to homeschooling, 113 who moved to charter schools, 118 who moved to private schools and 137 who attend other virtual schools. COSTLYABSENCES Leander ISD’s average daily attendance, or ADA, is lower than projected for the 2021-22 school year. Here is how the ADA rate has changed this school year:
LEANDER ISD Though the number of reported COVID-19 cases in students has decreased since January, Leander ISD may face millions of dollars in lost state funding due to low student attendance rates. The school’s average daily attendance, or ADA, was about 94% as of Feb. 24. However, the school’s budget accounts for 96% ADA. For LISD, each percentage point below the budget amount equals about $3 million in funding, according to the district. Superintendent Bruce Gearing said the district is waiting for further direction from the Texas Education Agency commissioner to decide about hold harmless, which guar- antees state funding regardless of declined attendance. “Part of the problem is that we don’t have enough runway left in the school year to move that percentage signi cantly higher,” Gearing said. Additionally, the district is facing ongoing increased employee absences, which are about 20% higher than pre-pandemic levels. The district’s substitute ll rates range between 70%-75%. Gearing said, however, that this is a higher ll rate than in prior school years.
Budgeted rate: 96%
First six weeks
93.45%
Second six weeks
94.57%
Third six weeks
94.12%
SOURCE: LEANDER ISD COMMUNITY IMPACT NEWSPAPER
ACC trustees to ll vacant Place 5 board seat
Calendar changes are OK’d formissed school
BY ZACHARIA WASHINGTON
Eversmann’s six-year termwas slated to end in 2022. Instead of requiring candidates to have ve letters of recommenda- tion, the board amended it to three. The appointment application deadline is March 21 at 5 p.m. The member will be selected at a future board meeting.
AUSTINCOMMUNITY COLLEGE The board of trustees adopted a process for lling the vacant trustee position in Place 5 at a meeting Feb. 21. Former trustee Nicole Eversmann resigned from the Place 5 seat on the board at the Feb. 1 meeting.
BY TAYLOR GIRTMAN
LEANDER ISD The two missed school days in early February will be made up by extending two early release days in May and using the bad weather day in April. Schools were closed Feb. 3-4 for winter weather and icy road conditions. The April 18 bad weather day will be used and the early release days May 11 and 18 will be converted to full school days to meet the required number of operational minutes. LISD board members approved the 2021-22 calendar revision Feb. 24.
• In a closed session on the same date, the board members will review the interviewed candidates.
• The board o cers will screen the applicants. • O cers will bring three to ve candidates to the board to interview. • The board will conduct interviews.
BOARD STEPS The process to ll the Place 5 seat is as follows:
SOURCE: AUSTIN COMMUNITY COLLEGE COMMUNITY IMPACT NEWSPAPER
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CEDAR PARK LEANDER EDITION • MARCH 2022
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