Education
BY BROOKE SJOBERG & CHLOE YOUNG
LISD board considers early childhood center Leander ISD may open its first early childhood center in 2025 to relieve growth in the northern portion of the district. What’s happening? District officials presented a recommendation from the Long-Range Planning Committee to build an early childhood center to relieve overcapacity in the district’s northern elementary schools at a Sept. 21 meeting. The $60 million center could open at a dis- trict-owned site off Halsey Drive for the 2025-26 school year, LISD Superintendent Bruce Gearing said. The plan would also allow the district to consider repurposing two of its underutilized ele- mentary campuses in Cedar Park to serve as new locations for the Leander Extended Opportunity Center and New Hope High School. The old LEO Center could then be repurposed into a second early childhood center. These early childhood centers would be solely dedicated to offering prekindergarten services currently available at 18 of the district’s elemen- tary schools, district officials said. However, the district may also consider providing its programs for early education students 5 and under at the center, Gearing said. Stay tuned A vote is anticipated at the Oct. 26 meeting following an updated recommendation from the Long Range Planning Committee and Bond Oversight Committee.
RRISD’s Early College High School progresses Round Rock ISD’s Early College High School is one step closer to realization on the Austin Community College’s Round Rock campus. What’s happening? District officials Sept. 21 approved agreements with ACC, including a ground lease for 2.2 acres on campus, and the use of 2018 bond funds for the design and partial construction for the first phase of a new high school. The backstory Early College High School students can earn a high school diploma and up to 60 transferable college credit hours at no cost through a partnership between RRISD and Austin Community College.
Potential facility Leander ISD could potentially open the facility on a district-owned piece of land off Halsey Drive, located in northwest Leander.
N
Historic growth trends in LISD
Early Education students
Pre-K students
317
2018-19
351
345
2019-20
400
About the project The agreements approved by the district for the school's construction lay out the following: $6 million
238
2020-21
479
to lease the property from Austin Community College 20 years to pay back at 4% annual interest rate 22-25 months to complete the project
201
2021-22
1,001
260
2022-23
970
SOURCE: ROUND ROCK ISD/COMMUNITY IMPACT
SOURCES: LEANDER ISD, POPULATION AND SURVEY ANALYSTS/COMMUNITY IMPACT
LISD to create police department with new safety law Leander ISD took its first step toward complying with a new state law requiring school districts to have an armed security guard on every campus. Two-minute impact
Adding safety personnel To meet the requirements of HB 3, Leander ISD plans to employ:
student and $15,000 per campus to do so. The district has claimed an exception due to a lack of personnel and funding, as LISD had eight school resource officers across seven of its 48 campuses at the beginning of the school year. The proposed system would take $7.6 million to implement with some costs offset by $1.1 million in funding from the state and $1.2 million already allocated for the district’s existing officer partnerships.
32 School marshals as district employees focused on safety and security for elementary and alternative school campuses 35 School resource officers as part of the LISD Police Department to serve middle and high school campuses
The board of trustees voted to claim a good cause exception and move forward with an alternative standard to comply with the new law at a Sept. 7 meeting. House Bill 3 required school districts to have at least one armed security guard on every campus by Sept. 1, giving districts $10 per
SOURCE: LEANDER ISD/COMMUNITY IMPACT
23
CEDAR PARK - FAR NORTHWEST AUSTIN EDITION
Powered by FlippingBook