Public Hearing

• LHISD held its last public hearing as part of the LHISD budget process. Chief Financial Officer Rosanna Guerrero shared the proposed 2023-24 budget and proposed tax rate.

Budget Highlights

• Overall LHISD is recommending reducing the Maintenance and Operations Tax Rate by 17.5 cents. The overall tax rate once approved would be $1.1692 (down 17.5 cents from $1.334 last year.)
• LHISD has reduced the Tax Rate by 37.5 cents since 2019.
• LHISD has 1,200 employees
• LHISD has realized inflationary costs in fuel (11%), utilities (31%), and insurance (74%)
• The state-funded basic allotment per child is $6,160 and has not increased since 2019.
• Property taxes amounts to 61% of the budget and state funding is 35%.
• LHISD does not pay recapture this year, but will soon.
• LHISD recommended a total general operating budget of $87.5M of which 85% is allocated toward employee salaries and benefits.

Public Comments

• Miss Amelia Conselman spoke about concerns with the student dress code as it pertains to hair color.
• Mr. Mark Conselman spoke in support of his daughter's commitment to voice her concerns regarding the student dress code as it pertains to hair color.
• Mr. Ernesto Barreras spoke about concerns about high booster fees for the high school band.
• Ms. Natalie McKinnon spoke about traffic and road concerns for Bar W Elementary School.

Communication and Information Items

• Director of Elementary Education Kristine Kline provided the Gifted & Talented Annual Evaluation Report for 2022-23.
• Chief of Schools Travis Motal and Truancy/Dropout Prevention Coordinator Sandy Scott shared the LHISD Truancy Prevention Presentation. LHISD plans to work with families to improve overall attendance throughout the year and prevent dropouts. As Mrs. Scott stated in the presentation, "I was hired to give families hope."
• Superintendent Steven Snell provided updates on student enrollment, high school lunch considerations, construction updates, and Bond 2023 sale updates.

Consent Agenda

• The Board approved the minutes from the previous Board meetings
• The Board approved the monthly financial report including: tax collection summary, cash position/investment report, finance summary report, budget amendments, and purchases of over $50,000
• Other consent items approved were the instructional materials for high school mathematics, speech-language pathologist/school psychologist contracted services, TASB Insurance Renewal for 2023-2024, Purchasing Cooperative participation, the teacher appraisal (TTESS) calendar and appraisers, and 4H participation.
• Current enrollment is: 8,691 students

Action Items

• The Board approved the 2023-24 Budget as presented
• The Board approved the 2023-24 combined tax rate of $1.1692.
• The Board approved the Agreement for the Purchase of Attendance Credit (Option 3 Agreement) and to Delegate contractual authority to the Superintendent as presented
• The Board approved the opening of Legacy Ranch High School as recommended by district administration.
• The Board approved the Guaranteed Maximum Price No. 1 for Liberty Hill High School #2 as part of the 2023 Bond program as presented. LHISD will break ground on Legacy Ranch High School on September 1.

Closed Session Items

• The Board approved the hiring of the new Director of Student Support Services Donna Trevino-Jones

Board President Comments

• The next Regular Board Meeting will be on Sept. 18, 2023

The Liberty Hill Board of Trustees approved the opening of Legacy Ranch High School in the Fall of 2024 with ninth-grade students only. They also approved the opportunity for current eighth-grade students at Santa Rita Middle School to transfer to Liberty Hill High School if their sibling is a current LHHS student in ninth-11th grade. The district will share a survey with the future LRHS students soon. In the meantime, please see these frequently asked questions for more information about what's to come!

Liberty Hill ISD is pleased to welcome our new Special Education Director Donna Trevino-Jones to our Panther family!

Dr. Trevino-Jones has been an educator for over 25 years. She started her career in 1995 with the Dallas Independent School District as a second grade bilingual teacher. After serving as a bilingual teacher, she ventured into middle school as an English as a Second Language (ESL) teacher. In the spring of 2003, Donna completed her master's degree in Educational Administration and later that summer she was given her first assignment in administration as a Dean of Instruction in middle school. This helped to prepare her to become a principal in the spring of 2006, as well as to continue learning and growing as an administrator as she served in the following school districts: Pflugerville, Spring and Arlington.

The Harris County Department of Education has been her professional home for the last four years in which she has served as a principal serving students with special needs. In the summer of 2020, she obtained her Doctor of Education in Educational Policy and Leadership from Southern Methodist University. This past school year, Dr. Trevino-Jones was a fellow in the LoneStar LEND program sponsored by the University of Texas Health Science Center - Houston, in which she learned more about autism and other pervasive developmental disorders. While in this program, Dr. Trevino-Jones was able to participate in clinical rotations in which she could observe how students with special needs, primarily autism, can be served by the school and medical communities.

Dr. Trevino-Jones is married, has two children, a daughter-in-law, and an English bulldog, Finn. Her daughter, Dominic, is a 2012 graduate from Columbia University and her son, Carlos, is a 2018 graduate from Texas A&M University. Her daughter-in-law, Caroline, graduated from University of Texas. Liberty Hill has been her parent's home for the last 15 years.

“Excited is an understatement about how I feel to serve our community and be close to my family,” said Trevino-Jones. “Thank you so much for this opportunity!”

Do you want to be a part of a growing district committed to providing excellence in education? Come work at LHISD and see why everyone wants to be a Panther! View our available positions and apply now at https://www.applitrack.com/libertyhill/onlineapp/

Superintendent of Liberty Hill ISD

Liberty Hill ISD. Building Champions in Academics, Character, and Community

Email: superintendent@libertyhill.txed.net
Website: libertyhill.txed.net
Location: 301 Forest Street, Liberty Hill, TX, USA
Phone: 512-260-5580
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/steve.snell.585
Twitter: @s_snell