LEISD recognizes local board of trustees; New fingerprinting requirement enacted
By LAURA CHILDRESS

Little Elm ISD honored its board of trustees Monday in commemoration of School Board Recognition Month.

Superintendent Steve Murray noted that this year's theme is "The Power to Excel," which has been the board's focus.

"That has been the driving force with our board of trustees," he said. "It's been the number one focus for the district to excel and get better, and I'm proud of the accomplishments of this board, and the previous boards.” Tiffany Troxclair, president of the Little Elm Council of PTAS, also noted their appreciation of the board's efforts and presented with certificates in honor of their dedication to the district and its students.

"We want to thank the board for everything they've done," she said, noting that with the growth it has been a challenge.

"We appreciate all your hard work, sleepless nights and endless meetings.” Christine Cook and Juan Alonzo with the Lobo Band Boosters also noted their thanks to the board.

"Thank you for your support of the band program,” Cook said. "Your support is reflected in the program's growing numbers.” Alonzo added that the board had also contributed to the success of the Boosters first Marching Classic, with bands already signing up for the second contest.

Rhonda Bilbrey, director of human resources, also updated the board on provisions of Senate Bill 9, which requires veteran teachers and new hires to be fingerprinted.

"We've always been doing criminal background checks, but anyone hired after Jan. 1 who's not a certificate holder, which are those in child nutrition, maintenance, custodial, contracted services, can no longer be hired until their fingerprinted," she said.

Because of the limited number of fingerprinting locations and technical glitches, Bilbrey said hiring has all but come to a halt across Texas.

Bilbrey noted that personnel only need to be fingerprinted once, after which their prints will be uploaded into a nationwide system that will immediately alert the district in case of an infraction or arrest.

"We want to make sure the people we put in contact with our students are the people we want to be there,” she said.

In other action during Monday's meeting, Dennis Engelke with CoServ presented $15,000 to the Little Elm Awards Foundation for teacher assistance grants.

LEAF also recognized the 2007 recipients of its dual credit scholarships: Taylor Epps, Wajiha Khan, Tomas Gonzalez, Marie-Antoinette Ware, Reyna Trevino, Trevor Murray, Shiquita Williams, Rebbeca Pescador, Ashley Grantham, Emily Hazen and Adrienne Meade.

"I can't say enough about the wonderful things that LEAF does," Murray said.

Close to his heart, Murray noted, was the dual credit program.

"Every year the number of dual credit scholarships has grown," he said.

This year, he noted, not only were 11 being presented by LEAF, but an additional 20 were being awarded through the high school.

The board also received a construction report on Oak Point Elementary from Assistant Superintendent Kent Crutsinger.

"We've made up a significant amount of time,” Crutsinger said.

"Come the middle of June we should have the campus ready to go.” With the new campus coming on-line, Assistant Superintendent Robert Keener updated the board on the timeline for the elementary schools and intermediate attendance boundary rezoning.

Public meetings are set Jan. 17 from 6:30 to 8 p.m.

at Lakeside Junior High, from 6:30 to 8 p.m. Jan. 29 at Chavez and from 6:30 to 8 p.m. Jan. 31 at Zellars.

The board is currently slated to act on the rezoning plan at the Feb. 18 school board meeting.

A copy of the proposed rezoning map is included in this edition of the Times, as well on the LEISD website.

In other business, the board: * Approved the consent agenda, consisting of the board minutes, budget amendment and monthly financial reports.

* Received an update on capital improvements.

* Approved the 2006-07 annual financial audit, following a presentation in which the district was noted to be in good financial condition.

* Approved an updated list of vendors for janitorial and custodial, building, athletic, grounds and instructional supplies, along with a list of generic vendors.

* Accepted bids on furniture and fiber optic installation for Oak Point Elementary.

* Rescheduled the monthly board meeting in March for March 31.