Liberty-Eylau Independent School District Board of Trustees agreed Thursday to issue a letter in support of the city of Texarkana's application for a grant to aid in the development of land near the elementary school for an outdoor classroom.
According to L-EISD spokesman Matt Fry, the city is applying for a grant to develop an area owned by the district, located near the C.K. Bender Elementary Campus on Buchanan Road.
L-EISD Superintendent Roger Hailey told the board that the city asked trustees to consider issuing a letter in a show of support for building a wetlands-style outdoor classroom he felt would benefit the school.
Hailey reassured board members that the district would not lose "versatility" in its ownership of the land and would retain land rights.
"It sounds like a pretty nice project for all the citizens of Texarkana," Hailey said. "It's going to be a better-looking educational site."
The board approved a request for a class size waiver for two C.K. Bender Elementary grade levels.
The grade levels were said to have one student over the state's maximum class size of 22 students per teacher. When this happens, the school has to request a waiver from the state, Fry said.
"This is not an unusual request," Hailey said. "It has almost become standard operating procedure in the state (of Texas)."
A public hearing was conducted, in which the district's Texas Academic Performance Report for 2014-2015 was read by Dr. Ceretha Levingston, state and federal programs director.
The TAPR is said to aid both the trustees and the public in visualizing each school's performance in relation to overall district and state levels in areas of academics.
"We are very much in line with state test scores," Fry said.
Levingston said the district's drop out rate was at 1.7 percent, which is lower than the state's dropout rate of 2.2 percent.
The district also had no reports of violent or criminal incidents for the previous school year, Levingston said.
In other business, trustees gave consent for an upcoming field trip to Branson, Mo., for high school choir and theater arts students. Board approval is required any time students plan to stay overnight during an out-of-state field trip.
L-E High School Principal Kendrick Smith said he felt the trip to a Branson theatre would be a "wonderful opportunity" for the students.
Fifth-grader Shelby Ryther read trustees a letter of gratitude from middle school students in recognition of School Board Appreciation month.
Fry said the board received letters each day this week from students at separate campuses in a show of support and appreciation.
"You make very important decisions," Shelby said. "It takes a lot of responsibility to do what you do."
Board President Chad Turner expressed the board's thankfulness for gifts and letters from students and teachers.
"It's always nice to be appreciated, but that's not why we do it," Turner said. "It's awesome to see the kids and all the awesome things they do."
To view the district's annual TAPR, which includes campus performance objectives and academic standings with the state, visit the LE-ISD Website at leisd.net.