The Board of Trustees at Liberty-Eylau Independent School district put a policy in place for students who are 5 years old at the beginning of the school year and who turn 6 before Oct. 1 to begin first grade, given they meet certain conditions.
Superintendent Ronnie Thompson said the district didn't have any criteria in place for the kindergarten acceleration, and that's why they put it in place.
"We actually had a request from a parent who is going to bring their child here next year, so she gave us a big head start on it," he said. "So that's why we started looking at the policy so we developed that criteria."
The criteria include the Oct. 1 birthdate, plus academic, social and emotional readiness. Applications must also be received no later than three weeks prior to the first day of instruction so assessments are completed before school starts.
"Typically these are students who have gone to a private preschool somewhere or a private kindergarten, and they just aren't meeting that Sept. 1 birthdate," curriculum director Amy Roberts told the board. "We are recommending using Oct. 1 as a cutoff date since we share a border with Arkansas and that's their cutoff date. Which makes sense because if they were to enroll in Arkansas and then come over here, we'd have to enroll them anyway. So we just thought that it made sense to use Oct. 1 as that cutoff date."
"My thought is if they child qualifies, then they qualify," Board Member James Keeton said. "We may be getting an influx from other ISDs, and that may be a profit for us."
In other business, the board also approved the 2016 Tax Roll, which is a total of $7,208,035.74. District Chief Financial Officer Darla Moss said the amount was up about $500,000 from last year because of the bond issue being passed in the spring for district improvements.
Trustees also heard an audit report from Thomas and Thomas, LLP, Certified Public Accountants for the 2015-16 fiscal year, which ended June 30. The report states the firm did not find any deficiencies in internal control they consider to be material weaknesses.
A budget amendment was also passed in the general operating fund to address an $8,383 decrease in the student nutrition fund balance.
Board members also nominated nominated James Keeton to serve as a Region 8 board member on the Texas Association of School Boards. Thompson said this was the beginning of the process, and he would keep the board updated on the next step.
A second reading of Update 106 was also conducted, which contains requirements on recording audio and video in certain special education classrooms or settings at a parent or staff member's request.