LISD addresses missed school waivers

The LISD Board of Trustees approved submission of a waiver to the Texas Education Agency for missed days on May 3. Courtesy photo

From Enterprise Staff

Members of the Livingston ISD Board of Trustees met May 3 to consider a recommendation from Superintendent Dr. Brent Hawkins addressing missed school by the students during area flooding.

“The most important thing at this time is to make sure we are continuing to be safe and focusing on the needs of one another,” Hawkins said. “Our community has been ravaged in so many areas by this extreme weather event that we can’t lose sight of the impact that it’s making on our community as a whole. In my 30-plus years of education, I’ve never heard of a district that has faced more adversity than what Lion Country has faced this year. Please make no mistake about it, we will not be broken. We will do what we need to come out of this situation stronger than we were before. While filing for a waiver is not the most important thing that we need to do right now, it is a matter that we have to stay in compliance with state law. In correspondence with the Texas Education Agency, it is noted that these waivers will be considered on a case-by-case basis due to the disaster declarations made by Polk County Judge Sydney Murphy and Texas Governor Greg Abbott.”

The elementary and high school students are at a deficit of 502 minutes. Junior high students are at a deficit of 4.03 school days because of a significant electrical outage at the campus and the damage of 2,400 gallons of water that caused flooding on the second floor of LJH from a defective water heater, causing an additional day of campus closure.

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The board approved Dr. Hawkins’ recommendation to submit a missed day waiver request to the Texas Education Agency. The waiver will request forgiveness for LJH students missing April 10 and 11 due to the power outage at the Livingston Junior High campus. A second waiver request will ask for forgiveness for missed school days by all LISD students for the inclement weather on April 29, May 2 and May 3.

Hawkins said that the district is generally notified by TEA within 72 hours if a waiver is granted after the request is submitted.

“We anticipate some type of answer no later than the end of next week,” he said.

“The TEA waivers cover the students’ attendance. Next week, we will finalize the formulation of a plan that can legally take care of staff absences. This plan will likely need to be sanctioned at the May board meeting to avoid the statute prohibiting ‘gifting’ of public funds. I hope we can put together something common sense-based and have a positive outcome for all involved. If our waiver is not approved, then we have the capacity to extend the school year and make those days up.”