Board wants deal with Sanders

The Lockhart Independent School District Board of Trustees took another step toward ending the ongoing controversy surrounding Chief Appraiser Russell Sanders on Tuesday.
The Board approved an agreement calling for Sanders, who was placed on administrative leave and relieved from his duties at the Caldwell County Appraisal District last week, to resign his position eff

ective on June 30. Because the document has not been officially executed, LISD Human Resources Director Teresa Ramirez said the details of the agreement could not be disclosed on Tuesday evening.

Sanders was removed from his duties under a hailstorm of allegations made by current and former employees of the appraisal district, and his fate has been in question for some time. Last week, the CCAD Board of Directors recommended that Sanders” contract not be renewed when it expires at the end of this month.
In lighter business, the Board appointed Susan Masur to be the new principal of Navarro Elementary School. Masur, a long-time LISD employee said she was flattered by the recommendation of the hiring committee and thanked the board before taking her place at the principals” table to participate in the remainder of the nearly four-hour meeting.
The recent resignation of LISD Athletic Director Dan Hurley left the Board scrambling to decide how his position would be filled prior to the new school year. After a lengthy discussion wherein the Board considered a number of alternatives proposed by new superintendent Dr. John Hall, the Board opted to choose a rather unorthodox approach: for the coming school year, the position of Athletic Director will be split, with one director overseeing boys sports, and a separate director for girls sports, both of whom will have additional coaching responsibilities. The division of duties, which Hall described as a “pet idea,” is one which he hopes will equalize the attention given to boys and girls sports within LISD, while saving the district nearly $30,000 in salaries as opposed to having one, full time director.
In other business:
The Board approved a new Special Education (Life Skills) teacher for the Clear Fork Elementary School, and approved contracts for nearly twenty staff members to replace teachers that resigned at the end of the school year.
As construction at Lockhart High School continues and plans for the Bluebonnet Elementary School progress, the board approved a $41,000 bid to repave the south driveway of Lockhart High and passed a resolution requesting a traffic signal to be installed at the corner of Highway 142 and Mockingbird Lane.
The Board also approved an agreement with the City of Lockhart, contracting for School Resource Officers to be installed at the Lockhart High School-Freshman Campus and at the Lockhart High School. A portion of the expense for the officers” salaries will be funded by the COPS in Schools grant program.
To enhance the technological resources available to LISD students and faculty, the Board opted in favor of a plan to purchase more than 900 computers to be distributed among the campuses and administrative offices, and approved the purchase of a specialized Special Education Automated System for the Special Education department.
In response to public criticism regarding technical difficulties surrounding the LHS Class of 2004 graduation ceremony last month, Board President John Flores assured the public that the concerns regarding the sound system had been acknowledged by LHS principal Charles Red, and that steps would be taken to avoid similar problems in the future.