LISD to pursue web-casting for future meetings

By LPR Staff
Editor/POST-REGISTER

Following the lead of other governmental bodies across Central Texas, the Lockhart ISD Board of Trustees has been considering ways to make their meeting process more transparent and accessible to the general public.

During a brief meeting on Monday, the board discussed ways to broadcast their meetings, which are general

ly lengthy and held in the evenings. The conversation was introduced last spring, when the embattled board received an offer from the City of Lockhart to share a cable-access station and broadcast their meetings from Lockhart City Hall.

Research presented by Superintendent Jose Parra and Assistant Superintendent Cliff Gardener suggested the City’s facilities might not be sufficient for the district’s needs, but offered alternatives to allow the board meetings to be broadcast.

One such suggestion was a springboard from the city’s offer, and would involve running fiber-optic cable from Lockhart City Hall to the Lockhart High School Conference Center. After the cables and other equipment was installed, the district could then share Time Warner Cable Channel 10, and televise their meetings as the city council does now.
That proposal, however, according to Gardener, would cost the district upwards of $48,500.

A second notion, based on the board’s desire to continue holding meetings at the LHS Conference Center, would have the meetings video-recorded, and later uploaded to the district’s website for archiving and public view.

The second option, while not allowing for immediate or live-time broadcast of the meetings, would meet the district’s current needs, Gardener said, and allow for future expansion to include televising meetings at a later date, should the board wish to do so.

The board members present voted unanimously to implement the video-recording and Internet storage option, which is expected to cost the district $25,000 or less.

At Large Trustee John Manning was not present for the meeting.

In other business, the board heard a report from Assistant Superintendent Janie Wright regarding the Academic Excellence Indicator System (AEIS) for the 2007-2008 school year.

As previously reported, LISD students made exceptional gains in almost all areas of the AEIS reporting system, which measures student performance on the Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills (TAKS) test. In fact, LISD students out-performed students statewide in 26 of the 36 measured areas.

Copies of the AEIS report are available on the district’s website, www.lockhartisd.org, at Central Office or at the main office of each of the district’s eight campuses. Additionally, students will be asked to deliver campus-by-campus reports to their parents after the holiday break.

In brief news:
The trustees discussed a resolution expressing the board’s intent to leave the name of Lockhart High School whole and unchanged. The resolution was suggested during the board’s last regular meeting, after trustees came under fire for their decision to add a campus dedication to the name of Lockhart High School.

The Board recognized students from Plum Creek Elementary who participated in and won prizes in the 2008 Plum Creek Science Fair. They also heard an entertaining presentation from the Lockhart High School Speech and Drama Department.

At the request of Chief Financial Officer Tina Knudsen, they reviewed a proposed budget planning calendar.
The trustees approved a contract for increased Internet service.

The LISD Board of Trustees traditionally meets on the fourth Monday of each month at 6:30 p.m. in the Lockhart High School Conference Center at #1 Lion Country Drive.