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LISD State of the District

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Friday, 21 November 2008

Bret Champion, superintendent of the Leander Independent School District, gave a State of the District presentation at the November Leander Chamber of Commerce luncheon. of Commerce luncheon.

Projected enrollment

Champion cited LISD’s ranking among Texas’ fastest growing school districts. It is the second fastest growing district among those with more than 20,000 students and the fifth fastest growing district among those with more than 10,000 students.

The October 2007 report by Population & Survey Analysts projected a likely LISD student population of more than 58,600 by 2017-2018.

Although projected enrollment for 2008-2009 is 28,954, current actual enrollment numbers reflect about 600 fewer students.

Note: Projections based on “Most Likely Growth” from October 2007 Demographic Study Updated by Population and Survey Analysts

Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills test

All elementary school students achieved a recognized status or above on the reading, writing and math portions of the TAKS test.

Middle schoolers in sixth, seventh and eighth grade received recognized status in reading and math. Eighth graders were recognized in social studies as well. Seventh graders were also recognized in writing.

Among high school students, ninth graders were recognized in reading and tenth graders were recognized in English language arts and social studies. High school juniors were exemplary in English language arts and social studies.

In 2008, the Texas Education Agency rated 22 of 29 LISD campuses either recognized or exemplary. In 2007, 16 campuses had those ratings.

Current student demographics

Native American — 0.52%
Asian/Pacific Islander — 5.23%
African American — 5.23%
White — 68.77%
Hispanic — 20.25%
Economically disadvantaged — 18.16%
Special education students — 2,672
Daily attendance — 97.05%

New facilities

Last year, LISD added 827,509 new sq. ft. in district facilities. Another 774,540 will be added this year, bringing the total number of permanent sq. ft. in the district to 4,841,193.

Parkside, 301 Garner Park Drive in Georgetown, and Westside, 300 Ryan Jordan Lane in Cedar Park, elementary schools account for much of the space added last year. The buildings were designed with six key components in mind:

Flexibility — Provide and encourage a wide variety of learning settings and learning strategies (i.e., individual, team, small group, large group, formal, informal, community) and flexibility and ease of adaptation in learning settings
Integration — Provide for the integration of subjects, learning modes, technology, grade levels within the classroom, grade level and specialty areas
Hands-on learning —Support hands-on learning through curriculum, classroom size and configuration, furnishings and equipment, and group learning areas both indoor and outdoor
Small(er) learning communities — Adhere to the 800-student maximum enrollment at each elementary school; clustering of classrooms
Push-in vs. pull-out — Resource programs, materials and support “pushed-in” to the classroom and integrated with the daily classroom curriculum
Fingertip access — Resources, materials, staff and specialized learning spaces should be provided at the learners’ and teachers’ “fingertips;” learning plan and supporting materials and facilities designed to provide for a “learning on demand” setting