Lancaster ISD interim superintendent holds town hall meeting

by Bill Conrad of Lancaster TODAY

Lancaster Independent School District Interim Superintendent Dana Marable said she wanted to improve communication between the district and the community. As a result, she held her first town hall meeting Feb. 16 at the Lancaster High School Auditorium.

The meeting served as a chance for the district to update the community on some of the things going on, as well as get the public's opinion about opening enrollment to students outside the LISD attendance area.

Marable said the idea of open enrollment came up after Texas Education Agency Financial Conservator James Damm approached her about closing an elementary school due to low attendance. Marable said she didn't want to close a school, so the idea of open enrollment was born.

Under the current plan which the board will vote on at an upcoming meeting, students from outside the district could apply for open seats at the district's schools. The approval of applications would be based on the student's previous grades and attendance patters and would only be good for one year.

Students would only be admitted to schools that have already open seats and no more students would be accepted after district attendance reached 90 percent of capacity.

Marable said the district has many programs such as International Baccalaureate that are attractive to non-Lancaster residents and she thinks opening enrollment will help the district fill some of the seats that are currently open in the classrooms.

Those in attendance seemed supportive of the plan, although concerns were voiced that students who were discipline problems at their old schools would try and get accepted. Marable assured the audience that the applications would be studied closely to prevent that from occurring.

Anita McPartland gave an update on strategic planning, saying there are still spots available on the action teams that will help formulate the district's future plans.

Elvin Lotten gave an update on the status of the 2004 bond package, saying most of the projects are completed. (A complete story on the status of the bond package will appear in a future issue of Lancaster Today.)

Lancaster High School Principal Roosevelt Nivens and Middle School Principal Demetrus Liggins gave updates on their campuses and elementary school principals Patty Cunningham and Priscilla Maxfield gave updates on the Elementary Teacher Advancement Program.

Beverly Chinn said the first students from the district's International Baccalaureate Programme will graduate in 2010. She said as many as 22 students may graduate from the program.