Did you miss the November school board meeting? No worries, they are recorded and placed online.
- Fun content during board private session
- Meeting starts about an hour into the video
- Opens with Dr. Waddell’s retirement announcement
- Jump to 1:16:00 to see the Band recognition
- Summary
View prior LISD School Board meetings
Did you miss the Parent Education Program last week? Watch the video – well worth the time!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9q20RFmgLRE
As the Lewisville ISD Board of Trustees begins its national search for a new Superintendent of Schools, we would like to share with you our goals for this process. Our primary focus is to find the best candidate to serve our school district. Our children and staff deserve the very best. We know our community expects a quality educational program, and we will find the right person with values reflective of our community.
On Wednesday, November 19, the Board will hold its first meeting to discuss next steps for our search at Career Center East. The time has not been determined; however, it will be posted similar to our other meetings. During this first meeting, we will take action to start the request for qualifications to hire a search firm, which will act similar to a corporate headhunter. LISD is one of the 100 largest school districts in the nation, and we will seek a firm that has a solid record of successfully recruiting effective superintendents.
Throughout this search, we will be as open and transparent as possible. We will create a section on the district website at www.LISD.net to keep the community informed of the entire process. As information is updated, the district’s Office of Public Information and Community Relations will send out an electronic notification informing our community of new information.
Additionally, we will seek community input. Our Board wants to hear the attributes and qualifications you want in the next Superintendent. Throughout this process, community forums and electronic feedback will be communicated to staff, parents and community members. We encourage you to follow LISD on Facebook and Twitter to ensure you are well informed of any input opportunity. Notices will also be published in our local papers.
Our Board encourages you to participate in this very important process. If you have questions regarding the Superintendent search, please feel free to contact the Office of Public Information and Community Relations at 469.948.8152 or email Karen Permetti at permettik@lisd.net.
Best Regards,
Lewisville ISD Board of Trustees
LISD Superintendent Letter to the Community – Nov. 10, 2014
Dear Lewisville ISD Community: It is with a sad heart that I announce my retirement effective January 31, 2015. I have had a great career beginning in 1980. I have loved every minute of it. I want to thank the administrators and boards that have given me the chance to serve their children: Splendora, Lancaster, Sunray, Tuloso-Midway, Birdville and Lewisville. It has been an honor to serve all of those districts. Read more…
I am proud to have been a founding member of the Texas Visioning Institute. It has been rewarding to see how that quiet work began with 35 superintendents who believed there was a better way to educate children than the numbing and stifling mediocrity of the high stakes accountability system, has led to the crumbling of the testing edifice.
I particularly want to thank the LISD Board of Trustees for offering me this incredible opportunity to lead this amazing district, and my talented Leadership Team. I am proud of what we have done: put the district on sound financial footing even with the deep state cuts in 2011; reorganization and streamlining of administration; creation of a powerful, state-of-the-art technology infrastructure that has provided digital resources in the hands of all students; fulfillment of the 2008 Bond with the completion of the Westside Aquatics Center and the design and building of the world class Flower Mound and Marcus Ninth-Grade Campuses and the rebuild of the new Griffin Middle School and Camey Elementary School. We have seen student achievement continue to rise on AP exams, SAT and ACT, that exceed state and national averages. We revolutionized communication and opened up our district to massive community involvement in every significant area.
Most significantly, our Board embraced a vision I described to them when they hired me, and the process that brought thousands of community members to create the Strategic Design. The vision, “All of our students enjoy thriving, productive lives in a future they create,” has been inspirational for me, the community, staff and students.
Because of our Board’s leadership and the incredible support of the community to realize this vision, we have seen an amazing transformation in our classrooms throughout the district. I have to thank the incredibly talented central office staff, principals and especially the teachers, who are the most talented and gifted I have seen, who have brought vision to reality in designing engaging and transformative work for our students. I have seen things happening in classroom after classroom I thought I would never see. It is a testament of what can happen when you free such gifted professionals from the thralldom of high stakes testing and give them an opportunity to do what they got into this profession to do: be creative, engage students and lead them to truly profound learning. I believe Lewisville ISD is the most innovative and progressive district in the nation and leads the way for world class learning in this century.
I have tried to focus my entire career on doing what’s best for children. Last week may be the most amazing week I have experienced in my career. I saw Flower Mound, Hebron and Marcus take three out of 10 places in the State Marching Band Finals and then earn the top two places for the second straight year; the 1:X™ initiative was named an Apple Distinguished Program and on Saturday I watched The Colony, Flower Mound, Marcus and Hebron compete in the Cross Country State Meet and see The Hebron girls take state, Marcus second and The Colony third. It was an amazing week for a district that continuously distinguishes itself. It is also, perhaps, a fitting time to leave.
It is hard to say goodbye, but it has to happen sometime. I have had a great career, the best job in the world. No one has been luckier than I and I am very thankful. I will miss everyone, especially the wonderful staff, the principals and the teachers. Mostly, I will miss all of the children. It has been a privilege to serve the young people of Texas and I have cherished my relationships with them. After 36 years, it continues to be a blessing to see their brilliance.
Stephen F. Waddell, E.D.
Superintendent of Schools
November
Topic: Social Media & Your Kids
When: Wednesday, November 5 @ 6:00 PM
Where: Marcus Main Library
Not sure what your kids are up to online? Real-life Marcus teens will share some of the secrets about what is going on in social media and help you know what to look out for to keep your child safe and avoid cyber bullying.
Free child care will be provided for younger children.
This great country has the privilege of choosing our representatives. Do your civic duty and vote!
- What: Parent U: Alan November
- When: 10/21/2014
- Where: Bolin Administrative Center
Sessions available at 11 a.m. or 6:30 p.m.
LEWISVILLE, Texas – Back by popular demand, Lewisville ISD (LISD) welcomes famed educational technologist and best-selling author Alan November to lead two “Parent University” (Parent U) learning opportunities for all LISD parents on Tuesday, Oct. 21.
Parents will have the opportunity to attend a session with November, who will present “How Every Home Supports Their Child’s Learning – A Parent Survival Guide to the Digital World.” Sessions will be held at 11 a.m. – 1 p.m. and 6:30-8:30 p.m. in LISD’s Bolin Administrative Center (1565 W. Main St., Lewisville). Please feel free to brown bag a lunch or dinner.
November’s sessions will cover:
- Critical thinking on the Internet
- Managing and learning from social media
- When parents should say “Yes” and “No”
- Turning digital fear and anxiety into digital hope and excitement
- Creating a safe and digital learning environment and
- How the digital world improves learning
I spent last week in downtown Dallas for a leadership forum and as you might expect, there was a lot of discussion about Ebola. There were folks from all over North America attending. The discussion intensified when the news broke of another health worker being diagnosed. Even with all that going on, there was never panic or hysteria about Ebola. Even when we found out that there were extra airport precautions being put in place, folks took the news in stride and just planned to get there early. In my opinion, this is the right type of approach. Stay informed, make great decisions for you and your family but don’t freak out. This is America, we will deal with this and move forward.
I had a chance to listen to Dr. Waddell discuss Ebola and the district response to the latest news. LISD chose to keep the schools open while some in the area cl
osed after reports of the Frontier Airlines flight became known. The administration has been working closely with the Denton County Health Department and all were in agreement that there is no risk to our students or staff. We need to educate ourselves on this issue and not fall prey to scare tactics. We need to be vigilant, but quite frankly, I’m more concerned with the Enterovirus. This is a real, credible threat to our kids and deserves attention. As mentioned in a letter last week, beginning Oct. 3, the district implemented intensive sanitation on all high-touch areas at all LISD schools due to concerns regarding the Enterovirus and the upcoming flu season. Both of these viruses are considered highly contagious. Since these protocols were already in place, no additional cleaning requirements are necessary to address Ebola concerns.
-Todd
Below is President Obama’s weekly address that focused on Ebola. The video is about 4.5 minutes to watch. If you’d rather read it, the transcript is below as well.
Dear Lewisville ISD Parents:
Ebola FAQ (17-OCT-2014)
This letter is to provide an update from the parent letter sent on Thursday, Oct. 16 regarding the Ebola virus. We want to assure you that no student or staff member has had contact with the Ebola virus. Additionally, no student or staff member was on Frontier Airlines flight 1142 on Oct. 10 or flight 1143 on Oct. 13.
The Denton County Health Department is not currently monitoring any of our 53,000+ students or any one of our 6,000 staff members. Therefore, no student or staff member is at risk to contract the Ebola virus.
We have received requests to release campus names related to the staff member and students who had relatives on the same flights as the healthcare worker. LISD is not at liberty to share this information due to HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act) and FERPA (Federal Education Right to Privacy Act) laws. Because there is no public health risk for our students or staff members, these laws prohibit the district releasing school and student names.
The district recognizes some school districts released campus names and closed for cleaning. These campuses had students or staff members on the flights in question. LISD did not have any student or staff member on these flights.
Beginning Oct. 3, the district implemented intensive sanitation on all high-touch areas at all LISD schools due to concerns regarding the Enterovirus and the upcoming flu season. Both of these viruses are considered highly contagious. Since these protocols were already in place, no additional cleaning requirements are necessary.
We continue to remain in contact with the Denton County Health Department to keep updated on the latest information on all communicable diseases. LISD will continue to follow the appropriate directives from local, state and Federal health agencies.
In an effort to provide additional answers to your questions, attached is a Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) document. We will continue to update these questions.
Again, thank you for sharing your concerns. If there is any new information, we will provide updates as needed.
Sincerely,
Office of Public Information and Community Relations
