Agency: Lake Worth ISD board<\/strong><\/p>\n Date: <\/strong>June 16, 2025<\/p>\n See more about this meeting at Documenters.org<\/a><\/p>\n Armando Velazquez, board president, determined quorum was met and called the meeting to order. All seven members of the board were present.<\/p>\n At 6:02 p.m., the board adjourned into executive session pursuant to the following sections of the Texas Open Meetings Act: 551.072 \u2014 Deliberations about Real Property, 55l.074 \u2013 Discuss Personnel Matters, 55l.082, 551.0821, and\/or 551.083 \u2013 Discussion of Identifiable Information Concerning a Public School Student.<\/p>\n The public portion of the meeting reconvened at 7:05 p.m. Kristin Bundy, assistant principal at Miller Language Academy, led five students in the invocation, Pledge of Allegiance, and Texas Pledge. About 30 members of the public were present.<\/p>\n Bret Tooke, secretary of the board, recognized Craig Mattson, maintenance supervisor, for outstanding work.<\/p>\n The board unanimously approved the new professional hires as presented by the superintendent.<\/p>\n Brent McClain, director of human resources, reported that the benefits office has decided to work with Higginbotham for all of their 403 and 457 insurance plans. Lake Worth ISD previously worked with both Higginbotham and National Benefit Services, but has had issues with National Benefit Services and is pleased with the service Higginbotham has provided thus far.<\/p>\n Carol Maitland, district data analyst, reported that LWISD has been working with a consultant to increase checkouts. LWISD has removed any book published before 2000 that is not considered a classic from circulation and added them to the \u201cForever Books\u201d collection, which are available for students to keep permanently. Librarians are also working on adding dual language books, completing series, and organizing their collections by genre.<\/p>\n Trent Dowd, chief financial officer, presented updates to the 2025-26 proposed budget now that the HB 2<\/a> school omnibus bill has been passed into law.<\/p>\n HB 2 includes a teacher retention allotment that will allow LWISD to update its teacher pay scale. Teachers with three to four years of experience will receive a $4,000 increase, and teachers with five or more years of experience will receive an $8,000 increase.\u00a0<\/p>\n Dowd is also recommending a 2% raise for administrators, and a 3% general pay increase for clerical, auxiliary and child nutrition support staff.<\/p>\n The board will consider and approve the 2025-26 budget at the June 23 budget hearing.<\/p>\n Dowd proposed the board give Mark Ramirez, the new superintendent, signatory privileges for banking and investment purposes. The board unanimously approved the request.<\/p>\n Sylonda Burns, executive director of campus leadership, presented turnaround plans for Howry STEAM Academy and Effie Morris Early Learning Academy<\/a> based on feedback received last month. LWISD will submit two turnaround plans, but because the board voted in February to close EMELA beginning with the new school year, the district is seeking clarification from the Texas Education Agency on whether they can condense their submission to one plan.<\/p>\n The two-year plan, which will be implemented starting in the 2026-27 school year, includes budget reallocation and staffing reallocation. Howry STEAM Academy \u2014 renamed Effie Morris STEAM Academy \u2014 already has a new principal for the 2025-26 school year who will remain in place, but teachers will be reassigned based on certification and specialization.<\/p>\n The board unanimously approved the turnaround plans.<\/p>\n Burns presented a revised version of the turnaround plan for Miller Language Academy, which was written during the 2019-20 school year but was unable to be implemented due to COVID-19.<\/p>\n The two-year plan will be implemented starting in the 2025-26 school year, and will include budget and staffing reallocation similar to the Effie Morris STEAM Academy and EMELA turnaround plans. Miller already hired a new principal for the 2024-25 school year who will remain in their position, and added two new positions: an additional assistant principal and a new emergent bilingual campus coordinator.\u00a0<\/p>\n The plan was developed in conversation with Marine Creek Leadership Academy so that practice will remain consistent across the district\u2019s elementary schools. Administrators hope consistency will help ease the transition for families moving from EMELA to another campus.<\/p>\n The board unanimously approved the turnaround plan.<\/p>\n McClain sought an additional $80,000 in contributions for staff health insurance to align with Affordable Care Act guidelines. The board unanimously approved the request.<\/p>\n McClain sought approval of the 2025-26 compensation plan. The new plan updates the teacher pay scale according to the teacher retention allotment as presented by Dowd, and removes positions that were eliminated. The board unanimously approved the compensation plan.<\/p>\n Ramirez presented updates on his first 21 days as superintendent.<\/p>\n Students are in their final week of summer school, with an additional week for emergent bilingual students. Average returning student registration is around 36% across the district, which is normal for this point in the year.<\/p>\n As part of his 100-day entry plan, Ramirez has met with 38 individuals across the district, including board members, staff, city council members and community partners. Ramirez reported on expectations of him as superintendent based on these conversations and will continue to update the board as he meets with more members of the community.<\/p>\n Based on preliminary STAAR, or State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness, test data, scores have generally remained consistent across the last three years. On average, half of students in LWISD do not meet STAAR standards, but Ramirez plans to work with schools over the next year to improve scores.<\/p>\n The board unanimously approved all consent items.<\/p>\n The meeting was adjourned at 8:26 p.m.<\/p>\n Jenna Stephenson is a Fort Worth journalist and a member of the Report\u2019s Documenters team.<\/p>\n If you believe anything in these notes is inaccurate, please email us at scott.nishimura@fortworthreport.org<\/a> with \u201cCorrection Request\u201d in the subject line.<\/p>\n \n\tRelated\n<\/p>\n Fort Worth Report is certified by the Journalism Trust Initiative<\/a> for adhering to standards for ethical journalism.<\/p>\n Republish This Story<\/p>\n\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
![\"Creative](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/1750614464_36_cc-by-nd-4.0.png\"\/)
<\/a><\/p>\n