Over the last 21 months, we have implemented a strategic plan to address our financial challenges. I am proud to share that our efforts have increased our fund balance from 76 days to 130 days. Additionally, we decreased expenditures by approximately $1.3 million through staffing and program efficiencies. Over $600,000 of this savings was from central office staffing.
Increasing local revenue streams has also been a priority with an increase of approximately $3 million achieved through Lovejoy Child Development Center tuition based programs,
facilities rentals, grants, and our Lovejoy Scholars tuition-based transfer program.
Despite our efforts, we continue to face challenges as we engage in the planning and budget development process for the 2023-2024 school year. Our challenges include,
At this time, our three year budget model shows a projected shortfall in 2023-2024 that increases significantly in future years. Lovejoy ISD is not alone in facing funding challenges. Many area districts are discussing budget shortfalls. Each year, the Board of Trustees adopts our budget in June. In preparation for budget adoption, we have a budget development workshop at our Regular Board of Trustees Meetings each month.
Although we face funding challenges, employee compensation is a priority. As I have shared with you previously, 43,000 Texas teachers have recently left the profession. This is an alarming trend, with the number
of teachers who are seriously considering leaving the profession jumping from 58% in 2020 to 77% in 2022. Teachers are citing compensation and workload as two of the top reasons they are leaving. We are feeling the impact and have open teaching positions that we have been unable to fill.
Currently, the assumptions we have built into the 2023-2024 budget proposal include:
3% raise for all employees
$50 increase in the monthly District contribution to employee health insurance
Raising the minimum hourly rate of auxiliary employees to $15.00 per hour
Addition of Multi-Tiered System of Supports/Intervention position at each elementary school
While this is progress for our District, our ability to increase compensation to desired levels is limited by state funding. This limitation makes the need to address teacher workload even more crucial. Through a study of master schedules, extended teacher planning days were moved forward for additional consideration. Extended Teacher Planning Days provide teachers time to plan and prepare during their contract time and support a greater level of work/life balance. This is achieved by extending the length of the school day and converting a number of student instructional days into student holidays/teacher planning days.
The attached proposed revised calendar is the result of stakeholder input gained through surveys, informational meetings, and stakeholder committees. The results of the most recent parent and staff surveys are included in this newsletter. Affordable childcare options for the additional teacher planning days are being researched and more information will be forthcoming. Please note that we have provided the same proposed revised calendar in two different formats. One contains the details on where the additional teacher planning days fall. The other calendar is the proposed revised student calendar shown in the familiar format.
Proposed Revised Calendar (same calendar, two formats)
PROPOSED
We are grateful to our parents and staff that serve on our stakeholder based Financial Sustainability Committee and LOVEJOY 2030 Strategic Planning Committee as well as the staff that served on the master schedule committee. Their sacrifice of personal time to support Lovejoy ISD in thoughtful and strategic decision making is deeply appreciated.
At Monday Night’s Board of Trustees meeting, we will bring forward recommendations for employee contract renewals for 2023-2024, a reduction in force, and the revised calendar with extended teacher planning days. The reduction in force will be directly related to areas or departments across the District that can become more efficient with fewer staff members or that are currently overstaffed. These changes would allow the district to reallocate funds while maximizing student opportunities. Although these decisions are not easy, they are necessary to support the future of our District.
There is no doubt that this is a challenging process for our district. While the future funding of Lovejoy ISD and other Texas public schools is in the hands of our state legislators, we know that Lovejoy ISD must take the necessary steps locally to develop a viable budget.
I look forward to facing our challenges head on and working together for the future that our children, staff, and community deserve.
There is only ONE LO
Katie Kordel Superintendent
Lovejoy 2030 Strategic Planning & Financial Sustainability Committees
Thursday, March 23, 2023
Survey Feedback/Input Considerations included:
Add minutes to beginning and end of school day
Consider November 1st as an extended teacher planning day
Additional minutes to the school day be utilized for tutorials
Provide affordable childcare options
Expectations for staff with extended teacher planning days
Leopard Friday and Home Football Games
Lovejoy ISD is proud to announce the launch of the Professional-toStudent Engagement Portal. Lovejoy ISD now has a way to connect YOU, our community partners with our amazing Lovejoy ISD students. By sharing your contact information to the private, digital portal you will be added to a database that can be used to connect you with students. As a community professional you can share your expertise, mentor students, be a guest speaker and even provide internship opportunities for our students.
Who are Lovejoy Community Professionals?
Lovejoy Alumni
Lovejoy Neighbors
Senior Community Members
Members of the Heritage Ranch Community Family Members of Lovejoy Students
Lovejoy Community Professionals:
Engage with students by sharing their expertise and knowledge
Mentor students through various career and college ready experiences
Strengthen students skills in the areas of communication, collaboration, critical thinking and problem solving
Build leadership skills, develop self confidence, and instill characteristics from the Lovejoy Graduate Profile
Please consider partnering with Lovejoy students to continue growing our Legacy of Excellence.
Lovejoy Professional-to-Student PortalThe teachers and staff of Lovejoy Child Development Center believe in the importance of early childhood education and strive to provide a fun and engaging learning experience for children from 18 months old through Prekindergarten. Our teachers are dedicated to creating a positive and supportive atmosphere where children can explore, experiment, and discover the world around them.
Registration is open for the 23-24 school year. Please contact LCDC if you are interested in more information or would like to schedule a tour. We would love to partner with you in your student’s early childhood education journey.
Amanda Puckett Coordinator
amanda puckett@lovejoyisd.net
469-742-8133
MARCH 2023
March 27
Board of Trustees Meeting - LCDC Library
The Board will convene in open session and then move to closed session @ 6:00PM in C113. The Board is expected to reconvene in open session at approximately 7:00PM.
APRIL 2023
April 3 - 7
April 4
April 6
April 7
April 10
April 11
National Assistant Principal Week GT Awareness Week
School Librarian Appreciation Day
Administrative Assistant Appreciation Day
No School - Holiday
School Day (All Campuses) - Bad Weather MakeUp
Board of Trustees Workshop - LCDC Library
The Board will convene in open session and then move to closed session @ 8:30AM in C113. The Board is expected to reconvene in open session at approximately 9:00AM.
April 22
Congratulations to 10820M and 10820P for fighting through many difficult matches at the Texas Region 2 Championship and doing their absolute best. These are both such fun teams to watch compete and at the end they both won awards! 10820M won the Create Award, which is an awesome testament to their great team, design process, robot and how they handle themselves professionally with creative approaches to the design challenge. And 10820P won the Design Award which celebrates the team with the most effective and efficient robot design process, and this award qualified 10820P to VEX Worlds, AKA: The VEX Robotics World Championship! We are so proud of both of these teams for representing Willow Springs Middle School, their district and Coach Woods! The World Championship will take place for our middle school team 10820P April 27-29 in Dallas.
Congratulations to our teams that qualified to VEX Worlds (AKA: The VEX Robotics World Championship) at the Texas Region 2 Championship back on March 4th! - Team 1082X won the Innovate Award and Team 1082E won the Create Award- which are both big accomplishments! A few more Lovejoy Robotics teams qualified to VEX Worlds through their excellent Skills scores.. Teams 1082C, 1082J and 1082V all advanced to the World Championship thanks to high scores and their many hours of dedication and hard work. Teams 1082C, 1082J and 1082R were also Quarterfinalists! Congratulations teams!!! Every team that attended state did a great job and I’m so thankful for every students' hard work and dedication!
Lovejoy Robotics wants to give a BIG thank you to our parents, sponsors and supporters. Many parents volunteered at the Regional Championship and this allowed us to save a lot of money and some teams' registrations were fully paid for because of their heart to serve our robotics community. Thank you volunteers!
The week of March 28th, Ruona Esio Enaohwo will be competing in the Interviewing Skills Leadership Event at the HOSA State Competition in Round Rock. Ruona, a freshman in Principles of Health Science, earned the right to compete at the state level by excelling in demonstrating interviewing skills such as confidence, respect, humility and great posture. Of all of the skills Ruona believes showing respect is the most important.
Tamanna Verma, a junior in Pharmacology, placed fourth in Prepared Speaking and will advance to the state competition if one of the top three do not compete.
HOSA - Future Health Professionals, formerly known as Health Occupations Students of America, is an international career and technical student organization endorsed by the US Department of Education and the Health Science Technology Education Division of ACTE (Association for Career and Technical Education).
Best of luck to our two future leaders!
Lovejoy kindergarten is learning about the parts of a plant and plant life cycles in science.
They have planted seeds and seedlings, observed, explored, and gathered produce from their outdoor garden. This week they also used Merge Cube, an augmented reality device, to investigate different parts of plants in 3D. Then, they drew detailed pictures of what they learned, using the non-fiction feature of labeling.
We love seeing our littlest learners use both hands-on and technology-based science practices to learn about the world around them!
The Willow Springs Symphonic Band and Wind Ensemble performed at the annual UIL Concert and Sight Reading contest this Wednesday. Both bands earned the Sweepstakes award, earning a 1st Division Rating from all judges on stage and in sight reading. These students have been working hard to learn and refine their music to a very high level and it has paid off!
This Friday the Willow Springs Symphonic Band and Wind Ensemble performed at the Meyerson Symphony Center in Downtown Dallas. This was an amazing and special experience for our students to perform in such an iconic venue in our city. This is the band equivalent of playing football at ATT Stadium! Both Symphonic Band and Wind Ensemble earned First Division Superior Ratings from all judges.
We are very proud of our band students and their hard work and dedication. They conducted themselves so well today, showing maturity and focus throughout the day. We love our band kids!
#lovejoyarts
#lovejoyproud
Congratulations to our Lovejoy High School Theatre company of Nevermore for advancing on to Area!
Individual award winners at the Bi-District meet were:
Outstanding Technician - Annalysa Richie, LED’s
Honorable Mention All Star Cast - Reece Robinson as Nimrod, Zoe Nolan as Lady in Green
All Star Cast- Chloe "Kore" Russell as Annabel Lee, Jacob Smithwick as Edgar Allen Poe
Area UIL One Act Play Contest will be at Tyler Junior College on Wednesday 3/29. Shows start at 10 am and run back to back, Lovejoy is 4th. We will be competing against: Hallsville, Melissa, Forney, Longview, and Porter. There is a $10 admission for entry for nonparticipants.
We are proud of our One Act Play company and wish them "break a leg" on their next round!
Congratulations to Jade Owens who reached 300 career strikeouts and currently has 303 with another 7 district games left plus playoffs. Jade had 130 her sophomore year, 104 Junior, and at 69 so far this year!
Our softball season is off and running, Varsity has a 15-9 overall record (with tournament road trips to Houston and College Station to play the top 6A competition in Texas), and 4-1 in the district. Our next home game is today, Friday, March 24th at McKinney North. On March 31st our Lady Leopards play at Melissa.
The baseball team is 12-3-1 and 3-0 in District. Our next District Game is today, Friday, March 24th at Home vs Greenville which is also our Teacher Appreciation Game. Each Varsity player will choose a teacher that has made an impact on them to be recognized on the field before the game. This Saturday is also our Senior Appreciation Game at 1pm vs Anna. We have 19 Seniors who will be recognized on the field prior to the game with their families. Looking forward to an awesome week for our Baseball program.
Congratulations to the Lovejoy basketball team and Karson Templin for being named to the TABC All-State team for the 2223 season. Karson was one of 20 players named to this prestigious list and is the first player named to the list since Joseph Gonzalez earned honors in 2012. The Utah State signee was also named to the Dallas Morning News 3rd team AllArea squad for his work this season. Templin averaged 20 points, 11 rebounds, and 2 blocks this year. Link to the DMN All-Area team
Other accolades for the Leopards this week include Akshat Saini and Parker Patel being named to the THSCA Academic All-State teams. Patel made the Honorable Mention team while Saini was named to the Elite Team. Academic All-State honorees must have an overall GPA of 92 or better for courses from grades 9-12. The committee also weighs class rank and SAT scores. Congratulations to both student-athletes for earning this incredible honor!
Last night the girls soccer team beat Corsicana in the first round of the playoffs 8-0. Goals were scored by Emma Nelson (hat trick), Lainey Pierce (2), Ella York (2), and Natalie Burns. Assists were by Emma Nelson, Lainey Pierce, Ella York, Callan Snider (3), Natalie Knight, and Kate Carlson. Kenlea Swadener and Natalie Lenart earned the clean sheet in goal with help from defenders Margo Chester, Bailee Neatherlin, Maggie Manders, Katie Manders, Callan Snider, Gianna Lutcza, and Nicole Young. The Leopards will play the Kingwood Park vs. Mount Pleasant winner on Tuesday, 3/28, at a time and location TBD.
Lovejoy ISD is proud to announce that Lovejoy High School’s own Mrs. Cheryl Anderson has been selected as the 2023 AP Seminar Professional Night keynote speaker this June at the yearly AP Capstone Reading in Salt Lake City, UT. Every year during AP readings, each AP subject has a “Professional Night” with a speaker who has distinguished himself or herself as a driving force and influencer in the AP curriculum and program. This year, Mrs Anderson presents “Conquering ChatGPT, Crash Course In Seminar Skills, and Captivating Communication” on AP Seminar’s Professional night, where she will share her perspective, wisdom, and experience with the attendees.
As a Board, we are committed to strong and proactive communication with our community. Part of this commitment is sending an email invitation to our community prior to Board Meetings with a sincere desire for you to be involved and fully aware, so we can come together as a community for our children.
You may find the full agenda with supporting documentation on our district's BoardBook Premier website HERE.
For information on the May 6, 2023 School Board Election, please visit the Lovejoy Board of Trustees webpage HERE.
Sincerely,
The Lovejoy ISD Board of Trustees Barrett Owens, President Amy Smith, Vice-President Anne Smith, Secretary Julie McLaughlin, Trustee Jeff Wood, Trustee Marvin Bobo, Trustee Jason Jaynes, TrusteeLovejoy ISD is committed to providing consistent, transparent communication with our community and employees. We hope this meeting summary will support you in staying connected and informed.
Additionally, Regular Board Meetings and Workshops are now recorded and archived on the Lovejoy ISD website. You can access recordings by clicking the picture to the right. Passwords are noted below the recording links.
RESCHEDULED!
SOFTBALL FUNDRAISER
FLATS4BATS FUNDRAISER
MAJESTICS: EGG MY YARD
STEM FESTIVAL VOLUNTEERS
LHS JAZZ BAND & WAYNE BERGERON
G/T REFERRALS OPEN MARCH 1ST
ALMUNI SPOTLIGHT INTEREST FORM
The Lovejoy ISD Community News website is intended to facilitate connections and raise awareness of local events, activities, fundraisers and organizations that might interest Lovejoy families.
The information featured on the Community News website is submitted by community members. Lovejoy ISD is not affiliated with the organizations and does not claim to endorse them.
The Texas Department of State Health Services released new guidance for the 2022-2023 school year regarding Covid-19 and schools. LISD Health and Safety Measures are posted on the District website, linked below.
