Lometa ISD to purchase bus
By CHERI JAY-WIENECKE Staff Writer

Increasing numbers on bus routes sparked a decision by the Lometa Independent School District Board of Trustees to approve the purchase of a new bus. Action came in the board's first meeting of the new fiscal year held recently.

The school will take delivery of the 2008 77-passenger bus in a matter of days.

"We need a bus badly," said Lometa Superintendent David Rice. "The routes are getting too long, and we have kids on buses too long."

In other business, the district accepted a bid of $1,880.14 for unemployment insurance from the Texas Association of School Boards. A bid of $16,880 for workers compensation also was accepted from the entity.

Budget amendments allowing for the influx of funds from two grants totaling more than $100,000 were approved by the board. After $210,000 is returned to the state and other school expenses are paid, Rice said he hopes the district will have an ending fund balance of $900,000.

"The state funding is hard to determine," the superintendent said. "They are late getting out end-ofyear numbers, and we won't know for sure until the end of September."

Also, the board appointed Rice, Kip Bullock and Rob Moore as teacher appraisers, and approved a district goal to reduce the school electrical bill by five percent for the next six fiscal years. No action was taken regarding a nomination for the Lampasas County Appraisal District Board of Directors.

In his principal's report, Bullock apprised the group of school activities. The football season is under way at Lometa with the junior varsity team holding a 2-0 record and the high school squad standing at 1-1 after a loss to Grand Falls and a win over Zephyr. Junior high action begins this week.

Bullock added that Lometa ag science instructor Brad Barnett took 27 students to participate in last Saturday's FFA Fun Day in Burnet. And the cross country team recently competed at Hamilton, with good results.

The administrator said class officer and Student Council elections have been held, and the school's new conduct grading system is running smoothly.

Bullock announced an open house is slated for Sept. 25. Pre-K through eighth-grade parents are scheduled to meet with teachers from 4:30-6 p.m., and parents of ninth- through 12-graders will meet from 6-7:30 p.m.

The Lometa Homecoming is scheduled for Oct. 12, with TAKS benchmarking to be held the following week, Oct. 15-19. Parents Night will be hosted during the Oct. 26 home football game, and the annual Harvest Festival is Oct. 27.

On enrollment, Campus II Director Jamie Smart told the board that 24 students are attending school on his campus with several transfers anticipated. The campus has received new computers, and the Rosetta Stone Spanish program is being utilized there.

Rice informed the board that student numbers are very close to the UIL reclassification that could send Lometa out of six-man play and into an 11-man football district.

The superintendent also said the Oct. 26 enrollment count cannot be over 99.9 students in high school.

District lawyers have contacted UIL regarding Lometa's situation in which foster children attend school on a temporary basis but do not compete in UIL contests, but they have not yet received a response.

Rice is scheduled to speak with an architect regarding plans for a new gymnasium, but he said no news has been received on the district's after-school grant.

Prior to adjourning for the evening, Rice gave his recommendation for the purchase of a diagnostic computer for use on the district's buses. The move would be both cost-effective and timesaving, he said, as the computer is compatible with all but one of the district's buses.

At a cost of $1,200, Rice believes the computer will quickly earn its purchase price. "If we fix two things, we've paid for it," he said.