LISD Graduation, Summer School, and the Texas Legislative Session

Tuesday on KFYO Mornings with Dave King and Matt Martin, Dr. Kathy Rollo, Superintendent of the Lubbock Independent School District, joined Dave and Matt to talk about how the school year has gone, how they plan to finish it out, graduation plans, vaccines for older students, registration, summer school, the legislature, and more.

The conversation started when Dr. Rollo was asked how the year has gone so far, and how they intend to finish the year out. Rollo explained that she is grateful that they were able to make it to the end of the year, is extremely proud that Lubbock ISD has been the largest school district in Texas to open on time, that most of their older kids are now eligible for the vaccine and that many have received it, that their COVID-19 numbers are low, and is happy that they were able to have so many kids come back for in-person learning, dropping virtual learning from 30% to 10%. Shifting focus to the end of the year, Rollo said that school will continue until the end of this month, that they will have STARR tests this week to help determine what learning gaps need to be filled, and said that seniors will still need to take an end of course test.

Once school is over, the Lubbock Independent School District will hold their graduation ceremonies at Plains Capitol Park Lowrey Field, just as they did last year. Monterey will have their graduation on the 25th, Estacado on the 26th, Talkington on the 27th although that will be at Buddy Holly Hall, Coronado on the 28th, and Lubbock High on the 29th. Each student is allowed to bring up to 10 guests, and Rollo anticipates that masks will be optional, but is not yet sure as she is waiting on word from their board. The ceremonies will also be broadcast on FOX34, and so Dr. Rollo recommends that if you suspect you may be sick, to stay home and watch it there.

Registration has opened up online for Lubbock ISD schools, and Rollo recommends that everyone gets their kids registered, especially for those in Pre-K and Kindergarten. She explained that the transfer process for getting kids to schools outside of their district is already closed, however the schools can still try to work with parents to see if they can find room for them. In the meantime, LISD will be having summer school on every single campus, and will be serving meals for kids who attend, as well as having at least 8 curbside pickup meal locations available to kids 18 and under.

Finally, Dr. Rollo was asked about the Texas legislative session and if there has been any movement on the money that was sent federally to the state of Texas for educators and schools. Rollo said that there has been movement, and that last week they found out that they will receive a large portion of the third round of money. It will contain about $75 million, and will help "back-pay" some of the expenses they incurred since March 2020, and then will help make robust summer learning and other things for the next 3 years.

Listen to the full interview with Dr. Kathy Rollo in the audio above.

KFYO Mornings with Dave King & Matt Martin airs weekday mornings live, from 6:00 AM to 8:30 AM on News/Talk 95.1 FM and 790 AM KFYO, online at KFYO.com, & on the free KFYO app.