Liberty Hill Education Foundation reports record teacher grants and scholarship activity; total district support cited

The Liberty Hill Education Foundation presented its annual year‑end update to the school board Jan. 22, outlining grants, scholarships and community partnerships that supported district students and staff during the prior school year.

"Our primary mission is to support the students, staff, and teachers of Liberty Hill ISD," the Foundation's representative, Mister Bowles, told the board during the presentation. He said the foundation operates as a nonprofit that formed a memorandum of understanding with the district and holds monthly meetings.

The presentation highlighted three core initiatives: student scholarships, teacher grants and employee recognition. Bowles reported the foundation received 92 scholarship applications from graduating seniors, awarded 16 scholarships, and stated the foundation "was able to give back a total of $40,000 to the senior class." He also said the foundation received 63 teacher‑grant applications and awarded a record number of grants (reported in the presentation as 56), with at least one grant awarded at each campus.

The foundation also described in‑school "grant patrol" visits, in which board members and staff surprised teachers with grant checks and celebratory visits. Bowles said teachers told the foundation members the in‑person recognition was as meaningful as the money.

Other activity and funding - The foundation reported supporting the Grow Your Own program that helps paraprofessionals become certified teachers and funding Panther Academy scholarships (Bowles said last year's donation helped 51 students). - The foundation awards the Christy Kirchkeville Excellence in Teaching Award — $1,000 checks to elementary and secondary teacher‑of‑the‑year winners — and provides gift cards to employees in a Thanksgiving campaign called Giving with Gratitude. - Bowles said the foundation returned approximately $187,985 to the district in total support for the year and that community fundraising — including a Jingle Bell 5K partnership with the Chamber of Commerce that recently raised $11,000 for the foundation and about $3,000 for campus PTOs — funded much of the work.

Why it matters: The foundation’s grants fund classroom projects and staff development that do not come from the district’s operating budget, and trustees thanked foundation volunteers for visible campus support.

Board response and next steps: Trustees thanked the foundation for the work and were invited to attend upcoming fundraising events, including the Make the Difference Gala in March and Derby in the Hill in September. No board action was required.

Quoted from the meeting "The money is great, but the fact that so many of y'all took the time to come and do this today means even more," Mister Bowles said, recounting teachers' responses to the foundation's grant patrol.

Notes on inconsistent transcript figures The foundation's slide text in the presentation included figures that are internally inconsistent in the meeting transcript (for example, a per‑scholarship amount that does not match the cited total for scholarships). The board packet and foundation materials should be consulted for official, audited amounts before publication.

Provenance: Education Foundation report presented under agenda item 5a; presentation materials and Q&A took place early in the meeting.