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Liberty Hill ISD reports growth in ESL and dual‑language enrollment, promises follow‑up on student growth data
Summary
District staff told the board the ESL/dual‑language evaluation showed 940 emergent bilingual students (about 10% of enrollment), improvements on several STAR and TELPAS measures, and outlined staffing and certification goals; board members requested disaggregated growth data.
At its Oct. 24 meeting, Liberty Hill ISD officials reported growth in the district’s English learner programs and told trustees they will supply detailed student‑growth data on request. Presenters said the district served roughly 940 emergent bilingual students last year — about 10% of the student body — and described program models at the elementary and secondary levels.
Talise, the district presenter, said the elementary model uses content‑based ESL and the secondary model operates as an ESL pullout. "This is my reason for being here tonight," Talise said, summarizing the Chapter 89 program evaluation requirement and the district’s findings. She told trustees the elementary ESL program served more than 600 students in 2023–24 and secondary pullout services covered 266 students.
The presentation also described a two‑way Spanish–English immersion program housed at Liberty Hill Elementary that enrolled 64 emergent bilingual students and 49 non‑emergent bilingual peers. District staff reported 45 languages were represented across families and noted TELPAS composite results clustered in the intermediate range with gains in several grade levels.
Trustees pressed for more precise movement data — specifically how many students rose from 'beginning' to 'intermediate' and from 'intermediate' to 'advanced' on language proficiency measures. Talise said she did not have the disaggregated growth figures at the podium but agreed to provide them to the board later.
The presenters also flagged teacher certification shortfalls and recruitment steps: the district has filed an ESL waiver/bilingual exception for teachers without required certifications and is reimbursing teacher testing in some cases. The presentation cited a Title III immigrant allocation of $21,978 tied to recent immigrant enrollment growth.
The district noted it will continue efforts to hire ESL‑ and bilingual‑certified teachers, expand an ESL certification prep course, and use monitoring for two years after students exit ESL services to track grades, attendance and assessment outcomes. The board did not take formal action on the item; staff committed to return with the requested growth breakdown.
The next procedural step is for staff to provide the requested growth numbers and include the full program evaluation in the district packet.
