Liberty Hill ISD to add makeup days after TEA denies calendar waiver
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Summary
Interim Superintendent Travis Motel told trustees the Texas Education Agency denied a 2,100-minute staff-development waiver, leaving the district short of required operational minutes; the district will add six makeup days and convene a calendar advisory committee before seeking board approval of a revised calendar in March.
Interim Superintendent Travis Motel told the Liberty Hill ISD Board on Feb. 2 that the Texas Education Agency denied the district’s 2,100-minute staff-development waiver, leaving the district about 1,800 operational minutes short of the state-required 75,600 minutes.
Motel said the district calculated operational minutes as 157 school days × 470 minutes = 73,790, and that adding a 2,100-minute waiver would have produced 75,890 minutes; with the waiver denied the district must make up minutes. “We submitted that additional information and TEA responded back saying, hey, looks like your calendar that we see online is what we’re calling a 4-day calendar,” Motel said, adding that the denial required further documentation and a new plan.
To reach the 75,600 minimum, Motel outlined a mix of added student days and bad-weather makeup days. He said the district plans to add the following student days: Jan. 30, Feb. 6, Mar. 6 and Mar. 27; additionally, he identified May 8 and May 15 as bad-weather makeup days tied to closures on Jan. 26 and Jan. 27. Motel said those additions, together with other adjustments, would put the calendar at roughly 75,600 operational minutes.
Motel proposed forming a counter advisory committee of about 30–35 parents and staff, representing different campuses and perspectives, to meet Feb. 11 and advise on calendar options. He said the district aims to bring a recommended calendar to the board for approval on March 9 and to submit any needed waivers before summer.
Trustees pressed for campus-level detail, noting that some minute shortfalls (for example, water outages at individual campuses or high-school exam schedules) affect campuses differently and could require campus-specific remedies. Motel said staff are compiling minute totals by campus before recommending whether changes should be districtwide or targeted.
Board members repeatedly urged clearer communication to families and staff. Trustee Brandon (last name not provided in the transcript) praised the district for a public apology and transparency; Trustee Neighbors and others thanked staff for on-the-ground work during the freeze. Motel asked families to submit notes so absences from the impacted days can be excused and urged staff to document absences for payroll and compliance purposes.
Next steps: the district will convene the advisory committee on Feb. 11, continue compiling campus-level minute data and present a recommended calendar for board approval on March 9. Motel said the district will submit any waivers it wants factored into the approved calendar before leaving for summer so approval or denial is known in advance of the school year.
Note: counts of individual trustee votes were not recorded in the transcript; the calendar changes described above are those Motel presented to the board.
