By CASSIE MCKEE, Four Points News

Two incumbent Leander ISD Board of Trustee members are being challenged for their seats in the upcoming election scheduled for Saturday, May 9. Early voting will begin April 27.

Voters will decide on the Place 1 seat, currently held by Lisa Mallory, and the Place 2 seat, held by Don Hisle. All school board positions are three-year terms and represent the entire school district.

The Leander ISD Board of Trustees is elected to govern and set policy for the district. One of the board’s responsibilities is to select the superintendent, who serves as the district’s chief executive officer. Together, the Board of Trustees and superintendent form Leander ISD’s “Governance Team.” Continue reading →

By CARISSA MALLORY, Viper Contributor

Last summer, my friend Sara and I traveled to Dar es Salaam, Tanzania to explore opportunities to help increase graduation rates. I learned about the Tanzanian education crisis a few years ago when my aunt Theo, a native of Tanzania informed me that schools in Africa are very different from the ones here in the United States. I was surprised and shocked to learn about the high dropout rate for students in Tanzania. Their approach to education seemed dysfunctional, flawed and tragic.

Vandegrift High School students Carissa Mallory (right) and Sara Campbell (left) sit in the new library they helped create last summer at the Gerezani Primary School in Tanzania. They are challenging students to help them fill the library with more books with the Reading Around the World’s Spring Break challenge.

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By LYNETTE HAALAND, Four Points News

The Hill Country Education Foundation’s 5th annual Giddy Up Gala raised a record-breaking $140,000 and posted a record attendance on Feb. 28 as more than 475 guests made a difference for local Four Points students, schools and teachers.

“Our ability to boost academics with additional programs and tools is highly dependent on the funds raised at this gala,” said Kai Lamb, president.

“Each year the community comes out in larger and larger numbers, willing to step up their financial contributions. Because of their continued support and even stronger dedication to our cause, HCEF can intensify its efforts in making a difference for our students and their teachers who are passionate about enhancing education,” Lamb added.

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Local PTA representatives attended the Texas PTA Rally Day last week. Back row (L-R): Shannon Lombardo, LISD director of community services and the superintendent’s representative on the LISD Council of PTAs; Stephanie Haug, president of LISD Council of PTAs; Kristen Hill, president of VHS PTSA; Crosby MacClyment, legislative action chair at LISD Council of PTAs; Erin Kolecki, president of GHE PTA. Front row (L-R): Rebecca Cole, legislative action chair at FPMS PTA; Michelle Beck, legislative action chair at CRMS PTA; and Lisa Anestos, legislative action chair at GHE PTA.
photo by Sarah Doolittle

By SARAH DOOLITTLE, Four Points News

Local Parent Teacher Association representatives attended the annual Rally Day for the Texas PTA last week at the state capitol in Austin. Rally Day is an opportunity for Texas PTA members to meet with state representatives and senators in order to advance the PTA’s legislative goals.

“The more people who are willing to speak up and show up, the more change we can affect,” said Stephanie Haug. She attended the event on Feb. 25 as a parent — she has two students at Four Points area schools — but also as president of the LISD Council of PTAs, which has 34 members and is comprised of all the LISD schools that have either PTAs or PTSAs (Parent Teacher Student Associations). Continue reading →

By LYNETTE HAALAD, Four Points News

Land at RM 620 and Steiner Ranch Boulevard is being cleared for a new Austin-based SouthStar Bank and other pad sites for future commercial development including possibly a carwash.

Plans for the the 20-acre site were approved on Feb. 19, according to Christine Barton-Holmes, senior planner at the City of Austin- Planning & Development Review Department.

Barton-Holmes said the first phase will be a bank and all of the infrastructure for the whole site. The next phase will be a medical office and the third phase, a professional office and the final phase a carwash.

Texas Engineering Solutions, LLC is the site plan applicant, and the owners are listed as Lone Star Bank and Texas MU 15 Investments, Ltd. McAden Builders Inc. is the initial builder on the site.

“We are building SouthStar Bank on the hard corner there at Steiner Ranch and 620,” said Allen McAden, CEO McAden Builders.

“We are also building two additional pads and a detention pond on lots two and three. They are just pads for further developments nothing has been selected yet at this time,” McAden said.

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