Squire Flyer
September 23, 2021
No School Tomorrow, September 24th
Don't Forget
09/15 - 10/15/21.....Hispanic Heritage Month
09/24/21.................Student Holiday
10/05/21................ Save the date for Bahama Buck's LTE Spirit Night
10/07/21.................End of First Grading Period
10/8/21...................Student Holiday / Teacher Professional Development Day
10/13/21.................Spirit Night @ Hat Creek 5:00-9:00
10/12/21.................Beginning of 2nd Grading Period
10/15/21.................Deadline for GT Nominations
10/20/21.................Student Council
10/30/21.................Public Safety Day
11/01/21.................Staff Professional Development
COVID Protocol Updates
- Protocols for close contact in accordance with rules recently published by TEA (pages 9-10):
- For students, beginning Monday, September 20, any student living in the same household as a COVID-19 positive person will be required to quarantine and may not reenter school until 10 days have passed after the date of the last exposure.
- For staff, any staff member who is deemed a close contact will be allowed to remain on campus only if the individual is asymptomatic and participates in a periodic rapid testing program conducted by the district. If a staff member develops symptoms or tests positive, he/she will be required to remain off campus until the applicable reentry criteria is met.
- A flowchart for a positive, symptomatic, or household close contact student’s return to school (page 11)
- A reminder that visitors and volunteers will continue to not be allowed on campus during the school day (page 15-16)
What is a Voter-Approval Tax Rate Election or VATRE?
State law requires that school districts seek voter approval to raise their tax rate above a prescribed amount. The election is referred to as a Voter-Approval Tax Rate Election (VATRE).
Why call a VATRE?
There are several reasons Lake Travis ISD has called for a VATRE:
- Total tax rate stays the same so taxpayers get the advantage of the Maintenance & Operations tax rate compression
- Increase of local revenue generated by additional two pennies is allowed to remain in the operating budget
- $3 million will stay local annually
- Interest & Sinking tax rate decrease has minimal impact on future bond capacity due to continued property value growth.
Birthday Celebrations and Invitations
"Birthdays are no longer celebrated in the classroom with food. On a student’s birthday, the student will receive a birthday coupon for a treat intended to be redeemed in the cafeteria. Family members are welcome to join their child for lunch, space permitting, after the first two weeks of school in accordance with the procedures found in the Lunch section in this handbook. Parents may bring meals to their own child but may not provide food items to other children at the school in accordance with our wellness guidelines and Food Allergy Management Plan. For students whose birthdays occur on a non-instructional day, they will receive their coupon on another instructional day." (2021-2022 Elementary Handbook, pg. 41)
Teachers will no longer hand out party invitations at school. If you would like to send invitations to school, please be sure there is enough for every student, girls and boys. When the teacher knows there are enough she will allow the student to place invitations in each students classroom cubby or leave them on the table in the classroom for classmates to pick up at the end of the day.
"Invitations to outside student parties may only be handed out at school if ALL class members receive an invitation. Teachers are not responsible for distributing contact information for the purpose of inviting students in the class." (2021-2022 Elementary Handbook, pg. 77)
We are working with our PTA to use a third party application that will allow parents to exchange contact information with each other on a voluntary basis.
Gifted and Talented Nominations
The yearly nomination window to have your child tested for the LTISD Discovery (Gifted & Talented) Program is currently open. The deadline for nominations is October 15, 2021. You can find the nomination form here or on the district GT website. The form is accessible in both English and Spanish.
Information on the LTISD Gifted & Talented Program can be found in the attached slideshows (English and Spanish). Please review the slideshow if you are interested in having your child evaluated for the program. We will hold question and answer sessions with parents/guardians at the following times:
Elementary GT Question and Answer Meeting
October 1, 2021 11:30 - 12:00
Elementary GT Information Meeting Link for October 1 at 11:30