Leander ISD Kids On 'Student Holiday' As Staff, Teachers Attend Conference

CEDAR PARK-LEANDER, TX -- All Leander ISD schools and offices will be closed Feb. 1-2 so that teachers and staff can attend their annual “continuous improvement conference,” district officials said in a statement.

A notice alerting to the closure was posted on the district’s website.

Officials said the district’s administration office would reopen at 1 p.m. on Feb. 2, with classes resuming Feb. 3.

“Enjoy your break!” officials advised schoolchildren, labeling the days off as a “student holiday.”

According to a conference schedule, the event’s first day will kick off at 8:15 a.m. with a keynote address for secondary and support staff. Breakout sessions are scheduled to follow for elementary and support staff.

The second day of the conference will include breakout sessions for all levels, along with staff development on the district’s various campuses.

According to the latest Academic Performance Report issued by the Texas Education Agency, the school district was assigned a “Met Standard” accountability rating for last year. A determination that it “Meets Requirements” was given as its “special education determination status.”

The TEA assigns one of two ratings – “met standard” or “improvement required” – in ascertaining overall, cumulative performance of a school district.

The pair of categories replace more nuanced categorizations ranging from “exemplary” to “academically unacceptable” that were long used as part of the agency’s methodology toward assigning categories.

Across the board in all grade levels, the district outperformed the district and state averages of academic performance overall. However, the percentage of African American and Hispanic students passing key testing measures were slightly lower when compared to the average statewide and district-wide passage rates.

Read the TEA’s full report here.