Laredo Independent School District

Laredo Independent School District is a public school district based in Laredo in Webb County, Texas (USA). The district serves the south central portion of Laredo. In 2009, LISD was rated "academically acceptable" by the Texas Education Agency.

In 2007, LISD administrators began removing some seven hundred children from special education after the Texas Education Agency declared that the district had too many in the program because only 8.5 percent of the pupils enrolled could receive such special services. According to Maricela Gonzalez, an elementary school speech therapist, "We basically just picked kids and weeded them out. We thought it was unfair, but we did it." Other Texas school districts also reduced their enrollments in special education. However, federal law requires public schools to provide special education to all eligible pupils with disabilities. LISD has been investigated to make certain that needy students can enroll in special education. In LISD, some 60 percent of pupils speak Spanish as their native language.

In September 2014, LISD superintendent A. Marcus Nelson (born 1972), a native of San Antonio and a 1994 graduate of Abilene Christian University in Abilene, Texas, was named "Superintendent of the Year" by the Texas Association of School Administrators and the Texas Association of School Boards at the annual convention of the two groups held in Dallas. Nelson, who took the Laredo position in August 2009, beat out four other contenders for the recognition. With a salary of $206,000 annually, Nelson's contract expires in August 2020. He is the ninth highest paid superintendent in his Region 1 Education Service Center.

Twelve LISD schools in 2014 fell short of minimum state standards and werer placed on the Public Education Grant list. These institutions include Martin High School, J. W. Nixon High School, and Cigarroa High School, as well as several middle and elementary schools. Five schools in the United Independent School District, also located in Webb County, fell short in standards, including Lyndon B. Johnson High School.

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