Keep Laredo Beautiful agreed March 19 to support a Laredo Independent School District (LISD) Earth Day school beautification project by serving as volunteer judges and making its tool-loan resources available.

Ruby (board member) described the program to the board, saying the project would invite all schools in LISD to undertake small campus beautification efforts and that organizers expect up to 29 schools to participate. She said the district contact had provided judging rubrics and a Google Docs judging sheet.

Why it matters: The program is designed to engage students in outdoor cleanup and planting and to award three schools for “immaculate grounds,” “environmental stewardship,” and a “litter-free legacy.” Board members said the project fits the affiliate’s mission and provides a visible community partnership with the district.

Details and board commitments
Ruby said the schools would have “from now until April” to complete projects; the board discussed a judging window of April 7–April 16 and noted judges would evaluate only each campus’s exterior and perimeter. The project’s organizer provided scoring sheets and a public-service video that will include KLB’s (Keep Laredo Beautiful) logo.

Board members offered to split the schools by grade band or geography so judging could be done in clusters and to photograph sites and average judges’ scores to reduce evaluator variance. Board staff noted that the affiliate’s existing tool-loan program can provide gloves, litter bags and hand tools to any schools that request them; two elementary schools had already asked to borrow supplies.

A board member made a motion “to support this endeavor for LISD,” the motion received a second and the board approved the support. The meeting record does not include a roll-call vote or a numerical tally; minutes record the motion was moved, seconded and carried.

Next steps
Board staff will forward the organizer’s materials, including the scoring rubric and Google Docs judging sheet, and board members will indicate who will serve as judges and which schools they will cover. Board members agreed to refine scheduling around April 7–16 so volunteers can commit to two weekends or two weekday blocks for judging.

Quotations
“She calls it surveyors, but I would call it, like, judging the campus,” Ruby said of the organizer’s use of terms.

“This is an Earth Day project … there are three schools that are going to win,” a board member added during discussion.

Ending
Board members said they view the role as time-limited support for the district initiative and asked staff to return any remaining scheduling details to the group by email so judges can be assigned in advance.