LINCOLN PARISH SCHOOL BOARD
Ruston, Louisiana
REGULAR SESSION
Tuesday, February 1, 2000 6:00 p.m.
The Lincoln Parish School Board met in Regular Session on Tuesday, February 1, 2000 at 6:00 p.m. in the Board Room of the Lincoln Parish School Board Office, 410 South Farmerville Street, Ruston, Louisiana. Members present were Mr. Billy Abrahm, Mr. Otha Anders, Ms. Priscilla Barfield, Dr. Marty Beasley, Mr. Curtis Dowling, Ms. Mattie Harrison, Mr. George Mack, Mr. Joe Mitcham, and Mr. Rob Shadoin (arrived after the meeting began) and Mr. Allen Tuten.
Mr. Jim Kessler and Mr. David Wright were absent.
In the absence of the officers, Superintendent Gerald Cobb called the meeting to order. He stated that Board policy states that the Superintendent shall preside over the meeting in the absence of the President and Vice-President until the members elect one of them to serve as President for that meeting. Dr. Cobb opened the floor for nominations.
Mr. Abrahm moved that Mr. Tuten be elected President for the meeting and Mr. Mitcham seconded the motion. After Mr. Anders moved that nominations cease, the Board unanimously voted to allow Mr. Tuten to serve as President for the meeting.
Mr. Tuten took charge of the meeting, gave the invocation, and led in the Pledge of Allegiance to the American flag.
Upon a motion by Mr. Anders, seconded by Mr. Dowling, the Board unanimously voted to adopt the agenda as distributed.
Upon a motion by Dr. Beasley, seconded by Mr. Mitcham, the Board unanimously voted to approve the minutes of the Regular Sessions held on January 4 and January 19, 2000 as printed.
The Board served as a Committee of the Whole and the following Personnel Committee agenda items were discussed after Mr. Ronnie Suggs, Assistant Superintendent, presented items 1.-3.; School Food Service Supervisor, Ms. Brenda Theodos, presented 4.; and Director of Auxiliary Services, Mr. Charles Owens, presented 5.:
1. Retirement of Martha Price, teacher at Cypress Springs, effective May 31, 2000.
2. Resignation of:
Hico Elementary special education teacher, Alexa Ginn, effective January 21, 2000.
Kay Campbell, itinerant art teacher, effective January 17, 2000.
3. Employment of Shirley Rich as computer proctor at Ruston Elementary, effective January 18, 2000, replacing Beth Vosburg who retired.
Upon a motion by Mr. Abrahm, seconded by Ms. Harrison, the Board unanimously voted to approve the first three personnel requests.
4. Resignation of:
Vickie Bowden, effective December 14, 1999, as School Food Service 4 hour technician at Choudrant Elementary.
Effective January 3, 2000, I. A. Lewis S.F.S. technician, Barbara Hunter.
Upon a motion by Mr. Mack, seconded by Dr. Beasley, the Board unanimously voted to approve the resignations.
5. Employment of Vickie Mayfield, effective February 1, 2000, as custodian at Lincoln Center replacing Betty Gray who resigned.
Upon a motion by Mr. Dowling, seconded by Mr. Anders, the Board unanimously voted to approve the personnel recommendation.
The final item on the personnel committee agenda was to consider the recommendation of teacher suspension. Mr. Tuten asked if the teacher was present and if an open or closed session was preferred.
Attorney Russell Woodard stated that the teacher, Robert Parrott, was present and that an open session was preferred.
Mr. Tuten briefly explained the Board-established procedure to be used for personnel hearings and asked Dr. Charles Scriber, Principal of Ruston High School, to describe the events leading up to his recommendation of five day suspension without pay of Robert Parrott.
Dr. Scriber passed out supporting documents and described his investigation of a December 13 incident. Individuals testifying as part of Dr. Scriber's investigation were Ms. Nancy Giesse, RHS Special Education Department Head, and Mr. John Wallace, Transition Coordinator. After a thorough investigation, he determined that Robert Parrott used poor judgement and excessive force in dealing with special education student, Willie Holland. He recommended that the Board uphold the administration's recommendation of suspension of Robert Parrott for five days without pay.
Mr. Shadoin entered the meeting during Dr. Scriber's communication.
Several board members and Mr. Woodard had questions of Dr. Scriber.
Mr. Tuten turned the chair over to Mr. Shadoin, Vice-President.
Mr. Woodard introduced himself and his client, Robert Parrott, to the Board. He distributed informational notebooks and described their version of the incident. He had Mr. Parrott testify in his own defense. He stated that Mr. Parrott's actions were reasonable and that he should not be suspended for five days without pay.
Various board members and Dr. Scriber had questions for Mr. Woodard and Mr. Parrott after which time Mr. Shadoin called a brief recess to allow everyone time to read through information which they had been given at the meeting.
In his final statement, Dr. Scriber said he strongly feels that Robert Parrott used poor judgement as a teacher employing excessive force in his dealing with Willie Holland.
Mr. Woodard closed by repeating that in his opinion the facts show that Robert Parrott acted very appropriately in light of the circumstances and did not use excessive force.
After board members' comments, Mr. Shadoin repeated the recommendation of the administration to uphold the suspension of Robert Parrott for five days without pay. He asked for the Board's decision.
Upon a motion by Mr. Mack, seconded by Mr. Dowling, the Board voted 7 - 3 by voice vote to uphold the recommendation of the administration to suspend Robert Parrott for five days, January 3 - 7, 2000, without pay.
Voting in favor of the motion: Otha Anders, Dr. Marty Beasley, George Mack, Priscilla Barfield, Mattie Harrison, Curtis Dowling, and Rob Shadoin.
Voting against the motion: Billy Abrahm, Joe Mitcham, and Allen Tuten.
Mr. Wright called on Mr. Tim Green, C.P.A., who announced that the Lincoln Parish School Board is doing a good job managing money. Mr. Green called attention to a Comprehensive Annual Financial Report which deals primarily with financial numbers involved in school board operations and a Single Audit Report which deals more with federal programs. He quickly reviewed both reports and ended his Independent Auditor's report with the statement that he is very pleased with accounting and found no reportable conditions. In his opinion, the administration, business department and more specifically the Business Manager, Juanita Duke, are doing a very good job.
Dr. Cobb left to travel to Baton Rouge for an early morning meeting.
Two auto sales tax payments were received during the month ending January 31, 2000 which made a 15.41% increase for the month, according to Ms. Duke. Total collections year-to-date are 2.45% below the prior year. Collected in the '67 and '79 fund was $452,367 and $271,420 was generated in the' 93 fund. Monies recovered by audits for the month of January, 2000 were $8,398.
Ms. Duke presented the December 31, 1999 financial report and called attention to the fund balances. The general fund is a little low as usual for this time of year. Property tax collections for 1999 are beginning to be received and will be throughout the spring and into early summer. She summarized the report and closed by mentioning that the 5 mill, '93 sales tax, and district maintenance and operation funds also have low balances as usual. Collections are anticipated in January in order to replenish those funds. Sales tax fund balances continue to grow in anticipation of salary supplement payments in July.
Last summer the Lincoln Parish School Board granted permission for the formation of a Uniform Study Committee to look at the issue of uniforms in the parish's schools, reminded Ronnie Suggs. The committee received information from other school systems, had principals from Bossier Parish report to them on uniforms in their parish, visited schools in Lincoln Parish to look at current dress codes, and spent several hours discussing the pros and cons of mandatory school uniforms in the school system. The Committee feels that it is time to gauge what the parents and faculty think about the school uniform issue. They propose to survey all of the schools, except the lab schools, in February and make a recommendation to the Board in March based on the results. Mr. Suggs stressed that the parents were not voting on the issue of school uniforms, but were being surveyed regarding their views. He feels that there are three possible results to be determined by the survey: strong support for the pursuit of a parishwide uniform policy, some schools might have strong support and would pursue the idea, or the continued monitoring and revisions of dress codes on a school-by-school basis. A copy of a letter to parents to go home on February 3, information regarding possible uniforms to go home with the letter, the survey, and a listing of the members of the Uniform Study Committee were given to Board members. He closed by sharing that very strong parental support is going to be needed for schools to mandate the wearing of school uniforms. No action was required of the Board at this time.
The Board was reminded by Juanita Duke that a resolution was adopted at the November 2, 1999 meeting to call an election on January 15, 2000 for voters to consider a new 1/2-cent parishwide sales tax and a new 10-mill parishwide ad valorem tax. Both propositions were authorized by the majority of the voters on January 15. In order to comply with the Louisiana Election Code, she said the Board must now adopt a resolution canvassing the results of the election. A breakdown of the vote by precinct was in packets, but the total of the votes, including absentee ballots was as follows: 1/2-Cent Parishwide Sales & Use Tax passed by a vote of 3,180 FOR and 1,774 AGAINST, 10-Mill Consolidated School District #1 Special Ad Valorem Tax passed by a vote of 2,917 FOR and 1,849 AGAINST. It was her recommendation that the Board adopt the resolution as presented.
Upon a motion by Mr. Abrahm, seconded by Mr. Anders, the Board unanimously voted to approve a resolution providing for canvassing the election returns and declaring the results of the January 15, 2000 Special Election for the above-mentioned propositions.
Ms. Duke also informed the Board that the proper procedure to make the levying of the 1/2-cent sales tax official is through the adoption of an ordinance stating the date of the levy, the types of goods and services on which the tax will be levied, and how the taxes will be collected. She presented an ordinance with the same details as the other ordinances currently in effect within the parish for the Board's consideration. She reported that the first payment from the collection of the new tax should be received in May, 2000.
Upon a motion by Dr. Beasley, seconded by Mr. Mack, the Board unanimously voted to adopt the ordinance levying a 1/2-cent sales tax within the Parish of Lincoln beginning April 1, 2000 the proceeds from which are to be used for the purposes approved by the voters on January 15, 2000.
In accordance with Board wishes at the January 4, 2000 meeting, bids were advertised to repair the roof on the main building at Hico Elementary. The bids were opened January 31, 2000 as stipulated and the results were presented by Charles Owens. He asked the Board to take the bids under advisement and to authorize the administration to award the bid to the lowest bidder meeting specifications.
Upon a motion by Ms. Barfield, seconded by Ms. Harrison, the Board unanimously voted to take the bids on Hico's roof repair under advisement and to authorize the administration to award the bid to the lowest bidder meeting specifications.
Approval from the state for Phase III construction at the Secondary Alternative School was recently received by Mr. Owens. This funding will allow for the completion of a covered walkway connecting all buildings, provide for hot mix overlay of the parking area, and the construction of three additional classrooms and a teacher work area. He does not expect expenditures to exceed the funding of $119,000 provided by the state. He recommended that the Board grant permission to advertise for bids for the construction and to overlay the parking area and complete construction of the covered walkway and sidewalks.
Upon a motion by Mr. Mack, seconded by Mr. Anders, the Board unanimously voted to grant permission to advertise for bids for the construction of three classrooms and a teacher work area, to overlay the parking area with hot mix, and to complete construction of a covered walkway and sidewalks at the Secondary Alternative School.
After brief comments, the meeting was adjourned at 9:10 p.m.
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Gerald W. Cobb, Secretary David Wright, President