LINCOLN PARISH SCHOOL BOARD

Ruston, Louisiana

REGULAR SESSION

Wednesday, October 18, 2000   12:30 p.m.

The Lincoln Parish School Board met in Regular Session on Wednesday, October 18, 2000 at 12:30 p.m. at Hico Elementary School.  Members present were Mr. David Wright, Mr. Billy Abrahm, Dr. Marty Beasley, Ms. Dinah Brazzel, Mr. Chad Connor, Mr. Curtis Dowling, Ms. Mattie Harrison, Mr. George Mack, Mr. Joe Mitcham, and Mr. Rob Shadoin.

Members absent were Mr. Otha Anders and Mr. Jim Kessler.

Prior to the business meeting, board members enjoyed a delicious lunch in the school cafeteria.

President Wright called the meeting to order and Mr. Mack gave the invocation.  Mr. Wright led in the Pledge of Allegiance to the American flag and welcomed the staff, guests, and members of the media.

Upon a motion by Mr. Mitcham, seconded by Mr. Abrahm, the Board unanimously voted to adopt the agenda as printed.

Hico Elementary Principal James Pilgreen welcomed everyone to the school whose mission statement is:  Providing a safe, clean place for teachers to teach and children to learn.  He briefly described the different programs in place including those operating in the summer.   Board members were given an invitation to walk around the school at the conclusion of the meeting.

The Board served as a Committee of the Whole and the following Personnel Committee agenda items were discussed after Ronnie Suggs, Assistant Superintendent, presented them:

            1.         Resignations of the following:

                        Vicki Solomon, teacher at Ruston Elementary, effective October 6, 2000.

                        Jennifer Alexander, tutor at Lincoln Center, effective September 15, 2000.

                       Steve Tyler, special education aide at I. A. Lewis, effective October 5, 2000.

            2.         Employment of the following:

Deborah Smith as tutor at Lincoln Center effective September 14, 2000 replacing Jennifer Alexander who resigned.

Debby Pyles in a new special education aide position at Simsboro effective October 16, 2000.  She will be paid with federal IDEA monies.

Upon a motion by Dr. Beasley, seconded by Mr. Mitcham, the Board unanimously voted to approve the personnel recommendations.

Juanita Duke, Business Manager, indicated that sales tax collections for the month of September, 2000 increased 8.97%, a figure which did not include the new 2000 1/2 cent sales tax which became effective April 1, 2000.  Total collections in that fund for the first three months of the fiscal year are $580,123.  Collections for the month ending September, 2000 in the '67 and '79 fund were $308,315; in the '93 fund were $184,989; and in the '00 fund were $184,989.  Total audit recoveries were a little down compared to last year with $79 being collected during September. 

Next Ms. Duke called attention to the financial statement with ending fund balances as of and for the year ended June 30, 2000.  She quickly reviewed each fund balance.  The general fund did end the year with a $273,000 surplus.

At the October 3, 2000 meeting of the Board, three revised and one new policy were presented for scrutiny until the next meeting.  Superintendent Gerald Cobb recommended approval of the four policies.

Since there were no questions, upon a motion by Mr. Abrahm, seconded by Mr. Dowling, the Board unanimously voted to approve the revisions to Lease of School Lands, DFI; School Transportation Management, ED; and School Admission, JBC; and the inclusion of a new policy, Technology Assistive Devices for Disabled Students, IDDFA. 

Dr. Cobb said members of the Building and Grounds Committee looked at the Ruston High School track and realized that it is in critical need of renovating and resurfacing.  The present track was built in 1990 at a cost of $125,000.  The life expectancy of the latex surface track was eight to ten years.  He proposed to resurface it with a polyurethane surface which has a life expectancy of fifteen to twenty years.  The renovation would require that the latex surface be removed and the asphalt base would then be inspected for repairs.  Finally the new polyurethane surface would be installed.  He estimated the cost without asphalt repairs to be approximately $70,000 which includes a black running surface rather than a $30,000 higher red surface.  The proposed track has been installed at Ouachita, West Monroe, and West Ouachita he said with much satisfaction from these schools.  He asked for permission to advertise for bids for the project.

Following several questions, upon a motion by Mr. Mitcham, seconded by Mr. Dowling, the Board unanimously voted by a show of hands to grant approval to advertise for bids for the renovation and resurfacing of the Ruston High School track.

In a Report of the Superintendent, he was delighted to announce that school performance scores were received from the State Department of Education earlier that day and the administration was pleased with the results.

After Mr. Wright mentioned that Mr. Anders and Mr. Kessler were both out of town and thanked Ms. Dinah Brazzel for serving as interim board member for Ward 4, the meeting was adjourned at 12:58 p.m.

___________________________________     ________________________________

Gerald W. Cobb, Secretary                                     David Wright, President