LINCOLN PARISH SCHOOL BOARD

Ruston, Louisiana

 REGULAR SESSION

Wednesday, April 17, 2002   12:30 p.m.

The Lincoln Parish School Board met in Regular Session on Wednesday, April 17, 2002 at 12:30 p.m. at Glen View Elementary School.  Members present were Mr. Billy Abrahm, Mr. Otha Anders, Ms. Lisa Best, Mr. Curtis Dowling, Ms. Mattie Harrison, Mr. Jim Kessler, Mr. George Mack, Mr. Joe Mitcham, Mr. Rob Shadoin, Ms. Jo Tatum, and Mr. David Wright.

Dr. Marty Beasley was absent.

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

President Shadoin called the meeting to order and the invocation was given by Ms. Harrison.  Mr. Shadoin led the Board in the Pledge of Allegiance to the American flag and welcomed guests to the meeting.

Upon a motion by Mr. Mitcham, seconded by Mr. Mack, the Board unanimously voted to adopt the agenda with an addendum of Unfinished Business.

Principal of Glen View Elementary School, Cecil Barham, welcomed the Board to the school.  He mentioned several good things about his wonderful school including an excellent faculty and strong parental involvement.  Mr. Barham thanked Superintendent Gerald Cobb and the central office staff for their support.  In closing, he issued an invitation to return to Glen View at any time.

Members who attended the recent National School Boards Association conference in New Orleans gave brief summaries of their thoughts and ideas.  It was the consensus of opinion that the conference was very enjoyable, informative, and educational.  Board members also agreed that commendations were due to the administration and staff for their excellent working relationship with the Board.  It became apparent when talking with Board members from other parishes and states that the groups seldom worked as a team.

The Board served as a Committee of the Whole and the following Personnel Committee agenda items were considered after Assistant Superintendent Ronnie Suggs presented 1.-3. and Supervisor of Transportation James Payton presented 4.:

1)     Leave requests from:

Julie Holmes, teacher at Ruston Elementary, for sabbatical for the first semester of 02-03, effective August 12, 2002, and leave without pay for the second semester of 02-03.

Susan Feduccia, librarian at Glen View, for leave without pay from August 14, 2002 through August 30, 2002.

Mr. Suggs indicated that these meet the state and local guidelines for leave taking.        

2)     Retirement of the following:

Judy Mabry, principal at Simsboro High, effective July 1, 2002.

Testing Coordinator at Ruston High, Barbara Torbor, effective June 24, 2002.

Nancy Wallace, Itinerant Behavior Interventionist, effective June 7, 2002.

3)     Resignation of the following effective May 24, 2002 unless otherwise stated:

Todd Burnaman, social studies/coach at Dubach High.

Math teacher at Ruston Junior High, Lori Frasier.

Nora Buentello, speech therapist at Cypress Springs.

Special education teacher at Cypress Springs, Jessica Burnaman.

Kim Goree, English teacher at Choudrant High.

Junior high teacher/coach at Choudrant High, Ronny Yates, effective April 5, 2002.

4)     Retirement effective May 24, 2002 of Herbert Lyons, bus driver in the Ruston area.

After gaining Board approval and advertising for three weeks in the official journal, bids for the purchase of four new conventional school buses were opened on April 10.  Mr. Payton said that careful analysis and comparison showed that bid specifications did not meet the standards set in the revised Bulletin 1213; therefore, he recommended that all bids be rejected and that the purchase be readvertised.

Upon a motion by Ms. Tatum, seconded by Mr. Kessler, the Board unanimously voted to reject all bids and readvertise for bids for the purchase of four new conventional school buses.

One proposal was received by Charles Owens, Director of Auxiliary Services, for the construction of one two unit portable classroom building at Choudrant High School and one was received for the construction of a three unit portable classroom building at Ruston Elementary.  He recommended that the Board accept those proposals.

Upon a motion by Mr. Mack, seconded by Mr. Anders, the Board unanimously voted to accept the proposal in the amount of $28,660 for labor and electrical only to construct one double unit classroom building at Choudrant High School from Murphy Roofing Company and the proposal of $47,900 for labor and electrical only to construct one three unit classroom building at Ruston Elementary School from Murphy Construction Company.

According to Dr. Gerald Cobb, after the April 2 Board meeting, he became aware of at least one company that has the capability of completely reconditioning existing bleachers.  Because of this, he recommended that his earlier request to advertise for proposals in order to purchase new gymnasium bleachers at Simsboro and Ruston High Schools be amended to include or for the repair of the existing bleachers.

Upon a motion by Mr. Wright, seconded by Mr. Kessler, the Board unanimously voted to grant permission to advertise for proposals for the purchase of new bleachers at Simsboro and Ruston High Schools main gymnasiums or for the repair of the existing bleachers at these facilities.

Since the Board accepted Simsboro High School principal Judy Mabry's letter of resignation, Dr. Cobb proposed to schedule the application process for April 17 - May 1, 2002.  After sending advertisements to school systems and newspapers across North Louisiana, interviews would be held on May 3 or May 6, 2002 with a recommendation to fill the position to be presented to the Board at its May 7, 2002 meeting.  He asked for approval of these plans.

Upon a motion by Mr. Dowling, seconded by Mr. Mitcham, the Board unanimously voted to approve the advertisement and interview process for the Simsboro High School principal position as suggested by Dr. Gerald Cobb.

In order to continue to qualify for the Erate discount program, Lincoln Parish must certify that they are in compliance with the Child Internet Protection Act (CIPA) which was passed by Congress and became effective April 20, 2001.  One of the requirements of the program states that each participating school district must certify that they are either already filtering Internet access or materials or are undertaking actions necessary to implement the CIPA filtering mandate.  These measures block or filter Internet access for minors and adults to certain visual depictions, including without limitation those that are obscene, pornographic, or harmful to minors.  Mr. Suggs said that although the parish had been filtering access to these sites, the wording was felt to be insufficient in two policies dealing with computer use.  He called attention to the proposed changes in Acceptable Use Policy for School Computer Systems and the Internet - Faculty and Staff Use and Acceptable Use Policy for School Computer Systems and the Internet - Student Use and asked Board members to peruse the policies until the next meeting on May 7.

For the Report of the Superintendent, Dr. Cobb indicated that the following items were included in Board packets or portfolios:

2)     Information given to principals about the upcoming election on millage renewals.

3)     Map with school accountability results for the state.

4)     Information about a flower bill from Becky Gemelli.

5)     School calendar for 02-03.

After brief comments and questions from Board members, the meeting adjourned at 1:08 p.m.

___________________________________                 ____________________________

Gerald W. Cobb, Secretary                                                Robert E. Shadoin, President