LINCOLN PARISH SCHOOL BOARD
Ruston, Louisiana
REGULAR SESSION
Tuesday, August 6, 2002 6:00 p.m.
The Lincoln Parish School Board met in Regular Session on Tuesday, August 6, 2002, 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. Otha Anders, Dr. Marty Beasley, Ms. Lisa Best, Mr. Curtis Dowling, Ms. Mattie Harrison, Mr. Jim Kessler, Mr. George Mack, Mr. Joe Mitcham, Ms. Jo Tatum, and Mr. David Wright (arrived after the meeting began).
Mr. Billy Abrahm and Mr. Rob Shadoin were absent.
Vice-President Otha Anders called the meeting to order and gave the invocation.
Mr. Wright entered the meeting.
The Pledge of Allegiance to the American flag was led by Superintendent Gerald Cobb and Mr. Anders welcomed members of the press and guests.
Upon a motion by Mr. Wright, seconded by Ms. Tatum, the Board unanimously voted to adopt the agenda with an addendum to the personnel agenda.
Upon a motion by Mr. Mitcham, seconded by Mr. Dowling, the Board unanimously voted to approve the minutes of the Regular Session held on July 2, 2002 as printed.
Howard Whitlock, Secondary Supervisor, reminded the Board that each year the system must submit a revised copy of the Pupil Progression Plan (PPP) to the State Department of Education for their approval. The PPP is based on regulations from the state and local policies having to do with promotion and retention. The changes to be considered were: 1) Bulletin 1508 has been changed to the Pupil Appraisal Handbook. 2) The Graduate Exit Exam has been changed to the GEE 21. 3) In the Special Education and Interim IEP the following sentence has been added: exceptional students participating in the LEAP 21 must be provided with significant accommodations as noted in the student's IEP. 4) In the Louisiana Education Assessment Program Requirements Applicable to Grade 4 and 8, the following paragraph has been added: A 4th or 8th grade student who scores at or above the Approaching Basic level in the English language arts and the mathematics components of the LEAP for the 21st Century (LEAP 21) and does not meet the other promotion criteria may be brought before the School Building Level Committee and if that committee agrees, the student may be promoted. 5) In the Students with Disabilities section the following subsection has been added: Criteria for Promotion of Dyslexic Students - Students who have characteristics of dyslexia and are served in a multi-sensory structured language program will receive their grades from this program or in combination with the local program depending upon the severity of the student's deficit. 6) In Section IV Remediation under Program Objectives the following paragraph has been added: Remediation is recommended for students who score at the Approaching Basic level on LEAP for the 21st Century English language arts, mathematics, science, or social studies tests. Parents are notified of the availability of this remediation. 7) In Section IV Remediation under Program Objectives the following paragraph has been added: A minimum of 50 hours per subject of summer remediation and the end of summer retest must be offered by school systems at no cost to public school students who score at the Unsatisfactory level or to those who did not take the Spring test. He asked for approval of the revisions.
After brief questions, upon a motion by Ms. Tatum, seconded by Dr. Beasley, the Board unanimously voted to approve the revisions to the 02-03 Lincoln Parish Pupil Progression Plan.
Juanita Duke, Business Manager, reminded Board members that each year schools are allocated funds from the 1979 sales tax fund for library supplement ($2.00), classroom supplies ($3.25), office supplies and equipment repair/purchase ($3.50), student services ($3.25), and debate and speech ($1.50). These funds are distributed on a per pupil basis and sent directly to the schools to be disbursed by the principal. Ms. Duke recommended sending the per pupil allotments shown above which are $1.25 per student above the 01-02 amounts because of increased sales tax collections and a drop in student counts. Also to be included in the checks is $100 per kindergarten teacher and monies for those schools which have a band. The total to be disbursed to the schools would be $101,168 which is an $8,282 increase.
Upon a motion by Mr. Kessler, seconded by Ms. Harrison, the Board unanimously voted to approve the annual school allocation of funds for 02-03 from the 1979 sales tax as outlined by Ms. Duke.
The Board served as a Committee of the Whole and the following Personnel Committee agenda items were considered after Assistant Superintendent Ronnie Suggs presented them.
1. Mr. Suggs gave a brief report on professional personnel staff hiring for 02-03. He explained the step-by-step process followed for the last four to five years when a certified teacher applies for a job in Lincoln Parish. Statistics regarding the number of applicants interviewed by the 5 Ruston principals (Cypress Springs, Glen View, Hillcrest, I. A. Lewis, and Ruston Elementary) and the Choudrant Elementary and Simsboro principals from '93 through '02 were presented along with the number of personnel recommendations made to the Board in each of those years. He mentioned a decrease in the overall number of applicants and said the system had about the same number of vacancies this year compared to last year. He said until earlier in the afternoon the parish had been fully staffed at which time a letter of resignation was received from one of the high schools.
2. Medical sabbatical leave request effective August 12, 2002, for the following:
Cindy Huckaby, special education teacher at Simsboro, until February 26, 2003.
Shannon Puljak, elementary teacher at Cypress Springs, for the first semester of 02-03.
3. Resignation of the following teachers:
Debra Carter, special education at Cypress Springs, effective July 10, 2002.
Charlie Hampton, AFROTC at Ruston High, effective July 8, 2002.
Elizabeth Landry, band at Ruston High, effective July 1, 2002.
Stephanie Maupin, elementary at Simsboro, effective July 30, 2002.
4. Points of Reference/Transfers of the following teachers:
Gloria Miller, from Ruston Junior High to librarian at Choudrant High, effective August 12, 2002.
Donna Lilley, from Ruston Elementary to secretary at Pupil Appraisal, effective July 17, 2002.
5. Employment of the following teachers effective August 12, 2002 unless otherwise noted:
Chris Baker as health/science at Choudrant High replacing Ronnie Yates who resigned.
Kristen Dupuy as elementary teacher at Cypress Springs replacing Shannon Puljak who was granted a ½ year sabbatical.
Ronald Phillips as math at Dubach High replacing Donna Bignar who resigned.
Miriam Stone as special education at Ruston Junior High replacing Dana Boockoff who transferred.
Donna Hammons as special education at Glen View replacing Tomie Bradshaw who transferred.
Janet Fryer as elementary at Ruston Elementary replacing Donna Fitts who lacked certification.
Kelly Aguillard as band at Ruston High effective July 29, 2002 replacing Elizabeth Landry who resigned.
Melissa Deramus as special education at Ruston High in a new position.
Delores Weir as trainer/social studies at Ruston High effective July 29, 2002 replacing Christie Sides who resigned.
Natorshau Davis as ½ time music at Simsboro High replacing Leigh Ann Moore who transferred.
Angela Hoffman an interim administrative assistant at Simsboro High effective July 29, 2002 replacing Tim Nutt who was named principal of the school.
Mary Arthur as junior high English at Simsboro High replacing Angela Hoffman who was named interim administrative assistant.
Julie Dubois as science at Simsboro High replacing Sherri Ferrell who resigned.
Vickie Elliott as elementary at Simsboro replacing Karen Roberson who resigned.
Virginia Hoenke as elementary at Simsboro replacing Michele Rosenberger who transferred.
Random Kennedy as junior high science at Simsboro replacing Sue Donahue who resigned.
James Patton as PE/Pre GED at Secondary Alternative in a new position.
Jennifer Cook as special education aide at Ruston Elementary replacing Jimmye James who transferred.
6. Retirement of Jerry Ann King, teacher at Simsboro Elementary, effective September 24, 2002.
7. Resignation of the following teachers effective August 1, 2002:
Doreen Heard, elementary at Hico.
Jennifer Franks, administrative assistant/counselor at Dubach High.
Sue Donohue, math at Simsboro.
Karen Roberson, elementary at Simsboro.
Christie Sides, health/coach at Ruston High.
Lauren Fallin, kindergarten at Glen View.
8. Employment of the following teachers effective August 12, 2002 unless otherwise noted:
Linda Dick as interim administrative assistant/counselor at Dubach High effective July 29, 2002 replacing Jennifer Franks who resigned.
Rebecca Hodge as kindergarten at Glen View replacing Lauren Falling who resigned.
Glenda Nelson in a new Pre-K position at Hico Elementary.
Rosie Tubbs as elementary at Hico replacing Doreen Heard who resigned.
Tammy Coates as junior high language arts at Ruston Junior high replacing Linda Dick who transferred.
Trina Morse as elementary at Simsboro replacing Staphanie Maupin who resigned.
Upon a motion by Dr. Beasley, seconded by Mr. Mack, the Board unanimously voted to approve the personnel recommendations.
Ms. Juanita Duke reported that sales tax collections for the month ending July 31, 2002 were down 1.69% compared to the same month last year. Collections in the '67 and '79 fund were $359,694, and $215,816 was collected in both the '93 and '00 sales tax funds. Audit recoveries for the first month of the '02 fiscal year were $3,843 which was down 42.72% compared to July 2001.
An update on the Board's renewal coverages for liability, casualty, and property insurances and the changes in premiums and limits of coverage was provided by Ms. Duke.
To summarize, renewal of liability went from $146,177 to $146,512 for an increase of $335 or 23%. Property insurance cost went up $41,054 or 40.55%, from $101,256 to $142,310. Workers' Compensation coverage went from $109,756 to $103,789 for a decrease of $5,967 or -5.44%. These brought the total annual insurance cost up from $357,189 to $392,611 for a $35,422 or 9.92% jump. Ms. Duke felt that these figures were quite favorable compared to increases other schools districts are facing. She predicts that problems will be faced with future renewals because very few companies left in Louisiana write liability coverage for school boards and due to the unstable markets for property insurance coverage.
Director of Auxiliary Services, Charles Owens, informed the Board that the system is just beginning the second year of an energy conservation program which guarantees a 25% savings by the fourth year. Energy costs in Lincoln Parish in 00-01 were $721,102 but decreased to $576,975 in 01-02 which Mr. Owens was pleased to report was a 19.99% savings or $144,127. He recognized Col. Burnie Watson; the part-time, itinerant, energy education manager; for his hard work with the implementation of the program. Col. Watson reminded Board members that changes have been made during the time period when the children and teachers are not in attendance. He publicly thanked principals for their dedication to energy savings.
After presenting revised Bids and Quotations (DJED), Adult Education (IDG), Compulsory School Attendance Ages (JBA) and Prayer in Schools (IKDC); coding change for Health Examinations (GAMFC new code); and three new policies: Alternative Schools Education Program (IDDG), Employee Conduct (GBRA), and Dangerous Weapons (GAMG) at the July meeting, Superintendent Gerald Cobb asked if there were questions about the proposed policy changes.
Hearing none, upon a motion by Mr. Kessler, seconded by Mr. Wright, the Board unanimously voted to approve the revisions, changes, or additions of the following policies: Bids and Quotations (DJED), Adult Education (IDG), Compulsory School Attendance Ages (JBA), Prayer in Schools (IKDC), Health Examinations (GAMFC), Alternative Schools Education Program (IDDG), Employee Conduct (GBRA), and Dangerous Weapons (GAMG).
Dr. Cobb announced that even though the money was originally designated to public schools by a constitutional amendment passed in 1999 by Louisiana Voters, the state has reallocated $17.5 million from the proceeds of the State Tobacco Settlement to be paid to private schools, state special schools, and charger schools. This was done by an amendment to the Supplemental Appropriation Bill (HB243) during the 2002 Regular Legislative Session which was approved by the Governor. Calcasieu and East Baton Rouge filed a lawsuit on July 20, 2002 against the state and more school boards expected to join in this legislation. He said that in order to join the lawsuit to collect the $17.5 million, Lincoln Parish would be expected to pay $990 and the potential return to the system would be $189,571. He recommended that Lincoln Parish join the lawsuit.
Upon a motion by Ms. Tatum seconded by Mr. Mack, that Board unanimously voted to approve the parish's joining the lawsuit to recover $17.5 million in reallocated Tobacco Settlement Funds.
In a Report of the Superintendent, Dr. Cobb related that:
1. Nepotism forms were placed in packets and should be completed by applicable Board members as soon as possible.
2. The schedule for the opening of school, parish wide in-service on August 12, 2002 was also included and Board members were invited to attend.
After brief comments and observations, the meeting adjourned at 7:14 p.m.
_______________________________ _______________________________
Gerald W. Cobb, Secretary Robert E. Shadoin, President