2002-09-03

LINCOLN PARISH SCHOOL BOARD

Ruston, Louisiana

REGULAR SESSION

Tuesday, September 3, 2002 6:07 p.m.

The Lincoln Parish School Board met in Regular Session on Tuesday, September 3, 2002 at 6:07 p.m. in the Board Room of the Lincoln Parish School Board Office, 410 South Farmerville Street, Ruston, Louisiana. Members present were President Rob Shadoin, Mr. Billy Abrahm, 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.

No board member was absent.

President Rob Shadoin called the meeting to order and Mr. Abrahm gave the invocation. Mr. Shadoin led in the Pledge of Allegiance to the American flag.

Upon a motion by Mr. Anders, seconded by Mr. Wright, the Board unanimously voted to adopt the agenda with an addendum adding one item of New Business.

Upon a motion by Mr. Mitcham, seconded by Dr. Beasley, the Board unanimously voted to approve the minutes of the Regular Session held on August 6, 2002 as printed.

Mr. Shadoin announced that this was the time specified for a public hearing for the proposed 02-03 budget. Opportunity was given for anyone present to express comments or questions regarding the budget. There were no comments or questions.

Ms. Juanita Duke, Business Manager, indicated that several of the schools and other facilities have been collecting and storing broken and obsolete property in their facilities for years. Ms. Duke is in the process of establishing procedures for storing and disposing of surplus items in the future. In the meantime, she provided listings containing numerous excess items and suggested that they be declared as surplus and she be given permission to dispose of all of them in a prudent manner.

Upon a motion by Ms. Tatum, seconded by Mr. Kessler, the Board unanimously voted to declare the items presented on the lists as surplus and grant authority to dispose of them in a prudent manner, which will include any advertising that may be necessary.

Director of Auxiliary Services, Mr. Charles Owens, related that the parish is in need of a covered work area and storage area as a result of increased bus ownership and new guidelines for accounting for fixed assets. In order to keep a fleet of 70 buses on the road and to save the parish money, it is necessary for the staff to perform minor repairs. At the present time, there is no covered area in which to perform these repairs. Also, in order to strictly adhere to specific guidelines regarding how school property is accounted for and distributed, and to store surplus items, a central storage facility has become a necessity. Mr. Owens requested permission to acquire a metal storage building with roughly 2400 square feet for approximately $35,000. He explained that the building would be located on the southwest corner of the existing bus yard.

Upon a motion by Mr. Mack, seconded by Ms. Harrison, the Board unanimously voted to grant permission to acquire a storage/bus shop with an approximate cost of $35,000.

The Board served as a Committee of the Whole and the following Personnel Committee agenda items were discussed after Assistant Superintendent Ronnie Suggs presented 1.-2. and School Food Service Supervisor Brenda Theodos presented 3.-5.:

1. Resignation of the following:

Melanie Colvin, language arts at Dubach High, effective August 12, 2002.

Susan Ferguson, science at Ruston High, effective August 6, 2002.

2. Employment of the following teacher unless otherwise stated:

Robin Burcham, elementary at Choudrant Elementary, effective August 14, 2002 replacing Augustine Moore who was granted a 1^st semester sick leave/sabbatical.

Huey Ferrell, PE/coach at Dubach High, effective August 12, 2002 replacing Todd Burnaman who resigned.

Christy Grant, science at Ruston High, effective August 12, 2002, replacing Sue Ferguson who resigned.

Paula Weaver in a new elementary position at Simsboro School effective August 27, 2002.

Marion Shelton in a new pre-k aide position at Hico School effective August 19, 2002.

3. Retirement of the following school food service technicians:

Laureen Brister, Choudrant, effective July 23, 2002.

Mary Jean Jackson, Alma J. Brown, effective September 30, 2002.

4. Points of Reference (Transfers) of the following school food service personnel effective August 13, 2002 unless otherwise specified:

July Martin transferring from Ruston Junior High to technician at Hillcrest replacing Debra Jordan who transferred.

Lisa Younse transferring from Ruston Elementary to technician at Choudrant replacing Laureen Brister who retired.

Debra Jordan transferring from Hillcrest to technician at Alma J. Brown replacing Mary J. Jackson who retired.

Sandra Hewitt transferring from Ruston Junior High to clerk/technician at Grambling High effective July 31, 2002 replacing Willie M. Pruitt who retired.

Denise Thomas transferring from Ruston Elementary to manager at I. A. Lewis effective July 31, 2002 replacing Joan Moore who retired.

Patsy Lewis transferring from technician at Ruston Elementary to clerk at Ruston Elementary effective July 31, 2002 replacing Denise Thomas who transferred.

Edna Drayton transferring from Ruston High to technician at Ruston Junior High replacing Sandra Hewitt who transferred.

5. Employment of the following school food service personnel effective August 13, 2002:

Vickie Thomas as technician at Ruston Elementary replacing Patsy Lewis who was promoted.

Jennifer Alexander as technician at Ruston Elementary replacing Lisa Younse who transferred.

Juanne Langley as technician at Ruston High replacing Edna Drayton who transferred.

Loretta Chrismon as technician at Ruston Junior High replacing Judy Martin who transferred.

Karen Blade in a new technician position at Simsboro.

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

The Finance Committee meet just prior to the 6:00 meeting of the Board and Chairman, Joe Mitcham, announced that the Finance Committee unanimously voted to recommend to the Board the acceptance of the proposed 02-03 budget which is summarized as follows:

Beginning fund balance - July 1, 2002 $ 9,446,963

Revenues 45,217,934

Expenditures 44,886,157

Excess 351,777

Ending fund balance - June 30, 2003 9,798,740

President Shadoin asked what the Board's wishes were concerning the Finance Committee's recommendation to accept the 02-03 proposed budget.

The Board unanimously voted to adopt the 02-03 proposed budget as presented and grant permission for the administration to amend the budget as needed throughout the year and bring a final revised budget to the Board for approval at year-end.

It was a very smooth opening of school again this year with very few problems or situations according to Mr. Suggs. The usual adjustments were made to bus routes. He indicated that the biggest problem this year was new compute software. Although the official student count is not taken until October 1, he estimated that the parish will probably have 6,573 students, a loss of about 30 students from the previous year. He presented numbers of students by schools and numbers above or below last year's enrollment figures.

President Shadoin and others expressed appreciation to the central office staff and the schools for the way business is handled. Very few complaints have been received by them.

Sales tax collections for August 2002 were down 18.89% over the same month last year and 15.67% year-to-date, according to Ms. Duke. She attributed decreased building in the unincorporated areas of the parish with the decrease. Ms. Duke mentioned that the sales tax numbers are still above those from the 01-02 school year. In the 1967 and 1979 sales tax fund $320,365 was collected, with $192,218 being collected in the 1993 and 2000 funds. She declared that salary supplement amounts may decrease if collections do not level off.

Ms. Duke reminded all that the Board is required to levy millages for Ad Valorem taxes for maintenance and operating taxes as well as for paying principle and interest on outstanding school district bonds. She said that after reviewing the school district's debt service millages, Grant Schlueter, bond attorney with Foley & Judell, recommended slight reductions for the Ruston School District #1 (from 15.00 to 13.00) and the Choudrant School District #6 (from 25.00 to 22.00) sinking funds and that all others remain the same as last year. A schedule of those rates and also summarizing the total millages of each of each school district was presented. She recommended that the board approve a resolution setting the millage rates as presented.

Upon a motion by Mr. Mitcham, seconded by Ms. Best, the Board unanimously voted by poll vote to approve the resolution setting millages for 2002 as follows:

I. Parish wide Millage

A. 4.99 Mills Constitutional Tax

B. 5.14 Mills Special Repair & Equipment Tax

C. 5.14 Mills Special Maintenance & Operation Tax

D. 12.09 Mills Parish wide Maintenance & Operation Tax

E. 10.00 Mills Parish wide Maintenance & Operation Tax

II. District Millage - For Bond Sinking Funds

A. 13.00 Mills Ruston School District #1

B. 19.20 Mills Simsboro School District #3

C. -0- Mills Dubach School District #5

D. 22.00 Mills Choudrant School District #6

III. District Millage - Maintenance and Operation

A. 3.01 Mills Ruston School District #1

B. 2.75 Mills Simsboro School District #3

C. 3.33 Mills Dubach School District #5

Voting by roll call for the above motion were: Billy Abrahm, Otha Anders, Lisa Best, Dr. Marty Beasley, Curtis Dowling, Mattie Harrison, Jim Kessler, George Mack, Joe Mitcham, Rob Shadoin, Jo Tatum, and David Wright.

Voting against the motion: None

Absent and not voting: None

Because of recently passed legislation, Superintendent Gerald Cobb presented one policy which needs revision: Employment of Personnel (GBD). The main change he proposed was the addition of the following statement: A retired member of the Louisiana Teachers Retirement System shall not be employed by the Board during the twelve-month period immediately following the member's effective date of retirement. He asked members to study the revised policy until action could be taken at the October 1, 2002 meeting of the Board.

When major renovations were done throughout the parish in 86-87, many schools received large assembly areas which were air conditioned and large enough to accommodate the entire student population; however, Glen View Elementary did not. Mr. Owens communicated that much interest has been expressed over the past few years in air conditioning Glen View. In order to achieve this, the P.T.C. has offered to share in the cost which he estimates to be $20,000. Because air conditioning the gym at Glen View will provide an excellent assembly and instructional area for the students, he asked for permission to seek bids or proposals for the project.

Upon a motion by Ms. Tatum, seconded by Mr. Anders, the Board unanimously voted to grant permission to seek bids or proposals for air conditioning the gym at Glen View.