LINCOLN PARISH SCHOOL BOARD
Ruston, Louisiana
REGULAR SESSION
Tuesday, March 2, 2004 6:00 p.m.
The Lincoln Parish School Board met in Regular Session on Tuesday, March 2, 2004 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 President Rob Shadoin, Mr. Billy Abrahm, Mr. Otha Anders, Mr. Don 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 Shadoin called the meeting to order and the invocation was given by Mr. Beasley. Mr. Shadoin led in the Pledge of Allegiance to the American flag and welcomed guests to the meeting.
Upon a motion by Mr. Anders, seconded by Ms. Tatum, the Board unanimously voted to adopt the agenda as amended, rearranging the order of the items.
Upon a motion by Mr. Mack, seconded by Ms. Best, the Board unanimously voted to approve the minutes of the Regular Sessions held on January 21, 2004 and February 3, 2004 as distributed.
The Board's attorney, Andy Shealy, was present and indicated that the Lincoln Parish Sales and Use Tax Commission has looked for ways to promote economic development in the parish. One way they have found is an exclusion on sales taxes on out-of-state repairs. This would allow local businesses to be more competitive with surrounding parishes and also with other states that have businesses providing similar services. In their opinion, the temporary loss of monies would be better than the closure of the business and may possibly allow one particular company to expand and others to relocate to the area. He and the Commission's attorney, Bill Carter, have drawn up an Ordinance excluding those sales taxes which must be approved by the City of Ruston, Lincoln Parish Police Jury, and Lincoln Parish School Board in order to become effective. The Commission unanimously voted last Thursday, February 26, 2004, to approve the Ordinance and recommended that the three bodies do the same. The Lincoln Parish School Board would lose approximately $400,000 in the initial year. It was noted that these monies were fairly new revenue, having only been collected since last year. Mr. Shealy introduced the Commission's Administrator, Jerry Moore, and Bill Carter who were both in attendance in order to provide additional information and to help answer questions.
After a brief period of discussion, upon a motion by Mr. Dowling, seconded by Mr. Kessler, the Board unanimously voted by roll call to approve the following:
AN ORDINANCE AMENDING VARIOUS ORDINANCES OF THE SCHOOL BOARD OF LINCOLN PARISH, LOUISIANA, RELATING TO THE IMPOSITION OF TAXES UPON THE SALE AT RETAIL, THE USE, THE LEASE OR RENTAL, THE CONSUMPTION AND STORAGE FOR USE OR CONSUMPTION OF TANGIBLE PERSONAL PROPERTY AND ON SALES OF SERVICES; WHICH ORDINANCES INCLUDE THOSE ADOPTED ON OCTOBER 10, 1967 ("THE 1967 SALES AND USE TAX ORDINANCE"), JUNE 13, 1979 ("THE 1979 SALES AND USE TAX ORDINANCE"), FEBRUARY 2, 1993 ("THE 1993 SALES AND USE TAX ORDINANCE") AND FEBRUARY 2, 1993 ("THE 2000 SALES AND USE TAX ORDINANCE"); TO PROVIDE WITH RESPECT TO THE DEFINITION OF SALES OF SERVICES CONTAINED IN EACH SUCH ORDINANCE; AND OTHERWISE TO PROVIDE WITH RESPECT THERETO.
Eric Carter, Testing, Evaluation and Curriculum Supervisor, came before the Board and gave background information on the Student of the Year program. He said that each year the Lincoln Parish School System participates in the Student of the Year program. Students are selected from three divisions: elementary (grade 5), junior high (grade 8), and high school (grade 12). Parish wide winners, selected from each division, go on to compete at the regional level and if successful there, at the state level. Mr. Carter introduced each of the parish winners and shared brief personal information about them. On behalf of the Lincoln Parish School Board, Superintendent Charles Scriber presented the following parish Students of the Year with plaques:
Elementary - Jessie Joyner of Hico Elementary
Junior High - Aubri Teague of Ruston Junior High
High School - Harold Campbell of Ruston High
Mr. Shadoin congratulated the students and wished them luck in the regional competition.
Seven officers from the Area I FFA Association gave an outstanding presentation focused on premier leadership, personal growth, and career success through agricultural education and the FFA organization.
President Shadoin called on Mr. Tim Green, C.P.A., who announced that the Lincoln Parish School Board had a very good year financially in 02-03. He summarized the Comprehensive Annual Financial Report which deals primarily with financial numbers involved in school board operations. In his opinion, the administration, business department and more specifically the previous Business Manager, Juanita Duke, and her staff have done exceptionally well. After stating that the parish was given a clean opinion, Mr. Green called attention to and briefly reviewed the Single Audit Report which deals primarily with federal programs. He said no reportable findings were noted and reiterated that Lincoln Parish was given an unqualified, clean opinion which the parish has received since 1994. In closing, Mr. Green said 02-03 was a strong year financially, and he again thanked Mrs. Duke for her very good work. Lincoln Parish is a really good system, and he looks forward to working with Jack Boyd and the current administration.
The Board was reminded by Mr. Boyd, Business Manager, that each year schools are allocated funds from the 1979 sales tax fund to purchase instructional supplies for art, music, science, P. E., and for magazines, newspapers, and library materials. These amounts are distributed on a per pupil basis through the Business Department. Mr. Shadoin asked the Board's preference regarding the proposed 04-05 allocations which were the same amounts as the previous year. The distribution was as shown below:
Art K-12 - $1.00 per student
Physical Education K-12 - $1.00 per student
Library Supplies K-5 - $ .50 per student
6-12 - $1.00 per student
Music K-5 - $ .50 per student
6-12 - $1.00 per student
Magazines & K-6 - $2.20 per student
Newspapers 7-12 - $2.50 per student
Science K-6 - $ .75 per student
7-8 - $2.25 per student
9-12 - $3.75 per student
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Upon a motion by Mr. Kessler, seconded by Ms. Tatum, the Board unanimously voted to approve the allocations for 04-05 from 1979 sales taxes as outlined above.
Director of Curriculum and Instruction, Danny Bell, submitted the annual request to send Letters of Intent to employees in order to begin planning for the 04-05 school year.
Upon a motion by Mr. Abrahm, seconded by Mr. Dowling, the Board unanimously voted to give permission to send the Letters of Intent.
The Board served as a Committee of the Whole and the following Personnel Committee agenda items were considered after being presented by Mr. Bell:
1. The first personnel item to be considered was the naming of a supervisor because of Barbara Kirkland's upcoming retirement. Mr. Bell presented background information on the selection process. He reported that he chaired a selection committee consisting of Foster Harris, Kenny Henderson, Tim Nutt, Charles Owens, and Gloria Roebuck. The committee interviewed three qualified applicants on February 19, 2004 and unanimously recommended Ricky Edmiston, current agriculture teacher at Choudrant High, to Dr. Charles Scriber for the position. It was Dr. Scriber's recommendation to the Board that Ricky Edmiston be named vocational and secondary supervisor.
Upon a motion by Mr. Kessler, seconded by Ms. Best, the Board unanimously voted to accept the administration's recommendation that Ricky Edmiston be named vocational and secondary supervisor effective April 5, 2004.
2. Resignation of Gail Reeder, elementary teacher at Cypress Springs, effective February 13, 2004.
3. Disability retirement of Cathey Kavanaugh, special education teacher at Cypress Springs, effective February 23, 2004.
4. Professional sabbatical leave request for Walter Moss, band director at Ruston High, effective August 2, 2004 and for the 04-05 school year.
Upon a motion by Mr. Anders, seconded by Mr. Mitcham, the Board unanimously voted to approve the latter personnel recommendations.
Jack Boyd reported that 1967 and 1979 sales tax collections for the month of February 2004 were $337,112 which was up $21,838 over the same month last year. Collections in the 1993 and 2000 sales tax funds also showed an increase of $13,103 compared to last years, with $202,267 being collected. This was a 6.93% decrease for the month and the funds are up 11.33% for the year. Audit recoveries for the month were high because of a special recovery which brings the year-to-date total to $16,099, or 21.85%, over last years.
Mr. Boyd called the Board's attention to the fund balances in the shaded area on the January 2004 financial statement. He said the parish has reserves of approximately three months which was wise of his predecessor and the previous administration especially with upcoming cuts. The system is in much better shape than a lot of school systems. Cash and cash equivalents in the general fund were more than $6,000,000. There is $540,700 in the five mill maintenance fund and $1,220,000 in the child nutrition fund. Assets exceed liabilities by quite a bit so the parish is in a very sound financial condition.
All parishes are required by the State Department to train each of their instructional employees on the implementation of the new Grade Level Expectations (GLE), which is what a student should know and be able to do at the end of each grade level and/or course, according to Elementary Supervisor Mary Null. They are providing these documents to each district in the spring. Each employee will receive a minimum of two hours of training which must be done by May 1, 2004. BESE also mandated that the State provide curriculum to accompany the new GLE's. The parish will receive the Curriculum Framework (Model Curriculum) before school starts next year. The new curriculum and GLE's will be piloted in the 04-05 school year and implemented during the 05-06 school year. Due to the importance of this initiative and the deadlines, she and the administration are recommending that school close at noon on Thursday, April 8, 2004, in order that the instructional staff may receive this very important training. Non-instructional staff would remain in the schools to carry on their regular duties.
Upon a motion by Ms. Best, seconded by Ms. Harrison, the Board unanimously voted to approve the proposal to close school for a half day on April 8, 2004 in order for all instructional employees to be trained on the new State GLE's and curriculum.
In a Report of the Superintendent, Dr. Scriber:
1. Gave a bond issue update and summarized promotional activities in which he is involved.
2. Shared figures regarding increased employer's portion of retirement.
A parent in attendance requested to speak to the Board regarding a personnel matter. President Shadoin indicated that she should follow the policy manual's guidelines in order to be placed on an agenda for an upcoming board meeting.
There being no further business to come before the Board, by acclamation, the Board adjourned at 7:48 p.m.
______________________________ ___________________________
Charles R. Scriber, Secretary Robert E. Shadoin, President