LINCOLN PARISH SCHOOL BOARD
Ruston, Louisiana
REGULAR SESSION
Tuesday, January 10, 2006 6:00 p.m.
The Lincoln Parish School Board met in Regular Session on Tuesday, January 10, 2006, 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, Ms. Lisa Best, Mr. Curtis Dowling, Ms. Mattie Harrison, Mr. Jim Kessler, Mr. Flynn Ludley, Mr. George Mack, Mr. Ted McKinney, Mr. Joe Mitcham, Mr. Rob Shadoin, and Ms. Jo Tatum.
Ms. Lynda Henderson was absent.
President Anders called the meeting to order and delivered the invocation. After Lisa Best led in the Pledge of Allegiance to the American flag, Mr. Anders welcomed board members, staff, press, special guests, and high school principals to the meeting.
Upon a motion by Ms. Tatum, seconded by Mr. Shadoin, the Board unanimously voted to adopt the agenda as printed.
Upon a motion by Mr. Ludley, seconded by Mr. Mitcham, the Board voted to approve the minutes of the Regular Session held on December 6, 2005 as distributed.
The Election of Officers for 2006 was the next item on the agenda, and Mr. Anders declared the floor open for nominations. Mr. Mack nominated Otha Anders to remain as president.
Mr. Anders relinquished the chair to the Board’s secretary, Danny Bell.
Mr. Mitcham moved that nominations cease and Mr. Ludley seconded that motion. Superintendent Bell said Mr. Anders had been nominated and unanimously elected as president of the Lincoln Parish School System for the 2006 calendar year.
Mr. Anders asked for nominations for vice president. Mr. Ludley moved that Mr. Mitcham remain as vice president for the 2006 calendar year. Mr. Kessler seconded the motion which passed by a unanimous voice vote.
Both Mr. Anders and Mr. Mitcham expressed their thanks and appreciation for their fellow-board members’ vote of confidence and for the opportunity to serve.
Independent Auditor Tim Green presented the annual financial report for the 04-05 fiscal year. The audit his firm conducted was two-pronged: the financial condition of the school board and other testing and compliance work. An ”r;unqualified opinion” was issued concerning the financial statements. The General Fund had a $900,000 excess of revenue over expenditures for the year. End-of-year fund balance in the General Fund was $7,000,000 or about three months of expenditures built up and reserved. He indicated that the challenge that he sees for the system is health insurance. Claims and administrative expenses jumped over $2 mill for the year, from $6.2 mill in 03-04 to $8.5 mill in 04-05. Other school systems are faced with the same challenge. Overall fund balances are healthy. The system is in stable condition. The administration and board have done a good job of managing their finances. In the Single Audit Report, where the federal government finds out how those dollars are spent, he tested the School Food Service program. Mr. Green was pleased to report there were no findings or citations in that federal program. A couple of comments were included regarding public works and bank reconciliation which was a repeat from the prior year. He has talked with management and has a meeting planned on January 23 with the business department staff to review the repeat finding and make sure it is not a repeat in the next year. A management letter comment from the previous year, because the audit report had been submitted after the state’s deadline, was not necessary in the current year. It was filed timely this year. He closed by commending the Board for their good financial shape.
Two bids were received for the re-bid of the second phase or ”Project B” of the Ruston School District capital improvement program, Glen View and I. A. Lewis, according to Charles Owens, Director of Auxiliary Services. Less critical items had been changed or deleted from the first draft. Traxler Construction Company’s $5,598,000 base bid came in $168,000 below Lincoln Builder’s bid of $5,766,000. This was slightly under the amount allocated through the bond proposition for the project. Three deductive alternates were advertised and included in the re-bid: #1 changed the flat roof system to a SBS modified bituminous membrane roofing system, #2 of $177,000 omitted the new extended ductwork and furring, and #3 of $89,000 omitted the classroom addition at I. A. Lewis. He recommended the acceptance of Traxler for the project with alternates #2 and #3. Because of the minimal cost savings of alternate #1, $18,000, he did not want the Board to accept that alternative. This would allow the new foam roofing material to be applied and would be worth the monies expended.
Architect Mike Walpole was present to help with questions and to give further explanation. He is comfortable with Traxler and believes they will do a good job.
Upon a motion by Mr. Mack, seconded by Mr. Ludley, the Board unanimously voted to accept and approve Traxler Construction Co., Inc. as the low bidder and contractor for the ”Project B” Ruston School District capital improvement program and to include deductive alternates #2 and #3.
Charles Owens communicated that Mr. Walpole has been preparing architectural plans for ”Project C”, the third phase of the Ruston School District capital improvement program, at Lincoln Center, Ruston Elementary, and the Secondary Alternative School. They are now ready for bid advertisement, so he requested permission to do so.
Upon a motion by Mr. Mack, seconded by Mr. Ludley, the Board unanimously voted to grant permission for the advertisement of bids for renovations to Lincoln Center, Ruston Elementary, and the Secondary Alternative School.
Distance learning technology allows a teacher from one high school site to transmit lessons throughout the district to other school classrooms through video conferencing. Ricky Edmiston, Secondary Supervisor, feels that distance learning would be a tremendous asset to the district for the following reasons: all high schools would have the opportunity to enhance their curriculum; the district would be able to address issues that arise concerning certified and highly qualified personnel; and, it would allow the high schools to share learning opportunities with other LEA’s and/or universities. The estimated cost for implementation of distance learning is expected to be approximately $150,000. He requested permission to advertise for bids to purchase the equipment and indicated that state and federal grants would provide the funding for the project.
Upon a motion by Ms. Tatum, seconded by Ms. Harrison, the Board unanimously voted to grant permission to advertise for bids to purchase distance learning equipment for the district high schools.
Although the parish high schools have achieved exceptionally well under the block and modified block schedules, the superintendent continues to have concerns about scheduling issues. Mr. Bell reminded the Board of the decision to have Ruston High pilot the 3x2 modified block during the 05-06 academic year with the freshman class. Although this has occurred, there are many concerns that this structure will prohibit the system from furthering future district enhancements. Distance learning and dual enrollment are two examples of academic opportunities that students may take advantage of that may not otherwise be available without a consistent schedule configuration among the high schools. Due to the complexity of the 3x2 schedule and others schools being on the traditional block, it is the administration’s opinion that moving to a more traditional scheduling configuration and requiring all high schools to use the same schedule will provide significant advantages to the students. Mr. Bell wants to go to a 7-period day with each class lasting 55 minutes and athletics being held after school. Most classes would not end at mid-term as they have on the block but would last the entire year. In response to parents’ requests to keep seniors at school for more of the school day, they would be required to remain on campus for 5 of the 7 periods. He asked the Board to rescind their vote for full implementation of the 3x2 modified block at RHS during the 06-07 school year. He asked them to allow him to choose one schedule for all of the parish high schools.
A parent of former RHS students who had addressed the issue with the board previously was in attendance and expressed his opinion of Mr. Bell’s plan. He feels the idea is great but requested that the Board not only rescind their 3x2 vote but also tie the high schools to the 7-period day in the vote.
Mr. Bell disagreed and said school scheduling issues should have never come before the Board. He asked the Board to show confidence in him and his staff to move forward with the issue.
Upon a motion by Ms. Tatum, seconded by Mr. Ludley, the Board unanimously voted to rescind its vote to allow the 3x2 schedule to be fully implemented at Ruston High School during the 06-07 academic year and permit district and school administrators to address scheduling and school improvement issues as warranted.
The parent commented again and requested that the matter be revisited and strongly urged the Board to include the 7-period day in the motion.
Hearing nothing more from Board members, President Anders said it was time to move on.
The Board served as a Committee of the Whole and the following Personnel Committee agenda items were considered after Mary Null, Director of Instruction, Personnel and Special Programs, presented item 1.-3. and Ronny Volentine, Transportation Supervisor, presented 4.-5.:
1. Leave without pay from January 18, 2006 - March 1, 2006 for Tracie Stroud, teacher at Glen View Elementary.
2. Points of Reference effective January 9, 2006:
Julie Alexander transferring from Ruston Junior High to homebound teacher at Lincoln Center replacing Melanie Saunders who moved to special education at Lincoln Center.
Aimee Bubblis transferring from I. A. Lewis to Ruston Junior High as interpreter.
3. Employment of Catherine Letendre as science teacher at Ruston High effective January 9, 2006 replacing Melissa Bullock who resigned.
4. Resignation of Simsboro bus driver David Ficklin effective January 20, 2006.
5. Employment of Mickey Fitzgerald as bus driver in the Simsboro district effective January 20, 2006 replacing David Ficklin who resigned.
Upon a motion by Mr. Kessler, seconded by Ms. Best, the Board unanimously voted to accept the personnel recommendations as presented.
Finance Committee Chairman Joe Mitcham said the committee met prior to the board meeting at the request of the superintendent. He said that certified teachers had received a $530 one-time check from the Louisiana Legislature in the fall. At that time, monies were not available for support employees. The superintendent wants to give the support employees a $265 one-time check at the end of January from local monies. The finance committee concurs with Mr. Bell’s idea.
Mr. Bell said as a result of revenues over expenditures being better than expected, funds are available to provide one half of the amount the certified employees received. He feels that this would be an appropriate use of some of these excess funds and will help those employees know that the Board and administration recognize their importance to the instructional programs and the overall operation of the school system. Typically Lincoln Parish has used this means to give support employees an additional check. If the Board approves, a little over $104,000 would be spent giving approximately 300 board-approved active employees this $265 one-time supplement.
Upon a motion by Mr. Mack, seconded by Ms. Best, the Board unanimously voted to approve the superintendent’s recommendation to provide a one-time salary supplement of $265 to the system’s board-employed support employees in the January 26, 2006 payroll.
Kathy Judd, extension agent, expressed her appreciation to the Board for their support of the 4H program in the schools and the extension service itself. She highlighted some of the programs and introduced Lincoln Parish 4H agents, Amanda Simmons and Gary Stockton, who also shared information about their work with the students.
December 2005 sales tax collections were up 19.66% for the month and 13.76% for the year, reported George Murphy, Business Manager. Recoveries from audits were up $86,212 compared to the same month last year. Year-to-date those are up 85.17%. Collected in the ’67 and ’79 fund was $402,997 and $483,596 was generated in the ’93 and ’00 fund. He doesn’t know if the pace will continue. Although state road work in the parish has been re-directed to other parts of the state, new businesses and homes are being built. Therefore, he anticipates a good sales tax year.
While giving a financial update for the month ending June 30, 2005, Mr. Murphy said it mirrors what Tim Green reported earlier. He called attention to the $914,000 figure which represented the amount the General Fund was in the black for the year; this was larger than anticipated. A portion of this will be used to pay the supplement to the non-certified employees that the Board approved earlier in the meeting. The other funds are looking pretty good, but he wants to place more focus on the insurance fund.
Mr. Murphy announced that for the eleven months of 2005, ending November 30, the system’s self-insured group health plan experienced a net loss of $952,556. Expenses were $91,190 over income in October. However, November’s income was larger than expenses by $302,334. Hopefully this trend will continue with income figures larger than expenses.
In a Report of the Superintendent, Mr. Bell said:
1. Committee Assignment Preference forms for 2006 were included in packets and should be completed and turned in to Becky Gemelli.
2. Since 1949 the people in District 24, which borders Union Parish, have not paid school millages dedicated to a specific district. Thirty-eight to forty-five students in this Downsville area attend school in Choudrant. He plans to have an ordinance prepared to abolish District 24 and incorporate the area into Choudrant School District 6. He will schedule a meeting with the community, possibly on Monday, January 23, to discuss the issue. After this meeting, he will bring the matter up for consideration at the February meeting of the Board.
After comments from a couple of board members, the meeting adjourned at 7:45 p.m.
____________________ ______________________________
Danny Bell, Secretary Otha Anders, President