LINCOLN PARISH SCHOOL BOARD

 Ruston, Louisiana

 

REGULAR SESSION

 Tuesday, November 1, 2011   6:00 p.m.

 

The Lincoln Parish School Board met in Regular Session on Tuesday, November 1, 2011, at 6:00 p.m. at the Lincoln Parish School Board, 410 South Farmerville Street, Ruston, Louisiana.  Members present were Ms. Debbie Abrahm, Mr. Otha Anders, Mr. Michael Barmore, Ms. Lisa Best, Mr. Danny Hancock, Ms. Mattie Harrison, Ms. Lynda Henderson Mr. Trott Hunt, Mr. Eddie Jones, and Mr. Joe Mitcham.

 

Mr. Curtis Dowling and Mr. George Mack were absent.

 

President Anders called the meeting to order.  The invocation was given by Mr. Mitcham, and Ms. Henderson led in the Pledge of Allegiance to the American flag.  Mr. Anders welcomed board members, staff, members of the media, and special guests.

 

Upon a motion by Mr. Barmore, seconded by Mr. Hancock, the Board unanimously voted to adopt the agenda as printed.

 

Upon a motion by Ms. Best, seconded by Mr. Hunt, the Board unanimously voted to approve the minutes of the Regular Sessions held on October 4, 2011, and October 19, 2011, as printed.

 

Choudrant High School senior, Katie Hogan, was recognized and presented with a plaque by Paula Pardue, Secondary Academic Coordinator, for being named a National Merit Scholarship semi-finalist.  Mrs. Pardue reminded the Board that the senior scored in the top 1% of students in the country who took the PSAT last fall.  After Ms. Hogan introduced her guests, Mr. Anders congratulated her for her diligence and desire to excel.

 

Superintendent Danny Bell was pleased to introduce Jay Guillot, the newly-elected Board of Elementary and Secondary Education (BESE) member representing the 5th district.  With the many challenges facing public education in the state, he’s glad to have a local businessman on the Board.

 

Mr. Guillot appreciated the invitation to speak and recognized the progressive nature of the Lincoln Parish School System.  He said the race made him come to realize the complexity of the issues involved.  As he’s thought through possible issues to be addressed, he wants to get with the Superintendent to put some focus groups together in Lincoln Parish in order to get good local input.  He doesn’t take his role lightly, but ran for it because he’s passionate about the state and the future of education.  He looks forward to working with the Board to make some progress.

 

President Anders congratulated Mr. Guillot and urged him to support public education in the state.

 

The Board served as a Committee of the Whole, and the following Personnel Committee agenda items were considered after being presented by Mary Null, Director of Curriculum, Instruction, and Special Programs:

 

1.       Employment of Rhea-Claire Hargroder as English/language arts teacher at Simsboro High effective October 24, 2011, replacing Emily Zuber who resigned;

 

2.       Leave without pay request effective January 3, 2012, through May 25, 2012, for Tanya Paul, itinerate art teacher;

 

3.       Resignation of Tammy Roubion, bus driver in the Choudrant area, effective October 6, 2011; and

 

4.       Resignation of Jimmy Perry, custodian at Hillcrest Elementary, effective October 31, 2011.

 

Upon a motion by Ms. Abrahm, seconded by Mr. Barmore, the Board unanimously voted to approve the administration’s personnel recommendations.

 

An accountability report was the next agenda item.  Donna Doss, Accountability Coordinator, called attention to charts of the schools’ 2011 Growth School Performance Scores and 2011 Baseline School Performance Scores.  She reiterated the scoring range for each letter grade and communicated that if the Growth Target was reached the school received a + after their letter grade.  If they did not reach their Growth Target, a – was placed after their letter grade.  She noted the schools’ 2011 Baseline School Performance Scores were as follows:

 

Cypress Springs Elementary                               D –

Glen View Elementary                                        C –

Hico Elementary                                                D +

Hillcrest Elementary                                           B +

I.         A. Lewis                                                C +

Ruston Elementary                                            D –

Choudrant Elementary                                        C +

Ruston Junior School                                         C

Choudrant High                                                  B

Dubach High                                                      C

Ruston High                                                      B +

Simsboro High                                                   C –

 

Ms. Doss summarized programs and opportunities being used and offered in every school.  She noted that the momentum is there, but it will take a while.

 

Lora Conville, a community volunteer at Cypress Springs, shared her opinion that the school is doing better than its letter grade of D- indicates.  After spending many hours at Cypress Springs in the past three years, she has come to the conclusion that the problem is not the faculty.  She has been amazed at the high level of competence, the desire and passion to educate, and just plain hard work.

 

School improvement activities being used at Cypress Springs and Hico Elementary to increase student, school, and district success were shared by their principals and coordinating teachers.  Doris Lewis and Brandi Watson emphasized they are using more small-group and cross-curricular activities.  Response to Intervention, which occurs at 7:45 - 8:15 each day, has students working in small groups with those on a similar level.  Vicky Key and Julie Post said that vertical alignment and small groups are key ways their school is working toward improvement.  In addition they are having uninterrupted English/language arts each day from 8:00 - 10:00 in small groups in each classroom and offering after-school tutoring.  Both schools are also utilizing district-wide programs such as Singapore Math and A-Z Reading.

 

Sales tax collections for the month ending October 31, 2011, were the best month of the year with $1,248,979 being collected which was up 3.82% compared to the same month last year. Year-to-date the fund was up 1.98%, according to George Murphy, Business Manager.  For the month, $9,678 was recovered by audits which was a 10% decrease.  Year-to-date audit collections were up 75%.  In the 1967 and 1979 sales tax fund, $565,519 was collected, and $683,460 was added to the 1993 and 2000 funds.

 

Comparing the September 2011 financial update figures with those of last September, Mr. Murphy noted they were pretty similar.  The sales tax funds were looking pretty good.  Ad valorem tax funds continue to show deficits until money is received at the end of the year.  The General Fund is doing as expected.

 

Moving on to the self-insured health care fund, George Murphy said he had two reports and would go over both of them.  The fund was down $324,185 for the month ending August 31, 2011.  For the month of September 2011, the fund was $14,865 in the black.  Year-to-date the health care fund was down $1,150,393.  Work is progressing on the change to BlueCross with meetings being scheduled in the schools.  Hopefully that change will stop the losses in the fund. 

 

In a construction update, Charles Owens, Director of Auxiliary Services, showed pictures of the Ruston High field house where tremendous progress is being made.  Work is about a week and a half ahead of schedule.  At Choudrant High, he narrated pictures of the inside and outside of the school.

 

Sales tax collections have increased slightly during the first three months of the fiscal year; however, they are still less than collections from three years ago.  George Murphy noted that over the years the system has accumulated a reserve in the sales tax funds for the purpose of maintaining the salary supplement amounts paid to employees in years where tax collections are in decline.  For this year, Superintendent Bell and he recommended paying salary supplements in the same amounts as last year:  $2,450 to certified personnel and $1,225 to support personnel. 

 

Upon a motion by Ms. Henderson, seconded by Mr. Jones, the Board unanimously voted to approve the payment of salary supplements on November 18, 2011, in the amounts of $2,450 to certified personnel and $1,225 to support personnel.

 

In a Report of the Superintendent, Mr. Bell said he welcomed the Choudrant High Principal, Lisa Bastion, and Cathy Judd, Extension Agent, who were in attendance at the meeting.

 

Trott Hunt, a member of the ACEE Commission, had attended another advisory meeting on educators’ evaluations.  The meeting in Baton Rouge last month was called to look at non-tested grades and subjects.  The general consensus was that assessments could be done using standardized tests which could show progress or the lack of the same.  He believes teachers are excited about the prospect of having feedback.  Another meeting will be scheduled in a couple of weeks with plans to finish in the spring.

 

After a comment by one board member and following a motion by Ms. Best, the meeting adjourned at 7:44 p.m.

 

_______________________________      _______________________________

Danny L. Bell, Secretary                         Otha L. Anders, President