2012-12-11

LINCOLN PARISH SCHOOL BOARD

Ruston, Louisiana

REGULAR SESSION

Tuesday, December 11, 2012 6:00 p.m.

The Lincoln Parish School Board met in Regular Session on Tuesday, December 11, 2012, 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, Mrs. Mattie Harrison, Ms. Lynda Henderson, Mr. Trott Hunt, Mr. Eddie Jones, Mr. George Mack, Jr., and Mr. Joe Mitcham.

Ms. Lisa Best, Mr. Curtis Dowling, and Mr. Danny Hancock were absent.

President Anders called the meeting to order, and Mr. Mack gave the invocation. Ms. Abrahm led in the Pledge of Allegiance to the American flag followed by Mr. Anders’ welcome to board members, staff, media, agenda participants, and visitors.

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

Upon a motion by Mr. Mitcham, seconded by Mr. Jones, the Board unanimously voted to approve the minutes of the Regular Session held on November 13, 2012, as distributed.

Superintendent Danny Bell reminded that Board that at their last meeting they granted permission to contract with Ron Riley on the Simsboro track project and Mike Walpole on the Ruston High stadium project and requested them to hone in on some specific figures and plans. It was time for an update.

Chairman of the Building and Grounds Committee Chairman, Trott Hunt, called attention to a budget and layout/drawing showing the track at Simsboro as it was being proposed. The budget included bleachers, lighting with La Tech donated materials, dirt work, stone parking lot, fencing, concession stand, equipment storage and restrooms. Hearing no questions, Mr. Hunt said they would proceed with that plan, finalize the design, and get some prices.

Mr. Bell noted that Mr. Riley’s projected budget of $1,036,360 did include the additional items requested at the last meeting and would be a complete facility if all of the work was done.

Several meetings regarding the renovation under the bleachers on the east side of the RHS stadium have been held since the last board meeting. Architect Mike Walpole said the plan has been condensed and now has two sets of approximately 40’ long concession stands, one on the south end and one on the north side, as well as men and women’s toilets in the center. He had added an ‘in and out’ on the restrooms to help traffic flow. Re-doing the concrete paving area under the stand and cleaning up the old concession stand area were also included in the scope of the work. Projected budget for that project was $912,241.

Mr. Hunt said Mike Walpole has met with Mike Milstead and talked to the groups that currently run the concession stand and has gotten everyone’s approval. He has done a good job defining the scope and the budget.

In her Personnel Report, Mary Null, Director of Curriculum, Instruction, and Special Programs summarized the:

1. Resignation of the following:

Amber O’Neal, Spanish teacher at Choudrant High, effective January 6, 2013;

Kaye Darnell, special education teacher at Ruston Elementary, effective December 3, 2012; and

Holly Broom, teacher at Ruston Elementary, effective December 3, 2012.

2. Employment of Ebony Felder as English teacher at I. A. Lewis effective November 26, 2012, replacing Amy Pilgreen who was granted a sabbatical leave.

November 2012 brought in $1,062,940 which was up 9% for the month and was the best month so far during the year voiced George Murphy, Business Manager. It brought the year-to-date total to a negative 2%. Food stores, automotive dealers, and oil and gas extraction were all up and contributed to the increased collections. Recoveries through audits were $3,783 which was down 24% for the year. He told the Board that $483,155 was collected in the ’67 and ’79 sales tax fund, and $579,785 in the ’93 and ’00 fund.

Mr. Murphy called attention to the shaded line on the October 2012 financial statement which was not very different from the month of September. The Total Fund Balance was $35.7 million. The only thing unusual was the sales tax funds which were down 2% year-to-date and a flat amount was budgeted.

A construction update was the next item item. Charles Owens showed pictures of the ag shop and New Tech construction at Ruston High and reported that both projects are on schedule with the exception of a couple of days. Comments have been made regarding the buildings being metal, which is not the case. Although they appear that way from the outside, the outside panels are metal but the interior wall sections are cinderblock.

Act 1 of the last legislative session requires districts to adopt and publish a locally relevant, compliant compensation plan which rewards educators according to measures of effectiveness, demand, and experience. It is to become effective at the beginning of the 2013-14 school year. Mrs. Null narrated a very informative and comprehensive Power Point presentation of the draft for Lincoln Parish which had been prepared by George Murphy, Kathy Pool, Accounting Manager, and her. They felt they had put together a bold plan that followed the letter of the law. The plan for teachers, administrators and other certificated personnel has two portions, one for Value Added Model (VAM) teachers and one for Student Learning Target (SLT) teachers. To begin with, salaries are frozen as of the 2012-13 salary schedule, and that is the employees’ new Base Salary. For the first two years they will be awarded stipends for performance, demand, and experience if they receive a COMPASS rating of Highly Effective or Effective Proficient. Highly Effective VAM teachers would earn $1100 in stipends, Effective Proficient VAM teachers would earn $600 in stipends, Highly Effective SLT teachers would earn $500 in stipends, and Effective Proficient SLT teachers would each $300 in stipends each year. No stipends or step increases would be given with Effective Emerging or Ineffective performance ratings. A permanent base salary increase would be determined following two consecutive years of Highly Effective or Effective Proficient ratings. The average of the two years of stipends would be added to the Base Salary. If that exact figure was not found in the Base Salary list, the new Base Salary would be the next higher step level closest to that number on the list. In addition, when an employee attains a higher degree and does not have a current Ineffective rating, he/she would have $1,000 added to their Base Salary and would be placed on the corresponding higher step level as she had just explained. Ms. Null mentioned that Mr. Bell eventually may implement a Teacher Leader program where extra-ordinary teachers can earn extra stipends by sharing what they are doing with others. A big change she noted was the fact that years of experience are no longer used in the computation of salaries. Ms. Null said administrators and other certificated personnel would be evaluated and compensated on the schedule. The criteria for their experience, effectiveness, and demand will be developed by the Superintendent. She voiced that without a lot of data, there are many uncertainties, and the likelihood of the compensation plan being brought back to the Board is great.

The draft model was submitted to the state for review and preliminary results were very positive. Ms. Null said they indicated that the plan was one of the more progressive approaches they had seen, and that Lincoln is leading the state in this area. They would like to share the model with other districts that are asking for practical examples. Sustainability of the plan will be determined after the first year due to the uncertainty of the number of teachers meeting the criteria for pay increases. Funding for the model for the first year of implementation is projected to be within the budgeted amount allocated for yearly salary increases. She asked the Board to approve the proposed compensation plan.

Mr. Bell said with the approval of the new compensation plan, the potential will be greater for certificated personnel to increase their salaries. In addition their salaries will not be frozen as they previously were at the 25^th year. Mr. Anders and he credited the staff for coming up with a viable plan that will reward teachers who are doing a great job and encourage others to work a little harder in order for the students to be successful.

Following some discussion and several questions, upon a motion by Mr. Jones, seconded by Mr. Barmore, the Board unanimously voted to approve the current model of the Lincoln Parish Compensation Plan / Teacher Salary Schedule to become effective for the 2013-14 school year.

Bid advertisements to purchase new walk-in freezers for Dubach High School and Simsboro High School were placed in the Ruston Daily Leader and were also sent to Alack Refrigeration, Buckelew’s, and Louisiana Food Service Equipment, Inc. Bids from Buckelew’s and Louisiana Food Service Equipment were opened on December 3, 2012. School Food Service Supervisor, Doris Marzett, recommended that the bid from Buckelew’s be accepted.

Upon a motion by Mr. Hunt, seconded by Mr. Jones, the Board unanimously voted to accept the bid of $19,900.00 for the purchase of a walk-in freezer for Dubach High School and $13,900.00 for the purchase of a walk-in freezer for Simsboro High School.

Fourteen policies had been revised and 2 new policies had been prepared for possible insertion into the Lincoln Parish School Board policy manual. Ms. Null asked board members to study the following revised policies until the next meeting of the board at which time a vote would be taken:

Notification of Board Meetings - BCBB, Agenda Preparation and Dissemination - BCBD, Electronic Communication Between Employees and Students - GAMIA, Contracts and Compensation - GBA, Employment of Retired Personnel - GBDA, Alternative Schools Education Program - IDDG, Acceptable Use Policy for School Computer Systems and the Internet - Student Use - IFBGA, Parent Conferences - IHAD, Student Conduct - JCD, Bullying and Hazing - JCDAF, Discipline - JD, Suspension - JDD, Expulsion - JDE, and Child Abuse - JGCE;

and a couple of new policies:

Use of Automated External Defibrillator (AED) - EBBH, and Service Animals in Schools - IDDFA.

Approval of change order #4 for the Ruston High School ag shop and New Tech had been requested by the architect, Mike Walpole. Charles Owens asked the Board to formally approve the following summarized requests:

FDC Design - credit ($1,444.89);

Deletion of hat channel at soffits of building “B” - credit ($2,850.00);

Add lintels and embeds to six (6) openings at building “B” - add $5,489.77;

Additional erosion control features - add $5,148.84;

Add an emergency shower eye/face wash in building “A” - add $926.43;

Install 2” waste, floor drain ½” water, and ice machine box - add $422.65; and

Add two (2) rain days to the contract time for August, five (5) rain days for September, and three (3) rain days for October.

If approved, the sum would be increased by a total of $7,692.80, and the contract time would be increased by ten (10) days.

Upon a motion by Mr. Mitcham, seconded by Ms. Abrahm, the Board unanimously voted to approve change order #4 for the ag shop and New Tech construction project increasing the amount of the contract by $7,692.80 and the number of days by ten (10).

In a Report of the Superintendent, Mr. Bell said that:

1. Lincoln Parish had recently been notified that they will be the recipient of an I Can Learn grant in the amount of $277,000. He commended Kathy Shipp, Special Education Supervisor, and Kay Bradford, Grant Writer, who applied for the grant. It will help children with disabilities especially those needing a multisensory supplemental reading and writing program that will be aligned with the Common Core. Much of the grant involves staff development as well as incorporating digital technology such as iPads, androids, tablets, and white boards. It is a tremendous opportunity to help close the achievement gap with special population children. Participating schools in the grant are Cypress Springs, Glen View, Hillcrest, I. A. Lewis, and Ruston Elementary

2. The last day for schools in Lincoln Parish and the Central Office before the Christmas break is Friday, December 21. The break will run through Friday, January 4.

After a brief comment from one board member and following a motion by Mr. Hunt, the meeting adjourned at 7:19 p.m.

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