LINCOLN PARISH SCHOOL BOARD
Ruston, Louisiana
REGULAR SESSION
Wednesday, February 19, 2014 12:30 p.m.
The Lincoln Parish School Board met in Regular Session on Wednesday, February 19, 2014, at 12:30 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, Mr. Trott Hunt, Mr. George Mack and Mr. Joe Mitcham.
Mr. Curtis Dowling, Ms. Lynda Henderson, and Mr. Eddie Jones and were absent.
Prior to the business meeting, members enjoyed a light lunch in the board room.
After President Anders called the meeting to order, the invocation was given by Mr. Mack, and Ms. Abrahm led in the Pledge of Allegiance to the American flag. Mr. Anders welcomed board members, staff, media, attorneys, agenda participants, and guests to the meeting.
Upon a motion by Ms. Best, seconded by Mr. Hancock, the Board unanimously voted to adopt the agenda as printed.
Seventy-two Apple MacBook laptops bought in 2010 have received a lot of use and are nearing the end of their useful lives in the New Tech program at Ruston High School. Business Manager, George Murphy, asked for permission to declare the laptops as surplus and dispose of them.
Upon a motion by Mr. Barmore, seconded by Ms. Harrison, the Board unanimously voted to declare the laptops as surplus, advertise the items and sell them to the highest bidder, and should there be no bidders on some items, to dispose of them in a prudent manner.
Donna Doss, Testing Coordinator, reminded board members that the school district has been preparing the last couple of years for the transition to new Common Core aligned tests known as PARCC. PARCC is the Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Career. Because they are totally different from what the students are accustomed to, Lincoln Parish and sixty-five other districts and twenty-five non-traditional site schools will be taking part in field tests from March 25 through April 11, 2014. The second part of the field tests will be held from May 6 through June 6, 2014. The initial phase will be a performance based test which is based on how much of the information has been covered, and performance based will be 75% of the content. Some schools will also administer end-of-the-year tests when 90% of the year’s instruction has been completed. More of the tests are taken on line, and by 2015 all of the 3rd – 8th grades tests will be done electronically. Because board members might be getting calls from parents, she disclosed which tests each school would be giving. Ms. Doss also distributed and had a Power Point presentation containing some examples of items on 6th grade math and ELA tests. Problems of the day will be posted on the Louisiana Believes web site every day until testing.
Continuing with the topic of testing, Debbie Pender, Technology and Instructional Facilitator, gave a technology readiness report. She said in the spring of 2011 the technology staff was invited to a regional meeting where they were informed technology wise about the upcoming online assessments. One of the items shared was specifications for the computers. At that point, they felt pretty good about the hardware and wired connections in Lincoln Parish, but were a little concerned about the operating system and wireless access. Much progress has been made since then, and Ms. Pender shared some examples, steps taken, and information they have provided to PARCC and the State Department. Since 2011 she has visited the sites of fifty dedicated computer labs, business labs in junior high and high schools, library labs, and mobile lap top carts and has administered the Technology Readiness Tool from PARCC several times. After compiling all of the data, the State Department publishes a footprint, and she showed a link to the 4th footprint. Lincoln Parish has gone from making progress in 2011 to exceeding in 2014 and has about a 4:1 ratio. The footprint also shows the district’s Internet band width, wide area LAN (local area network), and WAN (wide area network) in the exceeding category. Although the next technology footprint is not due to be published until June 2014, the technology staff feel that the school system will be ready for the 2015-2016 goal of all 3rd-11th graders taking tests online.
Ms. Pender also shared information on the Parent Notification System. Enrollees choose the category or categories for which they would like to receive notification: emergency, sporting events, general notifications, or all of them. Nine hundred seventy-four users have signed up to receive a phone call or text alert for at least one of the categories.
The time had arrived for the sale of $8,000,000 of General Obligation School Bonds, Series 2014 of Ruston School District No. 1 of the Parish of Lincoln, State of Louisiana, scheduled for one o'clock p.m. on February 19, 2014. Prior to the opening of bids, the President called upon Mr. Grant Schlueter of Foley & Judell, L.L.P., Bond Counsel, to advise the Lincoln Parish School Board as to what action was necessary in order to proceed with the reception of bids and sale of the bonds.
Mr. Schlueter reported that the first order of business was to take action on the first resolution to authorize the opening of bids.
Upon a motion by Ms. Lisa Best, seconded by Mr. Trott Hunt, the Board unanimously voted by roll call to adopt the following:
RESOLUTION
Providing for the opening of the sealed and electronic bids received for the purchase of Eight Million Dollars ($8,000,000) of General Obligation School Bonds, Series 2014 of Ruston School District No. 1 of the Parish of Lincoln, State of Louisiana, approving the Official Notice of Bond Sale and Official Statement in connection therewith, and authorizing the President and the Secretary of the Lincoln Parish School Board to sign copies thereof as evidence of the approval thereof.
After opening and receiving the bids, it was announced that seven bids had been received for the purchase of the Bonds. Bids for the bonds were received from:
FTN Financial Capital Markets – 2.86%;
Raymond James & Associates, Inc - 3.00%;
Stifel, Nicolaus - 3.02%;
Robert W. Baird & Co, Inc - 3.18%;
Stern, Agee & Learch – 3.26%;
Crews & Associates, Inc – 3.31%; and
Well Fargo Bank – 3.33%.
Mr. Schlueter reiterated the district’s “AA-“ rating from Standard and Poor’s and read their three factors for issuing one of the higher school board credit ratings in Louisiana. He thanked George Murphy and wholeheartedly recommended acceptance of the bid of 2.86% from FTN Financial Capital Markets. Mr. Schlueter indicated that all of the bids were good but FTN’s was incredible and the lowest he has seen across the state in multiple bond sales for school boards. He said the 2.86% was well under the projections of 4.00% that had been used.
Upon a motion by Mr. Trott Hunt, seconded by Ms. Lisa Best, the Board unanimously voted by roll call to approve the following:
RESOLUTION
Accepting the bid of 2.86% from FTN Financial Capital Markets for the purchase of Eight Million Dollars ($8,000,000) of General Obligation School Bonds, Series 2014 of Ruston School District No. 1 of the Parish of Lincoln, State of Louisiana.
The final resolution to complete the bond sale authorized the incurring of debt and the issuance of bonds.
Upon a motion by Mr. Danny Hancock, seconded by Mr. Joe Mitcham, the Board unanimously voted by roll call to adopt the following:
RESOLUTION
Authorizing the incurring of debt and issuance of Eight Million Dollars ($8,000,000) of General Obligation School Bonds, Series 2014, of Ruston School District No. 1 of the Parish of Lincoln, State of Louisiana; prescribing the form, terms and conditions of said Bonds; designating the date, denomination and place of payment of said Bonds; providing for the payment thereof in principal and interest; and providing for other matters in connection therewith.
A change order on the Simsboro track project reducing the contract price by $6,040.69 was presented by Charles Owens, Director of Auxiliary Services. He asked Paul Riley, Engineer with the Riley Company, to explain the details.
Mr. Riley said the change order adjusted ending quantities due to final as-built measurements, added a patch in the roadway to tie water service in for the concession building and added forty-eight days due to a very large number of adverse weather days. He said Triad did a good job on the project, and the track looks good.
Upon a motion by Mr. Barmore, seconded by Mr. Hunt, the Board unanimously voted to authorize the administration to execute the change order on the Simsboro track project to add a patch in the roadway to connect water services for the concession building, add forty-eight days to the contract due to adverse weather, and adjust the final quantities due to the final as-built measurements for a credit of $6,040.69.
In a Report of the Superintendent, Mr. Bell said:
1) He was very pleased to release the name of the Semi-Finalist Teacher of the Year, Tammy Schales at Ruston Elementary, and the Semi-Finalist Principal of the Year, Ricky Durrett at Simsboro School. They will advance to the state level in that competition. He believes it speaks highly of Lincoln Parish to have two individuals advance, and he is very proud of them.
2) Because of recent adverse weather, the Ruston-Lincoln Chamber of Commerce’s Business after Hours was postponed. It has been rescheduled for Tuesday, February 25, 2014, from 5:00 – 7:00 p.m. at the Central Office. He invited everyone to attend.
3) A Letter of Intent for a Type 1 charter school, Ruston Charter School or Ruston Charter School in Lincoln, has been received from Kia B. Richardson with a Ruston address. She anticipates having one hundred forty students. New Millennium Education will again be employed by the school system as a third party independent reviewer, and a decision will need to be made by the Board by June 3, 2014.
There being no further business, the meeting adjourned at 1:22 p.m.
______________________________ ______________________________
Danny L. Bell, Secretary Otha L. Anders, President