LINCOLN PARISH SCHOOL BOARD

Ruston, Louisiana

 

REGULAR SESSION

Wednesday, February 18, 2015  12:30 P.M.

 

The Lincoln Parish School Board met in Regular Session on Wednesday, February 18, 2015, at 12:30 p.m. at I. A. Lewis School, 1000 Mitchell Avenue, Ruston, Louisiana.  Members present were Ms. Debbie Abrahm, Mr. Otha Anders, Mr. Michael Barmore, Ms. Lisa Best (arrived after the meeting began), Mr. Curtis Dowling, Mr. David Ferguson, Mr. Danny Hancock, Ms. Lynda Henderson, M. Trott Hunt, Mr. George Mack, Jr., Mr. Joe Mitcham, and Ms. Susan Wiley.

 

No board member was absent.

 

Prior to the business meeting, board members enjoyed a delicious lunch in the school cafeteria.

 

President Otha Anders called the meeting to order.  Mr. Mack gave the invocation, and Ms. Henderson led in the Pledge of Allegiance to the American flag.  Mr. Anders welcomed board members, staff, and guests to the meeting.

 

          Upon a motion by Mr. Hancock, seconded by Mr. Barmore, the Board unanimously voted to adopt the agenda as printed; however, it was noted that because of electronic bid timing, the agenda items’ order might be changed slightly.

 

Principal of I. A. Lewis, Shavonne Price, welcomed guests to the 6th grade center.  She noted that 288 students were enrolled at the school.  As portable buildings and sharing of classrooms were being utilized, they were excited about the upcoming construction and having all of the students in one building.  In closing, Ms. Price invited board members to walk around the school and visit the classrooms.

  

Ms. Lisa Best entered the meeting.

 

The time had arrived for the sale of $5,000,000 of General Obligation School Bonds following the November 16, 2013, voters’ approval of the Ruston School District No. 1 issue for capital outlay.  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 introduced Andy Thompson, Municipal Advisor with Government Consultants, and 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 Mr. Joe Mitcham, seconded by Ms. Debbie Abrahm, the Board unanimously voted by roll call to adopt the following: 

 

RESOLUTION

 

Providing for the opening and tabulation of the sealed and electronic bids received for the purchase of Five Million Dollars ($5,000,000) of General Obligation School Bonds, Series 2015 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. 

 

Mr. Schlueter mentioned the district’s “AA-“ rating from Standard and Poor’s, which was higher than the majority of school boards’ in Louisiana, was issued because of the maintenance of very strong finances of the school board and low overall debt of the school board and to the taxpayers.  After opening and receiving the bids, it was announced that five bids had been received for the purchase of the Bonds.  Bids for the bonds were received from: 

 

Raymond James & Associates, Inc – 2.65%;

FTN Financial Capital Markets – 2.72%;

Stifel, Nicolaus & Co, Inc – 2.80%;

Robert W. Baird & Co – 2.84%;

Sterne, Agee & Leach, Inc – 2.87%.

 

He said they all wholeheartedly recommended acceptance of the low bid of 2.65% from Raymond James & Associates, Inc., which was slightly lower than the 2.86% bid in 2014 for the $8,000,000 bond issue.

 

          Upon a motion by Mr. Mike Barmore, seconded by Ms. Lynda Henderson, the Board unanimously voted by roll call to adopt the following:  

 

RESOLUTION

 

Accepting the bid of 2.65% from Raymond James & Associates, Inc. the purchase of Five Million Dollars ($5,000,000) of General Obligation School Bonds, Series 2015 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. Curtis Dowling, the Board unanimously voted by roll call to adopt the following: 

 

RESOLUTION

 

Authorizing the incurring of debt and issuance of Five Million Dollars ($5,000,000) of General Obligation School Bonds, Series 2015, 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.

 

The Simsboro Special Operating and Maintenance millage will expire with the collection of the 2015 assessment. That tax is 2.99 mills with a collection period of ten years, and currently generates about $173,400 annually.  Mr. Schlueter noted it was time for the Board to consider a resolution regarding a tax renewal for the Simsboro district.  He recommended that the board approve a resolution to set an election date of May 2, 2015, for this tax renewal.

 

            Upon a motion by Mr. Dowling, seconded by Mr. Hunt, the Board unanimously voted by roll call to approve the following:

 

RESOLUTION

 

Ordering and calling a special election to be held in Simsboro School District No. 3 of the Parish of Lincoln, State of Louisiana, to authorize the renewal of a special tax therein; making application to the State Bond Commission in connection therewith; and providing for other matters in connection therewith.

 

It was announced by Paula Pardue, Human Resources Coordinator, that a Letter of Intent from the Grambling High Foundation, Inc. had been received.  They plan to submit a proposal to operate a Type 3 charter school in Lincoln Parish that would include the conversion of the Grambling State University lab schools.  Mr. Gordan Ford, President of the Foundation, informed the administration of his desire for the Foundation to retain all current students at the lab schools, including those from surrounding districts and apply as a Type 2 charter.  However, in order to do that according to the District Charter Guide, the applicant must first be denied by the district and then appeal directly to BESE.  After speaking to Mr. Ford, the administration felt that was in the best interest of all of the parties involved not to proceed in the charter application process as stated and decline to review the proposal, and that was their recommendation.

 

 Mr. Ford was in attendance, but had nothing to add to Ms. Pardue’s information.

 

            Upon a motion by Ms. Wiley, seconded by Mr. Hunt, the Board unanimously voted to decline to review the Grambling High Foundation’s proposal to operate a Type 3 charter school for the 2016-2017 school year.

 

Mr. Ford thanked the school system for help with their effort to work with the schools in Grambling.

 

David Crowe, Coordinator of Auxiliary Services, explained that Mike Walpole, Architect, had requested authorization to advertise for bids when he was ready to do so on the new Ruston High School baseball field house and concession building and the playgrounds at various elementary schools.

 

            Upon a motion by Mr. Hunt, seconded by Ms. Best, the Board unanimously voted to grant authorization for architect Mike Walpole to advertise for bids on improvements to the Ruston High School baseball complex and elementary school playgrounds as he was ready to do so.

 

The Common Core State Standards initiative and where the school system is with the Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers (PARCC) tests were reported on by Mike Milstead, Chief Academic Officer.  PARCC assesses the 3rd – 8th grade student’s ability to read and understand complex texts, express understanding of complex texts, build opinions using evidence, and apply mathematical skills in reasoning and real-life situations.  Although it is not high stakes this year and will not be used to determine promotion or retention, he said it is still advantageous for the students to take it.  Parents considering opting out of state testing should be discouraged by principals from doing so.  Mr. Milstead noted the test scores will count toward School Performance Scores and District Performance Scores.  Besides being used for accountability purposes, the tests will also inform teachers’ instruction and help identify student learning needs and inform parents about their student’s progress and the teacher of their effectiveness.  He distributed some sample test questions and stated the State Department of Education’s web site has a large amount of information on the tests.  In closing, Mr. Milstead said educators felt that PARCC presented a challenge, but that they were up to the task.  As a result, he anticipates a good year of instruction with increased rigor in Lincoln Parish, and he feels good about where the school system is compared to other parishes.

 

Because the skilled craft demand in the State of Louisiana is projected to substantially increase in the State of Louisiana over the next few years, Ricky Edmiston, Secondary Supervisor, unveiled the Jump Start program that allows students to pursue an Industry Based Certification (IBC).  A good job has been done in the past through the career and technical programs in Lincoln Parish, and 377 IBC certifications were awarded last year, he opined that more needs to be done.  According to plans, the 2014-2015 freshmen in Lincoln Parish will, at the end of their sophomore year, choose which diploma they wish to pursue:  Core 4 (for a student who plans to attend a four-year college/university) or the Career Diploma (for a student who plans to go straight to work or attend a vocational school or community college).  The purpose of the Jump Start graduation pathways is to allow students to graduate with the career diploma by taking courses and attaining industry credentials.  Three different pathways are being proposed: statewide, regional, and integrated.  He said a concentration of 10 statewide pathways would initially be offered in Lincoln along with 2 regional and 3 integrated.  The statewide pathways would be: carpenter, certified nursing assistant, electrician, emergency medical responder, fashion design, four stroke engine tech, internet web foundations, manufacturing specialist, prostart/restaurant, and welder.  A regional pathway, a graduation pathway to meet a regional job demand, culminates in a graduate receiving a Core credential/Industry Based Certification and a minimum of two Complementary credentials.  In Lincoln, business management and welder’s helper will be the first offerings.  An integrated pathway combines both regional and statewide credentials and will contain coursework and credentials that allow a student to attain either a regional credential or a statewide credential.  The first integrated pathways being offered in Lincoln Parish will be agriculture tech, hospitality/tourism/culinary/retail, and information technology.  Core 4 would require 24 Carnegie units, and the 2018 Career Diploma would require 23 Carnegie units consisting of 4 units of English and 4 unites of math.  The DOE will begin to add monies to the MFP in 2014-2015 to support teacher training.  Mr. Edmiston outlined the next steps in the process that include: teacher training, students select pathways, purchase equipment, and develop a career class for 8th graders.

 

Abigail James, Pre-K Coordinator, reported in 2012 the Early Childhood and Education Network, also known as Act 3, was passed and will be fully implemented in July 2015.  She was elated to report that all of Lincoln Parish’s applicable teachers and staff have met all of the requirements of the new birth to 5 standards and assessments.  Kay Bradford, Grant Writer, passed out samples of the two assessments.  She explained how CLASS was being used to evaluate teachers, and Kay Bradford explained how Teaching Strategies GOLD was being used to evaluate the children.

 

In a Report of the Superintendent, Ms. Null, in the absence of Mr. Bell:

 

1.             Thanked Kay Bradford on the recent award of a grant from the federal government netting the school system $100,000.  The money is to be used to reduce emissions by purchasing buses with newer engines.

 

2.             Reminded board members that the March 3 board meeting has been changed to March 10 due to the superintendent’s search process.

 

3.             Communicated the LSBA convention is next week, and an expense voucher was included in portfolios. 

 

4.           Reported that in order to get discounts on network costs, wide area network, and Internet, the technology department has posted 2 form 470s on the USAC web site.  Bids will be submitted to the school system for our wide area network and internal connections and basic  maintenance.  Tomorrow and Friday vendors will visit schools with district technology personnel.  Bids are to be submitted by March 6, 2015.  A committee will review the bids and make a decision the following week.  She said the administration appreciates the technology department. 

 

There being no further business and upon a motion by Ms. Best, the meeting adjourned at 1:41 p.m.

 

 

________________________________                ___________________________________

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