LINCOLN PARISH SCHOOL BOARD
Ruston, Louisiana
REGULAR SESSION
Tuesday, May 3, 2016 6:00 p.m.
The Lincoln Parish School Board met in Regular Session on Tuesday, May 3, 2016, at 6:00 p.m. in the Board Room of the Lincoln Parish School Board Central Office, 410 South Farmerville Street, Ruston, Louisiana. Members present were Ms. Debbie Abrahm, Mr. Michael Barmore, Ms. Lisa Best, Mr. Curtis Dowling, Mr. David Ferguson, Mr. Danny Hancock, Ms. Lynda Henderson, Mr. Trott Hunt, Mr. George Mack, Jr., Mr. Joe Mitcham, and Ms. Susan Wiley.
Mr. Otha Anders was absent because he was representing the Board on the 1st Citizens Academy hosted by the Third Judicial District Attorney’s Office and the Lincoln Parish Sheriff’s Office.
President Joe Mitcham called the meeting to order and welcomed visitors. The invocation was given by Mr. Mack. Ms. Lisa Bastion, Chief Academic Officer, led in the Pledge of Allegiance to the American flag.
Upon a motion by Mr. Barmore, seconded by Ms. Abrahm, the Board unanimously voted to adopt the agenda as printed.
Upon a motion by Mr. Hunt, seconded by Ms. Best, the Board unanimously voted to approve the minutes of the Regular Session held on April 5, 2016, as distributed.
Following a month of study, Mary Null, Assistant Superintendent, asked for Board approval of a proposed policy revision.
Upon a motion by Mr. Hancock, seconded by Ms. Wiley, the Board unanimously voted to approve revisions to the BH – School Board Ethics policy.
Six bids were received for the drainage project at Simsboro School. Transportation Coordinator, James Payton, noted those submitting bids were: Amethyst Construction of West Monroe, Chad Pody Construction Co, Inc. of Ruston, CW & W Contractors, Inc. of Sibley, Mabry Company, LLC of Ruston, Triad Builders of Ruston, Inc., and Womack & Sons, Inc. of Harrisonburg. Bids ranged from $170,574 to $125,000. After reviewing the bids, Mr. Payton communicated that the administration recommended acceptance of the lowest bid of $125,000 submitted by Triad.
Upon a motion by Mr. Dowling, seconded by Mr. Mack, the Board unanimously voted to accept the bid of $125,000 submitted by Triad Builders of Ruston, Inc., and award them as the contractor for the drainage project at Simsboro School.
Sales tax collections have increased significantly during the fiscal year through April, reported George Murphy, Business Manager. He anticipates that the increase will not continue to be sustained; however, funds were available to increase the June salary supplement from last year by 5.97% or $300 for certificated personal and $150 for support personnel. After considerable deliberation, the administration recommended that the Board approve the payment of June salary supplements in the amount of $5,325 to certificated personnel and $2,663 to support personnel
Upon a motion by Ms. Best, seconded by Mr. Dowling, the Board unanimously voted to approve the payment of salary supplements on June 24, 2016, in the amounts of $5,325 to certified personnel and $2,663 to support personnel.
Because of wet weather in connection to the Hillcrest, I. A. Lewis, and Ruston Elementary renovation and construction project and the Ruston Elementary portion of the project not being competed in a timely manner, James Payton presented change order #3a for the Board’s perusal The change order added rain days as follows:
Hillcrest Elementary - 41 days;
I. A. Lewis - 41 days; and
Ruston Elementary - 48 days.
Mr. Payton noted that the days being requested included the 4 that were approved at the last meeting for bookkeeping purposes. The change order also included $3,500 in liquidated damages for Ruston Elementary School that would be applied as a credit if approved.
Architect Mike Walpole was in attendance and said the Board had generously given Barron Construction 7 rain days over and above what was requested for Ruston Elementary, and the project was still late 7 days. After a meeting with the administration, Jeff Robinson, the Board’s attorney, and Mr. Barron participating by phone, it was decided that in order to send a message the Board should utilize the $500 a day penalty contained in the contract for those 7 days. Mr. Barron understood the Board’s position.
Upon a motion by Mr. Hunt, seconded by Ms. Henderson, the Board unanimously voted to approve change order 3A with an increase of 48 days to contract time to Ruston Elementary, 41 days to Hillcrest Elementary, 41 days to I. A. Lewis, and a reduction of $3,500.00 to the total contact price.
Kim Shackelford, Instructional Coach, shared background information and the review process for the 2016-2017 K-12 Louisiana’s Student Standards for English Language Arts and Mathematics. She communicated that committee members spent in excess of 9,000 hours developing what students need to know and be able to do at each grade level. On February 2, 2016, the Standards Review Committee voted to approve the proposed standards for English/language arts and mathematics. On March 4, 2016, BESE voted to approve the new Louisiana Student Standards that will replace the Common Core Curriculum. Ms. Shackelford believes the new standards will provide developmentally appropriate content for all grades or courses while maintaining high expectations. In addition they will give teachers freedom to determine the most appropriate method of instruction while providing them with more clarity about what is expected of students by making the standards less vague and less likely to be open to multiple interpretations. She shared some examples at the elementary and high school levels. In order for the Louisiana Student Standards to take effect in the fall, school systems, schools, and the Department of Education will have to work together to implement a plan to make sensible adjustments to curriculum, training and testing – rather than a radical overhaul. Ms. Shackelford reminded the Board that extra staff development days had been included in the 16-17 school calendar.
Dr. Doris Lewis, Director of Human Resources, announced that she and Kay Bradford, Registration Coordinator, had recently attended 4 job fairs. She voiced the following personnel items:
1. Retirement of the following effective May 28, 2016, unless noted otherwise:
Kaye Ambrose, teacher at Choudrant Elementary, effective June 12, 2016;
Brenda Folk, teacher at Choudrant Elementary;
Betty Sheeler, speech therapist at Cypress Springs;
Birdel Barker, behavior interventionist with Pupil Appraisal, effective June 2, 2016;
Terri Singleton, behavior interventionist with Pupil Appraisal, effective September 16, 2016;
Susan Griffin, science teacher at Ruston High; and
Jane Tatum, English teacher at Ruston High.
2. Resignation of the following effective May 28, 2016, unless otherwise noted:
Penny Warner, business teacher at Choudrant High;
Pamela Neal, elementary teacher at Dubach School;
Beth Hollis, teacher at Glen View;
Ashton Sistrunk, teacher at Glen View;
Misty Kudlas, ELA teacher at I. A. Lewis;
Beth Napper, math teacher at I A. Lewis; and
Jasmine Hall-Archangel, curriculum strategist at Ruston Elementary, effective June 2, 2016.
3. Points of Reference/Transfer of the following effective August 8, 2016, unless noted otherwise:
Shavonne Price, from Title I Facilitator, to Parent and Family Engagement Coordinator at the Central Office effective July 1, 2016, replacing Abigail James who was retiring;
Lisa Wilmore, from Ruston High, to Federal Programs Facilitator at the Central Office effective July 1, 2016, replacing Shavonne Price who was transferring;
Brandie Watson, from Dubach School to teacher at Choudrant Elementary effective August 1, 2016, replacing Brenda Folk who was retiring;
Lala Ball from Dubach School to social studies teacher at I. A. Lewis replacing Natalie Verrett who transferred to science;
Madison Guy, from Dubach School to ELA teacher at I. A. Lewis replacing Misty Kudlas who was resigning;
Stanley Lewis, from Dubach School, to discipline coordinator at I. A. Lewis, effective July 25, 2016, replacing Denise Juluke who resigned;
Jamie Simpson from Read 180 (IAL) to math teacher at I. A. Lewis replacing Beth Napper who resigned; and
Shannon Perot from Glen View to curriculum strategist at Ruston Elementary effective August 1, 2016, replacing Jasmine Hall-Archangel who was resigning.
4. Employment of Alecia Gix, assistant principal at Ruston High effective July 11, 2016, replacing Lisa Wilmore who was transferring.
5. Leave without pay for the 16-17 school year for Kelly Hodge, teacher at Glen View, effective August 8, 2016.
6. Disability retirement effective April 4, 2016, of school food service technician, Patrice Guy.
7. Retirement of Elby Harrison, bus driver in the Ruston area, effective May 26, 2016.
Superintendent Mike Milstead introduced Lisa Wilmore and Alecia Gix who were in attendance. He voiced his delight at the transfer to the Central Office of Ms. Wilmore and the employment of Ms. Gix a Ruston High School.
Sales taxes collected for the period ending April 30, 2016, totaled $1,746,672, George Murphy reported. That was down over the same month last year, but up 19.63% year-to-date. Recoveries through audits were down 54% year-to-date.
Moving on to the financial statement for March 2016, Mr. Murphy said the fund balance was down $564,491 compared to February 2016, but up $7,057,000 compared to March 2015. Although it is a good year financially, he reiterated that some of the funds will probably be utilized next year with an expected $1.8 million decrease in the MFP.
In his Health Care Fund report, George Murphy, said a loss of $198,873 was experienced for the month ending March 2016. Year-to-date that fund was up $346,873.
President Mitcham recognized Mike Milstead who requested that the Board go into executive session to discuss strategy on ongoing litigation, United States of America v. Lincoln Parish School Board, et al, Civil Action number 12,071.
Upon a motion by Ms. Best, seconded by Mr. Dowling, the Board unanimously voted to go into executive session at 6:30 p.m.
Upon a motion by Ms. Henderson, seconded by Mr. Hancock, the Board unanimously voted to return to open session at 6:52 p.m.
In a Report of the Superintendent, Mr. Milstead said:
1. Two invitations were placed on portfolios from Lincoln ACHIEVE. Both worthwhile events were scheduled for Monday, May 9, one at 11:45 a.m. and one at 5:00 p.m. He urged board members to attend and show their support.
2. He plans to place a construction update and a STAR reading report on the agenda for the June 7 meeting.
3. Because attendance had dropped so low at the annual Retirement Reception in the lobby of the Central Office in June, plans have been made for administrators to present certificates to system retirees at their schools or work locations. He believes this will be a more fitting recognition for those who have devoted numerous years of service to the children in Lincoln Parish.
4. The students involved with the Ruston High School ecoCAR Program, Bearcat Motorsports, recently competed against other teams across two continents in the Americas Marathon held in Detroit, Michigan. They did exceptionally well, in fact were only .1 mile per gallon away from being flown by Shell to compete at the world level in London, England.
5. Additions are being made to the compass leaders’ rubric and teachers’ leader rubric. He opined the changes should allow more focus on goals and where the district wants to go.
6. High school graduations begin in two weeks with the first one, Choudrant, on Monday (16th), followed by Ruston High’s on Tuesday (17th), and finally Simsboro’s on Wednesday (18th).
7. He appreciates those who returned the Superintendent’s Evaluation form and noted those are still being accepted.
Chairman Mitcham reminded board members that Tier 3 Financial Disclosure forms were almost due.
Mr. Hunt procured pictures of the insides of the buildings and requested a construction update. Mr. Payton reported:
1. At Ruston Elementary, he showed pics of the hallways and restrooms that were impressive. He said the fence was finished earlier in the day.
2. At Hillcrest Elementary, they were working on the front canopy. He also showed pics of restrooms, classrooms and hallways and said there is still a good bit of work to be done. They are projected to be completed in the first week in June.
3. At I. A. Lewis, a lot of work is remaining including tiling the floor. Most of the duct work was in and the A/C units were set. Although Barron Construction is at least a month behind schedule, quite a bit of progress has been made since his last update.
4. At Ruston Junior High, things were really moving along with Traxler. On the south end where the ag shop, welding, wood shop, art classrooms, etc. are located, the block layers are putting petitions on the inside. On the north end, the addition to the gym and locker facilities, the superintendent said the red iron work is well on its way. Block layers will move to that end as soon as they finished on the south end.
5. At the Ruston High School Spirit Building, they were in the process of building the vertical wall around the perimeter of where the building will be. The wall is necessary because the building is being built it a low site. The wall will not be seen after bricks and dirt are added. In addition, a retention pond has been built to catch excess water. A slab and metal building are soon to follow.
There being no further business, upon a motion by Ms. Best, the meeting adjourned at 7:04 p.m.
______________________________ _______________________________
Mike Milstead, Secretary Otha L. Anders, President