LINCOLN PARISH SCHOOL BOARD

Ruston, Louisiana

REGULAR SESSION

Tuesday, December 5, 2017   6:00 p.m.

The Lincoln Parish School Board met in Regular Session on Tuesday, December 5, 2017, at 6:00 p.m. at the Lincoln Parish School Board, 410 South Farmerville Street, Ruston, Louisiana. Members present were Mr. Otha Anders, Mr. Michael Barmore, Mr. Curtis Dowling, Mr. David Ferguson, Mr. Danny Hancock, Mr. Trott Hunt, Mr. Joe Mitcham, and Ms. Susan Wiley.

Ms. Debbie Abrahm, Ms. Lisa Best, Ms. Lynda Henderson, and Mr. George Mack, Jr., were absent.

President Mitcham called the meeting to order and his Senior Pastor from Temple Baptist Church, Dr. Reggie Bridges, gave the invocation. Mr. Barmore led in the Pledge of Allegiance to the American flag.

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

Upon a motion by Mr. Barmore, seconded by Ms. Wiley, the Board unanimously voted to approve the minutes of the Regular Session held on November 7, 2017, as distributed.

Superintendent Mike Milstead reiterated that the Board needed to dispose of four plats of land in Hico, formerly the Hico Elementary School, parking lot, and playground.  He called attention to a map of the property, and said a couple of glitches had been encountered; therefore, he had met with Assistant District Attorney, Jeff Robinson, and representatives from the Hico Baptist Church that was located near the property.  Nothing had been reconciled, so he asked Jeff Robinson to share the information he had discovered.

Mr. Robinson discussed issues or non-issues with the tracts individually and said that:

07203011548 - the smallest parcel, has been assessed in the name of the Lincoln Parish School Board, but a survey done of the church’s property in 1986 found it to belong to Hico Baptist Church.  They are drawing royalties on the same, so Mr. Robinson believes there is a good possibility that the Board may not own it.  Because the school system is tax exempt and no taxes are paid by them, it has never shown up as a problem.

07203008583 – the largest parcel, was deeded to the LPSB in 1936 by 24 heirs of J. R. Reeves and was to remain the Board’s property as long as there was a school located on it.  The school is no longer there, but chasing down the heirs could be monumental in 2017.  In addition, it has a sewer pond on it, and that is a serious liability.  The school had used the pond, but only the Church was currently.  He is trying to determine how to get the property out of the Board’s name.

072030TT247 and 0720300X368 – seem to have no title issues or problems associated with them. 

In closing, he said it was his opinion that the parcels may need to be disposed of separately or to tie the first two (1548 and 8583) together with certain stipulations.  He’s getting closer to a resolution and hopes to report to the Board in January and have something for them to consider.

Dr. Doris Lewis, Director of Human Resources, communicated the following personnel changes:

1.  Employment of the following:

Darby Meyers, special education teacher at Choudrant Elementary, effective November 6, 2017, replacing Amy Ostrander who resigned; and

Victoria Smith, ELA teacher at Ruston High, effective November 27, 2017, replacing Victoria Axton who resigned.

2.  Retirement of Harriett Dunn, School Food Service Clerk/Technician at Choudrant Elementary, effective November 16, 2017.

3.    Employment of Tammy Brazzel as School Food Service Technician at Cypress Springs effective November 13, 2017, replacing Martha Gipson who resigned.

4.    Retirement of James Patton, bus driver in the Ruston area, effective December 21, 2017.

Sales tax collections were up with $1,691,873 being collected in November 2017 according to George Manager, Business Manager.  That was a 41.42% increase compared to last year, and the spike was due primarily to oil and gas revenue increases.  Recoveries through audits for the same month were down 78% year-to-date with $3,226 being collected.

In his report on the Financial Statement for October 2017, Mr. Murphy noted the Total Fund Balance was down $3.6 million compared to last month and down $2.5 million compared to October 2016.

George Murphy said the health care fund was down $239,000 for the month of October 2017 and $1.3 million year-to-date.  He reminded those present that in January 2018 changes that were recently approved would kick in, and should help.

In his construction update, James Payton, New Construction Coordinator showed pictures and communicated the following update:

Depending on weather, the slab will be prepared as part of the construction of special education classrooms on the east/northeast part of the campus at Ruston High School.  The approximate 3,000 square feet building should be ready in 270 days, by the start of school in August.

Thirteen gas generators to operate the offices at all of the schools should be installed and functioning by the end of December.  Gas generators for the Bus Barn and Maintenance Facility and a diesel generator that will power the entire Central Office should be shipped on December 15 and installed during the Christmas/New Years’ break.  Following that, forms will be filed to get reimbursement by FEMA of 75% of the $241,000.

Pictures of the proposed site of the STEM Center located on the RJHS campus was shown on the screen.  Permission was previously given to bid on 17-18 Capital Outlay projects, so construction of the Center will probably be bid in March after the architect finishes the technical drawings.  If all goes well, the acceptance of bids will be considered in April, and construction of 18 classrooms totaling almost 10,415 square foot will start as soon as school ends in May of 2017.  It should be ready for the beginning of the 19-20 school year.

Mr. Payton believes the Tarbutton Exchange will have a positive impact on Ruston Junior High School, which is very near the planned area for the exchange.  Four ramps, 2 exit and 2 entrance, are currently being built.  When they are completed, work will begin on the bridge.  Work is a little ahead of schedule on the 3-year project.

At the November meeting, the revision of the JDA – Corporal Punishment policy was proposed by Lisa Bastion, Assistant Superintendent, and subsequently tabled by the Board. She asked board members to approve the policy revision.

Upon a motion by Mr. Hancock, seconded by Mr. Anders, the Board unanimously voted to approve revisions to the JDA – Corporal Punishment policy.

Rik Cason, Transportation Coordinator, requested permission to advertise for bids to purchase new buses: four conventional and one special education lift.  He communicated that in order to continue to provide a safe and efficient bus service for the students of Lincoln Parish and to adequately meet the demands of extracurricular activities such as athletics and field trips, it was vital that new buses be purchased on a yearly basis.  Mr. Cason noted that this year, if the Board granted permission, the purchase would be moved from the bid process to a state contract purchase process.  The estimated total cost was $400,000.00, and funds would be taken from the 1993 millage allocated for the purchase of buses.   

Upon a motion by Mr. Hunt, seconded by Mr. Dowling, the Board unanimously voted to grant permission to purchase four new conventional school buses and one new special needs lift bus through the new state contract process.

Board members are required to receive six continuing education hours annually because of Act 705 of the 2010 legislative session. An additional responsibility had been imposed by revised statute 43:1170, requiring elected officials to receive a minimum of one hour of education and training on the Campaign Finance Disclosure Act during each term of office. Finally, a press release giving the training status of each member must be published in the official journal each year.  Mr. Milstead asked for permission to publish the board members' 2017 training hours; ten met or exceeded the minimum requisite and two members, Mr. Dowling and Ms. Henderson, would obtain theirs prior to the end of December 2017.

Upon a motion by Mr. Anders, seconded by Ms. Wiley, the Board unanimously voted to grant permission to enter board members ' 2017 training certificates into the official minutes of the Board.

Three additional policies were needing revision according to the Board’s policy service, Forethought Consulting.  Lisa Bastion asked members to study the following revised policies until the next meeting:  EB – Building and Grounds Management, GAMA – Employee Tobacco Use; and JCDAA – Student Smoking/Use of Tobacco.

In previous board meetings the Board had been appraised of the administration’s desire to implement an Enhanced Calendar School.  Superintendent Milstead said if implemented it would extend the 18-19 school year by 30 days for approximately 500 students whose families live in the Glen View/Cypress Springs attendance zone and voluntarily choose to become part of the pilot at those two schools.  He reiterated the purpose was to minimize and/or attempt to eliminate summer learning loss and to maximize time spent mastering Louisiana State Student Standards.  The school year configuration would consist of approximately 210 days as opposed to the traditional 180 days.  The proposed calendar for the summer of 2018 was as follows:

Mr. Milstead noted at a subsequent meeting projected costs, teacher selection process, student selection process, and other items concerning planning and implementation efforts would be shared.  In the meantime, he asked for the Board to approve the Enhanced School calendar for 2018, but communicated that another vote would be taken related to financial considerations.

                      Upon a motion by Mr. Barmore, seconded by Mr. Hunt, the Board unanimously voted to approve the Enhanced School calendar for 2018 as presented with the understanding that another vote would be necessary related to financial considerations for the implementation of the project.

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

1.   The January board meeting will be held at Choudrant Elementary at 10:30 a.m. on January 9^th.

2.   Information regarding the LSBA Convention in February 2018 was included in packets.  Forms should be completed and turned in to Becky Gemelli for registration paperwork to be completed.

3.   Also included in packets were Committee Preference forms for 2018.  He asked that those be completed as well and turned in to Ms. Gemelli.

4.    On two different occasions he visited with a Parent Group, which was formed by parents whose names were submitted by principals.  It was very beneficial to get parents’ perspectives, to hear and discuss their questions and concerns, and to have frank, good conversations.  The next meeting will be scheduled in early February, and they’ll meet again in April.  He’s meeting next week with a Teacher Group, and again in February and April.  They have opinions as well; it is all good.  He is open to suggestions and willing to listen and learn from them.

5.    He is moving toward implementing a mobile app that allows parents to access information about their specific child or children; e.g., their grades, alerts for when they do poorly, school closures, emergency actions, etc.  Hopefully by the start of the school year that will be ready as another method to better communicate.  Also being considered are other methods to compare notes, share ideas, and better advertise who we are and what we do.

After a comment from one board member and following a motion by Mr. Hancock, the meeting adjourned at 6:34 p.m.

_______________________________                                                  _______________________________

Mike Milstead, Secretary                                                                         Joe E. Mitcham, Jr., President