LINCOLN PARISH SCHOOL BOARD
Ruston, Louisiana
REGULAR SESSION
Tuesday, July 9, 2019 6:00 p.m.
The Lincoln Parish School Board met in Regular Session on Tuesday, July 9, 2019, 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. Otha Anders, Mr. Mike Barmore, Ms. Lisa Best, Mr. David Ferguson, Dr. David Gullatt, Mr. Danny Hancock, Ms. Lynda Henderson, Mr. George Mack, Jr., Mr. Joe Mitcham, and Mr. Hunter Smith.
Ms. Susan Wiley was absent.
President Joe Mitcham called the meeting to order. Mr. Otha Anders delivered the invocation, and Mr. Nick Bracey, Computer Technician, led in the Pledge of Allegiance to the American flag.
Upon a motion by Mr. Anders, seconded by Ms. Best, the Board unanimously voted to adopt the agenda as printed.
Upon a motion by Ms. Henderson, seconded by Dr. Gullatt, the Board unanimously voted to approve the minutes of the Regular Session held on June 4, 2019, as presented.
The following personnel items were shared by Dr. Doris Lewis, Director of Human Resources:
1. Retirement of Sandra Jennings, paraprofessional at Dubach Elementary, effective June 11, 2019, and
Cynthia Hinton, account clerk at Central Office, effective November 11, 2019.
2. Resignation of the following:
Nicholas Bracey, computer technician at Central Office, effective July 13, 2019;
Amy Hovend, teacher at Cypress Springs, effective May 25, 2019;
Shannon McMillian, teacher at Cypress Springs, effective June 11, 2019;
Bethany Schimmel, teacher at Cypress Springs, effective May 25, 2019;
Kenya Morris, teacher at Glen View, effective June 25, 2019;
Jasmine Stafford, teacher at Hillcrest, effective May 25, 2019;
Karmyn McLeroy, special education teacher at I.A. Lewis, effective June 13, 2019;
Jack Wasson, math teacher at Ruston High, effective June 17, 2019;
Zandria Guidry, ELA teacher at Ruston Junior High, effective June 17, 2019;
James Watson, AD /strength and conditioning coach at Ruston Junior High, effective June 21, 2019;
Cheyanne DeMars, science teacher at Simsboro School, effective June 12, 2019; and
Joseph Kemp, social studies teacher/coach at Simsboro School, effective June 5, 2019.
3. Points of Reference/Transfer of the following effective July 10, 2019, unless noted otherwise:
Carla Chrisman, from Hillcrest to account clerk at Central Office, replacing Cynthia Hinton who retired, effective July 1, 2019;
Melinda Killen to Interim Administrator/Pre-K Coordinator at LPECC effective July 1, 2019, replacing Kathi Pesnell who retired;
Michelle Brown, from Simsboro School to secretary at Ruston Elementary, effective July 25, 2019;
Bob Garrett, from Ruston Junior High to social studies teacher at Ruston High, replacing Hilton Hay who transferred, effective August 7, 2019;
Hilton Hay, from Ruston High to physical education teacher/coach at Ruston Junior High, replacing Bob Garrett who transferred;
Dustin Serpas, from Ruston High to AD/strength and conditioning coach at Ruston Junior High replacing James Watson who resigned;
Adrian Hester, from Ruston High to special education teacher/coach at Simsboro School, replacing Megan Dunson who resigned;
Tammy Wallace, from Ruston Junior High to bookkeeper at Simsboro School, replacing Michelle Brown who transferred, effective July 25, 2019;
Scott Hiers, from Choudrant High to special education teacher/coach at Simsboro School, replacing Michelle Rosenberger who transferred; and
Michelle Rosenberger, from Simsboro School to special education (homebound) itinerant, replacing Kathleen Mitchell who retired effective August 7, 2019.
4. Employment of the following effective July 25, 2019, unless otherwise noted:
Krystan Channell, secretary at Hillcrest, replacing Carla Chrisman who transferred;
Angela Croswell, bookkeeper at Ruston Junior High, replacing Tammy Wallace who transferred; and
Scott Abernathy, physical education teacher/coach at Ruston High effective July 10, 2019, replacing Jeremy Henriques who resigned.
5. Resignation of Marcus Kay, bus operator in the Dubach district, effective May 22, 2019.
6. Employment of Lorrie Gates, secretary/bookkeeper at the School Food Service office effective July 1, 2019, replacing Debbie Ware who retired.
7. Point of Reference/Transfer of Marci Mathis from I.A. Lewis cafeteria manager to School Food Service field manager at SFS office effective July 25, 2019, replacing Remona Turner who retired.
8. Employment of Kevin Ellis as maintenance at Central Office effective July 1, 2019, replacing Tyrone Jordan who retired.
George Murphy, CFO/Business Manager, introduced Ms. Juanita Duke who would be fulfilling his position when he retires in November. Several board members welcomed Ms. Duke back, as she had been a LPSB employee in the Business Department from 1998 – 2003.
Mr. Murphy presented a sales tax report for June of 2019. He said receipts for the month of June were up for the first time this fiscal year; however, receipts were down $1.7 million year-to-date. Recoveries through audits were also down.
Moving on to his summary of the May 2019 financial statement, Mr. Murphy said figures were down $4.7 million compared to this time last year and compared to April 2019 figures were down $5.9 million.
For the month of May 31, 2019, the self-insured health fund was up $206,000 and year-to-date the fund is up $70,000 according to George Murphy. He reported this was good news.
New Construction Coordinator, James Payton narrated pictures of numerous projects and gave the following construction update:
1. Plans for reconstruction from the tornado damage at the Ruston High football stadium continue. He is working with two engineers and the district’s architect to try to have the repairs complete as soon as possible. Press box bids will open July 16, the contractor will have 60 days to complete construction. Three light poles would also have to be replaced. Two were knocked down in the tornado, and another had been condemned by a structural engineer.
2. Work had begun to resurface the track at RHS before the warranty expires next month. Not all of the damage will fall under the warranty; however, we have a $50,000 credit on the warranty.
3. All the floors are complete as well as the parking lot at the STEM Building. The bullet-resistant front door would be installed this week. The contract deadline for the building is July 19.
4. The carline road at Choudrant Elementary would be hard surfaced in the near future and would be ready when school starts.
Mr. Murphy communicated that the school nurses had items that were no longer needed. He asked permission to declare the items listed below as surplus:
Vision Screener, S/N 2090L, Vision Screener, S/N CS51356,
Vision Screener, S/N CS1355, Hearing Screener, S/N 130939
Hearing Screener, S/N 857921, Hearing Screener, S/N 165467
After a motion by Mr. Barmore, seconded by Mr. Hancock, the Board unanimously voted to declare the above-mentioned items as surplus and dispose of them in accordance with state law and local policies.
Lisa Bastion, Assistant Superintendent/Chief Academic Officer asked board members to study revisions to two policies, BBRK – Annual Leave and JGCB – Immunizations until the August meeting.
Mr. Murphy shared that in 2014 a compensation plan change was presented and approved by the Board. The revised plan included a performance salary schedule and a base salary schedule for certified teachers. However, the base and performance salary schedule increases were inconsistent. In addition, the state recently awarded certificated employees a $1,000 raise and support employees a $500 raise. Therefore, because of the inconsistencies and the state raise, the salary schedule needed to be revised. Mr. Murphy thanked Ms. Julie Stephenson, Teacher Pipeline Lead/University Liaison, for her hard work in creating the new salary schedules.
Upon a motion by Dr. Gullatt, seconded by Ms. Abrahm, the Board unanimously voted to approve the revised certificated salary schedule and the revised support salary schedules.
Mr. Payton reported that the bids for the Choudrant Elementary Pre-K classrooms were opened and reviewed at 2:00, on June 27, 2019. Six qualified bidders submitted bids on the project. Bids ranged from $1,195,000 to $1,341,600. After reviewing the bids, the district administration recommended acceptance of the lowest qualified bid.
Upon a motion by Mr. Hancock, seconded by Mr. Anders, the Board unanimously voted to accept the lowest qualified bid from Vista Construction of $1,195,000 and award them as the contractor for the Choudrant Elementary Pre-K project.
The State Legislative Auditor’s Office requires all Louisiana governmental units to complete a System’s Survey & Compliance Questionnaire and provide it to the independent auditors at the beginning of the financial and compliance audit, Mr. Murphy reported to the Board. He requested approval of the questionnaire for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2019.
Upon a motion by Ms. Best, seconded by Ms. Henderson, the Board unanimously voted to approve the System’s Survey & Compliance Questionnaire as presented for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2019.
Superintendent Mike Milstead communicated that in the fall of 2015, he and members of the board began considering reducing liability concerns related to various unused properties owned by the school system. As part of that effort, the board had previously voted to divest itself of the Hico School site and the Dubach fire station site in exchange for our loss of liability. The “old Dubach baseball field” was the third piece of property falling in that category. Mr. Milstead had spoken with Mr. Barmore, the Mayor of Dubach, and several Dubach council members regarding this issue. He recommended that the “old Dubach baseball field”, which does not join the present school property, be donated to the town of Dubach in lieu of LPSB incurring continued liability with the property. In return for this donation, the town of Dubach would assume the liability of the property.
Upon a motion by Mr. Hancock, seconded by Mr. Barmore, the Board unanimously voted to approve the Cooperative Endeavor Agreement transferring the “old Dubach baseball field” property as described in the CEA, to the town of Dubach.
In a Report of the Superintendent, Mr. Milstead said that:
1. A Nepotism Disclosure Form was placed in the Board Members packet.
2. He was continuing to work with attorneys and city officials regarding the baseball complex. RHS had traditionally used the field but the city is not ready to give LPSB exclusive rights. They have not come to an agreement yet but information would be passed on as it becomes available. The goal is to have an agreement in place in the next few months.
3. He had pledged to the board to reduce personnel in order to get the budget in line. As of this week, LPSB staff had been reduced by 20 certificated employees and 33 non-certificated employees. He would report later what the actual savings are from these reductions.
4. Because of the recent tornado, several businesses are still closed so sales tax dollars could possibly be down. However, the construction taking place could actually be a positive for us, boosting sales tax dollars.
5. The beginning of school convocation will be Monday, August 12, at RHS and Tuesday, August 13, at Howard Auditorium. Monday’s meeting will be as it has been in the past, introducing principals and new employees. Tuesday will be an all-day in-service focusing on school safety. Armored One, from Syracuse, New York will be present. The company had studied 50 school shootings. They would provide information on how we should react if this ever happened in our district. In the afternoon a teacher from Sandy Hook Elementary will speak regarding her experience with a school shooting, she saved her entire class.
6. Several retirees met yesterday with Blue Cross representatives and several LPSB employees regarding the Health Care Plan. There has been a steady increase in insurance costs. Our costs are about $10 million a year; it is projected that by the year 2037, retiree costs alone will be $15 million. Blue Cross introduced a plan that could save the district $800,000 to $1 million per year. A meeting with all retirees will take place later this summer. The proposal would be brought before the Board for a vote before anything was finalized.
7. Ryan Williams will be the new IT employee to assist school board members with any computer issues that might arise. He introduced Mr. Williams and stated that he would be present at all board meetings.
After several comments from the public and Board members, upon a motion by Ms. Best, the meeting adjourned at 6:37 p.m.
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Mike Milstead, Secretary Joe E. Mitcham, Jr., President