LINCOLN PARISH SCHOOL BOARD
Ruston, Louisiana
REGULAR SESSION
Tuesday, March 3, 2020 6:00 p.m.
The Lincoln Parish School Board met in Regular Session on Tuesday, March 3, 2020, at 6:00 p.m. in the Lincoln Parish School Board Central Office, 410 South Farmerville Street, Ruston, Louisiana. Members present were Ms. Debbie Abrahm, Mr. Otha Anders, Ms. Lisa Best, Ms. Donna Doss, Mr. David Ferguson, Dr. David Gullatt, Mr. Danny Hancock, Ms. Lynda Henderson, Mr. George Mack, Jr., Mr. Joe Mitcham, Mr. Hunter Smith, and Ms. Susan Wiley.
President Mitcham called the meeting to order, and Mr. Hancock gave the invocation. Ms. Doss led in the Pledge of Allegiance to the American flag.
Upon a motion by Mr. Anders, seconded by Ms. Best, the Board unanimously voted, by roll call, to amend the agenda deleting one Report: 5.4 ERATE, and adding one item of New Business: 7.6 ERate Contracts.
Upon a motion by Dr. Gullatt, seconded by Ms. Wiley, the Board unanimously voted to approve the minutes of the Regular Session held on February 4, 2020, as distributed.
Upon a motion by Ms. Abrahm, seconded by Mr. Hancock, the Board unanimously voted to approve the minutes of the Special Called Session held on February 20, 2020, as distributed.
President Mitcham shared that a Special Called Session was held on Thursday, February 20, 2020. The Board unanimously voted in that special session to appoint Donna Doss to fill the interim positon of District 4. He stated that the Board would like to officially appoint Donna Doss to the position of Board Member for District 4 until a special election can be held to fill the vacancy due to the resignation of Mike Barmore.
Norman Hanes, CFO of the Lincoln Health Foundation, gave a brief update regarding the twelve-year partnership between the Foundation and the Lincoln Parish School Board. The HEALS initiative is the second largest grant the Foundation supports, averaging between $250,000 and $300,000 annually. Since 2008 the Lincoln Health Foundation has funded $2.8 million directly into the HEALS program. HEALS addresses the health needs of Lincoln Parish students providing school nurses, nursing supplies, mental health professionals, hygiene kits, dental services, and other important aspects of providing care to students. This special partnership effects the health of our local children, which then has positive long-term effects in our community. He thanked the Board, Superintendent Milstead, and Ms. Amy Brister, HEALS Grant Writer, for their support.
Mr. Hanes then introduced Dr. Jackie White, ER physician and Medical Director of the Health Hut. Dr. White shared that this year there are eight full time nurses. The breakdown is as follows: two schools have full time nurses, three schools have a nurse four days a week, five schools have a nurse on-site at least two days a week, Dubach has a nurse two days a week, and AEP has one on-site one day a week. Two years ago, Simsboro School went from having a nurse two days a week to five days a week and last year a Telemedicine pilot program was implemented at that school. The administering of over-the-counter medication also began last year. Small ailments can be treated with Tylenol, Tums, and eyewash, to name a few, keeping the students in the classroom. Absenteeism has declined since having a full time nurse on-site and since the Telemedicine program began. It is also important to remember, if a student is truly sick, they should stay at home. She stated that the school nurses are doing an awesome job.
She spoke briefly on the recent outbreak of the Coronavirus. She stated that she does not want to trivialize the Coronavirus but the flu is much worse. This flu season is the worst in ten years, with 120 pediatric deaths in Louisiana year-to-date. We need to continue to implement precautionary measures, such as good hand washing, covering your mouth when you cough, and wiping down surfaces. It is important to remember to keep students at home when they are sick. We need to follow the guidelines during this heavy flu season we are experiencing. The Coronavirus is brand new and treated by prevention. There is no immunization at this point and people are not partially immune from exposure. Staying healthy and prevention are the main things to focus on at this point.
Lillie Williams-Hearn, Testing Supervisor, shared information regarding testing. She stated the tests are computer and paper based or a combination of the two, based on grade level. The largely state-mandated testing windows began February 3, and the last testing period will end May 15. The first window is for the English Language Proficiency Test and LEAP Connect. The ELPT is for English learner students to see how they are progressing. Kindergarten through l2th grade are given the computer based ELPT. This is the first year that the ELPT progress will count in the accountability scores; it will be a piece of the assessment index. LEAP Connect is given to students in grades 3-8 and 11th with significant cognitive disabilities. Other testing periods include the ACT, ACT WorkKeys, LEAP 2025, CLEP, and Advanced Placement testing.
She shared that LEAP 2025 Humanities started as a pilot for grade 7 last year, it went “live” for 7th grade this year and we are piloting grades 6 and 8, both to go “live” next year. The reason behind the Humanities test is to test at the end of a unit instead of giving one large test at the end of the year. The ELA and Social Studies test is given three times during the year, fall, winter, and spring. There will be a five-year grace period with some flexibility regarding accountability. In the past, the LDOE has not released the previous school year’s School Performance Scores until November. This year there will have an early public release no later than the end of September. Official scores will be released after data clean up.
The following personnel items were reported by Dr. Doris Lewis, Director of Human Resources:
1. Retirement of Jacqueline Freeman, science teacher at Ruston High School, effective May 23, 2020; and
Melanie Garrison, business teacher at Ruston High School, effective May 27, 2020.
2. Resignation of the following:
Rebekah Long, special education teacher at Glen View Elementary, effective May 23, 2020;
Scott Abernathy, health, physical education, and coach at Ruston High School, effective May 23, 2020;
Jared Little, health, physical education, and coach at Ruston High School, effective February 20, 2020; and
Jonathan Hyde, math teacher at Ruston Junior High, effective February 25, 2020.
3. Employment of Raeghan Truitt, science teacher at Simsboro School effective January 14, 2020, replacing Cheyenne Demars who resigned.
5. Resignation of Antonio Wilson, custodian at Hillcrest Elementary, effective February 15, 2020.
Ms. Duke reported that sales tax collections for the month of February 2020 were down 2% over collections from the same month in the prior year. She attributed this to a decrease in oil and gas extraction collections. Overall, collections for the year were up 1.47%.
Moving on to the January 2020 financial report for general operating and special revenue funds, Ms. Duke stated total operating revenues were $30.5 million year-to-date. January was the first month to receive a large collection of property taxes in the general fund and several M & O funds. These fund balances show an increase due to property tax collections. Overall, the budgeted unassigned fund balance was 22.02%, down from 29.32% at this time last year. This is above the 10-15% range that the Board needs to maintain for bond ratings.
Next Juanita Duke reported on the Health Insurance Fund, stating that this was the first month of the new plan year, which was reported on a calendar year cycle. This was the first period of reporting since retirees, who are 65 and over with Medicare A&B, were migrated to the Medicare Advantage plan. The report shows an 86% increase in administrative fixed costs compared to this month last year. The expected increase was a result of moving that group of retirees to the new plan. A new category had been added to the report. Administrative costs are now broken down between self-funded costs and Medicare Advantage plan costs.
January claims expenses were equal to the same month last year. The goal is for claims expenses to go down due to the new Medicare Advantage plan with estimated savings of $480,000 this plan year. Total net assets at the end of January were $181,797.
In the absence of Harryette Tinsley, Supervisor of Food Services, Ms. Duke explained that Food Services was in need of new kitchen equipment. The state bid law requires that a school food authority request permission from their school board to send out bids for all purchases during the year. Our multi-parish consortium bids food, paper, and supplies but not produce. Ms. Duke requested permission to advertise and accept the lowest bids for purchases of kitchen equipment and produce for the school food service department for 2020–2021. She estimated the cost of the kitchen equipment to be $120,000 - $160,000.
Upon a motion by Dr. Gullatt, seconded by Ms. Best, the Board unanimously voted to approve the advertising and accepting of the lowest bids meeting specifications on purchases of kitchen equipment and the purchase of produce for the 2020-2021 school year.
Board members were asked by Lisa Bastion, Assistant Superintendent/Chief Academic Officer, to study the following policy revision until the next meeting: II – Testing Program.
Ms. Duke stated that May supplement checks are funded with sales tax collections from all four of the sales tax funds and the 2000 Ad Valorem millage. She was recommending the supplement checks remain the same as they were last year with the condition that we re-evaluate sales tax collections to determine if collections have recovered at a level to allow the continued payment of the May supplement amount. Collections were down last year and recovery was only at 1.47% this year.
Upon a motion by Mr. Hancock, seconded by Mr. Anders, the Board unanimously voted to approve the payment of salary supplement checks on May 21, 2020, in the amounts of $5,825 to certified personnel and $2,913 for support personnel.
Because the state mandated numerous testing and testing makeup dates, Lisa Bastion reported very little flexibility in the school calendar for 2020-2021. She asked the Board to adopt the proposed calendar that includes 170.5 instructional days and 9.5 professional development days. This calendar exceeds the requirement of 63,720 instructional minutes as described in Bulletin 741.
Upon a motion by Mr. Anders, seconded by Mr. Ferguson, the Board unanimously voted to adopt the proposed calendar for the 2020-21 school year as follows:
Lincoln Parish 2020 - 2021 School Calendar
Staff Development August 7-13, 2020
First Day of School-Students (1/2 Day) August 14, 2020
Labor Day September 7, 2020
Staff Development Day October 9, 2020
Columbus Day and Fall Break October 12-14, 2020
Election Day November 3, 2020
End of 1st Nine Weeks October 16, 2020
Thanksgiving November 23-27, 2020
Christmas/New Year Dec. 21, 2020-January 1, 2021
Staff Development Day January 4, 2021
End of 2nd Nine Weeks/Semester 1 January 8, 2021
Martin Luther King, Jr. Day January 18, 2021
Staff Development Day February 12, 2021
Presidents’ Day February 15, 2021
End of 3rd Nine Weeks March 12, 2021
Spring Break/Easter March 29-April 5, 2021
Last Day of School-Students (Full Day) May 24, 2021
End of 4th Nine Weeks/Semester 2 May 24, 2021
Instructional Staff Workday (Full Day) May 25, 2021
Ricky Edmiston, Supervisor of Auxiliary Services, stated that the gymnasium at I.A. Lewis was in need of new bleachers and requested permission to advertise for bids.
Upon a motion by Mr. Mack, seconded by Ms. Henderson, the Board unanimously voted to grant permission to advertise for bids and authorize administration to accept the lowest bid for the replacement of the bleachers in the gym at I. A. Lewis.
Debbie Pender, Technology/Data/Security Coordinator, shared that the Lincoln Parish School District had submitted a Form 470 or application with USAC for ERate discounts on Category 2 services to be provided during the 2020-2021 school year. ERate, a federal government program, funds 85% of the cost with the district covering the remaining 15% for the district’s broadband technology. The service types requested were internal connections and basic maintenance of internal connections. These include cabling, switches, racks in which to house the switches, firewall, UPS/battery backups, wireless access points/license and management, and other related components. Following a 28-day waiting period, five proposals were submitted. Vendors submitting proposals were CDW-G, DCS Telecom, Presidio, Transformyx, and Uniti. These proposals were evaluated and rated on qualifications and experience, approach and methodology, proposed technology/solutions and perceived value, management team capabilities and qualifications, and pricing. The Form 470 was the beginning application. After contracts were entered into with vendors, the second application, Form 471, will be submitted which will detail the exact number of Category 2 services needed to determine the exact cost of the project. Ms. Pender requested approval to enter into contract with the top two vendors, based on cost, experience, references, and several other criteria.
Upon a motion by Ms. Best, seconded by Mr. Hancock, the Board unanimously voted to enter into contract with the top two vendors, DCS Telecom for cabling and racks and Presidio for the firewall, power supplies, wireless access, switches, and the Xirrus licensing/management.
In a Report of the Superintendent, Mr. Milstead said that:
1. He continues to meet with the Parent and Teacher Advisory Committees every other month, alternating between the two. Every month he is meeting with either teachers or parents, who have the opportunity to ask questions. If we can answer these up front, parents will have fewer questions later related to why we do certain things. It has been a very positive experience.
2. District 11 State Legislator Patrick Jefferson and several area superintendents met here on February 25. Mr. Jefferson is on the Education Committee to the State Legislature. It is always interesting to meet with him. They talked about teacher pay and the consolidation of six school districts. Mental health issues in schools were discussed, and specifically how important it is to have mental health counselors in our schools. The State Superintendent selection was mentioned; 21 people have applied for the position.
4. Ms. Duke met with principals and bookkeepers regarding procedures that should be followed related to handling money. Proper receipting was a topic that was touched on due a recent incident at one of the schools. We are trying to be diligent in making sure procedures are always followed even though they may seem cumbersome.
5. Questions have been asked regarding the Coronavirus. Local health officials have explained that the symptoms in children are less impactful than the flu symptoms, and do not seem overly concerned at this time. The Governor has appointed staff to monitor the situation, as we will monitor the situation. There have been nine deaths in the United States but those were related to elderly people. There have been 16,000 deaths due to the flu. We do have a workable plan in place if we had cases of the Coronavirus in our district.
6. A STEM Center Report had been placed in board member’s portfolios. February was a record month with 980 student visits. There were 127 volunteers, mostly Louisiana Tech students. Students are not only engaging in enrichment projects but they are working on projects related to their classroom curriculum. We should see positive ramifications down the road.
After several comments from board members, upon a motion by Ms. Best, the meeting adjourned at 6:55 p.m.
_______________________________ _______________________________
Mike Milstead, Secretary Joe E. Mitcham, Jr., President