LINCOLN PARISH SCHOOL BOARD
Ruston, Louisiana
REGULAR SESSION
Tuesday, October 6, 2020 6:00 p.m.
The Lincoln Parish School Board met in Regular Session on Tuesday, October 6, 2020, at 6:00 p.m. at the STEM Center, 525 Tarbutton Road, Ruston, Louisiana. Members present were Ms. Debbie Abrahm, Mr. Otha Anders, Ms. Lisa Best, Ms. Donna Doss, Dr. David Gullatt, Mr. Danny Hancock, Ms. Lynda Henderson, Mr. George Mack, Jr., Mr. Joe Mitcham, Mr. Hunter Smith, and Ms. Susan Wiley (Ms. Wiley was by telephone and could not vote).
President Joe Mitcham called the meeting to order, and Ms. Best gave the invocation. Mr. Mack led in the Pledge of Allegiance to the American flag.
Upon a motion by Mr. Anders, seconded by Ms. Best, the Board voted to adopt the agenda as printed.
Upon a motion by Dr. Gullatt, seconded by Mr. Hancock, the Board unanimously voted to approve the minutes of the Regular Session held on September 1, 2020.
Brandon Sutherland, Communications Coordinator, felt privileged and honored to recognize Caleb Phillips, from Ruston High School and Eli Watson, from Choudrant High School. Mr. Phillips and Mr. Watson were the only students throughout all schools in Lincoln Parish who were announced as two of the approximately 16,000 semifinalists in the 66th annual National Merit Scholarship Program. This group of students represent less than 1% of all high school seniors in the United States. Mr. Sutherland provided background information on the two seniors who are both very involved in their schools, sports, community, and churches. He presented a plaque to each of the deserving young men.
Both young men thanked the Board, Mr. Milstead, their teachers and counselors, and their parents for their support. Several board members expressed their pride and congratulations for the accomplishments of these young men, stating that they were among the elite of the elite.
Juanita Duke, CFO/Business Manager,stated that we were in the process of adding and deleting signers for the First Guaranty Bank of Dubach for School Food Services due to changes in employees. The bank now requires that we have a Resolution approved by the Board to make these changes. Mr. Mitcham asked if any of the public or board members had questions. Hearing none, he asked the Board to vote regarding the matter.
Upon a motion by Ms. Abrahm, seconded by Mr. Smith, the Board unanimously voted to adopt the Resolution to authorize the Superintendent and or Business Manager to designate authorized person(s) to sign on First Guaranty Bank accounts.
New Construction Coordinator, James Payton, reported that on July 7, 2020, the Lincoln Parish School Board, because of budgetary concerns, rejected bids for the Eco-Car building, which was destroyed in the April 25, 2019, tornado. He stated that the plans for the building had been modified by our architect to address the cost of the building. All construction documents were completed and revised. Mr. Payton requested permission to advertise for bids on this project. Dr. Gullatt asked how much LPSB would receive from the insurance settlement. Ms. Duke reported that we would receive $226,823 from the settlement.
Upon a motion by Ms. Henderson, seconded by Mr. Hancock, the Board unanimously voted to grant permission to advertise for bids on the Eco-Car building.
Ms. Duke proposed that the salary supplement checks for November 2020 be $3,000 for certificated personnel and $1,500 for support personnel, which were the same amounts as last year. These checks would be funded by the 2000 sales tax fund. Ms. Duke noted the fund balance in the 2000 sales tax fund experienced a minimal decline in fund balance last year, after reducing the amount of funding previously provided for the May 2020 supplement check.
Upon a motion by Dr. Gullatt, seconded by Mr. Ferguson, the Board unanimously voted to approve the payment of salary supplements on November 19, 2020, in the amounts of $3,000 to certificated personnel and $1,500 to support personnel.
As the parish’s policy for promotion and retention of students, the Pupil Progression Plan (PPP), is based on Bulletin 1566, Bulletin 741, and Act 750 (R.S. 17:24.4) of the Louisiana State Legislature. Michelle Thrower, Pupil Progression Chair, asked that revisions to the 2020-2021 PPP be approved in order to be in full compliance with all state regulations. She indicated that an entire copy of the PPP was available for review.
Upon a motion by Mr. Anders, seconded by Ms. Doss, the Board unanimously voted to approve the revised 2020-2021 Lincoln Parish Pupil Progression Plan.
Ms. Duke shared that the tornado of April 25, 2019, damaged school board property in Ruston with the majority of claims incurred on the Ruston High School campus and athletic facilities. All repairs and replacement of damaged equipment and facilities are completed except the RHS Eco-Car building. She said that recently we were able to negotiate a settlement offer with insurance carrier FM Global for the incurred losses. The offer is for a total insurance payment of $895,388.73 after the School Board’s $100,000 deductible is applied. Additionally we were able to obtain a partial reimbursement of $75,000 of the deductible from FEMA for the declared disaster. Ms Duke thanked Assistant Business Manager Kathy Pool, Maintenance Supervisor Ricky Edmiston, New Construction Supervisor James Payton, RHS Athletic Director Jarrod Baugh, and the Board’s architect, Mike Walpole, for their assistance to bring the claim to closure. She recommended that the Board accept the settlement offer.
Upon a motion by Ms. Best, seconded by Mr. Smith, the Board unanimously voted to accept the settlement offer from the insurance carrier for the claim arising from the April 2019 tornado.
President Mitcham stated that at the August 2020 School Board meeting, the Board accepted the intent to retire of present Superintendent Mike Milstead. The Board voted to accept a Superintendent search process which included acceptance of applications for the position between September 3 and September 28, 2020. He said the process indicated that interviews be held over the course of 3 days, October 19-21, 2020, if necessary. Once the application period was closed on September 28, the approved process called for a review of the applications, both of which met the requirements as outlined by the Louisiana Department of Education. Mr. Mitcham recommended the Board interview both applicants for the position of Superintendent on October 19, 2020, at 4:00 p.m. and 6:00 p.m. The applicants are Mr. Richard Durrett and Mr. Byron Lyons.
Upon a motion by Dr. Gullatt, seconded by Ms. Henderson, the Board unanimously voted to interview the two applicants on October 19, 2020, at 4:00 p.m. and 6:00 p.m.
Lisa Bastion, Assistant Superintendent/Chief Academic Officer, asked board members to study two proposed policy manual additions, BCAD – Teleconference/Remote Participation in School Board Meetings and EFC – Business Continuity and Technology Disaster Recovery. She also asked board members to study policy manual revisions to CED – Employment of Superintendent, DJE – Purchasing, DJED – Bids and Quotations, GBDA – Employment of Retired Personnel, IDFAB – Sports Injury Management and Concussions, JBH – Attendance Reports for Student Drivers, JGC- Student Health Services, and JGCE – Child Abuse. A vote would be taken at the next board meeting.
Ms. Duke presented a resolution for the use of a portion of the new 2020 Sales and Use Tax for employee salary supplements. She stated that vendors began collecting the tax on October 1st and there would only be a partial year of collections received by the School Board in 2020-21. She stated the salary supplement to be paid from the 2020 Sales Tax Fund annually to certified employees will be $3,000 and to support employees will be $1,500 and that sixty-five percent of the proceeds of the tax collected would be set aside for the payment of the salary supplements according to the terms set in the resolution. She summarized the guidelines for payment of employee salary supplements and for establishing a salary supplement reserve from proceeds of the tax as follows:
In 2020-21 the salary supplement will be paid in a one-time payment made to salaried employees employed November 2, 2020 to May 31, 2021 in a one-time payment in June 2021 in the amount of $1,750 for certified employees and $875 for support employees. This represents seven months of collections. Supplement amounts will be prorated for work less than a full contract during this time period.
Starting in 2020-21 the annual salary supplements of $3,000 for certified employees and $1,500 for support employees will be added to monthly pay for new work contracts starting on or after July 1, 2021. This is equal to a monthly increase in gross pay of $250 for certified and $125 for support employees.
A reserve will be established to provide security for the payment of these salary supplements in the future by setting aside sixty-five percent of the taxes collected each month. Any portion of the set-aside remaining after annual salary supplements have been paid at June 30th of each fiscal year, shall be restricted and held in reserve. The balance of this reserve is to be limited to one-hundred percent (100%) of the cost of the previous fiscal year’s salary supplements. Any funds exceeding this maximum limit at June 30th each year is to be transferred as undesignated fund balance in the 2020 Sales Tax Fund and can only be used for “non-recurring” unrestricted expenditures.
She further stated that the terms and conditions for the salary supplements and reserve can be changed by presenting another resolution to the board for approval.
Upon a motion by Mr. Hancock, seconded by Mr. Anders, the Board voted unanimously by roll call vote to approve the resolution concerning the 2020 sales tax disbursement as outlined in the resolution.
A personnel report was the next item on the agenda. Dr. Doris Lewis, Human Resources Director, voiced the following:
1. Retirement of Lisa Mangum, Elementary Supervisor at the Central Office, effective February 6, 2021.
2. Employment of Dana Talley, Elementary Supervisor at the Central Office, replacing Lisa Mangum effective October 1, 2020.
3. Resignation of the following:
Brittany Nail, teacher at Cypress Springs, effective September 19, 2020;
Brooke Bishop, math teacher at Ruston High School, effective October 17, 2020; and
Terri Watts, special education teacher at Simsboro School, effective September 24, 2020.
4. Employment of the following:
Mary Kent, teacher at Cypress Springs, replacing Brittany Nail who resigned, effective September 21, 2020;
Helena Collie, special education teacher at LPECC, replacing Karen Anderson who transferred, effective October 1, 2020; and
Chandler Burkhalter, social studies teacher at Simsboro School, replacing Michael Black who resigned, effective September 22, 2020.
5. Point of Reference of Karen Anderson, special education homebound itinerant teacher, replacing Michelle Rosenberger who retired effective October 1, 2020.
6. Termination of Dana Wright, cafeteria technician at Simsboro School, effective September 2, 2020.
7. Point of Reference of Antoinette Collins, cafeteria technician at Simsboro School, replacing Dana Wright who was terminated, effective August 7, 2020.
In a construction update, Mr. Payton stated that the land-clearing project at the Simsboro baseball and softball fields was almost complete. The last item is an almost 1,000-foot fence that would be installed in the near future.
Ms. Bastion shared that we are nearing the end of the first nine-week grading period. According to the October 1 enrollment, we have right at 5,400 students enrolled in our 12 schools. This is down from the February 1 count by 124 students, which is good news. This is due in part to the fact that there are approximately 70 students that enrolled in home school this fall. About 90% plan to return once COVID has calmed down. All three high schools’ enrollment is up. She said that she was pleased to report that Pre-K numbers were only down by 18 students since the February 1 count. These numbers help us maintain our LA4 and 8G grant seats. Of our 5,400 students, 700 plan to remain virtual learning for the second nine-weeks. Elementary devices should arrive in October and we have distributed close to 500 “hot spots” to students and still have some to distribute. Virtual teaching is hard on students but also very hard on teachers, especially those that are teaching virtually and in-person. There are about 45 kindergarteners that will remain virtual and all of those have been moved to Glen View and are being taught by a teacher from another school. All first and second grade virtual students have been assigned to Glen View and Hillcrest to relieve teachers in the other schools from teaching virtual and in-person. Third, fourth, and fifth grade virtual students will be joining live instruction as the teacher teaches and will remain with their original assigned teacher. If they cannot join live instruction, they can view posted videos. She explained that grades 6-12 virtual students would use Edgenuity Software, along with some videos that are posted for courses that might not be available through Edgenuity. Our hopes are to have some of these 700 virtual students back in the classroom by mid-term in January. She was pleased to share that since August 19, there have only been 60 students and 32 adults test positive for COVID. Of the 32 adults, only 13 were classroom teachers.
Ms. Duke reported that sales tax collections for September declined 4.2% over the same month of the prior year but were up for the first three months of collections by 4.5% compared to the previous year.
In a Financial update for July of 2020, she stated that she had made changes to the report to be more transparent in the reporting of health insurance costs. General Operating Funds now has a column for General Fund Insurance Transfer. This column shows costs that were incurred in the fund which represent health insurance costs of the employees’ salary benefits. These expenses were normally spread across numerous funds, this will better show the true costs for insurance. Ms. Duke added that the unassigned fund balance for July was 18.55%, which is well above what bond-rating agencies suggest.
Ms. Duke stated that the Health Care Fund had $5.1 million total claims year-to-date. Administrative costs were up 89% year-to-date, which was expected when we moved the retirees to the Medicare Advantage Plan. Current savings to date are approximately $800,000. She shared that she had spoken with insurance broker David Charpentier, with Brown and Brown, and he estimated that the savings would be $1 million by year-end. Mr. Charpentier would have the renewal ready next week. The Blue Advantage plan renewal will continue to be great option for our retirees.
In a Report of the Superintendent, Mr. Milstead said that:
1. Ms. Duke is very thorough in her reports, she is always prepared, and delivers her reports with clarity. She continues to research how we can make changes to strengthen our health plan to make it better for the future. He appreciates all that she does.
2. Spring testing will continue in March. How it is calculated and whether we will have School and District Performance Scores is still unclear. This past year our baseline was “wiped out”. We will probably re-establish a baseline as much as anything. It concerns us because there are so many virtual students, we will see where they are academically when they return to school. We also lost in-school time from March to May. All parishes are dealing with these same issues. He is concerned about the students and their growth education over the next several years.
3. He wanted to thank Grambling State University for hosting the Ruston High School football game, which has been moved to Thursday due to Hurricane Delta. We have one other scheduled there. We signed a CEA with them today; they will sign tomorrow. Thanks to President Gallot and Coach Fobbs for being willing to accommodate us.
4. We are experimenting at the Central Office with UV lights which have been installed over the coils of all the air conditioner systems. It kills COVID and Flu in the air conditioning systems. Our hope is to install UV lights in all the air conditioning systems throughout our schools.
5. A CEA has been signed with the Sheriff’s Office related to SRO officers. It is very similar to one we have had. We have met with principals and have reminded them what the responsibilities are of the SRO officers. They are not disciplinarians,their role is to keep our schools safe. They are first law enforcement officers are now in all of our schools. Thank you to Sheriff Stephen Williams and the Lincoln Parish Sheriff’s Department. The CEA includes the payment schedule, which is available if anyone would like to see it.
6. A School Law Workshop will be conducted virtually by Hammonds, Sills, Adkins & Guice on October 14-16. Attorney Jon Guice will be the presenter. It is a great workshop that is very informative. Access will be given to everyone in the district including board members. It is being taped so it will also be available later on. Special Education is usually a large component of these workshops.
7. The next board meeting would be the second Tuesday of November, due to Election Day being November 3. The central office and all schools will be closed that day.
After several comments from board members, Ms. Best made a motion to adjourn,
the meeting adjourned at 7:08 p.m.
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Mike Milstead, Secretary Joe E. Mitcham, Jr., President