LINCOLN PARISH SCHOOL BOARD

Ruston, Louisiana

REGULAR SESSION

Tuesday, January 5, 2021 6:00 p.m.

The Lincoln Parish School Board met in Regular Session on Tuesday, January 5, 2021, at 6:00 p.m. at the STEM Center located at 525 Tarbutton Road, Ruston, Louisiana. Members present were Ms. Debbie Abrahm, Mr. Otha Anders, Ms. Lisa Best, Dr. David Gullatt, Mr. Danny Hancock, Mr. George Mack, Jr., Mr. Joe Mitcham, and Mr. Hunter Smith.

Board members present remotely were Ms. Donna Doss, Ms. Lynda Henderson, and Ms. Susan Wiley. Mr. David Ferguson was absent.

President Mitcham called the meeting to order and delivered the invocation. Mr. Smith 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 printed.

Mr. Mitcham stated that the minutes from the December 1, 2020, meeting had been corrected stating, “Ms. Susan Wiley was present remotely.” A copy of the corrected minutes had been placed in board members portfolios. Upon a motion by Dr. Gullatt, seconded by Ms. Best, the Board unanimously voted to approve the minutes of the Regular Session held on December 1, 2020, as corrected.

The Election of Officers for 2021 was the next item on the agenda. Mr. Mitcham turned the floor over to Secretary, Ricky Durrett. Mr. Durrett declared the floor open for nominations for President for 2021.  Mr. Anders nominated Mr. Mitcham. Mr. Durrett asked if there were any other nominations, hearing none, he declared the time for nominations closed and asked for a vote. Mr. Mitcham was unanimously selected as President for 2021. 

Mr. Durrett asked for nominations for Vice President for 2021. Mr. Mack nominated Ms. Henderson.  Hearing no further nominations, Mr. Durrett declared the time for nominations for Vice President closed and asked for a vote. Ms. Henderson was unanimously selected as Vice President for 2021. 

Mr. Durrett congratulated the returning officers.

Mr. Mitcham and Ms. Henderson thanked the Board for their vote of confidence. 

Juanita Duke, Chief Financial Officer, introduced two reports that have been filed with the Municipal Securities Rule-Making Board as required under the continuing disclosure agreements entered into with purchasers of its general obligation bonds sold to the public for Ruston School District No. 1 and Choudrant School District No. 6.  This annual reporting is a requirement of the Security and Exchange Commission for municipal bonds that are sold publicly. This information was being provided for information purposes only. The reports provide investors with certain current key operating information for use in making informed buy or sell decisions regarding the bonds that continue to be openly traded on the municipal securities market.  Some operating information reported for each taxing district includes tax collection performance, changes in financial reporting methods, millage rates within the taxing district, and a list of top ten taxpayers. 

She reported that the Choudrant School District’s taxable assessed valuation increased approximately $700,000 over last year and over 99% of the taxes levied were collected. The ten largest property taxpayers make up a total assessed valuation of $12.2 million or approximately 27% of the taxable base in the Choudrant District.

Ms. Duke stated that the Ruston School District taxable assessed valuation was up over the previous year by $5.5 million. Collections have remained steady at about 99% for the four years until 2019 when they fell slightly. Total assessed valuation of the ten largest property taxpayers in the Ruston District was $62.7 million, which is approximately 19.6% of the tax base in that district.   

She shared that the filing of the 2020 annual reports for the Ruston and Choudrant districts was complete with the exception of the submission of the audited financial statements, which will be filed after approval by the Louisiana Legislative Auditor.  Tim Nutt, Child Welfare and Attendance Coordinator/Hearing Officer, communicated that he had been charged with the responsibility of creating a committee to review our parish discipline policies in accordance with state law. The law specifies that the committee be comprised of a cross section of staff and parents. The committee, which met in December, consists of principals, teachers, counselors, a bus operator, and a board member. In most cases, recommended policy changes addressed verbiage and clarification. There was nothing in the present policies that contradicted state law. Mr. Nutt brought attention to two major areas that the committee addressed. The first was the policy concerning corporal punishment. Lincoln Parish has not administered corporal punishment for over fifteen years; however, the policy had not been updated. It essentially now reads that Lincoln Parish does not permit the use of corporal punishment as a discipline tool. Mr. Nutt said the second major area was the creation of a policy to address discipline regarding virtual students. Several incidents occurred in other parishes in virtual settings that necessitated this policy. In the rare event that something does happen with a student virtually that disrupts or distracts the virtual learning environment Lincoln Parish will be now be prepared to address that situation with the new policy.  

                        In her Personnel Report, Dr. Doris Lewis, Human Resources Director, verbalized:

1.     Resignation of Jordan Boston, teacher at Cypress Springs effective November 21, 2020.

2.     Employment of Kevin Hill, Discipline Facilitator at Ruston Elementary effective December 1, 2020, replacing Kayla Martin who entered Disability Retirement and

Cynthia Heying, special education teacher at Ruston Junior High effective January 5, 2021, due to increased Special Education numbers. 

                        Ms. Duke called attention to figures on the December 2020 sales tax report and said that collections were up 23.46% over this month last year. Overall year-to-date collections were up 15.69% over this time last year. She said that if the new 2020 collections were subtracted, we would be down 1.08% for the month of December but would be up 7.2% year-to-date.          

                        In her financial update for November 2020, she reported total contributions to the health insurance fund from the general operating funds were approximately $4.4 million. The total fund balance in general operating funds was $13.6 million. The unassigned fund balance was $7.6 million, which is 14% of the budgeted operating expenses for the year. Ms Duke shared that the Maintenance & Operation and Ad Valorem Funds’ balances were dropping, which is normal for this time of year but LPSB should receive property tax payments this month.                        

Moving on to the November 2020 health plan report, Ms. Duke stated that total claims expenses for the month were $756,000 compared to the monthly average of $665,000. There had been a slight increase in expenses over the last few months, which could be a result of members visiting doctors before the year ends. Compared to the prior year, reduced expenditures were $964,000.  

In the absence of James Payton, New Construction Coordinator, Mr. Durrett voiced that bids were opened for the RHS Eco Car Building on December 17, 2020, at the Lincoln Parish School Board Office. Three qualified bidders submitted bids on this project: Streeter Contracting Construction, Inc. of Ruston, LA, Triad Builders of Ruston, LA, and Vista Construction of West Monroe, LA. Bids ranged from $436,000.00 to $378,861.00. After reviewing the bids, the district administration recommends acceptance of the lowest qualified bidder of $378,861.00 submitted by Streeter Contracting Construction, Inc. Mr. Durrett shared that the building would be funded by insurance settlements received from the April 2019 tornado that destroyed the Eco Car building and the 2017 Head Start fire. The building would also be used for Physics classes, which would “free-up” a classroom in the main building.                 

Upon a motion by Mr. Hancock, seconded by Ms. Abrahm, the Board unanimously voted to accept the bid of $378,861.00 submitted by Streeter Contracting Construction Inc. and award them as the contractor for the Ruston High School Eco Car Building.

In the absence of Lisa Bastion, Assistant Superintendent/Chief Academic Officer, Superintendent Durrett explained that due to the immediate necessity of the addition of one policy and revisions to several other policies, the Board must temporarily suspend Board Policy BD – School Board Policy, and then immediately approve the addition and revisions to the policy manual.

                        Upon a motion by Dr. Gullatt, seconded by Ms. Best, the Board unanimously voted to waive current policy BD- Board Policy in order for one new policy and revisions to five policies may be approved immediately as all are related to discipline and have been recommended by the Discipline Policy Review Committee.

                        Upon a motion by Ms. Abrahm, seconded by Mr. Anders, the Board unanimously approved the policy manual addition of JDF – Virtual Discipline and revisions to BD – School Board Policy, JD – Discipline, JDA – Corporal Punishment, JDD – Suspension, and JDE – Expulsion.    

                        Ms. Duke explained that a resolution needed to be adopted so signature authorizations with our local banks could be updated to include Superintendent Ricky Durrett. The resolution would also allow Mr. Durrett to designate additional signers on school board accounts, including school bank accounts. The resolution would be presented to banks as evidence of these authorizations. 

                        Upon a motion by Mr. Hancock, seconded by Mr. Mack, the board unanimously voted to adopt the resolution authorizing new Superintendent Ricky Durrett and Board President Joe Mitcham to sign school board checks and to authorize the superintendent to designate additional authorized signers on the school board bank accounts. In addition, adding that administration be authorized to continue using former Superintendent Mike Milstead’s signature on checks until signature plates and banking forms are changed.     

                       Mr. Durrett asked Board members to study the following policy manual revisions in preparation for the next meeting: BCAD – Teleconference/Remote Participation in School Board Meetings, GBRIB – Sick Leave, and GBRIBB – Sick Leave Bank.

                        In a Report of the Superintendent, Mr. Durrett said:

                        1.   Grades 7-12 have been on an A/B schedule however, that will end January 15. This schedule has helped with substitutes and keeping teachers in classrooms. All students will report to school on Tuesday, January 19.        

                        2.   We are working with Kip Franklin to obtain funds from FEMA that will allow us to purchase and install generators for food service coolers at all school sites. The cost would be approximately $400,000-500,000 and LPSB would be responsible for 25% of the cost. It is well worth the cost and a good investment considering the amount of food that was lost during the August 2020 hurricane.     

3.     The CDC has changed quarantine rules. Quarantine due to close contact was 14 days; it is now 10 days or 7 days with a negative test taken on the 6^th or 7^th day. If an individual is negative and comes back on the 7^th or 10^th day, they must wear a mask until the 14^th day. If an individual cannot wear a mask, they must wait until the 14^th day to return. This should help get teachers and students back to school sooner.

4.     Normally a group picture would be taken at the February meeting but that has been postponed until Covid restrictions are more lenient.     

5.     Most committee members have been assigned to the Diversity Committee. There are still some to contact. Plans are to meet in February, in-person if possible. If not possible, the meeting will be conducted by Zoom. The committee will be comprised of principals, board members, teachers, paras, and parents. They will look at opportunities to hire a more diverse faculty and staff at all levels.

6.     Several retirees have called to express how pleased they are with the Medicare Blue Advantage Plan. This is positive news.      

                        President Mitcham reminded board members about the March 11 Board Member Training with Jon Guice. Upon a motion by Ms. Best, the meeting adjourned at 6:31 p.m.

_____________________________                    _____________________________

Ricky Durrett, Secretary                                     Joe Mitcham, Jr., President