LINCOLN PARISH SCHOOL BOARD
Ruston, Louisiana
REGULAR SESSION
Tuesday, January 11, 2022 6:00 p.m.
The Lincoln Parish School Board met in Regular Session on Tuesday, January 11, 2022, at 6:00 p.m. at the STEM Center located at 525 Tarbutton Road, Ruston, Louisiana. Members present were Ms. Debbie Abrahm, Ms. Lisa Best, 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.
Board members absent were Mr. Otha Anders and Ms. Donna Doss. Superintendent Ricky Durrett was also absent.
President Mitcham called the meeting to order and delivered the invocation. Ms. Abrahm led in the Pledge of Allegiance to the American flag.
Upon a motion by Mr. Smith, seconded by Ms. Abrahm, the Board unanimously voted to adopt the agenda as printed.
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 7, 2021, as distributed.
The Election of Officers for 2022 was the next item on the agenda. Mr. Mitcham turned the floor over to acting Secretary John Young, Chief Administration & Operations Officer/Assistant Superintendent, who was filling in for Mr. Durrett. Mr. Young declared the floor open for nominations for President for 2022. Mr. Ferguson nominated Dr. Gullatt. Mr. Young asked if there were any other nominations, hearing none, he declared the time for nominations closed and asked for a vote. Dr. Gullatt was unanimously selected as President for 2022.
Mr. Young asked for nominations for Vice President for 2022. Ms. Best nominated Ms. Henderson. Mr. Young asked if there were any other nominations, hearing none, he declared the time for nominations for Vice President closed and asked for a vote. Ms. Henderson was unanimously selected as Vice President for 2022.
Mr. Young thanked Mr. Mitcham for his years of service as Board President and thanked Ms. Henderson for her service as Vice President and her willingness to serve another year.
Dr. Gullatt thanked the other board members for their support and called on Mr. Young for the next agenda item. A
Following a month of studying seven policy revisions, Mr. Young recommended board members approve the proposed changes to the policy manual.
Upon a motion by Mr. Mitcham, seconded by Ms. Henderson, the Board unanimously voted to approve revisions to DJE – Purchasing, DJED – Bids and Quotations, GBRHA – Sabbatical Leave, GBRIB – Sick Leave, IHAD – Parent Conferences, JG –Student Welfare, and JQE – Expectant and Parenting Students.
Ricky Edmiston, Supervisor of Auxiliary Services, informed the Board that electrical upgrades were needed at Ruston Elementary, Cypress Springs, and Choudrant High School. He shared that, as far as he knows, the service disconnect at Ruston Elementary is the original equipment and has never been serviced. Cypress Springs and Choudrant High’s breaker boxes contain Federal Pacific Breakers “FPE” which are obsolete.
Upon a motion by Mr. Hancock, seconded by Mr. Ferguson, the Board unanimously voted to grant permission to advertise for bids for an electrical upgrade for Ruston Elementary, Cypress Springs, and Choudrant High.
Mr. Edmiston then explained that plumbing upgrades were needed at Hillcrest, Glen View, and Cypress Springs Elementary schools. Hot water heaters in those cafeterias are old and need to be replaced.
Upon a motion by Ms. Abrahm, seconded by Ms. Best, the Board unanimously granted permission to advertise for bids for plumbing upgrades at Hillcrest, Glen View, and Cypress Springs Elementary schools.
The Simsboro girls’ and boys’ basketball dressing rooms are in need of new lockers. Mr. Edmiston stated that many of the locker doors are broken and difficult to lock. His bid would include purchase and installation of 32 new lockers.
Upon a motion by Ms. Henderson, seconded by Mr. Mitcham, the Board unanimously voted to grant permission to advertise for bids for the purchase of new lockers for Simsboro School.
Debbie Pender, Technology/Data/Security Coordinator, voiced the Lincoln Parish School District is in need of adding an additional WAN (wide area network) circuit at the Ruston High School Baseball Complex and additional internal connections for Ruston High School and Choudrant High School. The internal connections for RHS will be between the locker room and the press box at the baseball complex, between the fieldhouse and press box at the RHS football stadium, and between Choudrant High’s main building and the school’s auditorium. With approval of the application, approximately 85% of the cost will be paid with Erate funding.
Upon a motion by Mr. Hancock, seconded by Mr. Mack, the Board unanimously voted to grant permission to advertise for proposals for the above-mentioned items in accordance with state law and local policies.
Ms. Duke, Business Manager/CFO, said she is recommending the Board name a Municipal Advisor (MA) who would serve as the agent for the school system in the event that the district had any type of debt financing or debt re-financing that might arise. It is not mandatory but is best practice. The MA is engaged to assist in the sale, structuring and issuance of bonds whether through a competitive or negotiated sale process. The school board is fortunate to have home-based municipal advisor, Argent Advisors, in Lincoln Parish who is registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board. She said that the administration’s recommendation is to name Argent as the board’s municipal advisor.
Upon a motion by Mr. Hancock, seconded by Ms. Best, the Board unanimously voted to name Argent Advisors as its Municipal Advisor and authorize Superintendent Durrett to execute the services agreement.
James Payton, New Construction Supervisor, stated that the RHS Football Department had six weight machines that were no longer needed. He recommended that they be declared as surplus.
Upon a motion by Mr. Mitcham, seconded by Ms. Abrahm, the Board unanimously voted to grant permission to declare the above-mentioned items as surplus and dispose of them in accordance with the state bid law and applicable school board policies.
Ms. Duke presented two annual reports that have been filed with the Municipal Securities Rule-Making Board as required under the continuing disclosure agreements entered into with the 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 was $57,773,391 and has $5,085,000 outstanding in general obligation bonds. She pointed out that an average of 99% of taxes are collected annually, which is very high. The ten largest property taxpayers provide approximately 20.4% of the tax base in the Choudrant School District.
Ms. Duke stated that the Ruston School District had $18,475,000 in general obligation bonds currently outstanding and total assessed valuation of property was $364,698,136. Collection rates also averaged about 99% annually. Total assessed valuation of the ten largest property taxpayers in the Ruston District was $65,584,372, which is approximately 17.98% of the tax base in that district.
In her Personnel Report, Dr. Doris Lewis, Human Resources Director, verbalized:
1. Retirement of Vivian Franklin, special education paraprofessional at LPECC effective May 27, 2022.
2. Resignation of Tina Hogan, teacher at Choudrant Elementary effective January 19, 2022, and
Charity Patricola, science teacher at Ruston High effective January 6, 2022.
3. Employment of Emily McGrew, teacher at Glen View effective January 3, 2022, replacing Angela Nalitt who retired, and
Emily Moore, speech therapist at Hillcrest effective January 6, 2022, replacing Alyssa Moore who resigned.
4. Resignation of Edwin Bryan, bus operator in the Ruston area, effective December 9, 2021.
5. Employment of Johnny Miller, bus operator in the Ruston area effective November 29, 2021, replacing Sarah Williams who retired.
6. Retirement of Sammie Singleton, custodian at Cypress Springs effective January 1, 2022.
7. Employment of Jeremy Manning, custodian at Cypress Springs effective January 3, 2022, replacing Sammie Singleton who retired.
8. Resignation of Dana Land, cafeteria technician at School Food Services, effective December 7, 2021.
Ms. Duke called attention to figures on the December 2021 sales tax report and said that collections were up 14.4% over this month last year. Fiscal year-to-date collections were up 28.3%, with 17.37% being due to the 2020 sales taxes collected during the months of July through October. The year-to-date performance equivalent is up about 11%.
In her financial update for November 2021, she reported the total fund balance in general operating funds was $18.5 million, with an unassigned fund balance of approximately 19.3% of the budgeted operating expenditures for the year. Ms. Duke shared that the District Maintenance & Operation Fund’s balances were dropping, which is normal for this time of year but LPSB should receive property tax payments this month. The total ending fund balance in the Special Revenue Funds was $14.2 million and the total ending fund balance for all funds combined was $32.8 million.
Moving on to the November 2021 health plan report, Ms. Duke stated that total contributions received were $12.8 million calendar year-to-date. Total expenditures including administrative and claims costs were $12.4 million and the total change in net assets for the year was $437,000. Compared to $1.4 million last year. Total plan expenses were up about $1.9 million compared to this same period last year.
In a Report of the Chief Pandemic Officer/Assistant Superintendent, Ms. Lisa Bastion said:
1. January is School Board Member Recognition Month across the state of Louisiana. This is a way to show appreciation for board members’ dedication and hard work. School Board members are extraordinary people who voluntarily tackle the enormous job of governing school districts. Board members’ actions and decisions affect the present and future lives of our children. To show our appreciation we display the Proclamation and Resolution passed by Governor John Bel Edwards in 2017 declaring January Board Member Recognition month. We have it displayed tonight.
2. Jon Guice will be here Thursday, March 24, to conduct school board member training. More information will be shared in the near future.
3. Monday, January 24, at 5:00, there will be a joint special session held with the Lincoln Parish Police Jury to vote on the reapportionment of election districts. The meeting will be held at the Library Events Center.
4. There has recently been much discussion regarding the French Immersion Program. After meeting with parent groups, someone from the state department and a member of CODOFIL, and administrators, we have notified Corrine Nutt, the district program coordinator, and a parent leader from the French Immersion family that the French Immersion Program will proceed for the 2022-2023 school year. It will be offered in kindergarten through third grade. There are many details to work out and decisions to be made.
5. There has been a lot of sickness since we returned from the Christmas break. We currently have 23% of the student population absent due to various illnesses. Most of the students that are quarantined have been exposed outside of school. Currently we have shortages of bus operators and teachers. Coaches are driving buses to help with the shortage and teachers are covering classrooms on their planning periods. We hope this situation gets better and board members will be kept informed regarding any changes that have to be made.
Ms. Bastion congratulated Dr. Gullatt and thanked Mr. Mitcham for everything he has done for the Board and the administration. Mr. Smith also thanked Mr. Mitcham for his leadership through the years as well as Ms. Henderson.
There being no further business, upon a motion by Ms. Best, the meeting adjourned at 6:40 p.m.
_____________________________ _____________________________
Ricky Durrett, Secretary David E. Gullatt, President