LINCOLN PARISH SCHOOL BOARD
Ruston, Louisiana
REGULAR SESSION
Tuesday, October 4, 2022 6:00 p.m.
The Lincoln Parish School Board met in Regular Session on Tuesday, October 4, 2022, at 6:00 p.m. at the Lincoln Parish School Board, 410 S. Farmerville Street, Ruston, Louisiana. Members present were Ms. Debbie Abrahm, Mr. Otha Anders, Ms. Lisa Best, Mr. Clark Canterbury, Ms. Donna Doss, Mr. David Ferguson, Mr. Danny Hancock, Ms. Lynda Henderson, Mr. George Mack, Jr., and Mr. Joe Mitcham.
Mr. Hunter Smith and Ms. Susan Wiley were absent. Mr. Smith attended remotely but was unable to vote.
President Joe Mitcham called the meeting to order, and Mr. Canterbury gave the invocation. Mr. Greg Phillips, future District 8 board member, led in the Pledge of Allegiance to the American flag.
Upon a motion by Mr. Anders, seconded by Ms. Doss, the Board voted to adopt the agenda as printed.
Upon a motion by Ms. Best, seconded by Ms. Abrahm, the Board unanimously voted to approve the minutes of the Regular Session held on September 6, 2022, as printed.
Ms. Amy Brister, Early Childhood Coordinator, stated that she would like to share background on Early Childhood Performance Profiles. In 2015, the Louisiana Department of Education established a unified statewide early childhood quality rating and improvement system. Each publicly funded childcare center, Head Start, and school serving children birth to five years old in Louisiana receives a Performance Profile. The Profile includes a rating based on rigorous classroom observations using the CLASS rubric. Three of the components of the CLASS rubric are emotional support, classroom organization, and instructional support. The Performance Profiles also include information on best practices, including the use of ongoing assessment (TS Gold) and a high quality curriculum. She stated that the Tier 1 curriculum used in Pre-K was implemented for the first time this year and “teachers really like it.” Ms. Brister said that she would like to recognize and congratulate the outstanding work that principals and teachers at the four LPSB Pre-K sites have accomplished. Each of the four sites have received a Performance Profile rating of excellent, which is the highest rating you can receive. She introduced Jennifer Martin, Choudrant Elementary principal, Stephanie Griffin, Choudrant Elementary coordinating teacher, Tiffany Curry, Dubach principal, Tiffany Cooper, Dubach Pre-K teacher, Melinda Killen, LPECC principal, Lacey Holcomb, Simsboro principal, and Jordan Blachier, Simsboro Elementary Director. She thanked them for their hard work and dedication to provide our children the best education they can receive.
Ms. Michelle Thrower, K-2nd grade Facilitator, gave an update on Kindergarten through 2nd grade literacy levels. She shared that the curriculum that is being used is called American Reading Company and it is a Tier 1 rated curriculum by the Department of Education. A great piece of the curriculum is a digital component called SchoolPace. Students are assessed to determine their Independent Reading Level and this data is entered into SchoolPace. Teachers are then able to track the students’ progress through the data entered. Ms. Thrower presented a graph displaying reading level data from fall 2021-2022. The data showed 39% of K-2 students reading at Proficient level, 34% were At-Risk (no more than one year behind), and 27% at Emergency (2 or more years behind grade level). A high goal was set for end of year results to ensure that students were reading at proficient levels. The goal was to increase Proficiency to 80% and reduce Emergency to 10%. Although that goal was not met, impressive progress was made with a Proficient rate of 73.5% (34.5% increase) and Emergency decreased from 27% to 12.2% (14.8% decrease) by the spring of 2022. The goal will be the same for this school year however, the district plan is to have a reading Proficiency rate for K-2 of 95% by 2026. The district is committed to reaching this target.
John Young, Assistant Superintendent and Pupil Progression Chair, reported that the State Board of Elementary and Secondary Education requires each school system to develop and revise as necessary, a policy for promotion and retention of students within the local school system. The Lincoln Parish Pupil Progression Plan (PPP) is based on Bulletins 741, 1566, and Act 750 (R.S. 17:24.4) of the Louisiana State Legislature. The main revision to the Plan from 2021-2022 to 2022-2023 is the creation of individual student literacy plans for students that scored below Basic on the ELA portion of the 3rd grade LEAP Assessment. This is so students can get additional help if they are not ready to move to 4th grade. Mr. Young recommended that revisions to the 2022-2023 PPP are approved assuring full compliance with all state regulations. He indicated that a copy of the plan was available for review. In addition, the submission of the Lincoln Parish PPP would be made to LDOE following the approval of the plan.
Upon a motion by Mr. Ferguson, seconded by Mr. Hancock and Ms. Henderson, the Board unanimously voted to approve the revised 2022-2023 Lincoln Parish Pupil Progression Plan.
Juanita Duke, CFO/Business Manager, reported that after evaluating sales tax collections and group health costs in the 2000 Sales Tax Fund this past year and this year’s current staff counts and retirement costs, administration proposes keeping the November salary supplement amounts the same as last year’s with $3,200 being paid to certificated employees and $1,600 being paid to support employees. The cost of this year’s supplement is estimated to be $2,380,140 based on current salaried staff counts. She stated that in the future, a reduction might be necessary if there is a decline in collections or an increase in staff counts, retirement costs, or group insurance costs. These are all factors in determining funds available for supplement payments.
Upon a motion by Mr. Anders, seconded by Ms. Best, the Board unanimously voted to approve the payment of salary supplements on November 17, 2022, in the amounts of $3,200 to certificated personnel and $1,600 to support personnel.
A personnel report was the next item on the agenda. Dr. Doris Lewis, Human Resources Director, voiced the following:
1. Retirement of Sharon Marshall, school secretary at Cypress Springs, effective September 16, 2022.
2. Employment of the following:
Robbie Williams, special education teacher at Hillcrest, replacing Krystal Levigne who resigned, effective September 8, 2022;
Celeste Holland, special education paraprofessional at I.A. Lewis, replacing Regina Buggs who resigned, effective September 7, 2022;
Erin Henderson, school counselor at Ruston High, replacing Monika Locke who was reassigned, effective September 30, 2022; and
Mariana Reborn, science teacher at Ruston Junior High, replacing Kristina Bourgeois who resigned.
3. Retirement of Ronnie Holloway, bus operator, effective September 22, 2022.
4. Bus operator Point of Reference:
Lucita Foster, from itinerate bus operator to bus operator, replacing Ronny Holloway who retired, effective September 23, 2022;
5. Employment of Stephen Norred, maintenance craftsman, replacing Maurice Briggs who retired effective September 8, 2022.
6. Employment of Suzette Cato, cafeteria technician, replacing Samantha Scott who resigned, effective September 13, 2022.
Ms. Duke reported that sales tax collections for September were up 4.6% over the same month of the prior year, due to a large audit recovery that was received during the month. For the first three months of the fiscal year, collections to date represent 25% of total collections received in 2021-22. Overall, collections are up 2.58% year-to-date.
In a financial update for August of 2022, she stated that total expenditures year-to-date for the first two months of the fiscal year in all funds were $6.7 million. The total ending fund balance was $45.9 million, of which 28.9% represents an unassigned fund balance in the General Fund, and the remaining balance is held for specific uses restricted by grants and special tax propositions.
Ms. Duke shared that total claims expenses in the health plan were $6.1 million calendar year-to-date compared to $5.5 million this month last year. This is an increase of $771,000. She noted that there were several individual claims that have reached the “specific claims” insurance limit for the plan year. The change in net assets for the first eight months of the year is a decrease of $201,925.
In a Report of the Superintendent, Mr. Durrett said that:
1. We have placed an emphasis on Pre-K and K-2 literacy and we are starting to see results. BESE meets next and there is a proposal that students be retained in K-4 if they are not on reading level of if they are two grades behind. It would go into effect this year. We offered summer school last year to those students that were reading below grade level. We feel like this helped and really made a difference.
2. An Attendance Campaign has been started to get students back in school and keep them in school. Our schools are averaging about 92-95% attendance daily. We would like to get that to 96% every day. If students are in class, they have a much better chance of success. The Attendance Campaign will be posted on social media to stress to parents the importance of being in school every day.
3. Stimulus checks promoting retention and recruitment will be paid this month to teachers and support staff who met all criteria in the sum of $1,200 for teachers, $600 for non-certified employees, and $480 for part-time support staff.
4. One of the parish school buses was involved in an accident last Friday on Tarbutton Road. All eight students and the driver were unharmed; they just had some bumps and bruises. The students were back at school on Monday. The police report stated that the bus driver was not at fault.
Ms. Best made a motion to adjourn, the meeting adjourned at 6:22 p.m.
__________________________________ ___________________________________
Ricky Durrett, Secretary Joe E. Mitcham, Jr., President