LINCOLN PARISH SCHOOL BOARD

Ruston, Louisiana

 

REGULAR SESSION

Tuesday, April 4, 2023   6:00 p.m.

 

The Lincoln Parish School Board met in Regular Session on Tuesday, April 4, 2023, at 6:00 p.m. at the Lincoln Parish School Board, Ruston, Louisiana.  Members present were Ms. Debbie Abrahm, Mr. Otha Anders, Mr. Clark Canterbury, Ms. Donna Doss, Mr. David Ferguson, Mr. Danny Hancock, Ms. Lynda Henderson, Mr. George Mack, Jr., Mr. Joe Mitcham, Mr. Gregg Phillips, Mr. Hunter Smith, and Dr. Danielle Williams.

 

President Mitcham called the meeting to order and welcomed the guests that were present. Mr. Smith gave the invocation and Mr. Phillips led in the Pledge of Allegiance to the American flag.  

 

Upon a motion by Mr. Anders, seconded by Ms. Abrahm and Mr. Hancock, the Board unanimously voted to adopt the agenda as presented.      

 

Upon a motion by Ms. Henderson, seconded by Mr. Smith, the Board voted 10-2 to approve the minutes of the Regular Session held on March 7, 2023.  Mr. Ferguson voted no and stated that he would like the minutes to reflect what he says.  Dr. Williams also voted no.

 

Superintendent Ricky Durrett communicated that interviews were held on March 30, 2023, to fill vacancies for principals at Choudrant High School and Simsboro School and there were ten applicants.  The interview committee consisted of Mandy Brown, Ricky Edmiston, Dr. Doris Lewis, Dr. Lillie Williams-Hearne, and John Young.  Dana Talley chaired the committee but did not vote.  Mr. Durrett thanked the interview committee for their time and commitment.  The committee’s unanimous recommendation for the principal position at Choudrant High School was Mr. Chris Jones.

 

                        Mr. Durrett introduced Mr. Jones and stated that he has served as Assistant Principal at Choudrant High School for the last 8 years, and has a total of 17 1/2 years of experience in education. He said that Mr. Jones will be an asset to CHS and will continue to lead that school in a positive direction.

 

                        Mr. Jones thanked the committee and the Board for the opportunity and said that he looks forward to leading Choudrant High School.  He introduced his family who were with him at the meeting.

 

                        Next Mr. Durrett said that the interview committee unanimously recommended Ms. Lacey Holcomb for the principal position at Simsboro School. She has served as the Interim Principal for the last year at Simsboro, and has been in our school system for the last 7 years.  Ms. Holcomb was not at the meeting due to a school FFA trip.

 

                        Following a month of studying a policy revision, John Young, Assistant Superintendent, recommended the board members approve the proposed changes to the policy manual, JDD – Suspension and JDE – Expulsion.

 

                        Dr. Williams requested a monthly report at Board meetings regarding the demographics of each campus (whites, blacks, Hispanics, others, males, females, students with disabilities), in relation to OSS, ISS and alternative school placements.

 

                        Upon a motion by Mr. Smith, seconded by Mr. Hancock, the board voted 10-2 to approve these policy revisions. Mr. Ferguson and Dr. Williams voted no.

 

                        Dr. Liz White and Rev. Terence Flucas, Co-Chairs of the Coalition Against School Closures (CASC), addressed the Board.  Rev. Flucas began by asking the Board to reconsider their decision to consolidate four elementary schools into two enhanced schools on the north side of Interstate 20.  They believe that closing two schools on the south side of I-20 would be a detriment to the community.  Dr. White read a resolution drafted by the coalition. 

 

                        After this presentation, Dr. Williams and Mr. Ferguson expressed concerns pertaining to traffic studies, school bus route start times, and community involvement in decision making in this plan.  Members of the coalition and the public also expressed their concerns. After much discussion, Dr. Williams stated that she wanted to make a motion to reverse the decision and put the election off until multiple studies are completed.  Lewis Jones, Board attorney, stated that there are open meetings laws and the public has a right to know what business is going to be taken up by this body.  The public was not given sufficient notice that there would be any action taken on this agenda item, which was listed as a presentation, and it would not be appropriate for a motion to be considered unless the agenda is amended.  He went further to say that the law on amending the agenda is frowned upon, especially if you add something that the public (based on the agenda that was posted) would not expect you to take action on, even if done by amendment.  There was no second to Dr. William’s motion.

 

                        Discussion continued and Mr. Ferguson, seconded by Dr. Williams, made a motion to amend the agenda to reconsider calling for the election.  The Board voted by a roll call vote of 4-8.  The vote was not unanimous and the motion failed.

 

                        Ricky Edmiston, Supervisor of Auxiliary Services, filling in for Harryette Tinsley, Supervisor of Food Services, asked the Board to grant permission to advertise and accept the lowest bids for the purchase of kitchen equipment, chemicals, pest control, and produce for the 2023-2024 school year.

 

            Upon a motion by Ms. Doss, seconded by Ms. Abrahm and Mr. Smith, the Board voted 11-1 to approve the advertising and accepting of the lowest bids meeting specifications on purchase of kitchen equipment, chemicals, pest control, and the purchase of produce for the 2023-2024 school year. Mr. Ferguson voted no.

 

                        Debbie Pender, Technology Coordinator, requested permission from the Board to declare surplus property.  She stated that the school district has approximately 68 Juniper switches and 14 Dell servers that have been replaced with newer equipment and are no longer being utilized.

 

                        Upon a motion by Mr. Smith, seconded by Mr. Hancock, the Board voted 11-1 to grant permission to declare the above-mentioned equipment as surplus and dispose of them in accordance with the state bid law and applicable school board policies.  Mr. Ferguson voted no.

 

                        Mr. Young asked the Board to consider policy addition GBCA – Protection of Criminal Background Information.  He stated that as required by Title 34, access and receipt of fingerprint-based criminal history background checks and other information must follow all federal guidelines in regards to security and protection.  This policy establishes guidelines for compliance with this statute. This information should be studied for the month of April and will be voted on at the May Board meeting.

 

                        Next, Mr. Young told the Board that policy GBB – Personnel Positions stated that the Superintendent shall maintain a comprehensive and up-to-date set of job descriptions for all positions in the school district.  These job descriptions shall be kept on file and utilized in conjunction with performance evaluation plans for employees. This provides a formal notification to the Board that job descriptions have been set.  He asked the Board to approve these.

 

                        Upon a motion by Mr. Hancock, seconded by Mr. Canterbury, the Board voted 11-1 to approve receipt of employee job descriptions for the 2023-2024 school year.  Mr. Ferguson voted no.

 

                        Mr. Durrett was happy to report an increase in sales tax collections year-to-date in the district.  He asked the Board to approve distribution of May Salary Supplement (14th) Checks to certified staff and support staff.

                        Upon a motion by Mr. Anders, seconded by Mr. Smith, the Board unanimously voted to approve the payment of salary supplements in the amounts of $6,112 to salaried certified/professional personnel and $3,056 to salaried support personnel.

 

                        The following personnel items were shared by Dr. Doris Lewis, Director of Human Resources:

1.     Retirement of the following effective May 27, 2023, unless otherwise noted:

Debra Upshaw, special education paraprofessional at Cypress Springs Elementary;

Robbie Williams, special education teacher at Hillcrest Elementary, effective June 1, 2023;

Stanley Lewis, art teacher at I. A. Lewis; and

Lloyd Bruner, business teacher at Ruston High, effective August 14, 2023.

2.  Resignation of the following, effective May 27, 2023, unless otherwise noted:

Azra Fuchs, elementary teacher at Cypress Springs Elementary;

Alisha Eppinette, special education teacher at Glen View Elementary, effective March 8, 2023;

Madison Frith, elementary teacher at Hillcrest Elementary; and

Chandler McDonald, speech teacher at Ruston High.

3.     Rescission of Resignation of Amber Lovitt, teacher at Hillcrest Elementary,     effective March 29, 2023.

 

4.     Recommendation of the following, effective March 21, 2023:

 

Christopher Joiner, bus operator, replacing Lucita Foster who was transferred; and

 

      Kimberly Salsberry Jones, bus operater, replacing Justin Buggs who resigned.

 

5.     Recommendation of Carla Crawley, head custodian at Ruston Elementary, replacing Carla Crawley who resigned, effective March 1, 2023.

 

                         Juanita Duke, Chief Financial Officer, reported March 2023 sales tax collections were up 11% compared to the same month last year, mostly due to a large audit recovery this month.  Total year-to-date collections were up 5.3%.   

 

                        In her financial update for February, Ms. Duke reported the total General Operating Funds revenue collected to date is $38.9 million, expenditures are $32.6 million, and the ending fund balance is $33.5 million.  She reported the undesignated portion of the General Operating Funds balance is 23.8% of budgeted expenditures.  Total Special Revenue Funds collected to date are $24.8 million, expenditures of $18.6 million, with an ending fund balance of $24.2 million. Total combined ending fund balance of all funds is $57.8 million.

 

Ms. Duke reported on the Health Insurance Fund for February, stating that total plan expenditures for the month are $1 million, with a total for the plan year of $2.28 million.  The change in net assets for the plan year is a positive $146,000, which increased in the month of February by $211,000.

 

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

1.     Jennifer Martin, Principal at Choudrant Elementary, is a state semi-finalist for Principal of the Year.  She will move on in that competition and we hope to see her go all the way!    

2.   We were notified by Dr. Cade Brumley, State Superintendent with the Louisiana Department of Education, that we have five campuses that have been recognized as Comeback Campuses. This means they increased the percentage of students scoring Mastery and above and decreased the percentage of students scoring unsatisfactory in both Math and ELA. These schools are Choudrant High School – ELA, Cypress Spring Elementary – Math, Dubach Elementary – Math, Howard School – ELA, and I.A. Lewis – ELA.  Banners will be presented to these schools tomorrow.  In addition, Dr. Brumley will be in the district on April  14th to tour some of our schools and recognize some of these Comeback Campuses.

                         3.   We are nearing the end of baseball and softball seasons.   Playoffs will be beginning soon.  We wish all of our high school teams good luck.

                         4.  Ruston High School has a Robotics team for the first time this year.  They competed and placed in the state competition in New Orleans and are now qualified to go to Nationals in Houston on April 18, 2023.

                    

                        After comments from board members, upon a motion by Mr. Phillips, seconded by Mr. Smith, the meeting adjourned at 7:16 p.m.

 

_______________________________                                     _______________________________

Ricky Durrett, Secretary                                                          Joe E. Mitcham, Jr., President