1993-02-02

LINCOLN PARISH SCHOOL BOARD

Ruston, Louisiana

REGULAR SESSION

Tuesday, February 2, 1993 6:00 p.m.

The Lincoln Parish School Board met in Regular Session on Tuesday, February 2, 1993 at 6:00 p.m. in the Board Room of the Lincoln Parish School Board Office, 410 South Farmerville Street, Ruston, Louisiana. Members present were Dr. Phil Rice, Mr. David Wright, Mrs. Loyace Braggs, Dr. Marty Beasley, Mr. George Mack, Mr. Andrew Shealy, Mr. Jim Kessler, Mr. Wayne Barfield, Mr. Calvin Wilkerson, Ms. Ann M. Boyd, and Mr. Paul Woodard.

Absent: Mr. Allen Tuten

The meeting was called to order by Dr. Phil Rice, president, and the invocation was given by Dr. Marty Beasley.

Dr. Rice welcomed the guests and members of the staff and media who were present.

Ms. Elmira McCarty, teacher at A. E. Phillips Lab School, was present to introduce Parker Mitchell, fifth grade student, who was present to lead the board in the Pledge of Allegiance to the American flag. Ms. McCarty told the board that Parker was an excellent student, participating in all sports and excelling in his classes, and as she described him, "the sunshine in her class." Following the pledge, Dr. Cobb presented Parker with a certificate of appreciation on behalf of the Lincoln Parish School Board for his participation in the board meeting.

Upon a motion by Mr. Andy Shealy, seconded by Ms. Ann M. Boyd, the board voted to approve the minutes of the January 5, 1993 board meeting.

Upon a motion by Mr. Andy Shealy, seconded by Mr. David Wright, the board voted by roll call vote to adopt the resolution providing for canvassing the returns and declaring the results of the Special Election held by the Parish School Board of the Parish of Lincoln, State of Louisiana, on Saturday, January 16, 1993.

Voting for the motion: Mr. David Wright, Mrs. Loyace Braggs, Dr. Marty Beasley, Mr. George Mack,. Mr. Andrew Shealy, Mr. Jim Kessler, Mr. Wayne Barfield, Mr. Calvin Wilkerson, Ms. Ann M. Boyd, Mr. Paul Woodard and Dr. Phil Rice

Voting against the motion: None

Absent and not voting: Mr. Allen Tuten

Upon a motion by Ms. Ann M. Boyd, seconded by Mrs. Loyace Braggs, the board voted by roll call vote to adopt an ordinance to authorize the levy of one-half of one percent (1/2%) sales and use tax within the Parish of Lincoln, State of Louisiana.

Voting for the motion: Mr. David Wright, Mrs. Loyace Braggs, Dr. Marty Beasley, Mr. George Mack, Mr. Andrew Shealy, Mr. Jim Kessler, Mr. Wayne Barfield, Mr. Calvin Wilkerson, Ms. Ann M. Boyd, Mr. Paul Woodard and Dr. Phil Rice.

Voting against the motion: None

Absent and not voting: Mr. Allen Tuten

Upon a motion by Mr. Jim Kessler, seconded by Mr. Calvin Wilkerson, the board voted unanimously to authorize sending Letters of Intent for the 1993-94 school year, as requested by Mr. Ron Suggs. He indicated that this is a routine procedure that assists the administration in better preparing and staffing for the next school year.

Upon a motion by Mr. Paul Woodard, seconded by Ms. Ann M. Boyd, the board voted to declare as junk various miscellaneous items and materials at Dubach High School Vocational Agriculture Department and to authorize disposal of them.

Upon the recommendation of the Superintendent, and upon a motion by Mr. Jim Kessler, seconded by Dr. Marty Beasley, the board voted unanimously to grant permission to send to all employees of the Lincoln Parish School Board information concerning the disbursement of the 1993 one/half cent Sales Tax. This information will be given to all principals, along with a detailed explanation and they in turn will be responsible for getting the information to all employees in their schools. The findings of this parishwide canvass will be brought back to the board in the near future.

The Finance Committee met on Tuesday, February 2, 1993 at 5:15 p.m. prior to the board meeting and the report from that committee was presented by Mr. David Wright, acting chairman, with the following action taken:

1. The first item to be considered by the Finance Committee was participation in the Geographic Information Systems, or basically a computer bank, as presented by Mayor Hilda Perritt, as part of a cooperative effort by the Lincoln Parish Police Jury, City of Ruston, Lincoln Parish Communication District and the Lincoln Parish Tax Assessor. The total cost per year would be $125,000 to be divided equally among those entities participating. Mayor Perritt and Scott Leachman came before the committee to give detailed information on what this system would offer and to invite the school board to participate.

Upon a motion by Mr. Andy Shealy, seconded by Mrs. Loyace Braggs, the board, upon the Finance Committee's recommendation, voted to take no action at this point and to table the request until the central office staff can study this program to determine its benefits to our system and report back to the board on March 1, 1993.

2. Upon a motion by Mr. David Wright, seconded by Mr. Jim Kessler, the board, upon the recommendation of the Finance Committee, voted to authorize bids for the lease/purchase of five (5) new buses for the 1993-94 school year, to be purchased under the 1993-94 budget and under the constraints set forth in the 1993 sales tax guidelines. Mr. Richard Hinton, Supervisor of Transportation, indicated that two of these buses will be used by central office drivers and three will be sold to contract drivers.

3. Upon a motion by Mr. David Wright, seconded by Ms. Ann M. Boyd, the board, upon the recommendation of the Finance Committee, voted unanimously to approve the 1992-93 budget revisions as presented by Richie Garrett, Supervisor of Finance.

4. Upon a motion by Mr. David Wright, seconded by Mrs. Loyace Braggs, the board, upon the recommendation of the Finance Committee, voted unanimously to grant permission to amend program grants from state and federal agencies such as Chapter 1, Special Education, etc., as they are approved by the State Department of Education.

5. Upon a motion by Mr. David Wright, seconded by Mr. Jim Kessler, the board, upon the recommendation of the Finance Committee, voted unanimously to adopt the Systems Survey and Compliance Questionnaire, as presented by Richie Garrett. This questionnaire is a required part of a governmental audit in Louisiana.

The board served as a Committee of the Whole and the following personnel items were addressed:

1. As a point of reference, Mr. Charles Owens told the board that Nina Boddie, secretary at Cypress Springs Elementary, was transferring to I. A. Lewis to replace Sandy Wilson who resigned as school secretary.

Upon a motion by Mr. Andy Shealy, seconded by Mr. Paul Woodard, the board voted to employ Beverly Redden as school secretary at Cypress Springs to replace Nina Boddie, transferred. Ms. Redden was previously employed as a half time clerk/half time aide at Cypress Springs.

2. Upon a motion by Mr. Andy Shealy, seconded by Mr. Paul Woodard, the board voted to accept the resignation submitted by Geneva Sanders as P. E. teacher at Ruston Jr. High School, effective January 15, 1992, as presented by Ron Suggs.

3. Upon a motion by Mr. Andy Shealy, seconded by Ms. Ann M. Boyd, the board voted to employ the following teaching personnel as presented by Ron Suggs:

a. Cora Brown as P. E. teacher at Ruston Jr. High School, effective January 19, 1993, to replace Geneva Sanders, resigned

b. Susan Griffin as science teacher at Ruston High School, effective January 19, 1993, to replace Dana Milam, resigned

4. Upon a motion by Ms. Ann M. Boyd, seconded by Mr. Wayne Barfield, the board voted to employ Mia Johnson as a special education aide in a new position at Lincoln Center, effective January 4, 1993.

5. Upon a motion by Mr. Andy Shealy, seconded by Mr. Paul Woodard, the board voted to accept the following School Food Service resignations as presented by Brenda Theodos:

a. Beverly Redden as half time clerk at Cypress Springs, effective January 19, 1993

b. Dorothy Corbin as SFS technician at Ruston Elementary, effective January 31, 1993

6. As points of reference, Brenda Theodos offered the following information:

a. Song Franklin, technician at Simsboro, transferred to Ruston Elementary to replace Dorothy Corbin, effective February 1, 1993

b. Dee Dowling, clerk at Simsboro, transferred to clerk/technician position at Simsboro, effective February 1, 1993

7. Upon a motion by Dr. Marty Beasley, seconded by Ms. Ann M. Boyd, the board voted to approve the following School Food Service recommendations, as presented by Brenda Theodos:

a. Phyliss Lobengood as clerk at Cypress Springs, effective January 19, 1993, to replace Beverly Redden, resigned from SFS to take a school secretary position at Cypress Springs

b. Betty Holland as 4 hour technician at Simsboro, effective February 1, 1993, to replace Song Franklin, transferred to Ruston Elementary

A report on Sales Tax receipts for the month of January, 1993 was given by Richie Garrett. He indicated that the report reflected an increase of $2,506.62 or about one percent over January, 1992. Total receipts show an increase of $19,618 for this year over last year.

A financial update for December, 1992 was reviewed by Richie Garrett. He called attention to fund equity/fund balance and indicated that this was probably the lowest that it would be during the year, since property tax will be reflected in next month's report.

Dr. Cobb reported to the board on the status of the employee insurance survey as requested by the board. He told the board that surveys had been mailed to fifteen surrounding systems to determine what benefits they offered their employees and what their payroll deductions consist of. A full report on this survey will be forthcoming at the next board meeting.

Committee assignments for 1993 were distributed earlier to board members and Dr. Rice called attention to these assignments.

Upon a motion by Mr. Andy Shealy, seconded by Mr. Wayne Barfield, the board voted to adopt the corrected policy GBA, Compensation Guides and Contracts, to reflect the proper term of such a contract as being not more than four (4) nor less than two (2) years.

Upon a motion by Mr. Andy Shealy, seconded by Ms. Ann M. Boyd, the board voted to adopt the resolution approving agreement between the State of Louisiana, Department of Social Services, Office of Family Support and the Lincoln Parish School Board for the provision of certain education services to JOBS participants during the period, July 1, 1993 and June 30, 1996, and further authorize the president of the board to execute the agreement on the board's behalf.

Upon a motion by Dr. Marty Beasley, seconded by Mr. Paul Woodard, the board voted unanimously to adopt the proclamation designating the week of February 14-20, 1993 as Vocational Education Week in the Lincoln Parish School System with the theme being "Vocational Education: Skills for a Lifetime."

In the Superintendent's Report, Dr. Cobb reported on the following:

1. As requested by the board, a resolution was presented to Ms. Sharon Thomas, Supervisor of Special Education, and her staff for outstanding performance as shown below:

RESOLUTION

WHEREAS, Ms. Sharon Thomas, her teachers, and students have brought honor and distinction to the Lincoln Parish School System by having the highest ranked Extended School Year Special Education Program in North Louisiana; and

WHEREAS, she, her teachers, and students earned this honor by their untiring work and dedication to meeting the goals of this program; and

WHEREAS, as a supervisor she has distinguished herself by giving of both time and effort to help her teachers and students achieve; and

WHEREAS, as an administrator she has exhibited both leadership and keen insight into problem solving.

NOW, BE IT RESOLVED: That the Lincoln Parish School Board congratulates Ms. Thomas, her teachers and students on this accomplishment and wishes them all of the success that they so richly deserve.

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED: That a copy of this resolution be included in the minutes of said Board and a copy delivered to Ms. Thomas

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2. Dr. Cobb expressed his appreciation to the board for their courage in pursuing the Sales Tax/Millage and for the united stand they presented. He also commended the schools, parents and media for the outstanding job they did in helping to pass this Sales Tax/Millage. He indicated that this will enable us to maintain at this point, but our problems are not solved and will depend upon the actions of the Governor and the Legislature.

At this time Dr. Rice expressed his appreciation to Dr. Cobb on behalf of his efforts in working to pass the Sales Tax/Millage. Other board members also expressed their appreciation to the Superintendent.

There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned at 6:50 p.m.

Gerald W. Cobb, Secretary Philip F. Rice, President