LINCOLN PARISH SCHOOL BOARD
Ruston, Louisiana
REGULAR SESSION
Tuesday, July 6, 1993 6:00 p.m.
The Lincoln Parish School Board met on Tuesday, July 6, 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, president; Mr. David Wright, Mrs. Loyace Braggs, Dr. Marty Beasley, Mr. George Mack, Mr. Andy Shealy, Mr. Jim Kessler, Mr. Wayne Barfield, Mr. Calvin Wilkerson, Ms. Ann M. Boyd and Mr. Paul Woodard.
Member absent: Mr. Allen Tuten
Dr. Phil Rice, president, called the meeting to order and the invocation was given by Mr. Wayne Barfield.
Dr. Rice welcomed guests and members of the staff and media who were present for the meeting.
Upon a motion by Mrs. Loyace Braggs, seconded by Ms. Ann M. Boyd, the board voted to add to the agenda two addendums.
Upon a motion by Mr. Paul Woodard, seconded by Mr. Wayne Barfield, the board voted to approve as distributed the minutes of the Regular Session of the board held on Tuesday, June 1, 1993.
Upon a motion by Mr. David Wright, seconded by Mr. Jim Kessler, the board voted to ratify the poll vote taken on June 18, 1993, requesting permission from the board to advertise for bids for the purchase of building materials for construction of a portable building at Simsboro School.
Upon a motion by Mr. Jim Kessler, seconded by Mr. Paul Woodard, the board voted to ratify the poll vote taken on June 30, 1993 requesting permission to enter into a joint venture with the Town of Choudrant for the purpose of constructing tennis courts and a jogging trail, to be funded through a grant and contingent upon the formulation of an agreement between the Town of Choudrant and the Lincoln Parish School Board, specifically spelling out liability and utilities.
Mr. Danny Bell, Supervisor of Elementary Programs, came before the board to ask permission to submit a revised copy of the Pupil Progression Plan to the Louisiana Department of Education for approval. This document addresses the placement, promotion and remediation policies for Lincoln Parish Public Schools pursuant to Bulletin 1566 (R.S. 17:24.4) and all applicable federal, state and local regulations.
Upon a motion by Dr. Marty Beasley, seconded by Ms. Ann M. Boyd, the board voted unanimously to grant permission to submit the 1993-94 Pupil Progression Plan to the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education for their approval.
Upon a motion by Mr. Andy Shealy, seconded by Mr. Jim Kessler, the board voted unanimously to grant permission for various vocational education items in the Ruston School District to be declared as surplus and disposed of in accordance with policy provisions, with the proceeds to be returned to the funding source, as presented by Mr. Charles Owens.
The Finance Committee of the Lincoln Parish School Board met on Thursday, June 24 and the following report was given:
1. Upon a motion by Ms. Ann M. Boyd, seconded by Mrs. Loyace Braggs, the board voted unanimously to adopt the 1994-94 budget procedures schedule as follows:
Presentation of Budget as Required by Revised Statutes 39:130 Through 39:134
July 6, 1993 Presentation of proposed 1993-94 Budget for the General and Special Revenue Funds.
Board Action Required
1. Authorization to publish General Summary Budget in Ruston Leader on July 12, 1993 and notice that the Proposed 1993-94 Budget is available for public inspection on working days from July 12, 1993 to August 3, 1993, at the Lincoln Parish School Board Office, 410 South Farmerville Street, Ruston, Louisiana, between the hours of 8:00 am. and 4:00 p.m.
2. Authorization to publish a notice in the Ruston Leader on July 12, 1993, that a presentation of the Proposed 1993-94 Budget at a public hearing at the Lincoln Parish School Board Office, 410 South Farmerville Street, Ruston, LA on August 3, 1993, 6:00 p.m.
July 12, 1993 Publish a general Summary Budget in the Ruston Leader along with notice of public inspection July 12, 1993
August 3, 1993 Presentation of Proposed Budget at public hearing at School Board meting at 6:00 p.m.
August 3, 1993 Adoption of Proposed Budget for fiscal year beginning July 1, 1993 and ending June 30, 1994
2. The second item presented from the Finance Committee dealt with the presentation of the proposed budget to the board for their review and discussion before adoption as the official budget for 1993-94 on August 3, 1993.
The board served as a Committee of the Whole and the following personnel items were addressed:
1. Upon a motion by Mr. Andy Shealy, seconded by Mr. Paul Woodard, the board voted unanimously to accept the following faculty and teacher aide resignations, as presented by Ron Suggs:
a. Marcus Young as social studies/coach at Simsboro High, effective June 2,1993
b. Stephanie Hinze as elementary P.E. at Glen View Elementary, effective June 2, 1993
c. Tammi Carlisle as math teacher at Ruston Jr. High school, effective June 2,1993
d. Jennifer Huddleston as elementary teacher at Ruston Elementary, effective June 2, 1993
e. Tiffany Dunbar as kindergarten teacher at Cypress Springs, effective June 2, 1993
f. Lisa Bissic as teacher aide at Dubach High, effective June 2, 1993
2. Upon a motion by Dr. Marty Beasley, seconded by Mr. Wayne Barfield, the board voted unanimously to grant the request for Sabbatical Leave for 1993-94 submitted by Catherine Smith, teacher at Choudrant Elementary. This leave is for the purpose of professional improvement.
3. Upon a motion by Ms. Ann M. Boyd, seconded by Mr. Andy Shealy, the board voted unanimously to grant Leave-Without-Pay to the following teachers:
a. Debra Carter, itinerant speech therapist, for the entire 1993-94 school year.
b. Amy Carter, elementary teacher at Simsboro, for the entire 1993-94 school year.
c. Sandra Powell, elementary teacher at Simsboro, for the first semester of 1993-94 school year.
4. Upon a motion by Mr. Jim Kessler, seconded by Mr. Paul Woodard, the board voted unanimously to employ James Nail, Jr. as social studies/coach at Simsboro High, effective August 20, 1993, to replace Marcus Young, resigned.
5. Upon a motion by Mr. Andy Shealy, seconded by Mr. Wayne Barfield, the board voted unanimously to accept the letter of intent to retire, effective June 1, 1993, submitted by Billy Knowles, bus driver in the Dubach District.
A report on Sales Tax receipts for the month of June, 1993 was given by Richie Garrett, Supervisor of Finance for Lincoln Parish Schools. He indicated that receipts were up $5,827 compared to the same month last year. Total receipts for the 1992-93 year reflected an increase of $60,728.69 over total receipts last year. He reviewed receipts and disbursements and told the board that the cost of 13th checks or salary adjustment checks to be distributed July 15, 1993 was $827,708 and only $1470 was used from the new '93 sales tax collections. Mr. Garrett told board members that this had been a very good year for sales tax receipts.
Following the sales tax report, Mr. Garrett presented a financial update for May, 1993 to the board. He reviewed fund equity-fund balance and indicated that they were in good shape. He also reviewed excess of revenues over expenditures for the board's information.
A report from the Sales Tax Advisory Committee was given by Mr. Andy Shealy and the following three items were addressed:
1. Mr. Shealy indicated that the committee voted at their last meeting to have the District Attorney's Office draw up a cooperative endeavor agreement between the school board, police jury, City of Ruston, Grambling and Dubach to change this group from an advisory committee to a policy making committee. Following approval of this agreement by members of the advisory committee, it will be brought to the school board and other governmental bodies for their approval.
2. The committee also voted to employ an outside auditing group for the purpose of being available to audit, basically, large businesses which operate outside of this locality.
3. Finally, the committee authorized Joe Dickson, Supervisor of Sales Tax Office, to advertise for an internal auditor to generally audit local businesses whenever called upon to do so.
Dr. Rice spoke to the board regarding action to be taken on the proposed sales tax office budget. He indicated that the board pays proportionally with our share of taxes collected. The budget last year was $79,000 and this year it will be $114,000 which includes salary for the new employee to be hired. Upon a motion by Mr. Andy Shealy, seconded by Mr. Jim Kessler, the board voted to approve the proposed budget for the sales tax office for the upcoming year. It was pointed out that the Lincoln Parish School Board pays approximately 35-40% of the budget on a monthly basis due to the fact that we are a large part of the collections.
Ron Suggs reported to the board on California Achievement Test scores and the LEAP Test Scores. He pointed out that on the '93 test scores, in grades 1-6, there was an increase in the test score results or in the national median percentile. Grades 7 and 8 reflected a slight decline in the CAT test scores. The only way we are able to compare our system to the remaining state systems are in the fourth and sixth grade results. The results in those two grades showed that in the fourth grade, the state average was 51.4% and Lincoln Parish was 66%; at the sixth grade level, the state average was 43.3% and Lincoln Parish was 56.9%. Lincoln Parish, in fourth grade level, ranked 6th out of 66 total systems in the state and the sixth grade ranked 6th out of 66 total systems in the state also. This is an excellent accomplishment for Lincoln Parish Schools and reflects the excellence of our teaching staff, administrators and other personnel.
Mr. Suggs further indicated that on the LEAP Test, '93 scores are down slightly from 1992. Many different things can affect testing. The LEAP test was given just prior to getting out for Easter holidays which evidently was not a good time to test students. Consideration of these factors will be given when the testing schedule is made up for next year's testing.
Overall, Lincoln Parish students had excellent test scores and the board was very pleased with these results.
An update on Summer Programs offered by the Lincoln Parish School System was reviewed by Ron Suggs as follows:
1. Summer School for grades 9-12 was held at Ruston is being offered at Ruston High School with 96 students enrolled, three teachers and one principal. English I, II, III, and IV along with Algebra I and Geometry are being taught.
2. In our Driver Education program at Ruston High School, there are 192 students participating with four teachers and four cars in use. A special word of appreciation was given to Ryan Chevrolet of Monroe for their assistance in providing two cars for use in this program. Mr. Suggs told the board that participating students receive 2 weeks of classroom instruction with 12 hours of laboratory (6 hours driving and 6 hours observing).
It was pointed out at this point in the update on the driver education program that due to new legislation passed in the spring of 1993, all 15 year olds are now required to pass a certified driver education course before being eligible to receive a Louisiana driver's license. This law will greatly increase the number of students desiring to take driver education in high school. In order to provide driver education for all of these students, school systems will need more teachers certified in driver education. A potential problem exists in that area colleges do not offer credit for driver training courses; thereby, limiting the number of available instructors.
Upon the recommendation of Dr. Marty Beasley, the board, by consensus, agreed to adopt a resolution asking that area colleges give consideration to giving credit for driver training courses. This resolution will be brought before the board at the August 3 board meeting.
3. A Chapter I Summer Enrichment Program is being held at I. A. Lewis with 146 elementary students involved and two teachers and one proctor. They receive 90 minutes each day, divided into 30 minutes in math instruction, 30 minutes in reading instruction and 30 minutes in computer instruction. They also participated in a field trip to Aquacenter at Grambling State University and a July 16th celebration in Lincoln Parish Park.
4. Various other academic and athletic camps/workshops are being held at individual schools, as indicated by Mr. Suggs.
Plans for the upcoming Lincoln Parish Administrators' Workshop to be held July 26-29 were highlighted by Mr. Suggs. The workshop will consist primarily of presenting the new teacher evaluation plan to administrators. Also, a review of 504 and Dyslexia will be conducted and elementary and high schools principals will divide and work in group meetings.
Upon a motion by Mr. Andy Shealy, seconded by Ms. Ann M. Boyd, the board voted to adopt the revised policy coded DJCB, Salary Deductions, for inclusion in the Lincoln Parish Policy Manual.
Upon a motion by Mr. George Mack, seconded by Mr. Jim Kessler, the board voted to approve renewal of a 12-month contract with the Policy Updating Service, beginning July 1, 1993 and ending June 30, 1994. For a number of years, the Lincoln Parish School Board has employed the services of this update service for the purpose of maintaining our policy manual's accuracy while at the same time keeping it as current as possible. Board minutes, selected state and federal court cases, pertinent legislation and attorney general opinions are reviewed to determine their effects on our policy manual.
Upon a motion by Mr. Paul Woodard, seconded by Mr. Andy Shealy, the board voted to approve the resolution opposing the proposed 7.3 cents per gallon tax on gasoline as it relates to contract bus drivers and the additional burden this will place on them. The Finance Committee, at an earlier date, had given the board permission to mail a copy of this resolution to area legislators in light of the urgency in getting this information to them.
Upon a motion by Mr. Andy Shealy, seconded by Mr. Jim Kessler, the board voted to approve the bid submitted by P.C. Lumber and Hardware in the amount of $12,045.88 for materials to be used in the construction of a portable building at Simsboro.
In the Superintendent's Report, Dr. Cobb addressed the following:
1. He called the board's attention to the updated board meeting schedule for 1993-94.
2. He also called their attention to a letter of response from Representative John McCrery regarding the resolution opposing the increase of 7.3 cents per gallon in gasoline, as it impacts on contract bus drivers.
3. Board meeting dates for the upcoming month are August 3 and 17. Mr. George Mack asked that the board consider addressing the enforcement of no smoking on all school property. This will be considered at a Building and Grounds meeting to be held prior to the August 3 board meeting.
There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned at 7:20 p.m.
Gerald W. Cobb, Secretary Philip F. Rice, President