LINCOLN PARISH SCHOOL BOARD
Ruston, Louisiana
REGULAR SESSION
Tuesday, January 2, 1996 6:00 p.m.
The Lincoln Parish School Board met in Regular Session on Tuesday, January 2, 1996 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 Mr. David Wright, Mr. Billy Abrahm, Mr. Wayne Barfield, Dr. Marty Beasley, Mrs. Loyace Braggs, Mr. Curtis Dowling, Mr. Jim Kessler, Mr. George Mack, Mr. Joe Mitcham, Mr. Rob Shadoin, Mr. Allen Tuten, and Mr. Calvin Wilkerson.
No members were absent.
President Wright called the meeting to order and the invocation was given by Mr. Mitcham.
Upon a motion by Mr. Kessler, seconded by Mr. Tuten, the Board unanimously voted to adopt the agenda as amended, with the addition of two agenda items: 1) Permission to engage architect for renovation of Ruston High School auditorium and 2) Permission to adopt an emergency resolution for Ruston High School auditorium.
Upon a motion by Mr. Dowling, seconded by Mr. Mitcham, the Board unanimously voted to approve the minutes, as corrected, of the Regular Session held on December 5, 1995.
Election of officers for 1996 was the next agenda item to be considered and the floor was opened for nominations for Board President or Vice President for 1996.
Dr. Beasley moved that the 1995 officers be re-elected for 1996. This motion was seconded by Mr. Shadoin and the Board decided by acclamation to approve the motion. Mr. Wright, President, and Mr. Barfield, Vice President, expressed words of appreciation for the Board's confidence and pledged to do their best in leading the Board in the upcoming year.
Lincoln Parish Secondary Supervisor, Dr. Charles Scriber, was pleased to introduce and present a plaque to Ms. Cathi Cox. Ms. Cox is a science teacher at Choudrant High School and has been selected as a 1995 Louisiana Science Teachers' Association Outstanding High School Science Teacher. Dr. Scriber said Ms. Cox teaches students how to learn the subject matter. She spoke to the Board briefly and thanked them for the opportunity to teach not only at Choudrant High but for the parish of Lincoln. She pledged to "keep on keeping on." President Wright expressed the Board's pride to Ms. Cox.
Upon a motion by Mr. Kessler, seconded by Mr. Dowling, the Board unanimously voted by roll call to approve the following resolution:
RESOLUTION ENGAGING MIKE WALPOLE, ARCHITECT
RESOLVED, that this School Board does hereby engage the services of Mike Walpole as architect to design and oversee the renovations of the Ruston High School auditorium.
RESOLVED, further, that the fees for this service will be in accordance with the Louisiana Capital Improvements projects Handbook Procedure Manual for renovations fee schedule issued by the State of Louisiana.
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Upon a motion by Mr. Shadoin, seconded by Mr. Kessler, the Board unanimously voted by roll call to approve the following resolution:
RESOLUTION
WHEREAS, in accordance with the provisions of Section 2211 of Title 38 of the Revised Statutes of Louisiana, authority is granted to the Lincoln Parish School Board to declare an emergency to exist because of the fire in the Ruston High School auditorium.
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED: by the Lincoln Parish School Board in regular session convened on this 2nd day of January, 1996, as follows:
(1) That in accordance with provisions of R.S. 38:2211, an emergency is declared to exist due to a fire on December 5, 1995, which gutted the Ruston High School auditorium.
(2) That in view of the emergency existing, authority is hereby given for the purchase of certain items necessary for school to continue without interruption or unnecessary delays.
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Mr. Charles Owens, Director of Auxiliary Services, gave an update on the auditorium at Ruston High School. He said the roof is one of the most expensive items on the project and the architecture is very unusual. A structural assessment of the roof will now be ordered from a structural engineer out of Shreveport. No settlement will be made until the roof is determined to be structurally sound. School personnel are compiling inventory lists. Although no completed report has been received from the fire marshall on the cause of the fire, contact has been made by the insurance carrier who is working on the project, assessing damage, etc. and cooperation has been excellent. Business Manager, Ms. Pam Roy, said the insurance adjustor has already requested $100,000 in reserve so that when bills begin to come in, they can be paid. This will eliminate waiting for bills to come in and then requesting funds.
The Board served as a Committee of the Whole and the following Personnel Committee agenda items were discussed:
Mr. Randy Moore, Principal of Ruston High School, requested that his recommendation of a head football coach be postponed until the January 17 meeting as details were not finalized by the prospect to be recommended. The Board decided by acclamation to honor this request.
Upon a motion by Mr. Mack, seconded by Mr. Abrahm, the Board unanimously voted to accept the following recommendation presented by Mr. Owens:
Employment of Ms. Joyce Jenkins as custodian at Simsboro effective January 1, 1996 replacing Ms. Sylvia Goldsmith who transferred.
Ms. Roy reported that $9,539.00 was recovered by audits during the month of December, 1995 bringing the total recovered by audits for the year to $68,682.12. Sales tax receipts for the same month reflected an increase in the 1967 and 1979 collections of $20,804.16. Yearly total is $253,468.52. Collections in the 1993 sales tax fund also showed an increase of $12,482.47. This yearly total is $152,080.80. These are up 8.2% for the month and 4.7% for the year.
Next on the agenda was Act 1292 of the 1995 Louisiana Legislature, La. Rev. Stat. Ann. 17:416. Superintendent Gerald Cobb reminded the Board that the Act was revised to prohibit the expulsion of a student when a firearm or knife is properly stored in a parked vehicle and there are not apparent circumstances evidencing intent to utilize the firearm or knife in a criminal manner. In order to comply with the state regulation, the Board approved a revised expulsion policy, after adding a parked, "locked" vehicle, at their December board meeting. At that time, the Board requested that Dr. Cobb determine if the new state act complied with the original intent of the federal regulation or was superseded by it. He checked with Mr. Jim Prescott of Lincoln Parish's policy manual service who said the federal regulation is unclear. It states ". . . a student determined to have brought a weapon to school . . . ." His question was, "What is school, the building or the grounds?" Mr. Prescott will attempt to find further interpretations of the federal regulation. Dr. Cobb called the Board's attention to copies of letters in their packets which he wrote to Senator Randy Ewing and Representatives Jay McCallum and Pinkie Wilkerson, at the Board's request, asking them to oppose the revision of the portion of Act 1292 which deals with students' possession of firearms of knives in vehicles. Board members also had a copy of a prompt response from Rep. Wilkerson.
In a report of the Superintendent, Dr. Cobb shared the following information with the Board:
1. Committee Assignment Requests for 1996 need to be completed and returned by the end of the meeting so President Wright can make assignments for 1996.
2. An advertisement on the science textbook caravan on 1-30-96 from Mr. Danny Bell is in packets.
3. LSBA Convention reservation form is in packets for those who need to complete it.
4. The school board receives 10 to 12% of its monies from the federal government to finance programs. There could be a possibility that if the shutdown that started December 15 continues for several weeks, we may be without federal money. The business office has turned in everything needing reimbursement, under the deadline; therefore, we feel pretty good about that. The state can do a couple of things in lieu of federal money. If the worst scenario developed, we would have to use our funds here to go for whatever period of time to keep these programs going and then we would be reimbursed. "It's not a major thing, but it's something that could possibly be there. We've been notified of the possibility by the State Superintendent of Education, Dr. Raymond Arveson, and have tried to prepare as best we can to make it the best option that is available to us."
Mr. Kessler requested that the Pledge of Allegiance to the American flag be returned to the Board agenda. Mr. Mack disagreed; therefore, Mr. Wright asked others members what they preferred. By a show of hands vote, the majority supported adding the Pledge of Allegiance to the American flag to the Board's agenda.
After brief comments from members, the meeting was adjourned at 6:40 p.m.
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Gerald W. Cobb, Secretary David Wright, President