LINCOLN PARISH SCHOOL BOARD
Ruston, Louisiana
REGULAR SESSION
Tuesday, March 3, 1998 6:00 p.m.
The Lincoln Parish School Board met in Regular Session on Tuesday, March 3, 1998 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. Otha Anders, Mr. Wayne Barfield, Dr. Marty Beasley, Mr. Curtis Dowling, Mr. Jim Kessler, Mr. George Mack, Mr. Joe Mitcham, Mr. Rob Shadoin, and Mr. Calvin Wilkerson (arrived late).
Mr. Allen Tuten was absent.
President Wright called the meeting to order and the invocation was given by Mr. Shadoin.
Mr. Wright led in the Pledge of Allegiance to the American flag. He welcomed special guests, members of the official staff, the media, and G.S.U. students.
Adoption of the agenda was the first order of business. Mr. Shadoin moved that Judd Mahfouz be added to the agenda or to a future agenda. President Wright said in order to discuss his concern, staff members who were involved should have been given 24 hours notice; therefore, he suggested that he be placed on a future agenda. Superintendent Gerald Cobb said a special meeting could be called for Tuesday, March 17, 1998 at 4:30 p.m.
Mr. Wilkerson arrived.
Dr. Beasley seconded the motion. Voting by roll call for placing Judd Mahfouz name on the March 17, 1998 agenda: Mr. Anders, Dr. Beasley, Mr. Mack, Mr. Abrahm, Mr. Kessler, Mr. Shadoin, Mr. Wilkerson, and Mr. Wright. Voting against the motion: Mr. Barfield, Mr. Mitcham, and Mr. Dowling. The result of this vote was 8 for putting Mr. Mahfouz on the agenda and 3 against. Mr. Mahfouz's name will be placed on the agenda of the March 17, 1998 meeting.
Mr. Anders made a motion to add Mr. Bill Smith to the agenda of the March 17, 1998 special called meeting. Mr. Mack seconded the motion and a roll call vote was taken. Voting for the motion to add Bill Smith's name to the March 17, 1998 agenda: Mr. Anders, Dr. Beasley, Mr. Mack, Mr. Wilkerson, and Mr. Wright. Voting against the motion: Mr. Barfield, Mr. Abrahm, Mr. Kessler, Mr. Shadoin, Mr. Mitcham, and Mr. Dowling. The results of this vote was 5 for putting Mr. Smith on the agenda and 6 against. Mr. Smith's name will not be placed on the agenda of the March 17, 1998 meeting.
Upon a motion by Mr. Kessler, seconded by Mr. Dowling, the Board unanimously voted to accept the agenda as printed.
Upon a motion by Mr. Anders, seconded by Mr. Barfield, the Board unanimously voted to approve the minutes of the Regular Session held on February 3, 1998.
Danny Bell, Elementary Supervisor, came before the Board to recognize three outstanding students from Lincoln Parish Schools. He told the Board that each year the Lincoln Parish School System participates in the Student-of-the-Year program. Students are selected from three divisions--elementary (grade 5), junior high (grade 8), and high school (grade 12). Parishwide winners, selected from each division, go on to compete at the regional level, and if successful there, at the state level. On behalf of the Lincoln Parish School Board, Mr. Bell presented the following parish winners with plaques:
Elementary Jordan Wiggins of A. E. Phillips
Junior High Anna Gleason of A. E. Phillips
High School Jamie Griswold of Simsboro High School
Mr. Wright expressed the Board's appreciation to the students and their parents for their achievement and the good work they are doing. He wished them luck in the future.
Upon a motion by Mr. Abrahm, seconded by Mr. Dowling, the Board unanimously voted to grant permission to advertise for and accept the lowest bids for school food service equipment, food, and supplies for the 1998-99 school year. This annual request, presented by Mr. Charles Owens, Director of Auxiliary Services, is made in order to be in compliance with the state and federal laws.
Upon a motion by Mr. Anders, seconded by Mr. Mack, the Board unanimously voted to approve the allocations of Instructional Supply Money for 98-99, as presented by Business Manager, Juanita Duke. This yearly expenditure is from the 79 Sales Tax Fund, is distributed on a per pupil basis, and the amounts per pupil are the same as last year. The following was approved for the 98-99 distribution:
Art K-12 $1.00 per student
Physical Education K-12 $1.00 per student
Library Supplies K-5 $ .50 per student
6-12 $1.00 per student
Music K-5 $ .50 per student
6-12 $1.00 per student
Magazines & K-6 $1.70 per student
Newspapers 7-12 $2.00 per student
Science K-6 $ .50 per student
7-8 $2.00 per student
9-12 $3.50 per student
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Since the year 2000 is rapidly approaching, Ms. Duke indicated that her department has begun the process of upgrading the central office financial programs to accommodate for the change in the century. In order to upgrade the software, for the program upgrades to operate properly, the present system server (hardware) must be upgraded. The present server was installed in April, 1990 and has a processing speed of between 16-20 Mhz. The proposed server has a speed of 200 Mhz. She recommended purchasing the hardware from Software and Services of Louisiana, Inc. out of Shreveport. They currently provide software support and hardware maintenance. The cost of the hardware upgrade, approximately $13,888, is below the limit required for public bidding. She requested permission to upgrade the accounting system hardware.
Upon a motion by Mr. Kessler, seconded by Mr. Mitcham, the Board unanimously voted to grant permission for an upgrade of the central office financial accounting system hardware.
Upon a motion by Mr. Abrahm, seconded by Mr. Anders, the Board unanimously voted to grant permission to send Letters of Intent for 98-99, as requested by Mr. Ronnie Suggs, Assistant Superintendent. This request is made yearly in order to begin looking at staffing needs for the next school year.
The Board served as a Committee of the Whole and the following Personnel Committee agenda items were discussed:
Ronnie Suggs presented items 1.-3., Charles Owens presented 4., and Howard Whitlock, Transportation Supervisor, presented 5.-7.
1. Sabbatical leave requests for the 98-99 school year, effective the first day of school, August, 1998 for:
Charles Patterson, math at Choudrant High.
Lora Hammons, English at Dubach High.
Mary Cooper, teacher at Hico Elementary.
Mr. Suggs said these meet all state and local guidelines for sabbaticals.
2. Resignation of the following from Ruston High School effective June 3, 1998:
Mike Batey, science/coach.
Brad Morace, PE/coach.
3. Employment of:
Tommy Reeder, effective August 1, 1998 at Ruston High as PE/coach replacing Mike Bate, who resigned.
Mark Ware as PE/coach at Ruston High effective August 1, 1998 replacing Brad Morace who resigned.
Pamela Williams, effective February 11, 1998 at Cypress Springs in a new teacher's aide position necessary because of a large special education enrollment.
4. Resignation of James Hatter as custodian at Ruston High effective January 30, 1998.
5. Resignation of Doris Hassen, bus driver in the Simsboro area, effective February 18, 1998.
6. Retirement of Jesse Mamon, bus driver in the Simsboro area, effective June 1, 1998.
7. Employment of Elby Harrison as a bus driver in the Simsboro area, effective February 18, 1998, replacing Doris Hassen who resigned.
Upon a motion by Mr. Barfield, seconded by Dr. Beasley, the Board unanimously voted to approve the recommendations/requests.
President Wright recognized Mr. Whitlock who was to present the final personnel item. He requested that the Board go into Executive Session to discuss the suspension of an employee. Mr. Wright asked if the employee was present. The employee was not. Mr. Whitlock indicated that he had a statement to read from the employee.
Upon a motion by Mr. Shadoin, seconded by Mr. Abrahm, the Board unanimously voted at 6:31 p.m. to enter into Executive Session.
Upon a motion by Mr. Mack, seconded by Mr. Abrahm, the unanimously Board voted to return to Regular Session at 6:50 p.m.
Upon a motion by Mr. Kessler, seconded by Mr. Dowling, the Board unanimously voted to uphold the administration's recommendation of suspension without pay for five days of a bus driver.
Juanita Duke, Business Manager, reported that sales tax collections were down for the month of February, 1998 but are still up for the year about 4%. Audit revenue recovered during the month was $1,406. The total recovered by audits, $65,310, is down about 70% for the year because of an unusually large collection last August.
Ms. Duke then called to Board's attention to the shaded line on the January, 1998 financial statement with fund balances. She said balances are up due to ad valorem taxes being collected during the month. All balances look good in her opinion.
Following an auditor's recommendation, Ms. Duke presented a two page budget and actual comparison of revenues, expenditures and fund balances for the period ending December 31, 1997. The first page dealt with general funds, the second with special revenue funds, and each had three different columns; budget, actual, and variance. At this time, she said concern should be with the variances shown in brackets. She gave a brief explanation concerning them. She plans to bring budget revisions to the Board in June for final adoption. No Board action was necessary as the report was presented for informational purposes only and will be repeated quarterly.
Results of a poll vote conducted February 11, 1998 were 12-0 to adopt a resolution declaring an emergency to exist at Glen View, Mr. Owens reminded the Board. The school sustained damages to the gym roof as a result of a wind storm and severe weather which occurred on February 10. He requested that the poll vote be approved.
Upon a motion by Mr. Barfield, seconded by Mr. Dowling, the Board unanimously voted to ratify the poll vote adopting a resolution declaring an emergency to exist at Glen View Elementary School.
New Director of Ruston Parks and Recreation (RPAR), Mr. Jay Ellington, shared their mission statement and some things they have begun to do. A needs assessment of the community is to be conducted, and he mentioned several ways in which the Board could help. This would be followed by a master plan for the next 10 - 20 years. He invited the Board to get involved in any way they would like.
In a report of the Superintendent, Dr. Cobb:
1) Asked Howard Whitlock to share information on resolutions to be presented at the upcoming Louisiana School Board Association convention concerning aides on buses and bus driver expenses. Mr. Whitlock did so.
2) Said 8th grade students are moving into the Alternative School tomorrow and 9th and 10th graders will join them on Thursday. He invited members to visit the school and expressed his appreciation to Charles Owens who worked so diligently on the project.
After brief comments, the meeting was adjourned at 7:13 p.m.
Gerald W. Cobb, Secretary David Wright, President