LINCOLN PARISH SCHOOL BOARD
Ruston, Louisiana
REGULAR SESSION
Tuesday, May 4, 1999 6:00 p.m.
The Lincoln Parish School Board met in Regular Session on Tuesday, May 4, 1999 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 (left the meeting early), Mr. Billy Abrahm, Mr. Otha Anders, Dr. Marty Beasley (left during the meeting and returned to the meeting), Mr. Curtis Dowling, Ms. Mattie Harrison, Mr. Jim Kessler, Mr. George Mack, Mr. Joe Mitcham, Mr. Rob Shadoin, and Mr. Allen Tuten.
Absent was Mr. Wayne Barfield.
President Wright called the meeting to order and the invocation was given by Mr. Abrahm. Mr. Wright led in the Pledge of Allegiance to the American flag and welcomed special guests, members of the press, and of the official staff.
Upon a motion by Mr. Anders, seconded by Ms. Harrison, the Board unanimously voted to adopt the agenda with an addendum to New Business: Resolution opposing House Bill 1538.
Upon a motion by Dr. Beasley, seconded by Mr. Mack, the Board unanimously voted to approve the minutes of the Regular Session held on April 6, 1999 as distributed.
Superintendent Gerald Cobb reminded the Board that Dubach High Principal Howard Brown plans to retire effective June 30, 1999. He proposed to open the application process to fill the position on Wednesday, May 5, 1999 and to close the period at 4:30 p.m. on Thursday, May 20, 1999. Advertisements will be sent to school systems and newspapers across North Louisiana seeking applicants. Interviews for the position would be held on May 26 or 27 with a recommendation to be presented to the Board at its June 1, 1999 meeting.
Upon a motion by Mr. Kessler, seconded by Mr. Abrahm, the Board unanimously voted to grant permission to advertise May 5-20, 1999 and interview May 26-27, 1999 for the Dubach High School principal position.
Upon a motion by Mr. Tuten, seconded by Mr. Shadoin, the Board unanimously voted to grant permission to send Letters of Continued Employment to employees as mandated by Act 745 of the 1977 legislature. This request is presented annually by Assistant Superintendent, Ronnie Suggs.
The Board served as a Committee of the Whole and the following Personnel Committee agenda items were discussed:
Mr. Suggs presented background information on the selection process followed with the unanimous recommendation of the Interview Committee and Dr. Cobb of Randy Moore as Secondary Supervisor effective July 1, 1999. He was named Interim Secondary Supervisor effective July 1, 1998 and was to serve in the position through June 30, 1999.
Mr. Suggs told the Board that he chaired the Committee which consisted of the following members: Patrice Hay, Sandra Henderson, Mary Null, Charles Owens, and Charles Scriber.
The top three, and only three qualified applicants, were: Randy Moore, Lisa Taylor, and Dwight Mitchell.
Upon a motion by Mr. Abrahm, seconded by Mr. Anders, the Board unanimously voted to approve the recommendation to name Randy Moore as Secondary Supervisor.
Upon a motion by Mr. Dowling, seconded by Mr. Kessler, the Board unanimously voted to approve the following three requests/recommendations presented by Mr. Suggs:
1. Resignation of Mechele Jackson, science teacher at Choudrant High School, effective April 26, 1999.
2. Retirement of:
Lucy Spillers, teacher at Choudrant Elementary, effective June 3, 1999.
Beth Vosburg, Title I teacher at Ruston Elementary, effective January 1, 2000.
3. Sabbatical leave request for the second semester of 99-00 for Kaye Rabb, elementary teacher at Glen View.
Mr. Suggs said this meets all local and state guidelines for sabbaticals.
By acclamation, the Board decided to defer the consideration of the termination of a custodial employee until the latter part of the meeting.
Juanita Duke, Business Manager, reported that April, 1999 was another good month with an approximate 10.57% increase in collections over the same month last year. Collections in the 1967 and 1979 fund were $346,989 and $208,193 was collected in the 1993 fund. These are up about 11.65% for the year. The outside recovery group recovered $930 through audits during the month.
Dr. Beasley left at this point in the meeting.
Ms. Duke called attention to the fund balances on the March, 1999 financial statement. She indicated that the general fund looks low for this time of the year mainly because of health claims. Reimbursement from each of the insurance carriers should be received in the next fiscal year.
Following last month's discussion regarding damages to be charged to Davis Construction Company on the Ruston High School T & I building, Director of Auxiliary Services, Charles Owens, reported that he had consulted the Board's attorney in the matter. He and Andy Shealy, based on materials submitted by Mr. Davis and information previously in their possession, agreed that ten days past the completion date were without excuse. On April 26 he sent a letter to the contractor with this information and has not heard from him. Mr. Owens shared the above for information purposes on did not request any Board action.
In Ms. Beasley's absence, Mr. Wright called attention to printed materials in portfolios submitted by her from the April 22 Special 1999 Legislative Action/Alert Involvement meeting held in Baton Rouge.
Bid opening was recently held on the following items for the 99-00 school year: duplicating paper, paper towels and toilet tissue, thermal masters & duplicating fluid. Mr. Owens asked the Board to reject all thermal master bids because the specifications were apparently misinterpreted and the bids were way past the budgeted amount. He wants to take the two identical bids received for paper towels and duplicating paper under advisement. He would like to contact the vendors to see if they are willing to split the bid. Finally he recommended that the Board accept the lowest bid meeting specs on all other items.
Upon a motion by Mr. Mack, seconded by Mr. Kessler, the Board unanimously voted to reject all bids received for thermal masters, take under advisement all bids received on paper towels and duplicating paper and accept the lowest bid meeting specifications for the purchase of materials and supplies for the 99-00 school year as shown below:
Company Submitting Bid Gasoline & Diesel
E. Lee Young Unleaded Regular Cost + .0485 gallon
Unleaded Plus Cost + .0485 gallon
Unleaded Premium Cost + .0485 gallon
On Road Diesel Cost + .0485 gallon
Off Road Diesel Cost + .0985 gallon
X-Pedx 250 Cases Toilet Tissue
Price Per Case: $24.40
Total for 225 Cases: $6,100.00
Home Oil Company 100 Cases Duplicator Fluid
Price Per (Plastic) Gallon: $3.50
Total for 100 Cases: $1,400.00
Mr. Mitcham, member of the Lincoln Parish Sales and Use Tax Commission, presented the proposed 99-00 budget which the Commission approved at their April 20, 1999 meeting. He urged the Board's approval of the budget which is only $250 more than the previous year. Lincoln Parish School Board's estimated allocated 42.05477 percentage equals $60,254.
Upon a motion by Mr. Tuten, seconded by Mr. Shadoin, the Board unanimously voted to go on record as supporting the proposed 99-00 Sales and Use Tax Commission's $143,275 budget.
Mr. Mitcham also briefly discussed House Bill 1538 which has been introduced by Caddo parish Representative Bill Montgomery. The proposed bill would eliminate the payment of sales taxes on repair work done locally for out-of-state businesses. If the bill becomes a law, it would reduce the amount of sales taxes available for all governing bodies. He said Lincoln parish's loss could be several hundred thousand dollars. He asked for Board approval of a resolution opposing the bill.
Upon a motion by Mr. Anders, seconded by Mr. Dowling, the Board unanimously voted to approve the resolution opposing House Bill 1538.
Also being considered by the Legislature are Senate Bills 224 and 711 co-authored by Bossier parish Senator Foster Campbell and several other senators. Superintendent Cobb said the bills propose the allocation of one half of Louisiana's tobacco settlement money into the Louisiana Education Excellence Fund (LEEF) over the next 25 years. Senator Campbell estimates that distributions will average about $88 million a year. Each year, the 66 school systems of the state would receive a check for 80% of the interest earned on their accounts. The interest earnings could be used for a wide range of educational enhancement programs. The balance in the fund can never be spent, only the interest earnings, thereby ensuring that the endowment will benefit tomorrow's children as well as today's. A spreadsheet was enclosed which estimated how much each school system would receive in its account over the life of the settlement under the amended constitutional amendment. Dr. Cobb enclosed a copy of a letter from Senator Campbell and also a proposed letter endorsing Senate Bills 224 and 711 which he would like to send to the parish's legislative delegation, Senate Finance Committee members, and Senator Campbell.
Upon a motion by Mr. Shadoin, seconded by Mr. Mack, the Board unanimously voted to support the concept of the LEEF proposal with Senate Bills 224 and 711, with an amendment that 50% of the monies received by Lincoln Parish be dedicated to the classrooms and 50% be dedicated to teacher and support salaries.
The final item of personnel business was the termination of a custodial employee. Charles Owens indicated that the employee was present. She was asked if an open or closed session was preferred and her attorney, Mike Street, indicated that executive session was her choice.
Dr. Beasley arrived at this point in the meeting.
Upon a motion by Mr. Anders, seconded by Mr. Mack, the Board unanimously voted to go into executive session at 7:43 p.m.
During executive session, President Wright left the meeting, and Vice President Shadoin took over.
Upon a motion by Dr. Beasley, seconded by Mr. Kessler, the Board unanimously voted at 8:12 p.m. to return to regular session.
Mr. Shadoin called a 2 minute break.
As the meeting resumed, Mr. Kessler moved to accept the recommendation of the administration on the termination of the custodial employee from the Lincoln Parish School system effective March 23, 1999. Mr. Dowling seconded the motion.
The Board voted 6 - 4 by poll vote on the Kessler/Dowling motion. Those voting for the motion: Billy Abrahm, Jim Kessler, Joe Mitcham, Curtis Dowling, Allen Tuten, and Rob Shadoin. Those voting against the motion: Otha Anders, Marty Beasley, George Mack, and Mattie Harrison. The motion passed to terminate the employee.
In the report of the Superintendent, Dr. Cobb said that the next meeting of the Board would be held at 6:15 p.m. on June 1, to be preceded by a 6:00 reception for all Lincoln Parish School Board employees who retired during the year.
Mr. Kessler suggested that Dr. Beasley report on the recent Legislation Action meeting at the next meeting since she was not present earlier in the meeting to share the information. She informed the Board that another meeting has been scheduled for mid-May and she would be glad to share more information at the next meeting.
Upon a motion by Mr. Dowling, seconded by Mr. Mitcham, the meeting was adjourned by acclamation at 8:20 p.m.
_______________________________________________________________
Gerald W. Cobb, Secretary David Wright, President