LINCOLN PARISH SCHOOL BOARD
Ruston, Louisiana
REGULAR SESSION
Tuesday, June 1, 1999 6:15 p.m.
The Lincoln Parish School Board met in Regular Session on Tuesday, June 1, 1999 at 6:15 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, Ms. Priscilla Barfield, Dr. Marty Beasley (arrived after the meeting began), Mr. Curtis Dowling, Ms. Mattie Harrison, Mr. Jim Kessler, Mr. George Mack, Mr. Joe Mitcham (arrived after the meeting began), Mr. Rob Shadoin, and Mr. Allen Tuten.
No one was absent.
Prior to the meeting, 98-99 retirees of the Lincoln Parish School System were honored with a reception in the lobby of the School Board.
President David Wright called the meeting to order and Mr. Shadoin gave the invocation. Mr. Wright led in the Pledge of Allegiance to the American flag.
Upon a motion by Mr. Anders, seconded by Mr. Tuten, the Board unanimously voted to adopt the agenda as amended, with an addendum to the personnel agenda.
Upon a motion by Mr. Abrahm, seconded by Mr. Mack, the Board unanimously voted to approve the minutes of the Regular Session held on May 4, 1999 and the Special Called Sessions of May 18 and May 21, 1999 as distributed.
Dr. Beasley entered the meeting.
At this point in the meeting, the retirees honored with an earlier reception were presented with small gifts and certificates of appreciation for their many years of faithful and dedicated service to the parish. Retirees were as follows:
NAME SCHOOL YRS. IN LINCOLN TOTAL YEARS
Sharon Thomas Special Education (Supervisor) 20.5 28.5
Jackie Whitlock Title I (Supervisor) 25 26
Howard Brown Dubach High School (Principal) 32 33
Sharon Patterson Special Education (IEP Facilitator) 20.5 30
Helen Bissic Ruston Elementary (Teacher) 24 24
Frances Burford Cypress Springs (Teacher) 19 24.5
Ruth Doggett Alma J. Brown (Counselor) 29 32
Linda Jynes Alma J. Brown (Teacher) 21.5 21.5
Betty Parks Ruston Jr. High (Teacher) 14 21
Gail Reeder Hillcrest (Teacher) 1 26
Lucy Spillers Choudrant Elementary (Teacher) 30 30
Jo Tatum Parishwide (Nurse) 18 19
Martha Lewis Glen View (School Food Service) 11.5 11.5
Stella Richards Ruston Jr. High (School Food Srvc.) 27 27
Sharon Marshall Glen View (Custodian) 22 22
President Wright wished the retirees well and offered congratulations on their retirement.
Special Education Supervisor, Gloria Roebuck, requested permission to submit two annual applications for funds for the next school year: one that covers the 6-21 year olds and one for 3-5 year olds.
Mr. Mitcham entered as Mrs. Roebuck was speaking.
Upon a motion by Mr. Kessler, seconded by Mr. Shadoin, the Board unanimously voted to grant permission to submit a project application for Special Education IDEA-B and Preschool Flow-Through Application for Fiscal Year 2000 as requested by Ms. Roebuck.
Of no use to the parish are an audiometer, 13" RCA TV, VHS-VCR, and a 15" Radio Shack TV, according to Directory of Auxiliary, Charles Owens. He asked for permission to dispose of the items in accordance with applicable state guidelines.
Upon a motion by Mr. Anders, seconded by Mr. Mitcham, the Board unanimously voted to declare as surplus and grant permission to dispose of an audiometer, two TV's, and a VCR in accordance with applicable state guidelines.
The Board served as a Committee of the Whole and the following Personnel Committee agenda items were discussed.
Mr. Ronnie Suggs, Assistant Superintendent, presented background information on the selection process followed with the unanimous recommendation of the Interview Committee and Superintendent Gerald Cobb of Ms. Helen Hall as principal at Dubach High School effective July 1, 1999. Previous principal, Howard Brown, retired effective June 30, 1999.
He told the Board that he chaired the Committee which consisted of the following members: Ronald Crawford, Barbara Kirkland, Clifton Lewis, Judy Mabry, and Charles Owens.
The top three (and only three) applicants were: Helen Hall, Joanne Hood, and Billy Carter.
Upon a motion by Ms. Barfield, seconded by Mr. Dowling, the Board unanimously voted to uphold the administration's recommendation to name Ms. Helen Hall as principal of Dubach High School effective July 1, 1999.
Ronnie Suggs presented 1.-3. and 5., Ms. Brenda Theodos, School Food Service Supervisor, presented 4., and Charles Owens presented 6.:
1. Retirement of Jackie Whitlock, Title I Supervisor, effective July 1, 1999.
2. Resignation of the following teachers:
Michael O'Rear, social studies/coach at Dubach High effective April 27, 1999.
Kristie Johnson, language arts at Ruston High effective June 3, 1999.
3. Request for sabbatical leave for Kay Huffman, teacher at Hillcrest, effective August 18, 1999 and for the first semester of 1999-2000.
Mr. Suggs said this meets all state and local guidelines for the granting of sabbatical leave.
4. Resignation of the following School Food Service personnel:
Janice Hennigan, technician at Choudrant, effective February 26, 1999.
Tracie McGowen, 4 hour technician at Choudrant, effective March 16, 1999.
5. Retirement of parishwide school nurse, Jo Tatum, effective June 3, 1999 due to health reasons.
6. Resignation, effective May 14, 1999, of Ruston High custodian, Judy Hardyway.
Upon a motion by Dr. Beasley, seconded by Mr. Mitcham, the Board unanimously voted to accept the above recommendations as presented.
Ms. Juanita Duke, Business Manager, told the Board that she was disappointed to report that 1967 and 1979 sales tax collections for the month ending May, 1999 were down 3% over the same month last year but remain up 10% for the year. She attributed the decrease to receipts that were not received from some food stores in May, 1999 which were received in May, 1998. She speculated that collections will "even up" next month. Sales tax collections were $282,376 in the '67 and '79 funds and $169,425 in the '93 fund. No audit collections were received in the month of May.
A financial update for the month ending April, 1999 was also presented by Ms. Duke. After calling attention to the shaded area, she said the general fund balance is lower than normal for this time of year by approximately $250,000. She reviewed all funds and balances.
Each year it is necessary to make revisions to the budget that are a result of changes that have occurred in revenue and expenditures throughout the year and in order to align the budget to the actual figures, Ms. Duke informed the Board. She reminded the Board that the 98-99 beginning budget contained conservative figures which have been revised to be closer to the year's activities. Revenue figures changed from $33,808,011 to $35,434,169, expenditures from $34,787,668 to $36,045,682, and the estimated ending fund balance on June 30, 1999 from $4,290,755 to $4,645,315. Ms. Duke specifically mentioned that although the general fund ended the year with a $386,418 deficiency, this is not the first year with a deficiency in the general fund. She requested that the Board adopt the revised 98-99 budget.
Upon a motion by Mr. Tuten, seconded by Ms. Harrison, the Board unanimously voted to approve the revised 98-99 budget as presented.
Each June, according to Ms. Duke, the Board is required to name a newspaper to serve as the official journal to publish all proceedings for the Board. Since Lincoln Parish now has two newspapers that meet the minimum requirements of the law, and the Board has received much appreciated support, service, and positive advertising from both papers, the administration decided it would be more fair to give each newspaper an equal opportunity to compete for the service. Permission was asked for and given at the April 6 meeting of the Board to advertise for bids for the official journal. Priorities were to follow the mandates of the law and to provide fairness to all qualified parties. The Ruston Daily Leader bid $5.00 per square with a .50 reduction if submitted on diskette in ASCII format. The Morning Paper bid $4.80 per square with a .50 reduction if submitted on diskette in ASCII format. Ms. Duke called attention to a Survey of Official Journals for School Districts in North Louisiana which showed the districts, journal used, weekly or bi-weekly publication periods, and the selection process used. She ended with a recommendation that the Board approve the lowest bid, the Morning Paper's base bid of $4.80 and their alternate 2 bid, the .50 diskette reduction, and name the Morning Paper as the official journal for the 99-00 fiscal year.
Dr. Beasley moved to reject the staff's advice and instead choose The Ruston Daily Leader as the official journal, mainly because of their larger number of staff and in order to get information out to the greatest number of people. Mr. Abrahm also expressed his thought process and said, "If it ain't broke, don't fix it." The Leader has been the official journal for years and he feels that it is more of a "news"paper. The Morning Paper seems to him to be an informative and entertaining paper. He seconded Dr. Beasley's motion. Several others voiced their opinions, made comments, or asked questions, such as should the number of personnel and/or subscribers be used when choosing an official journal and would a weekly paper reach enough people when advertising for bids. It was pointed out that The Leader is a daily publication and reaches approximately 6,300 homes compared to the Morning Paper's weekly edition reaching 1,200 subscribers. Additionally, the difference in the bids would probably amount to about $128 per year from the annual publication expenditure of approximately $3,200. Finally, Mr. Wright asked for a show of hands vote on the Beasley/Abrahm motion.
On the motion by Dr. Beasley, seconded by Mr. Abrahm, 10 of the Board members voted by a show of hands to approve The Ruston Daily Leader as the official journal for fiscal year 99-00 with a base bid of $5.00 per square and a .50 reduction when submitted on diskette. Those not voting for the motion were Mr. Mack and Mr. Wright.
Ms. Duke shifted to the topic of June salary supplement checks and recommended that an increase of $120 for certified employees and $60 for noncertified employees be given because of an increase in all three sales tax collection funds. From the '67 and '79 sales tax funds certified personnel would receive $1820 and $910 for noncertified and from the '93 sales tax fund the amounts would be $1400/$700. These checks will go out with June payroll checks. She reminded Board members that the checks are based on actual collections, and there is no guarantee that the same amount will be paid next year.
Upon a motion by Mr. Anders, seconded by Ms. Harrison, the Board unanimously voted to approve the payment of the salary supplement checks on July 1, 1999 for: $3,220 for certified staff and $1,610 for non-certified staff.
In 1992 the State Board of Elementary and Secondary Education (BESE) approved revisions to the Guidelines for Personnel Evaluation, according to Secondary Supervisor Randy Moore. The revised plan required that local teacher evaluation be designed around the Louisiana Components for Effective Teaching (L-CET). The Board approved the Personnel Evaluation Plan based on the L-CET in the spring of 1993. In 1998 BESE revised the L-CET. Additionally, BESE restructured the evaluation of principals requiring local systems to assess principal performance in relationship to the newly adopted Standards for Louisiana School Principals. Each system is mandated to revise, gain Board approval of, and submit to the State Department its proposed revisions to the evaluation program reflecting the new L-CET and Principals' Standards by June 15, 1999. A committee of teachers, principals, and supervisors began work two months ago to revise Lincoln Parish's Personnel Evaluation Plan in order to comply with the BESE mandate. He briefly mentioned changes made in the Teacher Observation Form, Teacher Evaluation Report, and Principal Evaluation form and requested the Board's approval of the revised Lincoln Parish Evaluation Plan.
Upon a motion by Mr. Kessler, seconded by Mr. Tuten, the Board unanimously voted to approve the revised Lincoln Parish Evaluation Plan.
Mr. Suggs informed Board members that the principals of the schools have met recently concerning the issues of uniforms and dress codes. Recent school violence issues and the belief that school dress directly affects the behavior and demeanor of students have led them to two conclusions: all schools should examine their dress codes to determine if changes are needed for the 99-00 school year and a committee of school personnel and parents should begin meeting in September, 1999 to establish a school uniform policy to be presented to the Board in January, 2000 for approval. This committee would send out parent and student surveys to determine the support of such a policy and to gather input. He reported that the Secondary Alternative School has finished their first year of wearing school uniforms and it seems to have been a big success. Parents, students, and faculty are quite pleased with the uniform project. He requested the Board's permission to form the committee and bring the Board a uniform policy in January, 2000.
Upon a motion by Dr. Beasley, seconded by Mr. Anders, the Board unanimously voted to approve the formation of a committee to survey parents, faculty, and students and to bring the Lincoln Parish School Board a School Uniform Policy in January, 2000.
For a number of years the Lincoln Parish School Board has employed the services of Forethought Consulting, Inc. for the purpose of maintaining the Lincoln Parish policy manual's accuracy while at the same time keeping it as current as possible. Board mandates, selected state and federal court cases, pertinent legislation, and attorney general's opinions are reviewed to determine their effects on our policy manual. Dr. Cobb said this is becoming more important each year and is an effective, valuable service. Renewal of the Policy Updating Service for July, 1999 to June, 2000 is $1,800 which is $55 more than the previous year. In April, 1996 the Board also voted to subscribe to their Computer Assisted Policy Service (CAPS) which has cross-referenced and linked the policy manual, Louisiana statues, BESE bulletins, and minutes. These are updated by computer disk periodically. Cost for the CAPS semi-annual updating service for the fiscal year is again $820. He recommended renewal of the contract with Forethought for both of these services.
Upon a motion by Mr. Abrahm, seconded by Mr. Kessler, the Board unanimously voted to approve the renewal of a 12 month contract with Forethought Consulting, Inc. beginning July, 1999 and ending June, 2000 at a cost of $2,620 for the policy manual and CAPS updating services.
A Resolution was approved by the Board in May of 1998 transferring 50% interest in a lease on approximately 5 acres in the Hico-Dubach area from Bass to JMI Energy, Inc., Superintendent Cobb summarized. Now JMI wishes to transfer 20% of the 50% interest it received from Bass to its partner, Fidelity Oil Holdings, Inc. The Assistant District Attorney prepared a Resolution approving the transfer. Dr. Cobb requested approval of the Resolution.
Upon a motion by Mr. Tuten, seconded by Mr. Dowling, the Board unanimously voted to approve the following:
RESOLUTION
THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Lincoln Parish School Board does hereby approve and consent to the transfer and assignment by JMI Energy, Inc. to Fidelity Oil Holdings, Inc. of an undivided twenty percent (20%) interest in and to State Agency Lease #5053 by and between the Lincoln Parish School Board and T.L. James & Company, Inc., which lease was filed for record on March 1, 1968 and recorded in Conveyance Book 128, Page 118 of the records of the Clerk of Court, Lincoln Parish, Louisiana, said lease covering and affecting approximately 5.0 acres, more or less, located in Section 22, Township 20 North, Range 3 West, Lincoln Parish, Louisiana.
In a Report of the Superintendent, Dr. Cobb mentioned two real good Shreveport Times news articles: "Charter schools take hit on scores" and the other which contained "Test scores below standard . . . with notable exceptions being Bossier and Lincoln Parishes," which were included in packets.
After comments, questions, and observations of Board members, the meeting was adjourned at 8:02 p.m.
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Gerald W. Cobb, Secretary David Wright, President