CROWLEY, LOUISIANA

JANUARY 10, 2000

1)         The Acadia Parish School Board met on this the 10th day of January 2000, at 5:00 p.m., in a regular session, with Vice-President John A. Suire presiding. Members present were Mr. Lyle C. Johnson, Mr. Bill Pinac, Ms. Kitty M. Valdetero, Ms. Wadie H. Bias, Mr. Woody M. Marceaux, Mr. John A. Suire, Mr. Lynn Shamsie, Mr. Nolton J. Senegal, Sr., Mr. Roland J. Boudreaux, Mr. Rodney J. Trahan, Mr. Johnnie L. Smith, Mr. Charles F. Daigle, Mr. Shirley Vige', Dr. Robert McManus, Mr. Paul K. Bellon, and Secretary-Treasurer Dr. Marietta W. James. President John Quebodeaux was absent.

2&3)    Taylor Doughty, son of Mr. and Mrs. Christian Doughty, and Sarah Woodard, daughter, of Mr. and Mrs. Clarence Woodard, students from Crowley Kindergarten led in the prayer and Pledge of Allegiance.

4)         Upon motion by Mr. Senegal, seconded by Mr. Daigle, and carried by a roll call vote of 8 to 5, the agenda was revised as presented at this meeting.

YEA: Bias, Shamsie, Senegal, Smith, Daigle, Vige', McManus, Bellon

NAY:   Johnson, Pinac, Valdetero, Marceaux, Trahan

Mr. Johnson indicated that under state law, a two-thirds vote is required to approve a revised agenda.  

Mr. Suire stated that Robert's Rules allows a majority vote to revise an agenda and he asked for the board attorney's opinion regarding this matter.

It was the opinion of Mr. Privat, attorney, that a simple majority is all that is required to revise the agenda. There was much discussion on this matter. Mr. Privat re-stated his opinion that a simple majority was sufficient.

Action Item 1 (CONSIDER AUTHORIZING THE BOARD PRESIDENT TO ENTER INTO NEGOTIATIONS WITH THE SUPERINTENDENT FOR TERMINATION OF CONTRACT), was added. Routine Item l was changed to Item 3, Item 2 to Item 4, Item 3 to Item 4, Item 4 to Item 6, Item 5 to Item 7, Item 6 to Item 12, and Item 7 to Item 13. Routine Item 1 (HEAR REPORT FROM BOARD ATTORNEY ON THE ACCEPTANCE OF RAYNE HIGH SCHOOL SOUTH GYMNASIUM), Routine Item 2 (CONSIDER REQUEST FROM MAYOR DELAHOUSSAYE TO APPROVE ANNEXATION OF PROPERTY ON CHEROKEE ROAD), Routine Item 8 (CONSIDER APPROVAL OF SUPERINTENDENT'S RECOMMENDATION FOR PRINCIPAL OF ALTERNATIVE SCHOOL), Routine Item 9 (CONSIDER APPROVAL OF SUPERINTENDENT'S RECOMMENDATION REGARDING BUS DRIVER FOR CROWLEY ROUTE), Routine Item 10 (CONSIDER APPROVAL TO USE WARD V MAINTENANCE FUNDS TO OBTAIN THREE-YEAR VISAS FOR TWO FRENCH TEACHERS), and Routine Item 11 (SET DATE FOR GOALS CONFERENCE). Discussion Items 2 and 3 were deleted, then Discussion

Item 2 (DISCUSS IMPLEMENTING A REDUCTION IN FORCE PLAN) and Discussion Item 3 (DISCUSS REDUCING BUDGET DEFICIT BY REORGANIZATION) were added.

5)Reading of the minutes of the December 6, 1999, meeting was dispensed with (copies of minutes were sent to each member prior to this meeting) and approved as submitted.

ACTION ITEMS:

1)         Mr. Boudreaux motioned and Mr. Pinac seconded to authorize the Board President to enter into negotiations with the Superintendent for termination of contract. Superintendent James elected to have this discussion  in open session and requested that her attorney be allowed to make a some remarks.     Mr. Joe Bertrand, attorney representing Superintendent Marietta James, addressed the Board regarding this matter. He suggested that due process was not followed in the Board's initial attempt to buy out the superintendent's contract. He cited other irregularities in the Board's handling of this matter. He mentioned other similar cases in Louisiana where due process was violated. He stated that the superintendent has been damaged by the public disclosure of allegations of wrong doing. He then answered questions of board members.

At this point, after checking a law book provided by Mr. Johnson, Mr. Privat indicated that he was now unsure as to whether the agenda could properly be revised.

Upon motion by Mr. Bellon, seconded by Mr. Daigle, and carried by a unanimous voice vote, the Board recessed at 5:44 p.m.

Upon motion by Mr. Senegal, seconded by Mr. Vige', and carried by a unanimous voice vote, the Board returned to regular session at 5:57 p.m.

During the recess, Louisiana law, which takes precedence over Robert's Rules of Order, was reviewed by Mr. Privat and Mr. Senegal. Mr. Senegal and Mr. Privat indicated that the items added to the agenda should not be acted on tonight without a two-thirds vote. Mr. Privat suggested that another vote be taken to determine whether this matter could be discussed.

At this point, Mr. Boudreaux withdrew his motion to authorize the Board President to enter into negotiations with the Superintendent for termination of contract.

Upon motion by Mr. Shamsie, seconded by Mr. Senegal, to adopt the agenda as revised failed by a roll call vote of 10 to 4 (lacked a two-thirds vote).

YEA: Bias, Shamsie, Senegal, Smith

NAY: Johnson, Pinac, Valdetero, Marceaux, Boudreaux, Trahan, Daigle, Vige', McManus, Bellon

At this point, the original mailed agenda was used to conduct the meeting.

ROUTINE ITEMS:

1)         Upon motion by Mr. Shamsie, seconded by Mr. Smith, and carried by a unanimous  voice vote, substantial completion of  Midland High School's track was approved.

2)        Mr. Bill Ackal explained the partial substantial completion on the classroom and library areas at Midland High School. A question was raised regarding the occupancy of a building prior to formal acceptance of substantial completion. He also answered other questions of the Board.

Upon motion by Mr. Shamsie, seconded by Mr. Senegal, and carried by a unanimous voice vote, substantial completion of eight classrooms and the library at Midland High School was approved.

3)        Mr. Steve Jones explained the nature of the roofing work at the Gardiner Memorial Stadium, Rayne High Stadium, and Special Education Building. He indicated that the work has been satisfactorily completed.

Mr. Marceaux motioned and Mr. Vige', seconded to accept substantial completion of re-roofing at Gardiner Memorial Stadium, Special Education Building, and Rayne High Stadium.

Discussion followed and some board members suggested that architects be present when substantial completions are considered.

A substitute motion by Mr. Daigle to table this item until next month's meeting received a second by Mr. Trahan and carried by a unanimous voice vote.

Mr. Boudreaux asked that a discussion item, regarding architects' presence at board meetings, be added to next month's meeting.

4)        Upon motion by Mr. Senegal, seconded by Mr. Trahan, and carried by a unanimous voice vote, the 2000-2001 budget preparation calendar was adopted.

2000-2001 Budget Preparation Calendar

Jan. 26, 2000 @ 5:00 p.m.                  

Initial Meeting Feb. 23, 2000 @ 5:00 p.m.     Budget Committee Meeting

Mar. 22, 2000 @ 5:00 p.m.                           Budget Committee Meeting

Apr. 19, 2000 @ 5:00 p.m.                            Budget Committee Meeting

May 24, 2000 @ 5:00 p.m.                            Final Budget Meeting

May 25, 2000                                                Budget made available for public inspection

May 25, 2000                                                Publication of Public Hearing Notice in Official Journal

June 5, 2000 @ 4:00 p.m.                              Public hearing for budget

July 10, 2000 @ 5:00 p.m.                             Adoption of budget by School Board

July 31, 2000                                                 Budget filed with Legislative Auditor

5)        Upon motion by Mr. Vige', seconded by Dr. McManus, and carried by a unanimous voice vote, the Louisiana Compliance Questionnaire was adopted.

6)        Upon motion by Mr. Senegal, seconded by Mr. Vige', and carried by a unanimous voice vote, at 6:18 p.m. the Board went into executive session, at the request of the parents, to consider an expulsion appeal of a Rayne High School student.

Upon motion by Mr. Senegal, seconded by Mr. Smith, and carried by a unanimous voice vote, the Board reconvened into regular session at 6:38 p..m.

Upon motion by Mr. Marceaux, seconded by Mr. Trahan, and carried by a majority voice vote (Mr. Boudreaux abstained), the Superintendent's decision for expulsion was upheld.

7)        There was no correspondence.

DISCUSSION ITEMS:

1)        Mr. Trahan expressed concern about the demotion of a custodian (from pay grade 510 to 500)), based on revised job description. Mr. Carl LeJeune explained the rationale for assigning "head custodian" status at schools with less than two janitors. In this particular case, the janitor was never designated by the former principal as "head custodian". Superintendent James confirmed that head custodian designation would only apply where two or more full-time janitors are employed and one is so designated by the principal. Ms. Melanie Venable, principal, explained that she assumed that this person was the head custodian. Other board members expressed concern about the designation of "head custodian" vs "custodian".

Mr. Privat asked that Routine Items 8 and 10 be considered for action tonight. Dr. James expressed opposition to adding these items, as Mr. Privat had stated earlier that items could not be added.

Mr. Johnson motioned and Mr. Shamsie seconded to add an item to consider obtaining three-year visas for two French teachers. After some discussion, Mr. Johnson withdrew his motion.

2)        Mr. Suire indicated that it had been brought to his attention that Discussion Items 2 and 3 had been brought back by persons who were not on the prevailing side; therefore, they could not properly be discussed at this time. Mr. Johnson indicated that since this action was taken by the previously elected board, these items could properly be discussed by this new board. Mr. Privat was uncertain as to whether this was proper.

Upon motion by Ms. Valdetero, seconded by Mr. Daigle, and carried by a majority voice vote (Mr. Pinac opposed), items 2 and 3 were tabled until Mr. Privat studies the matter and brings a ruling to the Board.

CONSENT ITEMS:

1)        Dr. James explained the rationale for the at Crowley High School's Senior Teacher Cadet class trip to Millsaps College, Jackson, Mississippi, on February 17-18, 2000.

Consent items were approved, upon motion by Mr. Senegal, seconded by Mr. Shamsie, and carried by a majority voice vote (Marceaux, Johnson, Boudreaux opposed; Valdetero, Pinac abstained).

CLOSING:

There being no other business to come before the Board, upon motion by Mr. Daigle, seconded by Mr. Bellon, and carried by a unanimous voice vote, the meeting adjourned at 7:10 p.m.

s/_____________________________

John H. Quebodeaux, President

ATTEST:

s/______________________________

Dr. Marietta W. James, Superintendent