CROWLEY, LOUISIANA
JULY 10, 2000
1) The Acadia Parish School Board met on this the 10th day of July 2000, at 4:00 p.m., in a regular session, with President John H. Quebodeaux 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, Paul K. Bellon, and Secretary-Treasurer, Dr. Marietta W: James. Mr. Nathan Roberts from the District Attorney's office presided as attorney at this meeting.
2&3 )Mr. Rodney Trahan led the prayer and Pledge of Allegiance.
4} Upon motion by Mr. Trahan, seconded by Mr. Vige', and carried by a unanimous voice vote, the agenda was revised by moving Routine Item 1, out of order, after opening items; deleting Routine Item 7, adding in place of Routine Item 7 (RECEIVE AND AUTHORIZE STAFF TO AWARD BIDS FOR MILK, DISH MACHINE & POT/PAN CHEMICALS, PAPER/CLEANING PRODUCTS, AND SMALL EQUIPMENT TO LOWEST RESPONSIBLE BIDDER.); and adding Consent Item 6 (CONSIDER REQUEST FROM DONNA R. SIDLOW, SPECIAL ED TEACHER, ROSS ELEMENTARY, FOR RELEASE OF CONTRACT, EFFECTIVE JUNE 2, 2000.).
5) Reading of the minutes of the June 5, 2000, meeting was dispensed with (copies of minutes were sent to each member prior to this meeting) and adopted as submitted, upon motion by Mr. Smith, seconded by Dr. McManus, and carried by a unanimous voice vote.
6) Mr. Carl LeJeune recognized retiring employees of the APSB. He presented them with a token of appreciation for their many years of service. On behalf of the Board, President Quebodeaux commended the retirees.
ROUTINE ITEM 1, Select APSB Attorney (Taken out of order)
Mr. Quebodeaux announced that Mr. Gerard Caswell, Mr. Andre' Doguet, Mr. Kim Hayes, Mr. Glen Howie, and Mrs. Karen King applied for the position of APSB board attorney and explained the selection process being used to select an attorney is the same procedure used to select a superintendent. Attorneys were placed in alphabetical order. and given several minutes to address the Board and answer questions.
Dr. McManus asked if the attorney's salary had been discussed. The previous attorney received $85.00 per hour with an annual cap of $25,000. Discussion followed regarding compensation for the APSB attorney. Mr. Senegal called for a point of order to select an attorney. A motion by Mr. Boudreaux, seconded by Mr. Trahan, to amend the agenda by adding an item to negotiate with the selected applicant regarding compensation, failed by a roll call vote of 8 to 8.
YEA:Johnson, Pinac, Valdetero, Marceaux, Quebodeaux, Boudreaux, Trahan, Vige'
NAY: Bias, Suire, Shamsie, Senegal, Smith, Daigle, McManus, Bellon
President Quebodeaux called for votes and received the following results:
Round 1 Round 2 Round 3 Round 4 Round 5
Caswell 14 10 8 8 9
Doguet 12 9 10 8 7
Hayes 9 8/7
Howie 8
King 12 8/8 5
Mr. Howie was eliminated in the first round of votes, Mr. Hayes in the second, and Mrs. King in the third. After the tie in Round 4, the two remaining candidates, Mr. Caswell and Mr. Doguet, briefly addressed the Board and answered questions. Mr. Caswell was selected as legal counsel for the APSB in the final round with a vote of 9 to 7. On behalf of the Board, President Quebodeaux congratulated him. Mr. Caswell addressed the Board, thanking them for selecting him. President Quebodeaux thanked all applicants.
ACTION ITEMS:
1) A motion by Mr. Senegal to reimburse the Superintendent's attorney fees in the amount of $5,100 was seconded by Mr. Bellon. Dr. James addressed the Board, citing previous examples of the Board covering such expenses. She also indicated that, contrary to statements made last month, the word "terminate" was used repeatedly by the Board in its discussion of her employment last year. The roll call vote was 8 to 7 in favor, then the vote was tied 8 to 8 by vote of President Quebodeaux, thereby the motion failed.
YEA: Bias, Suire, Shamsie, Senegal, Smith, Daigle, McManus, Bellon
NAY: Johnson, Pinac, Valdetero, Marceaux, Quebodeaux, Boudreaux, Trahan, Vige'
2) A motion by Mr. Johnson to provide the Board with a report of comparison of scores between GPA and LEAP scores by subject matter, by school, by grade, and by student (grades 4''' and 8`") was seconded by Mr. Pinac. Potential benefits of this report were discussed by the Board and instructional staff. Question was called.
A modified motion was offered by Mr. Johnson and seconded by Mr. Pinac to receive raw LEAP scores by subject in grades 4 and 8, as well as overall GPA scores by student. From the perspective of a school administrator, Mrs. Ellan Baggett and Mr. Rex Mills, principals, addressed the Board with comments on this proposal. The modified motion passed by a unanimous voice vote.
ROUTINE ITEMS:
1) This item was addressed, out of order, earlier in the meeting.
2) Upon motion by Mr. Senegal, seconded by Mr. Smith, and carried by a unanimous voice vote, the Board meeting in September will be held on Monday, September 11, instead of September 4, which is Labor Day.
3) Mr. Steve Jones reviewed four proposals received for janitorial services at Crowley High, Iota High, and Iota Middle Schools. Immediate estimated savings are $12,817, plus a reduction in cost of chemicals. Other positions may be eliminated in the future through attrition, resulting in additional savings. The Transportation/Facilities Committee recommended accepting the,low proposal by Porter Janitorial Service. Upon motion by Mr. Vige', seconded by Dr. McManus, subject to approval by the Board attorney, low proposal from Porter Janitorial Service
Daily Cost
VENDOR CHS IHS/IMS
A+ Cleaning Service 386.00 408.10
Porter Janitorial Service 147.50 111.75
Star Janitorial 250.00 220.00
Variety. Janitorial Services 211.00 200.00
On motion by Mr. Pinac, seconded by Ms. Valdetero, and carried by a unanimous voice vote, the Technology/Instruction/Federal Programs Committee's recommendation to approve locally-initiated electives Exploring Education and Introduction to Teaching at Crowley High and Rayne High Schools was approved.
5) Superintendent James explained that Mr. Lyle Johnson, a board member, requested to receive his salary beginning retroactively for 1999-2000 fiscal year. The salary has.not been budgeted in the previous or current year. Mr. Marceaux motioned and Mr. Boudreaux seconded to adjust both last year's (1999-2000) and the current year's (2000-0 1) budgets to accommodate this salary request..: Dr. McManus suggested that this adjustment be' made: for the current year only.Discussion followed. A substitute motion offered. by Mr. Suire, seconded by Ms.. Bias,to begin payment of salary to Mr. Johnson for the current fiscal year, and seek approval from the legislative auditor's office regarding the legal ability to amend last year's budget, carried by a majority voice vote (Mr. Johnson abstained }. Dr. James will contact the Louisiana legislative auditor.
6) Due to installation costs, maintenance costs, and the potential for APSB liability regarding accidents that may occur, Ms. Valdetero motioned and Mr. Pinac seconded against installing a traffic caution light near Crowley. High School. After discussion, a suggestion was made. to consider using the COPS officer at Crowley High School. for traffic control. Upon motion by Mr. Suire, seconded by Mr. Bellon, and: carried by a majority voice vote {Mr. Boudreaux opposed }, this bona was tabled until next month's meeting, when information requested by Mr. Marceaux is received.
A question was raised regarding the status of traffic lights at Martin Petitjean Elementary.
Upon motion by Mr. Johnson, seconded by Mr. Boudreaux, and carried by a unanimous voice vote, Routine item 6a (DISCUSS TRAFFIC CONTROL LIGHT AT MARTIN PETITJEAN ELEMENTARY.) was added to the agenda.
6a) Commitments have been made by the City of Rayne to help with this project. A motion by Mr. Boudreaux to install flashing caution lights at Martin Petitjean Elementary with assistance from the City of Rayne was seconded by Mr. Trahan. Mr. Shamsie asked who would be liable regarding accidents that may occur at this location. A motion by Dr. McManus to table this item and refer it to legal counsel for a report at next month's meeting was seconded by Mr. Bellon and carried by a majority voice vote.
7) The original item was deleted and replaced with an item concerning bids for the lunch program.
Upon motion by Mr. Boudreaux, seconded by Mr. Senegal, and carried by a unanimous voice vote, Mrs. Ruth Miller, supervisor, was authorized to receive bids and award to the lowest responsible bidder for milk, dish machine and pot/pan chemicals, paper/cleaning products and small equipment.
8) Mr. Boudreaux reported that he received a plan for reducing the size of the Board from a citizen of Acadia Parish who resides in Crowley. Mr. Boudreaux motioned to receive and review the plan to consider reducing the size to twelve. The motion was seconded by Ms. Valdetero. Questions were raised about the legitimacy of bringing this item back before the Board. A substitute motion by Mr. Suire, was seconded by Ms. Valdetero, and carried by a majority voice vote (Dr. McManus opposed), the plan will be received from the concerned citizen at next month's meeting.
9) Dr. James stated that she received correspondence from Ms. Janie Chappelle and Crowley High School teacher cadets thanking the Board for its support. She reported that a disclosure statement from the ethics board was placed in each Board member's packet.
CONSENT ITEMS:
Upon motion by Mr. Senegal, seconded by Dr. McManus, and carried by a unanimous
voice vote, the following consent items were approved:
1. Assignments and changes of professional employees, since the last meeting.
2. Sales tax report showing a year-to-date increase of 4.23 %.
3. Request from Johnette Privette, teacher, Richard Elementary, for leave without pay from January 16, 2001, to June 1, 2001.
4. Request from Bridget Klein, nurse, Rayne and Mire, for leave without pay from August 13, 2000, to November 1, 2000.
5. Request from Christina Atkinson, computer technician, for maternity leave from August 30, through September 1, 2000.
6. Request from Donna R. Sidlow, special education teacher, Ross Elementary, for release of contract, effective June 2, 2000.
At this point, a motion by Mr. Suire to reconsider action taken regarding reimbursement of the Superintendent's attorney fees, was seconded by Mr. Smith, and carried by a roll call vote
of 9 to 6.
YEA: Bias, Suire, Shamsie, Senegal, Smith, Daigle, Vige', McManus, Bellon
NAY: Johnson, Pinac, Valdetero, Marceaux, Boudreaux, Trahan
After some discussion concerning Robert's Rules, parliamentary procedure, reconsidering a motion that was defeated by a tie vote, and the absence of a prevailing side, a motion by Mr. Vige' to reconsider action taken earlier in the meeting regarding payment of the Superintendent's attorney fees was seconded by Mr. Senegal, and passed by a roll call vote of 9 to 6.
YEA: Bias, Suire, Shamsie, Senegal, Smith, Daigle, Vige', McManus, Bellon
NAY: Johnson, Pinac, Valdetero, Marceaux, Boudreaux, Trahan
Upon motion by Mr. Vige', seconded by Dr. McManus, and carried by a roll call vote of 9 to 7, the Board approved reimbursing the Superintendent $2,500 for legal fees.
YEA: Bias, Suire, Shamsie, Senegal, Smith, Daigle, Vige', McManus, Bellon
NAY: Johnson, Pinac, Valdetero, Marceaux, Boudreaux, Trahan, Quebodeaux
CLOSING:
There being no other business to come before the Board, upon motion by Dr. McManus, seconded by Mr. Bellon, and carried by a unanimous voice vote, the meeting adjourned at 6:58 p.m.
John H. Quebodeaux, President
ATTEST:
Dr. Marietta W. James, Superintendent