CROWLEY, LOUISIANA
MARCH 5, 2001
The Acadia Parish School Board met on this the 5th day of March 2001, at 5:00 p.m., in a regular session, with President John A Suire presiding. Members present were Mr. Lyle C Johnson, Mr. Bill Ping, Ms. Kitty M. Valdetero, Mr. Woody M. Marceaux, Mr. Lynn Shamsie, Mr. John H. Quebodeaux, Mr. Nolton J. Senegal, Sr., Mr. Radney 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, Ms. Wadie H. Bias and Mr. Roland J. Boudreaux were absent.
2&3) Mr. Senegal led the prayer and Pledge of Allegiance.
4) Consider approval of a revised agenda, if there are any changes.
Upon motion by Mr. Smith, seconded by Mr. Trahan, and carried by a unanimous voice vote, the agenda was revised by adding Routine item 7a (CONSIDER AUTHORIZING THE SUPERINTENDENT TO SEEK PROPOSALS FROM A DEMOGRAPHER TO ASSIST WITH INTERPRETATION OF CENSUS RESULTS)
5) Read and approve minutes of the February 5, 9, and 15, 2001 meetings
Reading of the minutes of the February 5, 9, and 15, 2001, meetings was dispensed with (copies of minutes were sent to each member prior to this meeting) and adopted as submitted, upon motion by Mr. Senegal, seconded by Mr. Quebodeaux, and carried by a unanimous voice vote.
6) Recognize Students of the Year. (Eric Stutes)
Mr. Eric Stutes presented Student of the Year awards to students in Acadia Parish. Parish winners were Rosemarie Tweedwell a fifth grade student at Church Point Elementary, Cade LeJeune an eighth grade student at Midland High School, and Jeremy Daigle a twelfth grade student at Rayne High School. School level winners were also recognized and commended. Mr. Stutes thanked the committee for their assistance in selecting students of the year.
ACTION ITEMS: There were no action items.
1) Consider revision of policy regarding school board standing committees.
Upon motion by Mr. Daigle, seconded by Mr. Trahan, and carried by a unanimous voice vote, policy revision regarding school board standing committees was approved.
STANDING COMMITTEES
The board shall have the following standing committees:
Technology/Instruction/Federal Programs
Personnel/Insurance
Budget/Finance
Discipline (State mandated)
Special Education Advisory (State mandated) .
Composition of the Technology/Instruction/Federal Programs, Transportation/Facilities, and Personnel/Insurance shall consist of at least five members all of whom shall be Board members, whereas the Budget/Finance Committee will be composed of nine Board members. The size and composition of federal and state mandated committees Will be determined by the mandate establishing such committees.
2) Consider Board president's appointments to standing committees.
At last month's meeting, President Suire presented his recommendations for appointments to standing committees to Board members for their consideration. Upon motion by Mr. Quebodeaux, seconded by Mr. Senegal, and carried by a unanimous voice vote, President Suire's recommendations for appointments to APSB standing committees were approved.
Technology/Instruction/Federal Programs: Bill Pinac (Chair) Ms. Wadie Bias, Mr. Lyle Johnson, Mr. Johnnie Smith, and Mr. Rodney Trahan. Personnel/Insurance: Dr. Robert McManus (Chair), Mr. Woody Marceaux, Mr. John Quebodeaux, Mr. Nolton Senegal, and Mr. Johnnie Smith. Transportation/Facilities: Mr. Lynn Shamsie (Chair), Mr. Joe Bellon, Mr. Roland Boudreaux, Mr. Bill Pinac, and Mr. John Quebodeaux. Budget/Finance: Mr. Nolton Senegal (Chair), Mr. Joe Bellon, Mr. Roland Boudreaux, Mr. Woody Marceaux, Dr. Robert McManus, Mr. Lynn Shamsie, Mr. Rodney Trahan, Ms. Kitty Valdetero, and Mr. Shirley Vige'.
3) Consider recommendation of the Budget/Finance Committee regarding midyear budget revisions.
Upon motion by Mr. Senegal, seconded by Mr. Vige', and carried by a unanimous voice vote, midyear budget revisions were approved.
4) Consider recommendation of the Budget/Finance Committee regarding Head Start refunding application.
Upon motion by Mr. Senegal, seconded by Ms. Valdetero, and carried by a majority voice vote (Mr. Trahan opposed), the Head Start refunding application was approved.
5) Consider recommendation of the Technology/Instruction/Federal Program Committee regarding Kindergarten report cards.
Upon motion by Mr. Daigle, seconded by Mr. Pinac, and carried by a unanimous voice vote, changes to the Kindergarten report card were approved.
6) Consider COP's grant.
The COP's grant will fund additional resource officers at Crowley High School and Church Point High School for three years at no cost to the APSB. After three years, there would be no further obligation by the APSB. The sheriff has committed to retain these officers after three years. Upon motion by Ms. Valdetero, seconded by Mr. Pinac, and carried by a unanimous voice vote, the COP's grant was approved. Upon motion by Mr. Quebodeaux, seconded by Dr. McManus, and carried by a unanimous voice vote, Sheriff Goss was commended for securing these grants in an effort to improve school environment.
7) Consider revisions to the discipline policy. (Eric Stutes).
Mr. Eric Stutes briefly explained changes to the Board. Mr. Trahan suggested that the discipline policy address cheating and plagiarism. Discussion continued as to whether or not this was a curriculum issue, rather than a discipline policy. The matter will be handled at the school level. Upon motion by Ms. Valdetero, seconded by Mr. Pinac, and carried by a unanimous voice vote, revisions to the discipline policy were approved.
7a) Consider authorizing the Superintendent to seek proposals from a demographer to assist with the interpretation of census results.
This task was previously handled by the registrar of voters office, but they no longer offer this service. The board attorney stated that formal advertising was not necessary, as this is considered professional services. Upon motion by Mr. Quebodeaux, seconded by Mr. Pinac, and carried by a unanimous voice vote, the Superintendent was authorized to seek proposals from demographers to provide Census 2000 reapportionment services.
8) Correspondence
Superintendent James gave results of the Board's request for professional development. The most common theme was to review policies and procedures with staff members.
Mrs. Verelda Girouard thanked the Board for their support of the kindergarten program and acknowledged the diligent efforts of their instructional assistant to make the necessary changes to kindergarten report cards.
DISCUSSION ITEMS:
1) Discuss policy regarding administrative appointments. (Bill Pinac)
Mr. Pinac stated that his questions regarding the administrative appointments policy had been answered. Other Board members discussed whether or not an "acting" position should be handled differently. Mr. Quebodeaux suggested that this policy be referred to the Personnel/Insurance committee for further consideration.
2) Discuss Bingham Study. (Lynn Shamsie)
Mr. Shamsie inquired about how well the Bingham study process was working. Dr. James provided a detailed written explanation of the process from inception to implementation which met with Mr. Shamsie's approval. There was no further discussion.
3) Discuss Policy change regarding qualifications for applicants for secretarial/clerical and teacher aide positions.
Superintendent James informed the Board that the current policy for applicants for secretarial/clerical and teacher aide positions required that they take a standardized test. The policy does not stipulate any particular score level for secretarial/clerical applicants. She suggested requiring a 12.0 grade level in order to advance to the next phase of the process. Currently, teacher aides must score at a 10.0 grade level. She recommended the same standard of a 12.0 grade level for teacher aides. This item will be considered as a policy change next month.
CONSENT ITEMS:
Upon motion by Mr. Senegal, seconded by Mr. Quebodeaux, and carried by a unanimous voice vote, the Board took the following action on consent items:
1) Approved assignments and changes of professional employees.
2) Received sales tax report showing a year-to-date increase of 5.18%.
CLOSING.
There being no other business to come before the Board, upon motion by Mr. Trahan, seconded by Mr. Daigle, and carried by a unanimous voice vote, the meeting adjourned at 6:06 p.m.
John A. Suire, President
ATTEST:
Dr. Marietta W. James, Superintendent