CROWLEY, LOUISIANA

NOVEMBER 3, 2003

 

1)         The Acadia Parish School Board met on this the 3rd day of November 2003, at 5:00 p.m., in a regular session, with President John Quebodeaux presiding.  Members present were Mrs. Ezora J. Proctor, Mr. Lyle C. Johnson, Mr. Lynn Shamsie, Mr. Roland J. Boudreaux, Mr. Gene Daigle, Mr. Shirley Vige’, Dr. Robert L. McManus, and Superintendent John E. Bourque, Secretary-Treasurer.

 

2&3)    Mrs. Ezora Proctor led the prayer and Mr. Jimmy Broussard of the Crowley Post Signal led the Pledge of Allegiance.

 

4)         Consider approval of a revised agenda, if there are any changes.

Upon motion by Dr. McManus, seconded by Mrs. Proctor, and carried by a unanimous voice vote, the agenda was revised by adding Routine Item 6a (CONSIDER AUTHORIZING HEAD START TO APPLY FOR ADDITIONAL FUNDING TO MEET REVISED STANDARDS FOR CHILD TRANSPORTATION) and Routine Item 6b (DISCUSS OUT-OF-STATE TRAVEL).

 

5)         Read and approve minutes of the October 6, 2003, meeting.

Reading of the minutes of the October 6, 2003, meeting was dispensed with (copies of minutes were sent to each member prior to this meeting) and adopted as submitted, upon motion by Mrs. Proctor, seconded by Dr. McManus, and carried by a unanimous voice vote.

 

6)         Recognize 2003 Teachers of the Year. (Ellan Baggett)

Teachers of the Year from each school were recognized.  Ms. Piper Benoit of Church Point Elementary, Ms. Pamela Hillman of Church Point Middle, and Ms. Christine Aucoin of Rayne High School were the three parish winners.  A luncheon honoring Teachers of the Year was held earlier in the month.

 

ACTION ITEMS:     

 

1)         Consider changes in policy regarding students.

Mr. Gerard Caswell, attorney, reported that the Attorney General has not yet released an opinion regarding use of cell phones in schools by students.

 

2)         Consider policy change relative to the number of votes necessary to change board policy.

Upon motion by Mr. Johnson, seconded by Mr. Vige’, and carried by a unanimous voice vote, policy was changed to require a majority of the membership of the Board (5) to change policy.

 

ROUTINE ITEMS:

 

1)         Consider recommendation of the Budget/Finance Committee regarding bids for graphing calculators.

Four bids were received for graphing calculators.  Upon motion by Mr. Vige’, seconded by Dr. McManus, and carried by a majority voice vote (Mr. Boudreaux opposed), low bid of $78,163.20 was awarded to School Savers.

 

Bidder                                      Amount

All West                                   $90,267.50

Teachers pet                             $90,217.50

D & H                                      $78,653.10

School Savers                          $78,163.20

 

2)         Consider recommendation of the Budget/Finance Committee regarding bids for computer tables and accessories.

Three bids were received for computer tables and accessories.  Upon motion by Mr. Vige’, seconded by Mr. Daigle, and carried by a unanimous voice vote, low bid of $17,792 was awarded to Virco.

 

Bidder                                      Total Bid

LA School Equipment               $28,320.00

Virco, Inc.                                $17,792.00

Global Equipment                     $31,736.40

 

3)         Consider recommendation of the Budget/Finance Committee regarding bids for canned and frozen goods.

Mrs. Ruth Miller provided bid tabulations for canned and frozen goods.  Upon motion by Mr. Vige’, seconded by Dr. McManus, and carried by a unanimous voice vote, lowest bids meeting specs  for canned and frozen goods were approved.

 

4)         Consider recommendation of the Budget/Finance Committee regarding bids for frozen meat.

Mrs. Ruth Miller provided bid tabulations for frozen meat.  Upon motion by Mr. Vige’, seconded by Dr. McManus, and carried by a unanimous voice vote, lowest bids meeting specs for frozen meat were approved.

 

5)         Consider recommendation of the Budget/Finance Committee regarding retaining an insurance consultant.

Upon motion by Mr. Vige’, seconded by Mr. Boudreaux, and carried by a unanimous voice vote, the Board agreed to retain an insurance consultant (all insurances except health insurance) and Superintendent Bourque was authorized to interview candidates.  A recommendation and cost will be presented to the Board at next month’s meeting.

 

6)         Consider recommendation of the Budget/Finance Committee regarding refinancing outstanding bonds for Fifth Ward and Church Point School districts.

Mr. Jerry Osborne presented information regarding outstanding bonds for Fifth Ward and Church Point School districts.  Upon motion by Mr. Vige’, seconded by Mr. Daigle, and carried by a unanimous roll call vote of 8 to 0, outstanding bonds Church Point were renewed at a savings of $182,658, an annual savings of $19,295.

 

YEA:    Proctor, Johnson, Shamsie, Quebodeaux, Boudreaux, Daigle, Vige’, McManus

NAY:   None   

 

Upon motion by Mr. Shamsie, seconded by Mr. Boudreaux, and carried by a unanimous roll call vote of 8 to 0, outstanding bonds for Fifth Ward were renewed at a savings of $63,150, an annual savings of $9,514.

 

YEA:    Proctor, Johnson, Shamsie, Quebodeaux, Boudreaux, Daigle, Vige’, McManus

NAY:   None   

 

6a)       Consider authorizing Head Start to apply for additional funding to meet revised standards for child transportation.

Upon motion by Mr. Vige’, seconded by Mrs. Proctor, and carried by a unanimous voice vote, the Board granted permission to Mrs. Myers to submit a request for available supplemental funds ($176,000) for Head Start to comply with child restraint regulations on Head Start buses by the deadline of January 20, 2004

 

6b)       Discuss out-of-state travel.

As requested by Mr. Shamsie, Superintendent Bourque discussed current trends in travel, in particular out-of-state travel.  He stated that many requests for out-of-state travel have been denied and travel has been curtailed from previous years.

Mr. Shamsie motioned and Dr. McManus seconded to eliminate all board funded out-of-state travel (for teachers/staff) without prior board approval, unless mandated or when accompanying students to official events.

After much discussion, a motion by Mr. Boudreaux to table this matter until the next month’s meeting, was seconded by Mr. Johnson, and carried by a majority voice vote (Mr. Shamsie opposed).  Superintendent Bourque was authorized to collect information regarding those who have incurred expenses for pending out-of-state travel (airlines, registration, etc) as of this day.

 

7)         Correspondence

Superintendent Bourque called the Board’s attention to correspondence received regarding the 2004 LSBA Convention that will be held March 4-6, 2004, in Lafayette, at the Lafayette Convention Center.  He also referred to a newspaper article stating that Acadia educators were awarded $4,900 in AEE minigrants.

 

DISCUSSION ITEMS:  

 

1)         Discuss recommendation of the Budget/Finance Committee regarding a permanent source of funding for salaries and benefits.

Superintendent Bourque discussed the history and rationale for seeking an additional 2 cent sales tax for a permanent source of funding for salaries and benefits.  He cited recent academic successes and stated that with more local effort Acadia Parish would receive matching funds ($2.600,00) from the state for the general fund.  The following suggestions were discussed.

 

1.   All direct revenue generated by this new source of income will be used solely for supplementing the salaries and benefits for employees of the Acadia Parish School Board.  New positions would not be funded solely from this tax.

2.   Persons paid by General Fund and School Food Services will be compensated directly from these funds.  Employees paid by other funds will be compensated by each respective funding source, or pro-rata share thereof.

3.   Permanent changes to the respective pay scales, estimated to be $1,000 for support personnel and $1,800 for professionals, are contingent upon estimated collections of at least $2,600,000 per year.

4.   Proceeds from this sales tax and a portion of any additional revenue forthcoming from the state as a result of increased local effort will be applied to the Acadia Parish teachers’ pay scale.  Computation and distribution of pay for employees linked to the Acadia Parish teacher pay scale will be made in the same manner, including annualizing and indexing, as existed at the time the referendum was passed.

5.   For classified employees not covered by the teacher pay scale who work more than 9 months per year, pay will be annualized based on the number of months worked.  For part-time employees, pay will be pro-rated based on the number of hours worked.

6.   A reserve of no less than 10% of new tax revenue will be set aside as a contingency to compensate for fluctuations in the revenue stream and/or increases in the cost of providing employee related benefits.  This reserve will grow and accumulate in a segregated account.  This account will be evaluated by the Board no sooner than three years, annually thereafter, and will be distributed with approval of a majority of the membership of the Board.

7.   These new funds may be used, to the extent available, for benefits paid by or on behalf of employees.  Benefits for employees paid by other funds will be paid by each respective fund.  Benefits may include, but are not limited to the following: retirement contributions, medicare taxes, or any other benefits relating directly to employees.

 8.  It is anticipated that the additional tax will become effective April 1, 2004.  Changes to the pay scale will become effective July 1, 2004, and September 1, 2004, for nine-month employees.

 

CONSENT ITEMS:

 

Upon motion by Dr. McManus, seconded by Mrs. Proctor, and carried by a unanimous voice vote, the following action was taken:

 

1)   New assignments and changes of professional employees were approved as submitted.

2)   The monthly sales tax report showing a year-to-date decrease of 4.21% was received.

3)   Mrs. Elizabeth M. Trahan, teacher, South Crowley Elementary, was granted a sabbatical leave for the 2003-04 Fall Semester for medical reasons.

 

SUPERINTENDENT’S COMMENTS:

 

No additional comments.

 

CLOSING:

 

There being no other business to come before the Board, at 7:56 p.m., upon motion by Mr. Boudreaux,  seconded by Dr. McManus, and carried by a unanimous voice vote, the meeting adjourned.

_____________________________

John H. Quebodeaux, President

ATTEST:

_____________________________________

Mr. John E. Bourque, Superintendent