CROWLEY, LOUISIANA

DECEMBER 1, 2003

 

1)         The Acadia Parish School Board met on this the 1st day of December 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. Gene Daigle, Mr. Shirley Vige’, Dr. Robert L. McManus, and Superintendent John E. Bourque, Secretary-Treasurer.  Mr. Roland Boudreaux was absent.

 

2&3)    Rev. Donald Burnett, pastor of the Morning Star Missionary Church and a retired administrator of Rayne High School, led the prayer.  ZaKiya Ali, an honor roll student at Crowley High School, led the Pledge of Allegiance.

 

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

Upon motion by Mr. Vige’, seconded by Mrs. Proctor, and carried by a unanimous voice vote, the agenda was revised by deleting Routine Item 2 and 4.

 

5)         Read and approve minutes of the November 3 and 13, 2003, meetings.

Reading of the minutes of the November 3 and 13, 2003, meetings 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 Mr. Shamsie, and carried by a unanimous voice vote.

 

6)         Recognize elementary and middle school Principals of the Year. (Ellan Baggett).

Mrs. Ellan Baggett, Personnel Supervisor, introduced Mr. Jesse Joubert, principal at Egan Elementary, and Mr. Paul DeRousselle, principal at Church Point Middle, Acadia’s Principals of the Year.  They both briefly addressed the Board.  They thanked the Board, Mr. Bourque, and the staff at the central office for their support.  The Board commended Mr. Joubert and Mr. DeRouselle.  Mr. DeRouselle has been selected as the Region IV Middle School Principal of the Year and he will be going on to state competition.

 

ACTION ITEMS:     

 

There were no actions to address.

 

ROUTINE ITEMS:

 

1)         Consider adoption of Policy Guidelines for sales tax election

Superintendent Bourque reviewed Policy Guidelines for the upcoming sales tax election previously discussed by the Board.  The guidelines detail how proceeds of a one-half cent sales tax will be distributed and reflects the Board’s intent regarding this matter.  Upon motion by Dr. McManus, seconded by Mrs. Proctor, and carried by a roll call vote of 7 to 0, Policy Guidelines for a sales tax election were approved.

 

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.  Likewise, benefits* will be the responsibility of each respective funding source.

3.   Permanent changes to the respective pay scales (estimated to be $1,000 for support personnel and $1,800 for professionals) are contingent upon additional 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 teacher 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) that existed at the time the referendum was passed.

5.   For classified employees not covered by the teacher pay scale who work more than nine 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 and may be distributed only upon approval by a majority of the membership of the board.  Distributions will be considered annually.

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

*    For the purpose of this Policy Statement, benefits are limited to contributions to retirement systems, medicare tax, and any other such cost related directly to the supplemental pay.

 

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

NAY:         None

ABSENT:  Boudreaux

 

2)                  Consider changing January 2004 board meeting date.

This item was deleted earlier in the meeting.

 

3)                  Consider change in policy regarding students’ cell phones.

Mr. Gerard Caswell, attorney, reported that an Attorney General opinion has been issued, but he hasn’t reviewed it in detail.  He will have a report for the January meeting.  Upon motion by Mrs. Proctor, seconded by Dr. McManus, this matter was tabled until the January 2004 meeting.

 

4)                  Discuss out-of-state travel.

This item was deleted earlier in the meeting.

 

5)                  Hear a report on test scores.

Mrs. Margaret Jones and Ms. Dianna Guidry presented Fall 2003 school accountability results, which showed significant improvement over the previous year.  The Board commended Superintendent Bourque and all employees principals, teachers a of Acadia’s positive results were discussed by the Board.

 

6)                  Correspondence

President Quebodeaux mentioned correspondence received from the Crowley Chamber of Commerce about Business After Hours.  Superintendent Bourque commented on Instructional Assistants guidelines.

 

.DISCUSSION ITEMS:

 

There were no discussion items.

 

CONSENT ITEMS:

 

Upon motion by Dr. McManus, seconded by Mr. Vige’, 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 35.16% was received.

3)   Mrs. Judy Patricia Baggett, teacher, Alternative School, was granted a leave without pay from December 1, 2003, to January 9, 2004, due to medical reasons.

4)   Ms. Cristina Doucet, teacher aide, Crowley Middle School, was granted a maternity leave from December 5, 2003, through January 30, 2004. (292 days)

 

SUPERINTENDENT’S COMMENTS:

 

Superintendent Bourque commented on Acadia’s positive test results and thanked all employees who worked toward such improvements.  He pledged to continue streamlining operations.

Mr. Quebodeaux thanked everyone for their teamwork over the past year.

 

CLOSING:

 

There being no other business to come before the Board, at 5:28 p.m., upon motion by Mr. Daigle,  seconded by Mr. Shamsie, and carried by a unanimous voice vote, the meeting adjourned.

 

 

_____________________________

John H. Quebodeaux, President

 

ATTEST:

_____________________________________

Mr. John E. Bourque, Superintendent