CROWLEY, LOUISIANA

MARCH 17, 2004

 

The Acadia Parish School Board met in SPECIAL SESSION on this the 17th day of March 2004, at 5:00 p.m., in Crowley, Louisiana, with President John Quebodeaux presiding, pursuant to the following notice given in writing to each and every member thereof and duly posted in the manner required by law, viz.

 

March 12, 2004

Dear Board Member:

By virtue of the authority vested in me by law by reason of the fact that it is deemed necessary, advisable, and to the public interest that the Acadia Parish School Board is called to a SPECIAL SESSION; therefore, I, John H. Quebodeaux, president of the Acadia Parish School Board, do hereby give notice that a special meeting of the said Board will be held at its domicile in the City of Crowley, Louisiana, at 5:00 p.m., on Wednesday, March 17, 2004, to:

 

1.   CONSIDER PLACING ON THE JULY 17, 2004, BALLOT, A PROPOSITION SEEKING PERMANENT FUNDING FOR THE PURPOSE OF SUPPLEMENTING SALARIES AND BENEFITS OF APSB EMPLOYEES.

 

Sincerely,

s/s John H. Quebodeaux, President

Acadia Parish School Board

jm

(Copies sent to Central Office Staff Members, Principals, News Media)

 

1)             President Quebodeaux called the meeting to order.  Members present were Mrs. Ezora J. Proctor, Mr. Lyle C. Johnson, Mr. Lynn Shamsie, Mr. Roland J. Boudreaux, Mr. Gene Daigle, Mr. Shirley Vige’, and Dr. Robert McManus, and Superintendent John E. Bourque, Secretary-Treasurer.

 

2&3)        Mrs. Proctor led the prayer and Ms. Bernadine Carrell and Lori Matte, cafeteria technicians at Church Point Elementary School, led the Pledge of Allegiance.

 

4)             Reading of the letter calling for Special Session.

Mr. Quebodeaux read the letter calling for a special session.

 

SPECIAL SESSION ITEM:

 

1)             Consider placing on the July 17, 2004, ballot, a proposition seeking permanent funding for the purpose of supplementing salaries and benefits of APSB employees.

Mr. Bourque recommended placing a ½ percent sales tax proposition on the July 17, 2004, ballot.  He made comments why this revenue is needed to give the best possible education to children in Acadia Parish.  Mr. Shamsie motioned and Mrs. Proctor seconded to approve the Superintendent’s recommendation.  A substitute motion to wait until the general election in November was offered by Mr. Johnson and seconded by Mr. Vige’.  After some discussion, the substitute motion failed by a roll call vote of 5 to 2.

 

YEA:            Johnson, Vige’

NAY:           Proctor, Shamsie, Boudreaux, Daigle, McManus

 

 The main motion passed by a roll call vote of 6 to 2.

 

YEA:            Proctor, Shamsie, Boudreaux, Daigle, McManus, Quebodeaux

NAY:           Johnson, Vige’

 

Before casting a yes vote, President Quebodeaux stated that he was satisfied that everything possible has been done to exist on current revenues, but now feels that the tax with the addition of Level Two money from the State is needed.  He made it clear that the sales tax would benefit all school board employees except board members and the superintendent.

 

SALES TAX PROPOSITION

 

SUMMARY: AUTHORITY TO LEVY AND COLLECT AN ADDITIONAL ONE-HALF PERCENT (1/2  %) SALES AND USE TAX TO BE USED EXCLUSIVELY FOR THE PURPOSE OF SUPPLEMENTING THE SALARIES OF ALL SCHOOL BOARD EMPLOYEES, EXCEPT FOR THE SUPERINTENDENT AND BOARD MEMBERS, INCLUDING THE PAYMENT OF BENEFITS DIRECTLY RELATED TO THE SALARY SUPPLEMENT FUNDED BY THE TAX.

Shall the School Board of the Parish of Acadia, State of Louisiana (the  ”r;School Board”), under the provisions of Article VI, Section 29 of the Constitution of the State of Louisiana of 1974, and other constitutional and statutory authority, be authorized to levy and collect an additional tax of one-half percent (1/2 %) (the ”r;Tax”), upon the sale at retail, the use, the lease or rental, the consumption, and the storage of use or consumption of tangible personal property and on sales of services in the Parish of Acadia (the ”r;Parish”), all as defined in LA R.S. 47:301 to 47:317, inclusive, with the proceeds of the Tax (after paying the reasonable and necessary costs and expenses of collecting and administering the Tax), to be used exclusively for the purpose of supplementing the salaries of all school board employees, except for the superintendent and board members, including the payment of benefits directly related to the salary supplement funded by this tax?

 

The said special election will be held at the following polling places situated within the District, which polls will open at six o’clock (6:00) a.m., and close at eight o’clock (8:00) p.m., in accordance with the provisions of LA R.S. 18:541, to wit:

 

 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.

 

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 will 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.  Like wise, 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 shall 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 prorated based on the number of hours worked.

6.     A reserve of not 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 October 1, 2004.  Changes to the pay scales will probably become effective in February 2005.

 

ADJOURNMENT:

 

Upon motion by Mr. Boudreaux, seconded by Dr. McManus, and carried by a unanimous voice vote, the meeting adjourned at 5:18 p.m.

_________________________________

John H. Quebodeaux,  President

ATTEST:

__________________________________________

John E. Bourque, Superintendent