CROWLEY, LOUISIANA

APRIL 6, 2009

The Acadia Parish School Board met on this the 6th day of April 2009, at 5:00 p.m., in a regular session at Crowley, Louisiana, with President Mr. Lynn Shamsie presiding.  Members present were Mr. Douglas J. LaCombe, Mr. Roland Boudreaux, Mr. John A. Suire, Mr. Israel Syria, Mr. Gene I. Daigle Mr. James Higginbotham, Mr. Milton R. Simar, and Secretary-Treasurer, Superintendent John E. Bourque. 

2)         Mr. Syria led the prayer.

3)         Mr. Simar led the pledge of allegiance.

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

                        Upon motion by Mr. Boudreaux, seconded by Mr. Daigle, and carried by a unanimous voice vote, Routine Item #1a was added to the agenda, Routine Item #2 was deleted, and Routine Item #8 was changed to read:  Go into executive session.

5)         Read and approve minutes of the March2, 2009 meeting.

      Reading of the minutes of the March 2, 2009 board meeting were dispensed (copies of minutes were sent to member prior to this meeting) and upon motion by Mr. Boudreaux, seconded by Mr. Higginbotham, and carried by a unanimous voice vote, the March 2, 2009 minutes were approved.

6)         Recognize Students of the Year and Kyle Carriere, Regional Student of the Year.

            Mrs. Antoinette Pete introduced Students of the Year,  Elementary – 5th Grade – Coby LeJeune, Middle – 8th Grade – Kyle Carriere and Secondary – 12th Grade – Amber Stewart.  The board recognized and commended the students on this achievement and thanked the many community sponsors for their support.

7)         Recognize Alternative School students.

            Dr. Chance introduced Mr. Cliff Friedman, principal of the Alternative School and Mr. Dennis Istre, teacher.  They presented the results of some of the artwork and architectural renderings by students.  He thanked the board for supporting these efforts.  Mr. Friedman presented statistics comparing Alternative school enrollment from last year to this year.  Dr. Chance and Mr. Friedman thanked the board for their continued support of the Alternative school.

8)         Recognize Mr. Paul Bourgeois, College and Careers Transition Coordinator, Region IV.

            Dr. Chance introduced Paul Bourgeois, Career Transitions Coordinator, for Region IV.  Mr. Bourgeois explained some of the vocational programs available to our high school students.  He encouraged dual enrollment for students pursuing careers.

9)         Recognize Church Point High power lifting team.

            Mr. Steve Jones introduced faculty and students from Church Point High School, who recently won the AAA State Powerlifting Championship.  They thanked the board for their support, especially for recent upgrades to the athletic facilities at Church Point High.  He introduced members of the team, who participated in national competition.

ACTION ITEMS:      NONE

ROUTINE ITEMS:

1)         Consider school reward money.

The Superintendent recommended rewarding some money for schools who met academic standards since the state withdrew funding for this program.  This is a one time allocation from local funds totaling $12,500 for seven schools.

1a)       Consider change orders to construction contract for Estherwood Elementary cafeteria.

            Mr. Bill Ackal presented change order #1 for Estherwood cafeteria, modifying the plans to make it a cooking cafeteria.    The total increase of $86,65 from 5th Ward maintenance funds.  Upon motion by Mr. Simar, seconded by Mr. Syria, and carried by a unanimous voice vote, change order for Estherwood Elementary cafeteria was approved.

2)         Consider recommendation of new community representative for the Head Start Policy Council.

            ITEM DELETED

3)         Consider increase in driver’s education fees.

            Mr. Leonards presented a recommendation to increase driver’s education fees from $225 to $275, due primarily to the required additional driving hours mandated by the state.  Upon motion by Mr. Higginbotham, seconded by Mr. Suire, and carried by a unanimous voice vote, the board approved increase in driver’s education fees to $275.

4)         Consider staffing for 2009-2010.

            Mr. Bourque indicated that we are anticipating funding cuts from the state next year and are continuing to show declining sales tax collections.  Therefore, we will likely e a reduction in force in the areas of Special Education, regular education, paraprofessionals, reading coaches, and possibly other positions.

5)         Consider recommendation of the Personnel, Insurance, & Curriculum committee regarding adoption of the 2009-2010 school calendars.

            The committee reviewed the proposed school calendar for the upcoming year.  Upon motion by Mr. Daigle, seconded by Mr. Simar, and carried by a unanimous voice vote, the board approved the adoption of the 2009-2010 school calendars.

6)         Consider recommendation of the Budget & Finance committee regarding a request from Richard Elementary to purchase playground equipment.

            The committee reviewed the written request from Richard Elementary to purchase playground equipment for a cost of $8,995 with available school funds.  Preparation of the area surrounding the new equipment will be done by the school board maintenance department.  Upon motion by Mr. Suire, seconded by Mr. Higginbotham, and carried by a unanimous voice vote, the board approved the request to purchase playground equipment from Richard Elementary.

7)         Consider recommendation of the Budget & Finance committee regarding textbook budget for 2009-2010.

            The committee received a cost estimate of $314,987.56 from Jill Doga fro textbooks and consumables for the upcoming school term.  Since there is no new adoption, this cost is significantly lower than previous years.  Upon motion by Mr. Suire, seconded by Mr. Higginbotham, and carried by a unanimous voice vote, the board approved textbook adoption budget for 2009-2010.

8)         Consider status of track at Rayne High School.  Changed to:  Consider going into executive session.

            Upon motion by Mr. Boudreaux, seconded by Mr. Simar, and carried by a unanimous voice vote, the Board went into executive session at 5:58 p.m. to discuss potential litigation regarding the Rayne High School track.

            Upon motion by Mr. Higginbotham, seconded by Mr. LaCombe, and carried by a unanimous voice vote, the board was back in regular session at 6:32 p.m.

            Upon motion by Mr. Suire, seconded by Mr. Daigle, and carried by a unanimous voice vote, the board accepted motion to accept legal counsel regarding the handling of Rayne High school track matters.

 9)        Consider dates for next committee and board meetings.

            Upon motion by Mr. LaCombe, seconded by Mr. Higginbotham, the next committee meeting will be on April 22, 2009 and Board meeting will be on May 4, 2009.

12)       Correspondence.    

            Mr. Bourque went over correspondence in board packets. 

DISCUSSION ITEMS:      NONE

CONSENT ITEMS:

1)         Consider assignments and changes of professional employees.

            There were no assignments or changes.

2)            Consider retirement notification of employees.

            There were no retirement notification of employees.

3)                  Receive Sales Tax Report.

            Upon motion by Mr. Boudreaux, seconded by Mr. Simar, and carried by a unanimous voice vote, the board received the sales tax report which showed an increase of 0.68%.

SUPERINTENDENT COMMENTS: 

            Mr. Bourque commented on student & recognitions from earlier tonight.  He mentioned that testing was going well and plans to maintain a strong learning environment after testing through the end of the school year.

CLOSING:

There being no other business to come before the Board, upon motion by Mr. Syria, seconded by Mr. Suire, and carried by a unanimous voice vote, the meeting adjourned at 6:38 p.m.

____________________________

Lynn Shamsie, President

ATTEST:

____________________________

John E. Bourque, Superintendent