CROWLEY, LOUISIANA

JANUARY 10, 2011

The Acadia Parish School Board met on this the 10th day of January, 2011 at 5:00 p.m., in a regular session at Crowley, Louisiana, with President Mr. Gene I. Daigle presiding.  Members present were Mr. Roland Boudreaux, Mr. Israel Syria, Mr. Milton Simar, Mr. James Higginbotham, Mr. Douglas J. LaCombe, Mr. John A. Suire, Mr. Lynn Shamsie, and Secretary-Treasurer, Superintendent John E. Bourque.

             Prior to the meeting the officers and board members were publicly sworn in by the Clerk of Court.

2)         Mr. Israel Syria led the prayer.

3)         Mr. Doug LaCombe 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. Syria, and carried by a unanimous voice vote, Opening Item #7A and #7B were added to the agenda and Opening Item #6 was deleted.

5)         Read and approve minutes of the December 6, 2010 meeting

      Reading of the minutes of the December 6, 2010  meeting  were dispensed (copies of minutes were sent to member prior to this meeting) and upon motion by Mr. Higginbotham, seconded by Mr. Boudreaux, and carried by a unanimous voice vote, the December 6, 2010 minutes were approved.

6)         Swearing in of board members and officer.

            Item deleted.

7)         Hear presentation from Mr. Jonathon Perry, candidate for senator.

            Mr. Jonathon Perry introduced himself asking for support in the upcoming election for state senator.

7A)      Hear presentation from Mr. Nathan Granger, candidate for senator.

            Mr. Nathan Granger introduced himself asking for support in the upcoming election for state senator.

7B)      Recognize Support Person of the Year.

            Mrs. Ellan Baggett introduced Support Personnel of the Year as follows:

Mrs. Helen Bellon – Secondary, Iota High School, Mrs. Stacy Lejeune – Middle, Mermentau Elementary, Mrs. Brandy Clay – Elementary, Evangeline Elementary.  They were commended and given a certificate thanking them for exemplary service.      

ACTION ITEMS:      NONE

ROUTINE ITEMS:

1)         Consider substantial completion of Evangeline Elementary

Mr. Bill Ackal recommended substantial completion of the four classroom addition at Evangeline Elementary.   Upon motion by Mr. Simar, seconded by Mr. LaCombe, and carried by a unanimous voice vote, the board approved the substantial completion of the four classroom addition at Evangeline Elementary.

2)         Consider request from Orbit Energy for seismic permit on 152 acres of school board property near Perchville.

            Mr. Caswell indicated that he modified Orbit’s original agreement to suit the needs of Acadia Parish School Board and recommended approval.   Upon motion by Mr. Boudreaux, seconded by Mr. Suire, and carried by a unanimous voice vote, the board approved request from Orbit Energy for seismic permit on 152 acres of school board property near Perchville.

3)         Consider request for field trip from Church Point High physical science class to St. Agnes Academy, Houston, TX to compete in the 2011 Rube Goldberg contest on February 14-15, 2011.

            Mr. Lee Bellard, Principal, Church Point High, made this request of the board for his school students to attend this contest in Houston, TX.  Upon motion by Mr. Higginbotham seconded by Mr. Syria, and carried by a unanimous voice vote, the board approved the field trip request from Church Point High physical science students to attend St. Agnes Academy, Houston, TX 2011 Rube Goldberg contest on February 14-15, 2011.

4)         Consider bids received for refurbished computer equipment.

            Ms. Julie Miers presented bid tabulations for refurbished computers, recommending the low bid from Insight Industries totaling $307,550.  Upon motion by Mr. Shamsie and seconded by Mr. Simar, and carried by a unanimous voice vote, the board approved low bid of $307,550 from Insight Industries for refurbished computer equipment.

5)         Consider recommendation for replacing bus driver on Special Education route.

            Mr. Steve Jones indicated that due to a resignation, a bus driver needed to be replaced on the Crowley Special Ed route.  He recommended Mr. Arnold ”r;Tippy” Broussard for the position.  Upon motion by Mr. Shamsie, seconded by Mr. Simar, and carried by a unanimous voice vote, the board approved Mr. Arnold ”r;Tippy” Broussard for the Crowley Special Ed route.

6)         Consider recommendation for board member to serve on Head Start policy council.

            Mr. John Suire was nominated to serve as the board’s representative on the Head Start policy council.  Upon motion by Mr. LaCombe, seconded by Mr. Shamsie, and carried by a unanimous voice vote, the board approved Mr. John Suire to serve on the Head Start policy council.

7)         Consider Superintendent’s recommendation for principal at Central Rayne Kindergarten.

            Mr. Bourque recommended Mrs. Christy Higginbotham for principal at Central Rayne Kindergarten.  Upon motion by Boudreaux, seconded by Mr. Simar, and carried by a unanimous voice vote, Mr. Higginbotham abstained; the board approved the recommendation of Mrs. Christy Higginbotham for principal at Central Rayne Kindergarten.  Mrs. Higginbotham thanked the board for their approval and pledged to move forward at the school.

8)         Consider dates for next committee and board meetings.

            Upon motion by Mr. Higginbotham, seconded by Mr. Suire, and carried by a unanimous voice vote, the next committee meeting will be January 19, 2011 and the board meeting will be February 7, 2011.

9)         Correspondence.    

            The board each had copies of thank you comments from schools for pay supplements.  Mrs. Baggett presented report showing trend of highly qualified teachers in the parish.

DISCUSSION ITEMS:              NONE

CONSENT ITEMS:

Upon motion by Mr. Syria, seconded by Mr. Shamsie, and carried by a unanimous voice vote, Consent Items 1 through 3 was taken in globo.

1)         Consider assignments and changes of professional employees.

            Upon motion by Mr. LaCombe, seconded by Mr. Higginbotham, and carried by a unanimous voice vote, assignments and changes of professional employees were approved.

 2)        Consider retirement notification of employees.

            Upon motion by Mr. LaCombe, seconded by Mr. Higginbotham, and carried by a unanimous voice vote, retirement notification of employees was approved.

3)         Receive Sales Tax Report.

            Upon motion by Mr. LaCombe, seconded by Mr. Higginbotham, and carried by a unanimous voice vote, the board received the sales tax report which showed an increase of .56%.

SUPERINTENDENT COMMENTS:   

            Mr. Bourque thanked Mr. Shamsie for his service as school board president during the past two years.  He congratulated Mr. Daigle and Mr. LaCombe on their selection as officers and looks forward to continue working together.

CLOSING:

There being no other business to come before the Board, upon motion by Mr. Syria, seconded by Mr. Boudreaux, and carried by a unanimous voice vote, the meeting adjourned at 5:51 p.m.

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Gene I. Daigle, President

ATTEST:

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John E. Bourque, Superintendent