CROWLEY, LOUISIANA
MAY 9, 2011
The Acadia Parish School Board met on this the 9th day of May, 2011 at 5:00 p.m., in a regular session at Crowley, Louisiana, with President Mr. Gene I. Daigle presiding. Members present were Mr. Israel Syria, Mr. Roland Boudreaux, Mr. Milton Simar, Mr. James Higginbotham, Mr. Douglas J. LaCombe, Mr. John A. Suire, Mr. Lynn Shamsie, and Secretary-Treasurer, Superintendent John E. Bourque.
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. Higginbotham, seconded by Mr. Lacombe, and carried by a unanimous voice vote, Opening Item #5A and Consent Item #5A was added to the agenda.
5) Read and approve minutes of the April 4, 2011 meeting and April 20, 2011 special session.
Reading of the minutes of the April 4, 2011, meeting and April 20, 2011 special session were dispensed (copies of minutes were sent to member prior to this meeting) and upon motion by Mr. Boudreaux, seconded by Mr. Syria, and carried by a unanimous voice vote, the April 4, 2011 were adopted as corrected to Action Item #1 and April 20, 2011 minutes were approved.
5a) Recognize Regional & State Social Studies fair winners.
Mr. Gerald Hardy introduced principals from Mire Elementary. Ms. Melanie Venable, principal, announced winners from Mire Elementary who placed in the regional and state Science and Social Studies fairs.
6) Recognize winners and participants in the Young Author’s contest.
Mrs. Brenda Benoit recognized the schools and students who participated and won recognition for their efforts in the Young Author’s contest from Branch Elementary, Church Point Elementary, Church Point Middle, Evangeline Elementary, Iota Middle, Mire Elementary, Rayne Catholic and Rayne High. The students were commended for their efforts and encouraged to continue to practice their writing skills
7) Recognize schools receiving School Performance Growth Flags.
Mrs. Margaret Jones introduced schools which have achieved recognition from the State for Academic growth. School principals were presented with flags in honor of this achievement. Schools receiving growth flags were Crowley High, Exemplary, Crowley Kindergarten, Exemplary, North Crowley Elementary, Recognized, Egan Elementary, Recognized, Evangeline Elementary, Recognized, Iota Middle, Recognized, Estherwood Elementary, Exemplary, Mermentau Elementary, Exemplary, Midland High, Recognized and Mire Elementary, Exemplary.
At this point, Mr. Dale Bayard, BESE board member, addressed the board commenting on the ongoing initiatives, priorities and challenges facing public education in Louisiana and pledged to continue facing public education in Louisiana and pledged to continue working to make things better.
ACTION ITEMS: NONE
ROUTINE ITEMS:
1) Consider bus driver for the Crowley route.
Mr. Steve Jones recommended Rachel Hargrave to replace Hardy Ulmet.
Upon motion by Mr. Simar, seconded by Mr. Shamsie, and carried by a unanimous voice vote, the board approved the recommended bus driver Rachel Hargrave to replace Hardy Ulmet for the Crowley route.
2) Consider Superintendent’s recommendation for principal at Crowley High school.
Mr. Bourque recommended Mr. Jim McKeiver as interim principal at Crowley High school.
Upon motion by Mr. LaCombe, seconded by Mr. Suire, and carried, the board approved Mr. Jim McKeiver, interim principal at Crowley High school.
3) Consider superintendent’s recommendation for Supervisor of Child Welfare/Transportation.
Mr. Bourque recommended Mr. Paul DeRousselle for Supervisor of Child Welfare/Transportation. Upon motion by Mr. Higginbotham, seconded by Mr. Suire, and carried by a unanimous voice vote, the board approved the Superintendent’s recommendation of Mr. Paul DeRousselle for Supervisor of Child Welfare/Transportation. He was recognized and briefly addressed the board, thanking them for the opportunity.
At this time, a motion was made by Mr. Higginbotham, seconded by Mr. LaCombe, and carried by a unanimous voice vote, to add Item #3a to the agenda to authorize the Superintendent to advertise for Principal at Church Point Middle school.
3a) Authorize Superintendent to advertise for principal at Church Point Middle school.
Upon motion by Mr. Higginbotham, seconded by Mr. LaCombe, and carried by a unanimous voice vote, the board approved authorizing the Superintendent to advertise for Principal at Church Point Middle school.
4) Consider Superintendent’s request to advertise for school nurse.
It was recommended by Mr. Shamsie to add this position as long as Medicaid funds were available to pay for this added school nurse. Mr. Boudreaux and Mr. Suire accepted this friendly amendment which became part of the original motion. Upon motion by Mr. Boudreaux, seconded by Mr. Suire, and carried by a unanimous voice vote, the board approved Superintendent’s request to advertise for school nurse as long as Medicaid funds were available to pay salary for this position.
5) Consider Superintendent’s request to advertise for Executive Director of Personnel/Operations.
Upon motion by Mr. Boudreaux, seconded by Mr. Simar, and carried by a unanimous voice vote, the board approved Superintendent’s request to advertise for Executive Director of Personnel/Operations.
6) Consider recommendation of the Budget & Finance committee regarding bids received by the Child Nutrition program for large and small equipment, paper and cleaning supplies.
Mr. Leonards went over the bid tabulations from the Child Nutrition program with the committee. They raised a few questions regarding the selections which were answered by Ruth Miller. Upon motion by Mr. Suire, seconded by Mr. Higginbotham, and carried by a unanimous voice vote, the board approved bids received from the Child Nutrition program for large and small equipment, paper and cleaning supplies.
7) Consider recommendation from the Personnel, Insurance & Curriculum committee regarding the adoption of a resolution in support of the Coalition for Public Education.
Mr. Bourque briefed the committee on the concerns raised by the Coalition and provided a resolution for the board to consider. Upon motion by Mr. Boudreaux, seconded by Mr. Simar, and carried by a unanimous voice vote, the board approved the adoption of a resolution in support of the Coalition for Public Education.
8) Consider recommendation from the Personnel, Insurance & Curriculum committee regarding the Pupil Progression Plan Parent subcommittee.
Dr. Chance provided the committee with a list of parents being considered for this subcommittee. Upon motion by LaCombe, seconded by Mr. Syria, and carried by a unanimous voice vote, the vote approved the recommended list of parents considered for the Pupil Progression Plan Parent subcommittee.
9) Consider request from Midland High basketball team to attend a camp at Birmingham College in Birmingham, Alabama on June 10, 11, 12, 2011.
Upon motion by Mr. Shamsie, seconded by Mr. Simar, and carried by a unanimous voice vote, the board approved request from Midland High basketball team to attend a camp at Birmingham College in Birmingham, Alabama on June 10, 11, 12, 2011.
10) Consider request from Rayne High Health Occupations Students of America to attend the National Convention in Anaheim, California on June 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 2011.
Upon motion by Mr. Boudreaux, seconded by Mr. Suire, and carried by a unanimous voice vote, the board approved request from Rayne High Health Occupations Students of America to attend the National Convention in Anaheim, California on June 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 2011.
11) Consider dates for next committee and board meetings.
Upon motion by Mr. LaCombe, seconded by Mr. Boudreaux, and carried by a unanimous voice vote, the next committee meeting will be May 18, 2011 and the board meeting will be June 6, 2011.
8) Correspondence.
Mr. Leonards gave a handout showing health insurance rates for next year with no increase. Reapportionment maps were also given to each board member and School Nurse Day will be on May 11, 2011.
DISCUSSION ITEMS:
NONE
CONSENT ITEMS:
Upon motion by Mr. LaCombe, seconded by Mr. Higginbotham, and carried by a unanimous voice vote, Consent Items 1 through 6 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) Consider request from Lindsay Menard, teacher, Central Rayne Kindergarten, for a leave without pay from 11/28/11 to 12/20/11.
Upon motion by Mr. LaCombe, seconded by Mr. Higginbotham, and carried, the board approved request from Lindsay Menard, teacher, Central Rayne Kindergarten, for a leave without pay from 11/28/11 to 12/20/11.
4) Consider request from Megan Futch, teacher, Central Rayne Kindergarten, for a sabbatical leave for the fall 2011 semester.
Upon motion by Mr. LaCombe, seconded by Mr. Higginbotham, and carried, the board approved request from Megan Futch, teacher, Central Rayne Kindergarten, for a sabbatical leave for the fall 2011 semester.
5) Consider request from Monica Fontenot, teacher, Mermentau Elementary, for a sabbatical leave from August 2011 to May 2012.
Upon motion by Mr. LaCombe, seconded by Mr. Higginbotham, and carried, the board approved request from Monica Fontenot, teacher, Mermentau Elementary, for a sabbatical leave from August 2011 to May 2012.
5a) Consider request from Lisa Bobbett, teacher, Iota Elementary, for a sabbatical leave for the fall 2011 and spring 2012 semesters.
Upon motion by Mr. LaCombe, seconded by Mr. Higginbotham, and carried, the board approved request from Lisa Bobbett, teacher, Iota Elementary, for a sabbatical leave for the fall 2011 and spring 2012 semesters.
5b) Authorize Superintendent to advertise for Principal at Ross Elementary.
Upon motion by Mr. LaCombe, seconded by Mr. Syria, and carried by a unanimous voice vote, the board approved authorizing Superintendent to advertise for principal at Ross Elementary.
6) 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 .68%.
At this time a motion was made by Mr. LaCombe, seconded by Mr. Syria, and carried by a unanimous voice vote, to add Routine Item # 5b to the agenda to authorize Superintendent to advertise for principal at Ross Elementary.
SUPERINTENDENT COMMENTS: NONE
CLOSING:
There being no other business to come before the Board, upon motion by Mr. Boudreaux, seconded by Mr. Simar, and carried by a unanimous voice vote, the meeting adjourned at 6:07 p.m.
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Gene I. Daigle, President
ATTEST:
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John E. Bourque, Superintendent