The Acadia Parish School Board met on this the 3rd day of October, 2011 at 5:00 p.m., in a regular session at Crowley, Louisiana, with Vice-President presiding Mr. Douglas J. LaCombe. Members present were Mr. Israel Syria, Mr. Milton Simar, Mr. Roland Boudreaux, Mr. James Higginbotham, Mr. Lynn Shamsie, and Secretary-Treasurer, Superintendent John E. Bourque. Members absent were Mr. John A. Suire and Mr. Gene I. Daigle.
2) Mr. Israel Syria led the prayer.
3) Mr. Milton Simar led the pledge of allegiance.
4) Consider approval of a revised agenda, if there are any changes.
Upon motion by Mr. Syria, seconded by Mr. Simar, and carried by a unanimous voice vote, Routine Items #3A and #3B were added to the agenda.
5) Read and approve minutes of the September 12, 2011 meeting.
Reading of the minutes of the September 12, 2011, board meeting were dispensed (copies of minutes were sent to member prior to this meeting) and upon motion by Mr. Higginbotham, seconded by Mr. Syria, and carried by a unanimous voice vote, the September 12, 2011 board meeting minutes were approved.
6) Recognize Head Start Policy Council Members and October as Head Start Awareness Month.
Sondra Myers presented members of the Head Start policy council, who introduced themselves to the board indicating their position on the policy council and the center they represent.
7) Hear from BESE board candidate, Holly Boffy.
Holly Boffy, candidate for BESE, briefly addressed the board, citing her qualifications and answered questions of the board.
8) Hear report from AMI students.
A student from AMI addressed the board, telling them the problems in his early life and how AMI and the leadership there has made an impact on him now working to make positive changes in his life.
ACTION ITEMS:
1) Consider policy changes as a result of new legislation.
Ellan Baggett provided the board with legislative required policy changes. These changes were previously submitted to the board members to review at the September committee meeting. After brief discussion and upon motion by Mr. Boudreaux, seconded by Mr. Shamsie, and carried by a unanimous voice vote, the board approved policy changes.
ROUTINE ITEMS:
1) Consider recommendation of the Personnel, Insurance & Curriculum committee regarding changes in job description.
Ellan Baggett, Executive Director of Personnel and Support Services, presented proposed changes in job descriptions, mostly dealing with re-arrangement of supervisory oversight within the Special Education department and who will be responsible for annual personnel evaluations. She answered questions of the committee. Upon motion by Mr. Shamsie, seconded by Mr. Simar, and carried by a unanimous voice vote, the board approved changes in job description.
2) Consider recommendation of the Budget & Finance committee regarding the request from Orbit Energy for seismic permit in the town of Iota.
Mr. Leonards presented a request from Orbit Energy for a seismic permit on the Iota Middle School campus. They are offering $20 per lot for each of the 14 Iots of Block #37. Mr. Caswell provided an update on this matter, indicating that he is waiting on additional information from Orbit Energy before making any recommendations. After some discussion, this matter was referred to Mr. Caswell to negotiate on our behalf and will be sent to the full board for further consideration.
3) Consider Proclamation declaring October 10-14, 2011 National School Lunch Week.
The following proclamation was read by Mr. Douglas LaCombe and upon motion by Mr. Syria, seconded by Mr. Shamsie, and carried by a unanimous voice vote, the board approved Proclamation declaring October 10-14, 2011 National School Lunch Week.
3A) Consider request from Rayne High FFA and Iota High FFA to attend out of state travel to State National FFA Convention in Indianapolis, Indiana from October 17 to October 22, 2011.
Upon motion by Mr. Shamsie, seconded by Mr. Simar, and carried by a unanimous voice vote, the board approved out of state travel to State National FFA Convention in Indianapolis, Indiana from October 17 to October 22, 2011.
3B) Consider out of state field trip request from Marcey Broussard, Physics teacher, Midland High, to attend Johnson Space Center/NASA in Houston, Texas on Friday, October 14, 2011.
Upon motion by Mr. Shamsie, seconded by Mr. Syria, and carried by a unanimous voice vote, the board approved out of state field request from Marcey Broussard, Physics teacher, Midland High, to attend Johnson Space Center/NASA in Houston, Texas on Friday, October 14, 2011.
4) Consider going into executive session to consider expulsion appeal.
Upon motion by Mr. Shamsie, seconded by Mr. Syria, and carried by a unanimous voice vote, the board approved going into executive session to consider expulsion appeal at 5:20 p.m.
At this time, a motion was made by Mr. Boudreaux, seconded by Mr. Syria, and carried by a unanimous voice vote, the board approved going back into regular session at 6:09 p.m.
A motion at this time was made by Mr. Higginbotham, seconded by Mr. Syria, and carried by a unanimous voice vote, the board approved to uphold the expulsion recommended by the Superintendent.
5) Consider going into executive session to consider resolution of workers compensation claim.
Upon motion by Mr. Boudreaux, seconded by Mr. Simar, and carried by a unanimous voice vote, the board approved going into executive session to consider resolution of workers compensation claim at 6:11 p.m.
At this time, a motion was made by Mr. Syria, seconded by Mr. Boudreaux, and carried by a unanimous voice vote, the board approved going back into regular session at 6:20 p.m.
A motion at this time was made by Syria, seconded by Mr. Simar, and carried by a unanimous voice vote, the board approved legal counsel’s recommendation on the handling of workers compensation claim.
6) Consider dates for next committee and board meetings.
Upon motion by Mr. Boudreaux, seconded by Mr. Simar, and carried by a unanimous voice vote, the committee meetings will be October 19, 2011 and the board meeting will be November 7, 2011.
7) Correspondence.
Mr. Bourque mentioned a meeting would be held for area school board members on October 13, 2011 at 5:30 p.m. at the Acadia Parish School Board office.
DISCUSSION ITEMS:
1) Consider a policy regarding the use of cell phones by employees.
Ellan Baggett went over the proposed policy, as previously submitted to the committee. They discussed the policy in more detail and agreed that more clarification would be needed. It will be sent back to the committee for consideration.
CONSENT ITEMS:
Upon motion by Mr. Higginbotham, seconded by Mr. Syria, 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. Syria, seconded by Mr. Shamsie, 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. Syria, seconded by Mr. Shamsie, and carried by a unanimous voice vote, retirement notification of employees was approved.
3) Receive Sales Tax Report.
Upon motion by Mr. Syria, seconded by Mr. Shamise, and carried by a unanimous voice vote, the board received the sales tax report which showed a year to date increase of 0.75%.
SUPERINTENDENT COMMENTS:
Mr. Bourque mentioned sales tax increase trend and the October 1, 2011 enrollment up 107 from last year. He mentioned that the letter grades for schools would be released on Wednesday.
CLOSING:
There being no other business to come before the Board, upon motion by Mr. Boudreaux, seconded by Mr. Higginbotham, and carried by a unanimous voice vote, the meeting adjourned at 6:35 p.m.
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Gene I. Daigle, President
ATTEST:
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John E. Bourque, Superintendent