CROWLEY, LOUISIANA

NOVEMBER 4, 2013

The Acadia Parish School Board met on this the 4th day of November at 5:00 p.m., in a regular session at Crowley, Louisiana, with President presiding Mr. Douglas J. LaCombe. Members present were, Mr. James Higginbotham, Vice-President, Mr. Israel Syria, Mr. John Suire, Mr. David Lalande, Mr. Milton Simar, and Secretary-Treasurer, and Superintendent John E. Bourque.   Absent were Mr. Lynn Shamsie and Mr. Gene Daigle.

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.           

NO CHANGES

5)         Read and approve minutes of the October 7, 2013 board meeting.

      Reading of the minutes of the October 7, 2013 board meeting were dispensed (copies of minutes were sent to member prior to this meeting) and upon motion by Mr. Higginbotham, seconded by Mr. Suire, and carried by a unanimous voice vote, minutes of the October 7, 2013 board meeting were approved.

ACTION ITEMS:     

1)         Consider the recommendation of the Personnel, Insurance & Curriculum committee regarding the “Discussion Item” revision of Policy FDC:  Naming of Facilities.

            Upon motion by Mr. Syria, seconded by Mr. Higginbotham, and carried by a unanimous voice vote, revision of Policy FDC:  Naming of Facilities was tabled.

2)         Consider the recommendation of the Personnel, Insurance & Curriculum committee regarding the “Discussion Item” revision of Policy ICH:  Class Rankings.   

            Upon motion by Mr. Lalande, seconded by Mr. Simar, and carried by a unanimous voice vote, revision of Policy ICH:  Class Rankings was approved with the change from “quality points” to “grade point average expressed to four decimal places”.

ROUTINE ITEMS:

1)         Consider Church Point High School’s request to permit agriculture teacher, Lyle Guidry, to attend the annual National Association of Agricultural Educators Conference on December 3-7, 2013 in Las Vegas, Nevada.

            Upon motion by Mr. Higginbotham, seconded by Mr. Simar, and carried by a unanimous voice vote, the board approved request from Lyle Guidry, Church Point High Ag teacher, to attend the annual National Association of Agricultural Educators Conference on December 3-7, 2013 in Las Vegas, Nevada.

2)         Consider the bids received for a walk-in cooler at Crowley High school.

            Dr. Chance went over bids received for walk-in cooler at Crowley High school.  Bid from Lafayette Restaurant Equipment for $29, 770 was recommended.  Upon motion by Mr. Lalande, seconded by Mr. Suire, and carried by a unanimous voice vote, the board approved bid received from Lafayette Restaurant Equipment for $29,770 for walk-in cooler at Crowley High school.

3)         Consider recommendation of the Personnel, Insurance & Curriculum committee regarding the request from Rayne High school to permit a set of students enrolled in physics class to attend the 2014 Rube Goldberg competition at Saint Agnes Academy in Houston, Texas on Friday, February 28, 2014, wherein the group will travel on Thursday evening February 27, 2014 and return on Friday evening February 28, 2014.

            Upon motion by Mr. Lalande, seconded by Mr. Simar, and carried by a unanimous voice vote, the board the request from Rayne High school to permit physics students to attend the Rube Goldberg Competition at Saint Agnes Academy in Houston, Texas on February 27^th thru February 28^th.

4)         Consider recommendation of the Budget & Finance committee regarding telephones for the central office location.

            Upon motion by Mr. Suire, seconded by Mr. Higginbotham, and carried by a unanimous voice vote, the board approved telephone system for the central office location.

5)         Consider recommendation of the Budget & Finance committee to refer to the board’s attorney a request from Bluegrass Pipeline to conduct a survey for a pipeline on Section 16, Township 7 South, Range 2 West.

Upon motion by Mr. Suire, seconded by Mr. Lalande, and carried by a unanimous voice vote, the board approved the referral of request from Bluegrass Pipeline to conduct a survey for a pipeline on Section 16, Township 7 South, Range 2 West to board attorney.

6)         Consider recommendation of the Budget & Finance committee to refer to the board attorney a request from Walter Oil and Gas Corporation which has been submitted to Louisiana’s Commission of Conservation for the termination of units established as School Board “B” South Bosco Field, Acadia and Lafayette Parishes, noted as Office of Conservation Order No. 403-A, March 1, 1958.

            No motion needed.

7)         Consider recommendation of the Budget & Finance committee to refer to the board’s attorney a request for the nomination of seven acres at the South Rayne Elementary school site by Traver Oil Exploration, Inc. of Lafayette, Louisiana for oil and gas exploration with a proposal for $350 per acre and ¼ loyalty including a provision of non-access to the property without written consent from the school board.

            Upon motion by Mr. Suire, seconded by Mr. Lalande, and carried by a unanimous voice vote, the board approved the referral of request for nomination of seven acres at t he South Rayne Elementary school site by Traver Oil Exploration, Inc. of Lafayette, Louisiana for oil and gas exploration with a proposal for $350 per acre and ¼ royalty including a provision of non-access to the property without written consent from the school board to board attorney.

8)         Consider recommendation of the Budget & Finance committee to permit the transfer of 21.22 acres in Section 16, Township 11 South, Range 1 East, Lyons Point, from  the Simon Farm Lease to the Guillot Farm Lease wherein both parties are in agreement.

            Upon motion by Mr. Suire, seconded by Mr. Higginbotham and carried by a unanimous voice vote, the board approved to permit the transfer of 21.22 acres in Section 16, Township 11 South, Range 1 East, Lyons Point, from the Simon Farm Lease to the Guillot Farm Lease wherein both parties are in agreement.

9)         Consider recommendation of the Budget & Finance committee regarding the allocation of funds and school financial statements.

            Upon motion by Mr. Suire, seconded by Mr. Higginbotham, and carried by a unanimous voice vote, the board approved the continuation of current school allocations wherein principals are able to utilize these funds to meet the needs of students and school programs.

10)      Consider going into executive session regarding Church Point High expulsion appeal.

            Upon motion by Mr. Suire, seconded by Mr. Higginbotham, and carried by a unanimous voice vote, the board approved going into executive session at 5:40 p.m. regarding Church Point High expulsion appeal.

            Upon motion by Mr. Lalande, seconded by Mr. Higginbotham, and carried by a unanimous voice vote, the board approved going back into regular session at 6:25 p.m.

            Upon motion by Mr. Syria, seconded by Mr. Lalande, and carried by a unanimous voice vote, the board upheld the Church Point High expulsion appeal.

11)      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 committee meetings will be held on November 20, 2013 and the board meeting will be December 9, 2013.

13)      Correspondence.   

            NONE

DISCUSSION ITEMS: 

1)    Consider a revision of Policy DFJ:  Lease of School Lands.

      Mrs. Baggett went over revision of Policy DFJ:  Lease of School Lands and answered questions of the board.

2)    Consider a revision of the Agriculture Lease document.

            Dr. Gibson Miller went over possible revisions to the Agriculture Lease document and answered questions of the board.

CONSENT ITEMS:

            Upon motion by Mr. Syria, seconded by Mr. Simar, and carried by a unanimous voice vote, consent items 1 through 3 were approved to be taken in globo.

1)         Consider assignments and changes of professional employees.

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

2)         Consider retirement notification of employees.

            Upon motion by Mr. Suire, 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. Suire, seconded by Mr. Higginbotham, and carried by a unanimous voice vote, the board received the sales tax report which showed a year to date increase of 1.30%.

SUPERINTENDENT COMMENTS:   

Mr. Bourque commented on school performance scores and commended the teacher, parents, students and staff for their hard work.

There being no other business to come before the Board, upon motion by Mr. SImar, seconded by Mr. Syria, and carried by a unanimous voice vote, the meeting adjourned at 6:50 p.m.

____________________________

Douglas J. LaCombe, President

ATTEST:

____________________________

John E. Bourque, Superintendent