CROWLEY, LOUISIANA

JANUARY 12, 2015

 

The Acadia Parish School Board met on this the 12th day of January at 5:00 p.m., in a regular session at Crowley, Louisiana, with President presiding Mr. Douglas J. LaCombe. Members present were, Mr. Delo Hebert, Mr. Milton Simar, Mr. Gene Daigle, Mr. John Suire, Mr. James Higginbotham, Mr. David Lalande, and Secretary-Treasurer, and Superintendent John E. Bourque.  Mr. Israel Syria was absent.

 

2)         Mr. Suire led the prayer.

 

3)         Mr. Hebert led the pledge of allegiance.

 

4)         Consider approved of the revised agenda, if there are any changes.

 

            Upon motion by Mr. Higginbotham, seconded by Mr. Lalande, and carried by a unanimous voice vote, Routine Item #8A was added to the agenda.

 

5)         Read and approve minutes of the December 8, 2014 board meeting.

 

            Reading of the minutes of the December 8, 2014 board meeting were dispensed (copies of minutes were sent to member prior to this meeting) and upon motion by Mr. Simar, seconded by Mr. Higginbotham, and carried by a unanimous voice vote, minutes of the December 8, 2014 board meeting were approved.

 

6)         Administer the Oath of Office to board members and secretary-treasurer.

 

            Mr. Robert Hammonds read the Oath of Office to all board members, Mr. Israel Syria, absent.

 

7)         Election of board president.

 

            Mr. Lacombe asked for nominations for board president.  Mr. Simar moved to nominate Mr. LaCombe for president and with no other nominations Mr. LaCombe was appointed board president.

 

8)         Election of board vice-president.

 

            Mr. LaCombe asked for nominations for board vice-president.  Mr. Simar moved to nominate Mr. Higginbotham for vice president and with no other nominations Mr. Higginbotham was appointed board vice president.

 

8A)       Recognize Church Point High FFA.

 

            Mr. Lyle Guidry, Church Point High FFA/Ag teacher was awarded a $5,000 dollar grant from Lowes.  The grant will be used to make improvements to the school.

 

9)         Recognize Acadia’s PCAL Bus Driver of the Year.

 

            Dora Johnson recognized Acadia’s PCAL Bus Driver of the Year Arlene Fruge.  She was presented with a plaque and jacket for her dedication.

 

10)        Recognize recipients of the Society Petroleum Engineers Science Grant Award winners from Mire Elementary.

 

            Dr. Chance introduced Mr. Hardy to present recipients of the Society of Petroleum Engineers grant awards to Mrs. DeMora and Mrs. Frelow of Mire Elementary.  They presented a robot bought with the grant to the board.

 

11)        Recognize principals selected as Acadia’s Principal of the Year.

 

            Dr. Chance introduced Mrs. Jones to recognize Acadia’s Elementary Principal of the Year, Mrs. Irma Trosclair, South Crowley Elementary.  Mr. Hardy recognized Acadia’s Middle School Principal of the Year, Mrs. Cheri Baggett, Church Point Elementary and Mr. Duplechin recognized Acadia’s High School Principal of the Year, Mr. John Prudhomme, Rayne High.  The principals were congratulated by the board and thanked them for their hard work and dedication to the parish.

 

ACTION ITEMS:

 

Consider previous recommendations of the Board and Personnel, Insurance & Curriculum committee regarding acknowledgement of Act 359 of 2014 (five point grading scale for certain TOPS courses).

 

            Upon motion by Mr. Daigle, seconded by Mr. Simar, and carried by a unanimous voice vote, the board approved acknowledgement of Act 359 of 2014 (five point grading scale for certain TOPS courses).

 

ROUTINE ITEMS:

 

Receive the annual audit report for the year ending June 30, 2014.

 

            The annual audit report was presented to the board for the year ending June 30, 2014.  Upon motion by Mr. Lalande, seconded by Mr. Suire, and carried by a unanimous voice vote, the board approved the annual audit report for the year ending June 30, 2014.

 

2)         Acknowledge the December 10, 2014 receipt of the funds and the Official Transcript of Record pursuant to the $7,358,000 of Taxable Limited Tax Bond (Qualified Zone Academy Bond).

 

            Dr. Chance acknowledged that funds have been received on December 10, 2014 and the Official Transcript of Record pursuant to the $7,358,000 of Taxable Limited Tax Bond (Qualified Zone Academy Bond).  Upon motion by Mr. Daigle, seconded by Mr. Hebert, and carried by a unanimous voice vote, the board approved acknowledgement of funds received and the Official Transcript of Record pursuant to the $7,358,000 of Taxable Limited Tax Bond (Qualified Zone Academy Bond).

 

ATTACHMENT A

 

3)         Consider receiving a report on the substantial completion of the Iota Elementary roof.

 

            Mr. Ackal reported that the roof at Iota Elementary was at substantial completion.  Upon motion by Mr. Simar, seconded by Mr. Hebert, and carried by a unanimous voice vote, the board approved substantial completion of the Iota Elementary roof.

 

4)         Consider bids received for Iota band uniforms.

 

            Dr. Chance recommended accepting bid received for 100 Stanbury uniforms with accessories for Iota High not to exceed $48,097.  Upon motion by Mr. Simar, seconded by Mr. Hebert, and carried by a unanimous voice vote, the board approved bid received for Iota High band uniforms.

 

5)         Consider approving the request from Principal, Lee Ann Wall, Iota Middle School, to attend the 2015 Annual Conference of the Association of Supervisors of Curriculum Development, Houston, Texas on March 21-23, 2015.

 

            Upon motion by Mr. Simar, seconded by Mr. Suire, and carried by a unanimous voice vote, the board approved request from Principal, Lee Ann Wall, Iota Middle School, to attend the 2015 Annual Conference of the Association of Supervisors of Curriculum Development, Houston, Texas on March 21-23, 2015.

 

6)         Consider request for field trip from Church Point High/Branch Elementary cheerleaders to attend the 2015 UCA Nationals in Orlando, FL on February 6-10, 2015.

 

            Upon motion by Mr. Daigle, seconded by Mr. Suire, and carried by a unanimous voice vote, the board approved request for field trip from Church Point High/Branch Elementary cheerleaders to attend the 2015 UCA Nationals in Orlando, FL on February 6-10, 2015.

 

7)         Consider request from Max Fontenot, Rayne High school Ag teacher, to attend UTL Education Seminar in Lisle, Illinois on January 29-30, 2015.

 

            Upon motion by Mr. Daigle, seconded by Mr. Lalande, and carried by a unanimous voice vote, the board approved request from Max Fontenot, Rayne High school Ag teacher, to attend UTL Education Seminar in Lisle, Illinois on January 29-30, 2015.

 

8)         Consider dates for next committee and board meetings.

 

            Upon motion by Mr. Simar, seconded by Mr. Higginbotham, and carried by a unanimous voice vote, committee meetings will be January 21, 2015 and the board meeting will be February 2, 2015.

 

9)         Correspondence. 

 

            Board members were given correspondence regarding the LSBA Convention to be held February 22-24, 2015 in Shreveport, La.

 

DISCUSSION ITEMS:    NONE

 

CONSENT ITEMS:

 

            Upon motion by Mr. Simar, seconded by Mr. Higginbotham and carried by a unanimous voice vote, Items Consent Items 1-3 were taken in globo.

 

1)         Receive assignments and changes of professional employees.

 

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

 

2)         Receive retirement notification of employees.

 

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

 

3)         Receive Sales Tax Report.

 

            Upon motion by Mr. Lalande, seconded by Mr. Hebert and carried by a unanimous voice vote, the board received the sales tax report which showed a year to date increase of 1.20%.

 

SUPERINTENDENT COMMENTS

 

            Mr. Bourque mentioned how nice it was to see schools applying for grants.  He congratulated the Principals’ of the Year.  He mentioned that Parent Conference Day will be held on January 20, 2015.

 

            There being no other business to come before the Board, upon motion by Mr. Simar, seconded by Mr. Suire and carried by a unanimous voice vote, the meeting adjourned at 6:09 p.m.

 

____________________________

Douglas J. LaCombe, President

ATTEST:

____________________________

John E. Bourque, Superintendent