CROWLEY, LOUISIANA

MARCH 2, 2015

 

          The Acadia Parish School Board met on this the 2nd day of March 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. Simar led the pledge of allegiance.

 

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

 

            No Changes

 

            5)         Read and approve minutes of the February 2, 2015 board meeting.

 

                        Reading of the minutes of the February 2, 2015 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 February 2, 2015 board meeting were approved.

 

            6)         Recognize Students of the Year.

 

                        Mr. DeRousselle recognized students of the year and were honored with a social afterwards as follows:

 

            Dycie Claire Touchet – Estherwood Elementary

            Taylor Elizabeth Meche – Mire Elementary

             Whitney Marie Fontenot – Rayne High

 

                        The board congratulated the students on their accomplishments. 

 

            7)         Hear comments from K.P. Gibson.

 

                        K.P. Gibson, Chief of Police with the Crowley Police Dept., thanked the board for their continued support and announced that he would be running for Sheriff and looked forward to continue working with the board.

 

ACTION ITEMS:

        

1)             Policy changes as a result of legislation.

 

Upon motion by Mr. Suire, seconded by Mr. Daigle, and carried by a unanimous voice vote, the board approved policy changes to policies DE, DFD, DFE, DJE, and DJED.

 

ROUTINE ITEMS:

 

1)               Adopt the millage rates for the 2015 tax year.

 

              Upon motion by Mr. Suire, seconded by Mr. Hebert, and carried by a unanimous voice vote, the board approved to adopt the millage rates for the 2015 tax year.  Mr. LaCombe called for public comment from the audience with no response.

 

2)         Consider the recommendation of the Budget & Finance committee regarding the mid-year budget revisions for 2014-2015.

 

            Upon motion by Mr. Suire, seconded by Mr. Lalande, and carried by a unanimous voice vote, the board approved the mid-year budget revisions for 2014-2015.

 

3)         Acknowledge the Budget & Finance committee regarding granting permission to advertise for the official journal.

 

            Upon motion by Mr. Suire, seconded by Mr. Lalande, and carried by a unanimous voice vote, the board approved granting permission to advertise for the official journal.

 

4)         Consider the recommendation of the Budget & Finance committee regarding an Interagency Agreement with the City of Rayne.

 

            Upon motion by Mr. Suire, seconded by Mr. Daigle, and carried by a unanimous voice vote, the board approved an Interagency Agreement with the City of Rayne for use of a truck.

 

5)         Consider the recommendation of the Personnel, Insurance & Curriculum committee regarding the Eligibility Criterial for Head Start registration 2015-2016.

            Upon motion by Mr. Higginbotham, seconded by Mr. Daigle, and carried by a unanimous voice vote, the board approved the Eligibility Criteria for Head Start registration 2015-2015.

 

6)         Consider the recommendation of the Personnel, Insurance, and Curriculum committee regarding the name of the administrative suite at Iota High School in memory of former principal and meritorious academic leader Mr. L.M. McCrory.

 

            Upon motion by Mr. Higginbotham, seconded by Mr. Simar, and carried by a unanimous voice vote, the board approved the naming of the administrative suite at Iota High School in memory of former principal and meritorious academic leader Mr. L.M. McCrory.  The board recognized Mr. McCory’s family in the audience and his son spoke of his father’s accomplishments and thanked the board for this honor.

 

7)         Consider the recommendation of the Personnel, Insurance, & Curriculum committee regarding the proposals for ERATE-Category 2 Vendor Approval for Wireless.

 

            Upon motion by Mr. Higginbotham, seconded by Mr. Hebert, and carried by a unanimous voice vote, the board approved proposals for ERATE-Category 2 Vendor Approval for Wireless.

 

8)         Consider the 2015-2016 Head Start Budget.

 

            Dr. Easton requested the board’s consideration of approval of the 2015-2016 Head Start budget.  Upon motion by Mr. Lalande, seconded by Mr. Daigle, and carried by a unanimous voice vote, the board approved the 2015-2016 Head Start Continuing Application and 2015-2016 Head Start budget.

 

9)         Consider the request from Midland High School’s 5th grade students to visit the NASA Space Center in Houston, Texas on Friday, May 1, 2015.

 

            Upon motion by Mr. Hebert, seconded by Mr. Suire, and carried by a unanimous voice vote, the board approved the request from Midland High School’s 5th grade students to visit NASA Space Center in Houston, Texas on Friday, May 1, 2015.

 

10)        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 March 18, 2015 and the board meeting will be April 20, 2015.

 

11)  Correspondence.

 

      Board members were given correspondence regarding a thank you from the State of Louisiana Dept. of Veteran Affairs Southwest Louisiana Veterans Home to Iota Elementary School for contribution to the Adopt A Vet.

 

DISCUSSION ITEMS:    NONE

 

CONSENT ITEMS:

 

            Upon motion by Mr. Simar seconded by Mr. Lalande 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. Suire, seconded by Mr. Simar, 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. Suire, seconded by Mr. Simar, 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. Simar and carried by a unanimous voice vote, the board received the sales tax report which showed a year to date increase of 1.31%.

 

SUPERINTENDENT COMMENTS:

 

            Mr. Bourque congratulated Mr. LaCombe and Mr. Higginbotham for being elected to the LSBA board, and Irma Trosclair, Principal, South Crowley Elementary, for being finalist for Principal of the Year in the state.  He mentioned that he would be meeting with Judge Trahan and Judge Smith to discuss on truancy on Thursday.  He mentioned that Mr. Syria has been ill and wishes him well and has met with board attorney concerning his absence and appreciates the support from the community.  He mentioned that state testing is approaching and has confidence staff and students will do well.

 

            There being no other business to come before the Board, upon motion by Mr. Suire, seconded by Mr. Higginbotham and carried by a unanimous voice vote, the meeting adjourned at 5:59 p.m.

 

____________________________

Douglas J. LaCombe, President

 

ATTEST:

_____________________________

John E. Bourque, Superintendent