CROWLEY, LOUISIANA
JUNE 1, 1998
1) The Acadia Parish School Board met on this the 1st day of June 1998, at 5:00 p.m., in regular session, with President Myron Clark Hoffpauir presiding. Members present were Lyle C. Johnson, Kitty M. Valdetero, Wadie H. Bias, Woody M. Marceaux, John A. Suire, Lynn Shamsie, John H. Quebodeaux, Sr., Nolton J. Senegal, Sr., Roland J. Boudreaux, Rodney J. Trahan, Johnnie L. Smith, Charles F. Daigle, Shirley F. Vige', Dr. Robert McManus, Lynn Miller, and Secretary-Treasurer Dr. Marietta W. James.
2) Laura Stagg, LEAP student from Rayne, delivered the prayer.
3) Mrs. Pat Pinac's fourth grade LEAP class at South Crowley Elementary School led the Pledge of Allegiance; first in Spanish, then in English. They used sign language as they recited the Pledge of Allegiance.
4) Upon motion by Mr. Daigle, seconded by Mr. Vige', the agenda was revised by deleting Routine Item 3 (CONSIDER SUPERINTENDENT'S RECOMMENDATION FOR ASSISTANT PRINCIPAL AT RAYNE HIGH SCHOOL), adding Routine Item 3 (RECEIVE CARL PERKINS LOCAL APPLICATION), and adding Consent Item 7 (CONSIDER REQUEST FROM GERALDINE MIGUES, TEACHER, MARTIN PETITJEAN ELEMENTARY, FOR SABBATICAL LEAVE FOR THE 1998-99 SCHOOL YEAR FOR REST AND RECUPERATION). Routine Item 15 (CONSIDER B/F COMMITTEE'S REQUEST FOR REPORTS REGARDING GIFTED PROGRAM) was placed before Action Item 1, upon motion by Mr. Trahan, and seconded by Mr. Boudreaux. Upon motion by Ms. Valdetero, seconded by Mr. Marceaux, Mr. Johnson's name (to designate person requesting item) was added to Routine Items 15 and 16. All motions to revise the agenda were carried by a unanimous voice vote.
5) Reading of the minutes of the May 6, 1998, meeting was dispensed with (copies of minutes were sent to each member prior to this meeting) and approved as corrected on page 5 (334) (Item 4) referring to action taken later in the meeting (Item 20b), showing a motion to amend the terms of employment for the alternative principal to an 11-month position and salary indexed at 1.40 on the teachers' salary schedule, and to record Mr. Boudreaux voting yea instead of nay on page 6, item 11, upon motion by Mr. Senegal, seconded by Mr. Shamsie, and carried by a unanimous voice vote.
6) Carl LeJeune introduced School Support Employees of the Year. Vickie Broussard, teacher aide, Crowley Middle School; Mary Handy, custodian, Rayne High School; and Eddie Broussard, custodian, Central Rayne Kindergarten. These employees will compete at the state level. Mr. LeJeune also announced winners at the school level.
7) Jude Sittig and Randy Miller introduced officers of the Iota High FFA program. They briefly addressed the board, highlighting their accomplishments during the past year.
8) Rodney LaFosse introduced academic all-state football, basketball, volleyball, softball, and baseball student athlete recipients at APSB high schools.
9) Upon motion by Mr. Johnson, seconded by Ms. Valdetero, and carried by a unanimous voice vote, this item was added to recognize Stacey Hendricks. Melanie Venable introduced Stacey Hendricks, Mire Elementary fifth grade student recipient of the Louisiana Public Broadcasting's 1998 Louisiana Young Heros Award. Stacey is in the LEAP-UP program at South Crowley Elementary, maintains a 4.0 GPA, and she is one of ten Louisiana students selected by LPB to receive this award.
ROUTINE ITEM (placed out of order)
15) Bob Gates introduced Nakesla Blount, an outstanding student in the LEAP-UP program. She will travel to Cambridge England this summer to study for college credits. She addressed the board, explaining the role that LEAP-UP played in this achievement. Howard Melancon discussed the APSB gifted program. He provided statistics regarding screening of students, and enrollment by school and grade. Enrollment is currently at 109, but a significant increase is expected for next year.
Questions were raised about the testing/screening process, with some board members suggesting that participation is lacking by some public schools. Mr. Daigle motioned and Mr. Senegal seconded to hire an additional teacher for the LEAP-UP program, increase by 20% funding for materials and supplies, and provide three computers per class.
A motion to amend to add a teacher and increase supplies and equipment budget to $44,900 was made by Ms. Valdetero and seconded by Mr. Johnson. Discussion followed concerning the relatively large percentage of parochial students in the gifted program, and the process of screening public school students compared to screening parochial students for this program. Question was called by Mr. Boudreaux and carried by a unanimous voice vote. The motion to amend passed by a majority voice vote (Mr. Daigle opposed). The main motion as amended carried by a unanimous voice vote.
1) Mr. Kenneth Privat, attorney, ruled that by law a two-thirds vote does not apply to this matter and a majority voice vote may change policy regarding length of terms of Acadia board presidents and vice-presidents. Discussion followed about the merits of two-year versus four-year terms. Mr. Daigle motioned to change policy regarding the length of time a president and vice-president can serve in office from two years to four years. The motion was seconded by Mr. Miller. Discussion followed and it was pointed out that previous discussion on changing the policy was to allow presidents and vice-presidents to succeed, themselves for one two-year term. Mr. Smith offered a substitute motion, seconded by, Mr. Shamsie, to allow presidents and vice-presidents to succeed themselves for one two-year term after serving one two-year term. The substitute motion passed by a roll call vote of 9 to 6 and the following policy was approved.
YEA: Bias, Suire, Shamsie, Senegal, Smith, Daigle, Vige', McManus, Miller
NAY: Johnson, Valdetero, Marceaux, Quebodeaux, Boudreaux, Trahan
The board shall elect from among its number a president and vice-president. The president shall be elected for a two-year term and shall be allowed to succeed himself/herself once. The president shall not be elected vice-president immediately following his/her term. The vice-president shall be elected for a two-year term and shall be allowed to succeed himself/herself once. He/she may be elected president immediately following his/her terns. Should the presidency become vacant, the vice-president shall become president to serve the unexpired term.
ROUTINE ITEMS:
1) Upon motion by Mr. Senegal, seconded by Mr. Smith, and carried by a unanimous voice vote, the Superintendent's recommendation for principal at Church Point Middle School was accepted and Mr. Paul Derouselle was appointed to the position of principal at Church Point Middle School for two-years, beginning July 1, 1998, and ending June 30, 2000, (11 month position). Mr. Derouselle was recognized and commended by the Board.
At this time, Mr. Boudreaux motioned and Mr. Senegal seconded to add Routine Item l a to the agenda (AUTHORIZE THE SUPERINTENDENT TO ADVERTISE FOR AN ASSISTANT PRINCIPAL AT CHURCH POINT ELEMENTARY SCHOOL). The motion carried by a unanimous voice vote.
1a) Upon motion by Dr. McManus, seconded by Mr. Daigle, and carried by a unanimous voice vote, the Superintendent was authorized to advertise for an assistant principal at Church Point Elementary School.
2) Dr. James suggested that the index for Alternative School principal at 1.44 to be consistent with other middle or high school principals. No action was taken on this matter. Upon motion by Mr. Quebodeaux, seconded by Dr. McManus, and carried by a unanimous voice vote, the Superintendent's recommendation for principal of the APSB Alternative School was approved and Mrs. Brenda Savoie was appointed to that position beginning July 1, 1998, and ending June 30, 2000, (11 month position).
3) This item (Consider Superintendent's recommendation for Assistant Principal at Rayne High School) was removed from the agenda, and replaced with (Receive Carl Perkins Local Application).
Upon motion by Mr. Smith, seconded by Mr. Daigle, and carried by a unanimous voice vote, the Carl Perkins Local Application was received.
4) Upon motion by Mr. Quebodeaux, seconded by Mr. Vige', and carried by a unanimous voice vote, the revised Use of Facilities policy was adopted as presented at last month's meeting.
In order to allow our facilities to be used by APSB employees, particularly athletic coaches for summer camps, the following revisions to the use of facilities policy (page 232 in APSB Policy Manual) are necessary:
Group III Organizations charged for use of school facilities when admission is charged.
All APSB employees, non-profit educational, cultural, recreational, and civic groups whether in Group I or Group 11 shall be assess a fee.
Exceptions shall apply to student and parent/teacher functions when held to raise money for school-related and approved projects.
Fees may be modified for APSB employees to include only energy consumption during use of the facility. and other incremental costs incurred to conduct the activity when, in the judgment of the principal involved and the Superintendent, the youth of the community served by the Acadia Parish Schools would benefit from the proposed activities that are in keeping with the general purposes of the public schools.
5) Michael Leonards presented a report prepared by Dudley Simon, acting sales tax collector. It compared cost and net collections over the past two and one-half years by two auditing firms of the APSB.
REVENUE RECOVERY GROUP GARY LAMBERT COMPANY
YEAR COLLECTIONS COSTS % COLLECTIONS COSTS %
1996 $77,880.40 $34,243.60 43.97 $ 8,028.75 $ 2,617.78 32.61
1997 $ 60,726.76 $24,850.64 40.93 $ 50,864.77 $11,366.77 22.35
1998 $127,122.36 $58,050.93 45.66 $ 68,316.37 $24,091.68 35.27
TOTALS $265,729.53 $117,145.17 44.09 $127,209.89 $38,076.23 29.93
6) Upon motion by Ms. Valdetero, seconded by Mr. Senegal, and carried by a unanimous voice vote, the parish local personnel evaluation plan was approved.
7) Carl LeJeune presented the 1997-98 School Monitoring Program (previously distributed to each board member), and discussed the operation of this program, describing the steps involved. This was the first year of this new program.
8) Upon motion by Mr. Shamsie, seconded by Mr. Senegal, and carried by a unanimous voice vote, the Transportation/Facilities Committee's recommendation was approved and low base bid of $48,000 was awarded to EMC, Inc. for re-roofing South Crowley Elementary School cafeteria.
9) Upon motion by Mr. Shamsie, seconded by Mr. Senegal, and carried by a unanimous voice vote, the Transportation/Facilities Committee's recommendation was approved and low base bid of $15,000 and alternate of $16,000 was awarded to C & C Noel for re-roofing Estherwood Elementary main building.
10) Upon motion by Mr. Shamsie, seconded by Mr. Senegal, and carried by a unanimous voice vote, the Transportation/Facilities Committee's recommendation was approved and low base bid of $68,500 was awarded to EMC, Inc. for re-roofing the APSB central office and Title I building.
11) Upon motion by Ms. Valdetero, seconded by Mr. Senegal, and carried by a unanimous voice vote, the Board accepted the Budget/Finance Committee's recommendation and approved the IDEA application and FY99 budgets.
12) Upon motion by Mr. Senegal, seconded by Mr. Quebodeaux, and carried by a unanimous voice vote, the Board accepted the Budget/Finance Committee's recommendation and approved additional special education personnel for the 1998-99 school year (two resource teachers' positions and one speech therapist at an estimated cost to the general fund of $75,000). 13) Upon motion by Mr. Boudreaux, seconded by Mr. Marceaux, and carried by a unanimous voice vote, the Board accepted the Budget/Finance Committee's recommendation and approved Carl Perkins budget revisions.
14) Upon motion by Mr. Smith, seconded by Mr. Vige', and carried by a unanimous voice vote, the Board accepted the Budget/Finance Committee's recommendation and approved additional funding for home economics supplies ($800), and vocational equipment repairs ($1,000).
15) Taken out of order before ACTION ITEMS.
16) Upon motion by Dr. McManus, seconded by Mr. Daigle, and carried by a unanimous voice vote, the Board approved supplemental pay for coaches as proposed by the Acadia Parish Coaches Association. In lieu of August pay, high school coaches will be paid an amount equal to 1/18 of their annual compensation. Middle school coaches will receive 1/36 of their annual pay.
17) Upon motion by Mr. Daigle, seconded by Mr. Miller, and carried by a unanimous voice vote, the discipline policy revisions were approved.
18) Upon motion by Mr. Senegal, seconded by Mr. Quebodeaux, and carried by a unanimous voice vote, the Board adopted final budget revisions for 1997-98.
19) President Hoffpauir suggested that the materials for board meetings be placed in a folder and mailed to board members (three ring binders will not be used). The materials will not be duplicated for board meetings, instead members will bring mailed materials to meetings. At the meeting, new information will be provided on colored paper.
DISCUSSION ITEMS:
1) Mr. Quebodeaux suggested all performance based contracts be awarded for a maximum of two years. Discussion followed. This item will be an action item at the July meeting.
CONSENT ITEMS:
Upon motion by Mr. Smith, seconded by Mr. Quebodeaux, and carried by a unanimous voice vote, the board approved the following items:
1 Authorized the Board President and Superintendent to pay monthly bills.
2 Sales Tax Report showing a year-to-date increase of 13.71 %.
3 Approved a request from Michele L. McCallum , teacher, Church Point Elementary, for leave without pay, from 4-24-98 to 6-2-98 for medical reasons.
4 Approved a request from Marie S. Gilbert, teacher, South Rayne, for sabbatical leave for the 1998-99 school year for rest and recuperation.
5 Approved a request from Shana L. Aucoin, teacher Church Point Elementary, for sabbatical leave for the 1998-99 fall semester for rest and recuperation.
6 Approved a request from Geraldine Miques, teacher, Martin Petitjean Elementary, for sabbatical leave for the 1998-99 school year for rest and recuperation.
CLOSING:
There being no other business to come before the Board, upon motion by Mr. Quebodeaux, seconded by Mr. Trahan, and carried by a unanimous voice vote, the meeting adjourned at 9:17 p.m.
ATTEST:
Dr. Marietta W. James Superintendent