Bogalusa School Board
Bogalusa, Louisiana
Regular Board Meeting
February 24, 2011
5:30P.M.
Proceedings Of The Bogalusa School Board Taken At A Regular Board Meeting That Was Held on Thursday, February 24, 2011
The Bogalusa School Board met in a regular session at the Bogalusa School Board Office, in the Media Center, located at 1705 Sullivan Drive, Bogalusa, Louisiana on Thursday, February 24, 2011, beginning at 5:30P.M., for the purpose of taking care of business
1.) Call to Order
President Paul Kates called the meeting to order at 5:30P.M.
2.) Pledge of Allegiance
Superintendent Ruth Horne led the Pledge of Allegiance.
3.) Prayer
Reverend Raymond Mims delivered the opening prayer.
4.) Roll Call
There were present: President, Mr. Paul Kates; Vice President, Mr. Adam Kemp; Members: Mr. Curtis Creel, Mrs. Eleanor Duke, Mr. Calvin Hymel, Reverend Raymond Mims and Dr. Brad Williams.
There was absent: None
At this point President Kates thanked everyone for coming out to the Board Meeting. He also welcomed them saying, ”We all are here for the betterment of our children. We’re here today; and we want to make sure that we do the right thing for our children, that we educate every child in our system; and I think that’s what this Board stands for.” Next, President Kates addressed the agenda.
5.) Presentations
School Health Advisory Council-School Wellness-Joannie Miller
"Thank you. Good evening Board Members, Superintendent and guest. We’re here tonight to present the School Wellness Policy which, we’ve been working on since the beginning of the school year. We initially had a School Wellness Policy starting back in 2006; and this will be the second revision. This is just one of our meetings where Dr. Berenson attended with us. Our vision for our School Health Advisory, which is the council that is working on the School Wellness Policy; and doing other things in our community and in the schools; our vision is: 'Enhancing our children’s physical and mental well being through physical activities, healthy eating habits and a tobacco free life style.' What we want to do with this School Wellness Policy is, connect wellness to academics. Sometimes people don’t see the connection; but there’s definitely a connection. And our action plans begin with a grant that we were awarded at the start of this school yea called Louisiana Schools Putting Prevention to Work. Our goal is to be compliant with Louisiana Act 286, in developing a School Health Advisory Council; we call it our SHAC, and to advance the level of the implementation of the federally mandated School Wellness Policy, to improve the health of our students through healthy eating, physical activities, obesity prevention and tobacco prevention. Our first objective was, by October, present to the School Board a Louisiana 100% Tobacco Free School Policy; and we did that; and it is part of our Policy Manual. Our second objective was, by the end of this school year to revise the current draft of the School Wellness Policy and to present to the School Board for approval an implementation; and that is what we’re doing tonight with approval; and then we will begin implementing in the schools. And, thirdly, we want to implement and enforce the state mandated physical activities and healthy eating policy in all of our schools," says Mrs. Miller.
Now, I’m going to introduce Marsha Culpepper, RN. She is a nurse with LSU School Health Center. She’s also on our health council. Mrs. Culpepper stated, "l went to a Childhood Obesity Conference in Baton Rouge; and what they do is, they go and collect a lot of data about our children. Louisiana got a "D" that’s not good; in physical activity and obesity. Our students are getting larger," says Mrs. Culpepper. She then began to give statics based on a graph illustration from the PowerPoint. "Our students have a problem. They are getting larger. Every month we get height; weight and calculate the BMI, just to get a grasp on what’s going on. Over the Christmas break we noticed that some of our students have gained anywhere from then (10) to twenty (20) pounds in a two week period. They don’t have enough of physical activities; they don’t get enough exercise. We have been doing this at the high school and the middle school. The high school was the first statics," added Mrs. Culpepper. Mrs. Culpepper stated that she did have statics from 2009-2010 and 2010-2011 school yea but they were not included in the slide presentation; and each year it keeps increasing. "As a result, we were working with Dr. Berenson on this and HBO came in and did a documentary on the Childhood Obesity epidemic that Bogalusa has. That’s pretty much it. They are not eating like they are suppose to; they’re not having the physical activity; and they are getting larger," concluded Mrs. Culpepper.
Next, Mrs. Lisa Murray, RN, Bogalusa City District Wide nurse stated, "Actually at the beginning of the school yea this is just a sample of Denhamtown; this is the preschoolers. As you can see thirty-one percent (31%) of the preschoolers were overweight or obese; and at Superior Avenue, I did the same thing, this is one of the K-4; you can see this is kindergarten, forty percent (40%) overweight or obese; first grade, right at forty (40); second grade went down; but you can see third grade, it was close to fifty percent (50%). In one particular classroom at Superior, out of twenty-six (26) students, seventeen (17) students were overweight or obese; so that’s what we’re looking at; and then, progressively from the Middle School and the High School it goes up and up to about sixty-five percent (65%)," concluded Mrs. Murray.
"Mrs. Miller continued stating, ’Okay, another part of our Wellness Policy is healthy eating and we have in place a School Lunch Program, a School Breakfast Program; a Snack Program; in the summer, a Summer Food Service Program; and I think at one of our meetings you mentioned that not only at Christmas; but over the summer maybe you found that they gained weight; so this may even show that they are not eating right at those times, because the weight gain increases during those periods when they are away from school. We also want to encourage staff and parents to participate in our program. With this policy we want to engage the entire community of Bogalusa to become a part of this; and that’s one of the reason we have business and community leaders on our council; because we want to engage the whole community. We also included competitive foods; and what that is, are foods and beverages offered outside of our Child Nutrition Programs. That would include concession vending, fundraisers, celebrations, rewards; all of these things under this policy, will have to meet the criteria. Now, I want to point out to you, that we are not creating any policies that are foreign to the community; or to the state or even to the country. All these policies are mandated, we just wrote the policy so that it fits our community; and it will be an involving policy. We will be working with teachers, administrators, community members, our school health nurses, etc.; and also nutrition education. Our goal is to promote healthy food and drink choices; and by that I mean ensure that all foods brought in to the cafeteria meet the USDA nutrition guideline. The cafeteria is an extension of the classroom. This is a place where students can learn. They need to learn how to be successful in life and the cafeteria, is one place that they can do that; because they can learn how to eat properly; and it also involves social behavior, which is something else we want to strive for in the cafeteria. Kids learn to eat by how they are fed; so that’s why we have a Breakfast Program, a Lunch Program, a Snack Program, and a Summer Program. We want to have successful celebrations and fundraisers. Celebrations are important. It’s important to let the students know that we are proud of their accomplishments; so when we do that, there are healthy ways to do that. There are a lot of ideas in the policy that tells you suggestions; how to celebrate. Fundraisers are critical to our schools because the Principals need ways to improve their budget; and increase their revenues; so we know how critical fundraisers are. There is also a list of green fundraisers, healthy fundraisers. We want to ensure the Healthy US School Challenge. The HUSSC application is at the state department right now for Byrd Avenue Elementary. They have been working very hard this year on accomplishing being a Gold School Award of Distinction, hopefully that will happen, by the end of the year, I believe. When students are physically active they have fewer absences; research shows us that. They have fewer behavior problems, they have more ability to focus and they tend to score higher on their test," says Mrs. Miller.
"One of the things that the grant Schools Putting Prevention to Work did was provide us funding to buy new equipment in all of our schools; and we’ve done that; and I think it’s about fifteen thousand dollars ($15,000) that we’ve put into the schools in the Health and P.E. classrooms this yea and I think it’s a wonderful opportunity for both the teachers and the students,” says Mrs. Miller. At that point, she mentioned some of the equipment that were provided through the grant, such as mats, hoola-hoops in the yard, she thought maybe weights in the yard, just to name a few. Mrs. Miller then called on Nancy Gonzales, Health and P.E. Instructor at Pleasant Hill Elementary School to share with the Board some of the things that she does with her class. Ms. Gonzales stated, ”I have been trying to put together a program; a six-week program where they use weights; and teaching them which muscles are working when they are using the weights; so the mats are actually being used for yoga and for sit-ups and push-ups; and I’m explaining to them what muscles they are using when they’re using the weights; and also explain to them the difference between cardiovascular endurance and muscular endurance. So, hopefully when they get older they will continue to follow those patterns,” says Ms. Gonzales. Next Mrs. Miller asked her to tell them about her "Report Card." Ms. Gonzales went on to say, "This is just a little program that I put together when I was teaching them how many steps and how many repetitions of certain exercises they can do every time they are working on that muscle." Mrs. Miller mentioned that there were some students of Ms. Gonzales class that were there. ”I would like to add that what we’re seeing too with these high BMIs with our students is also high blood pressure. High blood pressure goes along with the high BMIs; we’re also having students that are coming back for Type 2 diabetes. All of that can be controlled with exercising and eating right,” says Mrs. Culpepper. "Okay, that’s all we have unless you have any questions for any of the SHAC members. I’d like to have the SHAC members that are present to stand up so you can get an idea of who’s here. Also, Eleanor Duke and of course Ruth Horne, these are part of the members; and Stevie Hoppen. That’s all I have for right now. Thank you," concluded Mrs. Miller.
At this point Mrs. Duke posed a question to the alternative to selling snicker bars and that sort of thing, for fundraisers. Mrs. Miller replied, "It is difficult, and that’s why I sent to all the Principals… (Pausing and not completing the statement). In the back of this policy it talks about different ways to do snacks and parties and; then fundraisers like Sports Tournament; have some type of tournament where the kids are actually involved in doing something; like Fun Run and things like that, that can involve physical activities, Spring Yard Work, Community Job Fairs, Craft Fairs, sell Seat Cushions, Raffles, which the schools already do; selling Buttons, Gift Wrap Paper, Pens, Magazines, Frisbees, those sort of things," replied Mrs. Miller.
Special Education Monitoring-Debbie Craig
"I’m Debbie Craig and this is Tonda Collett from the Special Ed Department and we’re here tonight to report on our recent monitoring findings. I’m going to briefly go through what the findings were; and then Mrs. Collett is going to go a little bit more into detail on it. The Department of Education conducted a focused, on-site compliance monitoring of the Special Education Program during the 2009-2010 School Yea and there were findings of non-compliance in the area FAPE, which stands for Free and Appropriate Public Education and Transition Services. We were required to submit a Corrective Action Plan, which we did and we implemented. We just turned in our final packet of that, this month. They did a follow-up visit on November 29th through December 1st of last year to look at the effectiveness of our Corrective Action Plan; and they found that even though we had made improvements, we still had not done enough; and they still found some continued non-compliance in the area of FAPE. Because of that, we have submitted another plan which has been approved and we are currently implementing it. The activities included in this plan are: 1.) We are revising IEPs to correct the specific findings of the students of the folders that they monitored; 2.) We will offer compensatory education for those students at Bogalusa Middle School this summe 3.) We’re providing on-going professional development to administrators, Regular Education teachers and Special Education teachers; 4.) We’ve assigned an on-site internal monitor to review the forms that are being implemented and IEP folders, that’s what Jennifer Beninato is doing at this time, and; 5.) They also ask that we add additional staff to provide support in Science and Social Studies at Bogalusa Middle School. There were many students that were failing Science and Social Studies as well as having problems in English and math; so we have hired someone that is working with the Social Studies and Science at this point. Tonda is going to go into a bit more detail about it and then if you all have any questions on it, we’ll be glad to try and answer them," says Mrs. Craig. Mrs. Collett came forward stating, "We’d like to thank you in advance for just listening to a little brief explanation of what this report really means. First of all, when the monitors come from the State Department and they come through Special Education for this monitoring; the reason that they’re doing that is because they are looking at records of students with disabilities; and that’s who we are; but first and foremost these are Bogalusa City Schools students. So, when we receive findings and they are asking for corrections, these corrections affect Bogalusa City Schools; not just Special Education. I know Mrs. Adams said when she was here last yea she said that Special Education has become a service; it’s no longer a place, because these children where these citings were found; these children are all in regular education classrooms; they are just receiving services through Special Education. So, remembering that, we have like two thousand plus (2,000+) kids in Bogalusa City Schools. Of the two thousand plus (2,000+) students; six hundred plus (600+) have IEPs; so these are all of our students, these are not any longer Special Education students; they’re Bogalusa City Schools’ students. So, when we have a plan in place that we are trying to make improvements with, this affects everybody in the system, not just Special Education. We just wanted to make sure that everybody is clear on that. Secondly, what I want to tell you is that the first time they came in 09-10 they asked us to provide information to them ahead of the monitoring that would focus on our eighth grade (8th) students that were failing LEAP; and our sixteen year old (16) and older students who had transition plans in their IEP. Transition plans are those supports and services that kids get to prepare them for post high school; so that’s what they were looking at in 2009-2010. They came; and they reviewed records; they observed classrooms and they interviewed administration; so of all that data that they collected in 2009-2010 they cited thirty six (36) issues of non-compliance; in FAPE as Debbie referred to; and in Transition. Well, FAPE means that according to the law these students are not getting support and services to help them progress in general education; not in special education; in general education, so they were cited for FAPE; and they were cited for Transition. So, what do we have to do? We all came togethe we in-serviced; we met; we in Special Education in conjunction with the State Department, came up with a plan and we implemented it for the rest of that year. We just sent our last packet of support documentation February 15th. The monitors came back in November of 2010. This time when they came back they said…, (Pausing before completing this statement), we had an interview with them ahead of time; and they said you’ve made drastic improvements. Everything you said you were going to do for Transition, you did; so they took us out of "corrective action," for Transition, because we did what we said we were going to do; and now our children are getting the supports they need to go beyond high school; so we did really well there. They also had all of the great things that we did for FAPE issues as it related to our students that were failing eighth grade (8th) LEAP. But this time when they came back in November, they said we want you all to give us information on your students with disabilities that are failing two (2) or more subjects. So, we had to provide them with that information, before they came. Based on the information that we gave them, they chose the schools to go to. We didn’t know until the morning they got here where they were going. They went to Bogalusa Middle School; they went to Superior Avenue; and they went to Pleasant Hill, to look at folders; and records for children with disabilities that were failing two (2) or more subjects. When they went in, they did the same thing. They interviewed administration; they talked to faculty; went in to observe the classroom; and they looked at folders. Based on what they saw they found citings for twenty two (22) of the folders; out of all the folders that they saw they found issues with twenty two (22). The largest common denominator for us was behavior. They cited that our students had behavior plans that were not being implemented; and that was a denial of FAPE. Our students are open to discipline, just the same as any student if those procedures are being followed. But if they are not being followed, they cannot receive the same consequences. They have to follow the law, which is what part of our job is, to make sure that everyone is doing that; because the monitors said based on what they saw from the discipline problems, the next time that they come we may be monitored for discipline; and we’ve never been there; and if we’re to go there, all of our documentation on discipline across the board has got to be correct; and that’s a big thing that everybody has got to work on; and that’s regular education, special education, administrators, everyone in the system, to improve the discipline, that is going on in the schools. So, that’s what they looked at. There were other issues of FAPE, but the common denominator in a lot of the citings was behavio related to behavior. So, what do we have to do? Again, we have to come up with a plan. We go in and we talk to everybody in the schools. We, in conjunction with the State Department; when I say we; Special Education; but we in conjunction with the State Department develop a plan; and we have it. It has been approved and that’s why we’re here tonight because once they approve the final plan, we have to come before you and tell you what we’re doing. So, in January 2011, we started implementing this plan; and I have documentation right now, to send them for March 1st, that is probably that high, already, (Using her hand to illustrate the height). Now, we have to send in documentation just about every other month and/or quarterly through June 2012, to meet what we’ve been asked to meet in this plan. So, we have a lot of work to do between now and June 2012. But, what I want to end with is that, for us to come out of corrective action, this is an effort that will require collaboration between regular education, administration and Special Education. So, though we’re here tonight giving you a report, that came through Special Education, this report is about Bogalusa City Schools students; and what we need to do to prove, that they are getting the support from the services they need, so that they can progress in the general education curriculum; that’s where they are; and that’s the future; that’s where they are all going to be. Thanks a lot for listening to us. Are there any questions for us,” concluded Mrs. Collett?
Comment from Superintendent Horne-”I’d just like to say thank you to these ladies that are here tonight. The have worked very, very hard to improve things and try to work with our teachers in our schools so that we can get the correct process in place. I just want to thank you very much.”
Bogalusa School Board Retreat-Accountability Training Failing Schools Certificates-
Superintendent Ruth A. Horne
"Recently all of our Board Members attended a Retreat that addressed state and federal Accountability and Failing Schools; and for attending that retreat they received three (3) hours of credit; and tonight I would like to present the certificate to Board Members indicating that they have received that credit." Those receiving the certificates were: President- Mr. Paul Kates, Vice President- Mr. Adam Kemp; Members- Mr. Curtis Creel, Mrs. Eleanor Duke, Mr. Calvin Hymel, Reverend Raymond Mims; and Dr. Hubert Brad Williams. At the end of the presentation, Superintendent Horne congratulated the Board Members.
6.) Approval of Minutes of Special Board Meeting-January 4, 2011
It was motioned by Reverend Mims, seconded by Dr. Williams to approve the minutes. The motion was carried unanimously.
7.) Approval of Minutes of Regular Board Meeting-January 18, 2011
It was motioned by Vice President Kemp, seconded by Mrs. Duke to approve the minutes. The motion was carried unanimously.
8.) Board Officers and Committee Reports
There were no reports at this time.
9.) Recess to Public Session
1.) Ms. Angel Taylor-Ms. Taylor’s stated her address as 613 Mercedes, Bogalusa, Louisiana. She voiced her concern on behalf of Bogalusa Middle School. ”The discipline that goes on at school was no different than when Mr. McDaniel was there; you have to realize that. Assistant Principal Linda Moore took on a big job. She was not Assistant Principal, she was Principal. She had to deal with parents; she had to deal with students. That woman was going back and forth; but at the same token, she maintained that school. The children that were coming through that office were children that were repetitious, over and over again. Also, Bogalusa Middle School, gave their first Anti-Bullying program; and it was a success. We had people from all over to come; and listen and enjoyed our program. Our children acted excellent; they were fantastic; and I have to give it to Ms. Moore, the teachers and our students, we were very proud of them. Mrs. Duke attended and also our Superintendent. The next thing, our school does not need part-time police people on our campus. That’s the reason why you hired the disciplinary person that we have, Mr. McKinley. Mr. McKinley, so far the time he has been there, our school is cool and calm. We don’t need officers on our campus. Again, I have to commend Ms. Moore for what she has done, due to the absence of the Principal right now.” Ms. Taylor mentioned that one day Mrs. Horne was on the campus and she (Ms. Taylor) asked to speak with he she needed to show her something. She took her to the gym where the old lockers where water was running and a backdoor that needed to be repaired. "I wrote it down for Mrs. Horne, and what happened is within a couple of days that issue was solved. Also, fifth (5th) graders do not need to be on Bogalusa Middle School Campus. We have no facility for these kids. You all have to get behind closed doors and make a solution to it," concluded Ms. Taylor.
2.) Mr. Red Kennedy- Mr. Kennedy stated his address as 803 Avenue G, Bogalusa, Louisiana; also that he was the Pastor of Pleasant Hill Baptist Church. "We wish to make a public statement concerning the report in Bogalusa Daily News that the Principal of Bogalusa High School would not be rehired. It is my position and the position of my congregation in the voting block; that whatever fault and failure Ms. Ard and I have she has one overriding great thing going for her, she’s been the only administrator we’ve had in several years to bring this school out of Academically Unacceptable status. Brothers and sisters, very simple, if you enter the Kentucky Derby, you don’t shoot the prize winning race horse that brought you there. Thank you."
3.) Ms. Aline DeVault- Ms. DeVault stated her address as 747 Avenue H, Bogalusa. Ms. DeVault’s concern was regarding Ms. Ard, not being hired as the Principal at Bogalusa High School next year. "I have a granddaughter there; and believe you me; she has been to several schools. She loves the Principal. She is doing very well there; and I also have a grandson that is going to be going there next year and I want to address yall that I would love for her to stay on as Principal. She’s doing a good job."
4.) Ashley Hutchinson- Ashley Hutchinson stated her address as 1909 Dolly Avenue, Bogalusa. "I’m here on behalf of my Principal, Ms Pamela Ard. I recommend Ms. Ard not to be removed from Bogalusa High School because, me at Bogalusa High School as a junior, Ms. Ard has been very great since I have been there. As you know she got us out of AUS; that was her who did that; from the GEE test to the LEAP test to everything; she got us out of that. It was that Principal. Since I have been at Bogalusa High School from ninth (9th) grade to eleventh (11th); I’ve never had a Principal like Ms. Ard, she’s a very good Principal. At school she plays my mother role and I know from my other peers she plays their mother role too. She’s helpful; she loves her students, she’s always smiling. Of course, she’s a Principals she makes some mistakes, God is the only one that does not make mistakes; she’s going to make mistakes; but she is a very good Principal and I recommend her not to be removed from Bogalusa High School."
5.) Mr. Michael Williams- Mr. Williams stated his address as 1820 South Columbia Street, Bogalusa. "I’m glad to be here today and I want to thank you all for allowing me to speak for a few minutes. I’ve been to the Middle School a couple of times because I have children there and every time I go there I am always treated well; by your staff; and by your administration. I’ve set in classrooms; and Bogalusa as a city have some very smart talented children in our system; and they are very eager to learn; they just need a little guidance. I was very thankful that Mr. Kemp, Mrs. Duke and Mr. Kates stepped up to the plate and said, ’You know what, we have a problem,’ that’s the beginning of a solution. They didn’t bite their tongue; they didn’t go into denial. I definitely thank Mr. Kemp, because he definitely was out spoken and very professional in what he had to say, that we need to get someone there and take control of the situation. We must put the children first and I want to commend him for that. I want to say to the School Board Members here, that Ms. Moore is doing an excellent job; she has an open door policy. Mr. McDaniel had an open door policy. I had an opportunity to meet Mr. McKinley the other day and I reassured him that if my children were having a problem at the Middle School, I didn’t want him to wait for the second opportunity or the second chance, I wanted him to call me on the first time that anyone of my children were having a problem at the Middle School, because I am sending them there for an education; I am not sending there to disrupt the classroom or interfere with the learning process. I’m just saying whatever you do, be diligent, be professional about who will become the next Principal at that school, because it’s receiving all of these excellent elementary students; and by the time they get to Middle School; I looked at the Middle School Banner Roll and Honor Roll and it’s about fifteen (15) students, something is going wrong. Mr. Kemp has identified it; Mrs. Duke has identified it, we need to get together as a community and let’s solve the issue. Let’s move forward togethe and let’s have an open policy process as we decide who will be the next Principal there. Thank you," concluded Mr. Williams.
6.) Ms. Linda Moore- Ms. Moore stated her address as 528 Robert (Bob) Hicks Street, Bogalusa. "Good afternoon everybody; as you know Mr. McDaniel is out on sick leave, and I hope he does much better. I have been working myself very, very hard to maintain that school. Anybody that knows me knows that I don’t give a hundred percent (100%); I give whatever is necessary, up to a thousand or more percent (1,000). I want to thank the Board Members for sending the supervisors to the school to help me because there were three (3) weeks before I got the disciplinarian. I also disagree with the paper, we have plans in place we are going to be doing some team building; we’re going to be doing some collaboration among our teachers on this discipline issue. The other thing I want to say is; yes we do have some fifth (5th) graders; and I must say that in my humble opinion they do not fit in. They do not have playground equipment. These are babies, they want to run; they want to jump; and they want to play. We do not have a swing set; nothing for them to do; so this may be one of the things that are causing the problem. I want to thank you guys for sending Lesley McKinley, he is wonderful; and like I said changes will be made and we will be addressing this concern."
7.) Mr. Lesley McKinley- Mr. McKinley stated his address as 62225 Highway 438, Angie, Louisiana. "Good evening. I would like to thank you all for the support that you have given me at the Middle School. It is a challenge. I think the solution to the Middle School will come in phases. There are some solutions that have to be handled by School Board; there are some solutions we will deal with on the Middle School campus; and then there are other solutions that have to deal with….. (The remainder of this statement was not able to be understood). That’s not why I came before you. I came before you about the Football Coaching position at Bogalusa High School. Now, we all want to be a Lumber Jack stadium; and we all want a winne but right now those kids are two (2) months behind on off-season conditioning; because there is no coach there. Someone made a statement about Ms. Ard making mistakes and yall working with her through her mistakes. I feel that Coach Jones has made a mistake and I think it’s time for us to sit down and work with people to resolve areas of concerns that we have. One thing I’ve learned about Bogalusa; most people call it the Paper Mill Town; but this is the rumor town. And, right now I have heard so many rumors surrounding Craig Jones; so my thing is it’s unfair for him to be still in limbo; and it’s unfair to the kids; the student athletes at Bogalusa High; because we want them to be competitive; and most schools right now are in off-season conditioning drills. They’re lifting weights; they’re running; they’re getting themselves prepared for the next season; but our kids are further behind because we’re sitting in limbo. I would recommend that this Board will work with Coach Jones, whatever problems or concerns you may have with Coach Jones, work with him because the one thing I’ve seen that he has developed is a relationship with these children. I don’t think Coach Jones should be blamed for the decline in attendance at Lumber Jack Stadium on Friday nights. It’s going to take a community to get behind Bogalusa High School and Coach Jones; and come to football games, we need these kids to look up in the stand and see School Board Members; we need the community to look in the stands and see people who work at the School Board Office. We need everybody to come out and get behind these kids and I guarantee you’ll start to see a difference. Thank you," concluded Mr. McKinley.
8.) Joiya Smith- "Hello, I’m Joiya Smith and I live on 814 Saba Street, Bogalusa. I’m not really complaining, but I do have a comment. As you know our Bogalusa High School boys just won District IX-3A Champ. This is the first time that we have received this title by ourselves or anyone else. I am a student and I’m up there every day and I see people up there every day. I see some people come through; some people don’t. Our biggest problem is we feel like we don’t have community support. That is discouraging as a child, to give your heart to something and then you see nobody supports you. So, my biggest complaint is we need to get our community involved. This is kind of following what Mr. McKinley said. When you go other places you do see every body bands there; you see people in different outfits supporting their schools; we have nothing. That’s not our Principal’s fault; that’s us as a community fault; and that’s one thing I’d like to improve."
At this point President Kates stated, "I’d like to thank everyone for their comments, we appreciate it. This Board is going to work with this community and we want the community to work with this Board. We want to move forward. We want Bogalusa High School to move forward. We want Bogalusa Middle school to move forward. We want all of our elementary schools to move forward. We are in this to educate our children and it is time for all of us in this community work together. We want the media to work with us. We want the media to say positive things about our school system, which sometimes the media do not say positive things about our school system. The only thing we ever see is about Franklinton or other schools; but Bogalusa has positive things too. And we’re asking you, Mr. Meek, sometime give us a positive feedback," says Mr. Kates.
Comment from Reverend Mims-"Somebody mentioned the football team, I don’t care who the coach is this Board is going to have to give a coach some Assistant Coaches. One man can’t do it by himself, he needs some help. Whatever it is; whatever those coaches positions are those people needs to bring in some help and they need to be able to bring in people. I guess; if there’s anyway possible they need to bring in people they know that they can work with also; and that is something we should consider."
Comment from Mr. Hymel- "All other school does that. When they hire a head coach they let them bring in some help. We haven’t at Bogalusa High School in years and years and years. And. I’m telling you that’s the only way. You’ve got to give a coach a chance; and if you don’t let him get some help you’re looking for a failure. I’m not going to vote on anybody to be a new head coach; or Coach Jones or anybody else if you’re not going to give him some help; it’s not fair."
Statement from President Kates- "And on the coaching issue, we will get ready to resolve that real soon."
At this point President Kates addressed the remainder of the agenda.
10.) Old Business
A.) Grant permission to issue $.10 cents per mile, per day retroactive to all Bogalusa City Schools bus drivers, effective February 1, 2011 thru May 31, 2011.
It was motioned by Reverend Mims, seconded by Mr. Hymel to grant permission. The motion was carried unanimously.
B.) Grant permission to hold a Special Board Meeting, following the Committee Meeting on Monday, March 28, 2011 to accept bid regarding repair of the interior of Bogalusa High School Auditorium
It was motioned by Mrs. Duke, seconded by Mr. Hymel to grant permission. The motion was carried unanimously.
C.) Grant permission to authorize Fauntleroy Latham Weldon Barre to advertise for bids for Bogalusa High School Lobby and upstairs restrooms
It was motioned by Dr. Williams, seconded by Mrs. Duke to grant permission. The motion was carried unanimously.
D.) Approval of School Wellness Policy for Bogalusa City Schools.
It was motioned by Vice President Kemp, seconded by Reverend Mims to approve. The motion was carried unanimously. (Supporting document is on file with the minutes).
E.) Grant travel permission for Ms. Debbie Craig, Ms. Tonda Collett and Ms. Keri King to travel to Phoenix, Arizona to attend the LRP Conference, on April 29-May 5, 2011.
It was motioned by Reverend Mims, seconded by Dr. Williams to grant permission. The motion was carried unanimously. (Supporting documents are on file with the Auditors Records).
F.) Approval of General Fund, Food Service and School Activities Financial Statements for January 2011 and Revised Budgets.
It was motioned by Reverend Mims, seconded by Mrs. Duke to approve. The motion was not carried unanimously at this point). (Supporting documents are on file with the Auditors Records).
Statement from Mr. Walker- "Mr. Kates in your folders also I put a report from Teachers Retirement and Louisiana School Employees Retirement. I want you to look at those reports, to let you know that next fiscal year retirement is going up again. We are paying twenty-point, two percent (20.2%), it’s going to be going up to twenty three-point, seventy percent (23.70%) for 2011-2012; and also for School Employees Retirement it’s going from twenty four-point, three zero percent (24.30%) to twenty eight-point, six percent (28.6%). If you look at the total figures, I have given you, this year we are going to spend approximately close to seven hundred thousand ($700,000) just on teachers from this year and also an additional fifty-four thousand ($54,000) on schools. These are rough figures, these are not exact. Next year, we are going to see an increase in schools approximately forty-three thousand or forty-four thousand ($43,000 or $44,000); and in teachers, right at four hundred eighty-five thousand ($485,000). Together that’s over a million plus ($1,000,000+) over the Fall budget for the new fiscal yea so I’m just asking the Board just to be mindful when we are making decisions. We need to sit down and look at our budget; because were going to have to look at some…..(Pausing and not completing this statement). "Didn’t we have some additional million dollars expense to the Board, from the state," asked Reverend Mims? Mrs. Walker’s response was, 'Yes sir.' Superintendent Horne confirmed to what Mrs. Walker stated. ”And, we don’t know exactly what Group Insurance is going to do; you know we didn’t see an increase last year but I’m thinking we might see a slight increase this year. Also, with MFP, we haven’t received our two-point, seventy-five percent (2.75%) increase; and you know that the State Superintendent is not recommending that increase…(At this point Superintendent Horne added, ’For three (3) years’). So, I just want to let you know we’re not getting any additional Revenue in right now and also we’re getting cuts from the state on different programs. I just want us to be mindful. If we go forward with Northside and Superior, you know that bid is looking at about one-point, two million ($1.2,000,000). We’re looking at doing the auditorium at high school, we’ve received figures on that, that’s possibly, two hundred thousand ($200,000); plus you have another item on here we don’t even have the figure on yet, item ”C,” to do the bathroom in the front lobby. So, I just think we need to be mindful, look at our budget; and when we’re doing our staffing and etc., for next year, we just need to be mindful. If we’re looking at hiring Principals or we’re looking at hiring additional personnel, we just need to be mindful. Also, I did include in your packet the additional report from Food Service and School Activities. And, a copy of High School that Work that Mr. Kemp had asked me to make a copy of," concluded Mrs. Walker. "This is one thing I will ask the Board to consider setting aside some funds so we can start this program,” says President Kates. When asked by Mrs. Walker if it was for this year’s budget or next year’s, President Kates replied, ”I think we want to try and do it for next year. I have to call them, SREB, to see when is the quickest they can come in and do the retreat for us.
The motion made by Reverend Mims, seconded by Mrs. Duke to approve the Financial Statements and Revised Budgets was carried unanimously.
G.) Grant permission to discard additional System Wide Fixed Asset.
It was motioned by Mrs. Duke, seconded by Reverend Mims to grant permission. The motion was not carried unanimously at this point. (Supporting documents are on file with the Auditors Records)
Statement from Mrs. Walker- "I want to add one thing on Fixed Asset Policy; we will be going out to the schools. In this policy you will see that, remember I mentioned to you several months ago that we were going to try to put together a policy that was stringent; and now we’re going around checking classrooms, checking schools, making sure that equipment is in place; and now you’ll see on part of that policy that, if we can’t find that; and we find out that it wasn’t really stolen it was just misplaced or not attended to there is going to be some penalties; monetary assignments will be placed on that employee, or whomever throughout the district, so that’s in the policy now. I will get around to the schools, Joanna and I will be going around explaining these new policies to the personnel so they won’t say they don’t know." "And will the system have to pay for it," asked Reverend Mims? "No, the employee will. If we do a police report and find out that it was stolen, we will pay for it; but some items that come up we try to track them down and have signed documents saying that they were in their classroom or wherever and it’s not there, that’s costing the district money because when the state come down and do their auditing and their monitoring; and it comes up missing the School District’s General Fund has to pay that money back; so what we’re trying to do is be proactive in this and hopefully this will eliminate the problems we’re having with Fixed Asset," concluded Mrs. Walker.
The motion by Mrs. Duke, seconded by Reverend Mims to grant permission was carried unanimously.
H.) Grant travel permission for Mr. Milton Gholar to travel with a group of students to Orlando, Florida, on May 5-8, 2011.
It was motioned by Reverend Mims, seconded by Mr. Hymel, to grant permission. The motion was carried unanimously. (Supporting documents are on file with the Auditor’s Records)
I.) Grant travel permission for Mr. Darren Williams to travel with a group of students to Washington, DC, on April 22-29, 2011
It was motioned by Reverend Mims, seconded by Mrs. Duke, to grant permission. The motion was carried unanimously. (Supporting documents are on file with the Auditor’s Records)
J.) Approval of Memorandum of Agreement Point of Dispensing Site between Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals, Office of Public Health and Bogalusa City School District, regarding Emergency Preparedness
It was motioned by Dr. Williams, seconded by Vice President Kemp to approve. The motion was carried unanimously. (Supporting documents are on file with the minutes)
11.) Personnel
SUPERINTENDENT’S RECOMMENDATIONS:
HIRE:
Teachers:
Byrd Avenue Elementary School
Mechele Barnes Frazier - 4th Grade Teache Effective hire date: January 24, 2011; Filling-in for a teacher on sabbatical leave; Type B Certificate
Bogalusa Middle School
Stephanie Sandrock - 5th Grade Teache Effective hire date: January 31, 2011; Filling-in for a teacher on sabbatical leave; Type B Certificate
Substitutes:
Substitute Teacher(s)
Ashley Douglas
Carla Stribling
Substitute Para-professional(s)
Yolanda Robinson
Substitute Custodian(s)
Toby Byrd
Rickey Owens
Substitute CNP Technician(s)
Shannon Dillon
Contracts
Recommendation to accept request made by Theresa King, Bogalusa New Tech High School, to be returned to last teacher position she obtained tenure or to one comparable, upon expiration of her current contract (06/30/2011).
Positions
If recommendation to accept employee request listed above is approved, request permission to advertise Bogalusa New Tech High School Principal position.
Permission to advertise for Bogalusa Middle School Principal. (Tabled)
Request to contract services for 2 Police Officers (1 - to be stationed at Bogalusa Middle School and 1 - to be stationed at Bogalusa High School) (Tabled)
Resignations
1.) Willie Jenkins- Resignation due to retirement; Effective date May 31, 2011.
Adoption of New/Revised Policies
DIC- Inventories (revised)-(Supporting document is on file with the minutes).
Summary of revision: The policy was revised to include detailed procedures for requests to permanently transfer or dispose of assets, requests to temporarily remove or repair movable property, physical inventory requirements, liability of identified asset responsible party, and textbook/materials procedures.
GBRK- Annual Leave (revised) - (Supporting document is on file with the minutes).
Summary of revision: The policy was revised to clarify timeframe in which eligible employees shall be allowed to carry a maximum total of fifteen annual leave days to the next calendar year.
GBA - Employment Contracts and Compensation (revised) - (Supporting document is on file with the minutes).
Summary of revision: The policy was revised to provide timeline in which an eligible employee shall be allowed to provide notification of an awarded advanced degree and compensation adjusted according to the salary schedule for the advanced degree or training. If notification is not received by November 1st, the increase in pay shall not take effect until the beginning of the next school year following notification.
DDB - American Recovery and Reinvestment Reporting Requirements (new) (Supporting document is on file with the minutes)
Summary of revision: Adoption of this policy will ensure compliance of the Federal American Recovery and Reimbursement Act of 2009 and require the School Board to submit quarterly reports on the use of Recovery Act funds to the Federal government.
In the absence of Mrs. Dillman, Superintendent Horne presented the agenda, noting that there were some additions and deletions. President Kates stated, "In position number two (2) and number three (3) under Positions, we want to disregard those, remove them or table them. I need a motion to table them."
It was motioned by Reverend Mims, seconded by Dr. Williams to table line items numbers 2 & 3, under Positions. The motion was not carried unanimously at this point.
Question from Mrs. Duke- "On number three (3), we’re not going to advertise for that at all?" "Not at this present time. You want to discuss it," replied President Kates? "No, If we need them, we will,” asked Mrs. Duke? "Yes, we’ll bring them back. We’re just tabling them for tonight," replied President Kates. Mrs. Duke continued, "I’m in favor of it providing we don’t need them now. What if we need them?" "We’ll bring them back to the table,” says President Kates. "Because, I want the children at Bogalusa Middle School to be safe," says Mrs. Duke.
Statement from Mr. McKinley- "Mrs. Duke and to the Board, they are making periodic checks to the school throughout the day. Every hour-on-the-hour, there is an officer that comes on the campus to be visible and that has helped tremendously too. And, if we can do that without having to hire someone, I think that would be effective, because they are making their presence known,"
The motion by Reverend Mims, seconded by Dr. Williams to table line items numbers 2 & 3, under Positions, was carried unanimously.
It was motioned by Dr. Williams, seconded by Reverend Mims to approve the remaining items on the Personnel Agenda. The motion was carried unanimously.
12.) Executive Session
It was motioned by Mrs. Duke, seconded by Dr. Williams to enter into the Executive Session. The motion carried unanimously.
Employee Grievance
Personnel Concern
Returning to the Media Center, President Kates stated, "Coming back to the table, we’re out of Executive Session. We did discuss two (2) issues; and our Superintendent will take care of one; and we want to go, on the record, the system still has a coach, until June 30, 2011; that’s when his contract ends; so we still have a Football Coach," says President Kates.
13.) Superintendent Comments-Ruth A. Horne
"I received some information from the Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness. This is concerning our bid on the hardening for our windows and doors at our schools; and they have put what they call Phase I out for bid; and those bids will be turned in by March 21st. Then it goes into the second phase after that; so this is the process; and this is to get hardening for our windows and doors."
Next, Superintendent Horne read a Proclamation, signed by Richard Thomas regarding Career Technical Education. The Proclamation designated February 1-28, 2011 as Career Technical Education Month. (Supporting document is on file with the minutes).
14.) Board Members Comments
Mrs. Eleanor Duke- "I’d just like to comment on Mrs. Miller and Mrs. Culpepper presentation. They did an excellent job."
Vice President- Mr. Adam Kemp- "The Special Ed Directors when they presented, one of the things they said that I found was very interesting and important was that students with disabilities can be disciplined. They have to have their certain safeguard, through a behavior plan and those behavior plans also have to be through the administration of every school; and those regular education teachers that are teaching those students have to be a part of implementing and planning that behavior plan; so they’ll know what they’re to do in that regular classroom. So, if the regular teacher is an active part of helping plan intervention strategies to help identify specific behavior concerns; they can be disciplined as long as you follow that plan. So, Special Ed students can be disciplined, but you just have to go through those safeguards; and everybody should do that."
Dr. Brad Williams- "On the words of Ms. Gladys Sampson, a highly regarded retired Principal, used to say, 'You can be smart or not so smart; but you will behave.' On the same note, the School Wellness Policy that they presented; Mrs. Miller and Mrs. Culpepper, earlier, I was wondering does the kids dress out in Middle School?" The response was not surely stated. Dr. Williams continued, "I stress this because too, if the kids are doing some good physical activity, it’ll help them get some of this extra stress out of them. I like this nutritional information that we got and if we can implement this with doing some organized physical activity like this at Pleasant Hill School and the other schools can implement these things; and make it mandatory. In my dad’s class, unless you were quite sick, or some ailment, you would dress out and you would do P.E."
Mr. Calvin Hymel- "New Tech at Northside, they said they don’t have much equipment. Can we at least see about what we need to do about getting them some equipment?” ”Yes, we’ll ask the Superintendent to look into that," replied President Kates.
President- Mr. Paul Kates- "I would like to congratulate our Basketball Coach, Mr. Martin for winning the District Champion; and have a playoff game tomorrow night Friday; and I’m asking The Daily News to please ask our community to come out and support the Bogalusa Lumber Jacks. This is his third (3rd) consecutive year going to the playoff, and I think all of us in this community need to support the Lumber Jacks. Do anyone have anything else?" There was nothing else.
15.) Adjourn
There being no further comments or business to be addressed, President Kates adjourned at. 7:10P.M.
_____________________________________________ ____________________________________________________
Ruth A. Horne Paul D. Kates
Secretary to the Board Board President