Bogalusa School Board

Bogalusa, Louisiana

Special Board Meeting

March 10, 2011

5:30 P.M.

 

Proceedings Of The Bogalusa School Board Taken At A Special Board Meeting That Was Held on Thursday, March 10, 2011

 

 

The Bogalusa School Board met in a special session at the Bogalusa School Board Office, in the Media Center, located at 1705 Sullivan Drive, Bogalusa, Louisiana on Thursday, March 10, 2011, beginning at 5:30P.M., for the sole purpose of addressing the Superintendent’s Contract.

 

1.)           Call to Order

President Paul Kates called the meeting to order at 5:30 P.M.

 

2.)           Pledge of Allegiance

Acting Superintendent Stephanie Hoppen 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 called for "Recess to Public Session."

 

5.)           Recess to Public Session

 

Mr. Bob Rogan- Mr. Rogan came forward stating, "I’m Bob Rogan.  I guess I know almost everybody in the room; but I live on Highway 21, at Lee’s Creek; and I’ve been here for forty-five (45) years.  I want to thank you for being on this Board.  I realize that this is one of the most difficult elected positions you’ve got here because I’m sure you get ten (10) complaints; for one (1) accolade. I didn’t come to bring a grievance; in fact on my card I put 'School Vision.'  I want to tell you that I am very much in support of this Board, very much.  The reason I’m here is to talk about; and I’m going to be brief, where are we going?  And, I know you all have some views of where you’re going; and all I’m trying to do is bring you a little, I hope you can say non-bias opinion.  The reason I’m here is; I’ve been involved with the WDF which is an economic development group here in the parish and I’ve been on there many years.  We’ve got a new chairman last year, Dr. Laravia; he had been here a few years; but he said look, how about the people on the Board giving me some advice about what’s keeping us from attracting more businesses; more industries and so forth; and as you would expect, what it came down to; people said we need better roads; and we need some education improvements; and you know all of this, you’ve heard all of this.  So, I ended up writing a lette and I’m going to leave a copy of it with you.  What I concluded when I looked at these schools, other schools, so forth; and so on, from a layman’s point of view, I finally concluded, it is too difficult in a small town like this to bring about a lot of change.  It’s a hard thing to do.  We know each other, we really are gracious people, we don’t like hurting other people’s feelings; that’s the kind of the characteristic of the Deep South; but at the same time, we’ve got to face up to how we are; and  I’m really here to encourage you.  I’m really here to tell you, I support change.  I’ll do everything I can to support that; but to do that, I want to give you some information; and the information is not generally positive; but you’ve heard that kind of thing before.  I’m only doing this to say hey, we’ve got a lot of upside and not too much downside.  I’m not an educato I don’t have advice about where to go; but I know we need to go; and I think you know we need to go." At that point Mr. Rogan began to explain what he had gathered.  He went on to say that the information was gathered primarily from the State Department of Education. He also stated that the top part of the information dealt with School Performance Scores. "You know, the State Board of Education provides a massive amount of information; and you all probably know almost all of this; so what I’ve tried to do is put it in a category of how we compare to those around us; so the top part is the School Performance information.  You have to understand, the State Board of Education runs about a year-and-a-half behind.  That’s the problem, they are telling us things that happen in the past.  So, this is the latest data, the 2008-2009 data; and the School Performance Scores as you know better than me, is mostly test results; but it also builds in information about the graduation rates and all that kind of thing,” added Mr. Rogan.  He then directed the Board’s attention to the top of the page of the information that was issued to them; and stated that the state average was just a number for comparison of scores that are done to the individual schools; and that the state’s average is ninety-one (91).  Mr. Rogan continued, "So, what I did was, I began to look at how we’re doing here; and you can see that; and you know because you’ve been through this Academically Unacceptable situation; and gotten out of that; we’ve gotten out of that; but you can see that we’re not doing well.  In fact, I looked at every high school in Tangipahoa, St. Tammany and Washington; and unfortunately, the Bogalusa High School has the poorest score of all those high schools.  That’s information.  That’s not an indictment, that’s information.  So, there it is.  But now let’s drop down and look at the Middle School and I looked at the scores from Franklinton, and Bogalusa Middle School; and the scores are not very appealing there either, for us.  Then, I looked at the elementary schools; and the elementary schools are close to state average.  In fact, you had two (2) schools, when this data was collected; two (2) schools got very, very high academic progress; that’s Byrd Avenue and Superior Avenue. You can see how we compare to 5th Ward; 6th Ward.  The elementary schools are competitive.  It’s an interesting thing.  Now, look at the bottom; and look at what happens as people go through the system.  You start out at an elementary score as a group, that’s pretty close to the state’s average; then as they go through the rest of the school; Middle School and High School the scores deteriorate, deteriorate, deteriorate.  I went through the parish system and saw how the scores were there.  We don’t see that.  The scores for Franklinton Elementary is comparable to the elementary over here; the high school is up in the nineties; the middle school up in the nineties; so there’re things going on.  I want to stop right here and talk about one of the reasons I am here is,  when I got these scores, I looked at this and said you know this says, a year-and- a- half ago, whenever this was, Superior Avenue was the best school in the system; and I asked a few people, what’s going on at Superior Avenue?  And they said, 'They’ve got one heck of a good Principal over there.'  And I said, 'Who’s that?' And they said, 'It’s a Ms. Ard.'  I said, ’I don’t know Ms. Ard; I’ve never met Ms. Ard; but I thought, man we need more Ms. Ards.  Then, I read in the paper, all of this what’s going on with Ms. Ard; and I thought, boy I’m missing something somewhere here; I  don’t know so, I’ll leave that lay.  But, I couldn’t imagine why we would take somebody that had the best performing school; and then went to high school and became unsatisfactory.  I’ll leave that lay."  Next, he began to give some other information based on the pictures of graduates from last year that he counted that was in the newspaper.  Mr. Rogan said that this was not from the state.  According to Mr. Rogan, there were seventy-six (76) graduates from Bogalusa High School, over two-hundred (200+) graduates from Franklinton; the parish actually had, according to Mr. Rogan, three hundred thirty four (334) graduates.  He also stated that there were nearly as many graduates at Pine, as there were at Bogalusa High School.  Continuing, he went on to say that the state gives you one dollar per pupil of expenditures in a system; and he didn’t know but he assumed that it is done the same for all the systems.  The state average, again according to Mr. Rogan, is a little over ninety seven hundred (9,700+) dollars per pupil; that’s what is spend; that’s what the state spends.  ”Look at this, Tangipahoa, eighty- two hundred ($8,200); Washington Parish System,-ninety-five hundred ($9,500); I put City of Monroe in there, just because it’s a city system, nine thousand, nine ($9,900); St. Tammany Parish, ten thousand, three ($10,300); East Feliciana, ten thousand, five ($10,500); Bogalusa City, eleven thousand, eight ($11,800). We spend more money per pupil than most systems in this state.  Now, some of it’s because it’s a little system; and we’ve got to have people; and it’s a little system.  But, what it boils down to is, we are spending a lot of money and not doing very well with it.  Now, this Board isn’t responsible for that, some of you have been on the Board a while; but this is not the Board.  To tell you the truth, this is all of us, over the thirty (30) years.  This is what happens when we all just continue down the road; figured we’d get bette figured we’d get bette and I’m as guilty as anybody; all of us are that’s been here a long time we let it go this far.  So, I’m here to tell you, I really support change; change is hard, you’ve got to think about it.  There is a lot going on in education in this country; a lot.  We probably have the best opportunity.   I think we can do this here; really we can.  So, I encourage you to do this.  I’m up here advocating for the seventy-six (76) graduates we just had; and for the seventy-six (76) that’s coming this yea and next yea and next year.  We’re not doing them right.  I’ve seen too many that couldn’t fill out a job application; they couldn’t read a tape measure.  We have got to help these folks.  I think the public is ready.  I’m with you, I support you; if there’s anything I can do to help you just call on me.  Thank you very much," concluded Mr. Rogan.  (Supporting documents are on file with the minutes).

 

There being no one else to come forward to address the Board in Public Session, President Kates resumed to special session.

 

6.)           New Business

 

A.)           Discussion of the Superintendent’s Contract

Statement from President Kates-"It’s on the table for discussion; but I want all the Board Members to know that the Superintendent did have her secretary to call me yesterday and see when the earliest I could meet with her was, and I told her when I got off from work at three-thirty. I did come down.  I met her in her office and she gave me this letter.”  President. Kates read the letter to the Board Members and the public that stated, 'To Whom It May Concern, I will be retiring as Superintendent of Bogalusa City Schools at the end of business day, March 11, 2011 for personal health reasons.  He then indicated that it was signed, Mrs. Ruth Horne.' (Supporting document is on file with the minutes). President Kates continued, ”And for that I think this Board needs to; under personnel, I’ve asked Mrs. Dillman to draw up personnel; and on the Personnel Agenda; we’re there now, I’d like to let her….(Pausing and not completing this statement).  Looking at the Board President Kates asked, ”Does anybody have anything to say?  I’d like to bring it to the public, does anybody in the public has anything to say," asked President Kates?  At this Point he turned it over to Mrs. Dillman who presented the Personnel Agenda.

 

Personnel Agenda Items

 

  1. Resolve to accept the resignation of Ruth Horne, Superintendent of Schools; effective close of business March 11, 2011.

 

  1. If so approved, grant permission to advertise for the vacant Superintendent position.

     

  1. If so approved, discuss and appoint an Interim Superintendent to fulfill the duties until the Superintendent position is filled. (Voted on Separately)

 

There was a question of whether to vote on the items separate, and President Kates stated that line items 1 & 1a would be voted on together since they were pertaining to the same thing; and line item 1b would be voted on separately.

 

It was motioned by Reverend Mims, seconded by Mrs. Duke to approve line items 1 & 1a.  The motion was carried unanimously.

 

  1. If so approved, discuss and appoint an Interim Superintendent to fulfill the duties until the Superintendent position is filled.

 

It was motioned by Dr. Williams, seconded by Vice President Kemp to approve.  The motion was carried unanimously.

 

At this point President Kates made a suggestion to appoint Mrs. Stephanie Hoppen to the position of Interim Superintendent to fulfill the duties until  the Superintendent position is filled. President Kates asked for a motion.

 

Prior to any actions, a Resolution was presented regarding the selection of   Mrs. Hoppen, as Interim Superintendent. 

Question from Mrs. Duke-"So, we have to have someone by May 2011?"

Response from Mrs. Dillman-"We’re hoping to complete the search; and  find a candidate by May 2011; however we had to write it up for a one year contract; not to exceed one year, or until a permanent Superintendent is appointed whichever is earlier.  May 2011 is just an estimate time so I can get it posted in the newspaper and do a search.”

Question from Mrs. Duke-”Okay; and, how do we have to advertise for it?"

Response from Mrs. Dillman-"We have to advertise it in The Daily News, as well as a newspaper for the metropolitan area of over one hundred thousand (100,000+); so I was going to list it in The Daily News, Times Picayune and the Advocate, so we could kind of cover our basis for this area; as well as post it on Teach Louisiana, which is a national search.  I think we can get some good candidates.  I have contact with the Department of Education, that’s helpful too as well."

 

It was motioned by Mrs. Duke, seconded by Reverend Mims, to approve the Resolution for the appointment of Mrs. Stephanie Hoppen as Interim Superintendent.  The motion was not carried at this point, resulting in a Roll Call Vote as follow:  (The (Supporting document is on file with the minutes).

 

Roll Call Vote

 

Yeas

Mr. Curtis Creel, Mrs. Eleanor Duke, Dr. Brad Williams, Rev. Raymond Mims, Vice President Mr. Adam Kemp and President Mr. Paul Kates

Nays

Mr. Calvin Hymel

 

The motion was carried 6-1

 

Statement from President Kates- "Mrs. Hoppen, congratulations as our Interim Superintendent, until we find a Superintendent.  And, also I would like to give thanks to Mrs. Ruth Horne for providing her service for the time that she spent with the system. Does anyone else have anything," says President Kates?

Question from Mrs. Duke-"Should we do like a Resolution thanking Mrs. Horne for the time that she spent, is that appropriate?"  Mrs. Dillman replied, "Yes."

 

It was motioned by Mrs. Duke seconded by Reverend Mims to send Mrs. Horne a Resolution thanking her for the time she spent with the system.  The motion was not carried at this point, resulting in a Roll Call Vote as follow: (Supporting document is on file with the minutes).

 

Roll Call Vote

 

Yeas

Mr. Curtis Creel, Mrs. Eleanor Duke, Dr. Brad Williams, Rev. Raymond Mims, Vice President Mr. Adam Kemp and President Mr. Paul Kates

Nays

Mr. Calvin Hymel

 

The motion was carried 6-1.

 

8.)           Acting-Superintendent Comments-Stephanie Hoppen

Mrs. Hoppen indicated that she had no comments.

 

9.)           Board Member Comments

 

Vice President Adam Kemp-"I want to thank Mr. Rogan for coming and bringing the information to this Board; and know that we do want change as much as you.  We need community members; and it’s going to take, not just the seven people here; but every person in the entire city to make the changes we need.  We’re encouraged by your presence and hopefully your assistance, influence, help, support and more, will help us make those changes."

 

Dr. Brad Williams-"Amen."

 

President Paul Kates-"I also would like to thank Mr. Rogan for coming and listening to us.  I know this system do need change; and we need the community involved with the things that we do in trying to move our system forward.  I want to say to everyone tonight, I kind of hate The Daily News is not here tonight to try and give us a little positive media support; but I think as we search for this Superintendent, we want to get our community involved.  I think this Board need to get together and name a committee or appoint someone from the area or who we will select to be on this committee; and when we find these applicants; and we interview them, we can have the community support; and they can sit in on the interview with them.  We will have our community involved; and they can have a little input.  I think this will bring our school system back together.  I think we’re ready to move forward; and I believe everyone on this Board wants to put children first because we want to educate children.   This is what we’re all about.  After saying that; does anyone else want to say anything," concluded President Kates?

 

Mr. Curtis Creel- "I’d like to commend Mr. Rogan for stepping up.  I’m new to the Board; but it’s not new what’s going on here. I’d just like to say that it’s going to take participation from the public to be informed; and participate in any changes that this Board chooses to institute or try to institute.  All of my kids were educated in the public school system.  They all have a college degree; and they got their mother’s smart.  Things have declined, like you said the last thirty years.  I graduated from Bogalusa High in 1969; and in the years prio and ten years after, we were up there.  I know we’ve lost a lot of good teachers over the years, to other systems because of the money; and we’ve lost a lot of students to other system for other reasons.  We need to draw that proverbial line somewhere; and take that step forward to bring this system back, because that’s what’s going to bring Bogalusa back."

 

Mr. Calvin Hymel- "Mr. Rogan again, I would like to thank you on behalf of the Board; and I want to let you know that I’m really not that negative; but I’m not scared to vote "no," if that’s what we’ve got to do to help these kids in our schools, that might be what we have to do; vote "no," because we’ve got to move forward."

 

At this point President Kates asked if there were any more comments.  There were none and the meeting was adjourned.

 

10.)         Adjourn

There being no further business or concerns to be addressed, President Kates adjourned at 6:55 P.M.

 

________________________________________________                                ____________________________________________

Ruth A. Horne                                                                                                                      Paul D. Kates

Secretary to the Board                                                                                                        Board President