Bogalusa School Board Office-Media Center
Bogalusa, Louisiana
Regular Board Meeting
Thursday, July 30, 2020
5:30 p.m.
The Bogalusa School Board met in a Regular Board Meeting at the Bogalusa City School Board Office Media Center, located at 1705 Sullivan Drive, Bogalusa, Louisiana, on July 30, 2020. The purpose of the meeting is to address information received from Department Supervisors, on July 27, 2020, during the Committee Meeting, regarding updates and approval requests.
1.) Call to Order – President Paul Kates
2.) Pledge of Allegiance – Superintendent Lisa Tanner
3.) Prayer – Mr. Killingsworth
4.) Roll Call: X President Kates, X Vice President Killingsworth, X Mrs. Breaux, X Mr. Creel, Mrs. Duke, X Mr. Kemp, X Dr. Williams
5.) Approval of Minutes of Regular Board Meeting June 25, 2020. It was motioned by Mr. Kemp. A second was made by Mrs. Duke. The motion passed with unanimous approval.
6.) Student of the Year – 12th grade – No show
7.) Board Office Committee Report – Mr. Kates ask for a motion to add $750k Revenue Anticipation Loan to Item F of the Agenda. It was motioned by Mr. Creel. A second was made by Dr. Williams. The motion passed with unanimous approval.
8.) Public Session –
Ellen Magee, 1406 Hickory Avenue, Bogalusa, LA 70427 – Prays children will go to school. Too many days on virtual calendar.
Madie Bolton, 600 Bracos Street, Bogalusa, LA 70427 – Originally signed up for virtual learning for her child but prefers for classroom learning. Would like the schools to start later for the safety of the all.
9.) New Business
a. Approval of June, 2020 Revised Budgets and Financial Statements; General Fund, Food Services, Special Revenue and School Activities. It was motioned by Dr. Williams. A second was made by Mr. Kemp. The motion passed with unanimous approval.
b. Approval of Policy Update: 2020, Equal Opportunity Employment, Title VII Employee Sexual Harassment, Title IX Sexual Harassment, Non-Title IX Complaints and Grievances, Investigations and Sexually Related Student Misconduct. It was motioned by Mr. Kemp. A second was made by Mr. Creel. The motion passed with unanimous approval.
c. Approval of 2020-2021 School Calendar revision later start to school year. Superintendent Tanner explained there are two calendars: Calendar #1 has the children starting school after Labor Day, September 8, with no Fair Holiday or Mardi Gras Holidays and school would end on June 11th. Calendar #2 starts August 31st which gives us another week and we would get out of school June 7th with no Fair Holiday, Mardi Gras Holiday and 2 days taken from Christmas Holidays ending school on June 7h. 60.7% of the staff voted for Calendar 2. BHS will take in earlier and they will get out at 3:05. Byrd Avenue and Central start arriving at 7:55 with BHS start arriving at 7:45. BHS will be taking in before the elementary schools. The school days are not any longer. BHS will let out at 3:05 which allows to pick up at High School first and then proceed to elementary schools. We will meet required minutes with both calendars.
Roll Call Vote as follows:
Calendar 1: Y – Kates, N – Killingsworth, N – Breaux, Y – Creel, N – Duke, Y – Kemp, N – Williams N-4 Y-3
Calendar 2: N – Kates, Y – Killingsworth, N – Breaux, N – Creel, Y – Duke, N – Kemp, Y – Williams N-4 Y-3
Since there was a tie President Kates called to for Calendar 1. Beginning September 8th ending June 11th.
d. Approval of policy revisions to Bulletin 741 per BESE. It was motioned by Mr. Creel. A second was made by Dr. Williams. The motion passed with unanimous approval.
e. Approval to sale Pleasant Hill School to Northshore- Charter School at the appraisal price, with agreement to pay up to $5,000.00 for engineering costs. It was motioned by Dr. Williams. A second was made by Mrs. Duke. The motion passed with unanimous approval.
Roll Call Vote as follows:
Y – Killingsworth, Y- Breaux, Y – Creel, Y – Duke, Y – Kemp, Y- Williams, Y – Kates
f. Approval of Revenue Anticipation Loan. It was motioned by Mr. Creel. A second was made by Mr. Kemp. The motion passed with unanimous approval.
Roll Call Vote as follows:
Y – Killingsworth, Y- Breaux, Y – Creel, Y – Duke, Y – Kemp, Y- Williams, Y – Kates
10.) Superintendent Tanner Comments – I would like to reassure everyone about the virtual learning: We are currently preparing to begin meeting with the parents and the students in order to teach them how to log on and use the chrome books. They will be given technical numbers they can call for assistance with technical issues. There will be minutes in the first part of the day while we are doing breakfast where students can have the teacher contact technology department. Chrome books and back packs have been purchased for every student. The back packs are to make transporting the Chrome Books easier and to protect the Chrome Books. We found out today that Howard, the company we ordered from, and manufacturer is Lenovo and it appears we along with 9 other districts in Louisiana ordered computers, chrome books and tablets from this company and they are coming from overseas. It has arrived on US soil but due to the US Department of Commerce linking forced child labor in manufacturing the chrome books and the tablets. In your folder is the letter from Lenovo in your folders. I was also on a webinar with our BESE member with people from the Governor’s Office at which time I broke in to their conversation and they had a conversation with the President after lunch, not sure what is going to happen but Lenovo assures they can get them but it will take them 4 to 5 weeks to deal with folks in the US. We have also called those companies telling them we only need this many, we are a small network. We are waiting for a phone call now to see what is currently available. They may be a bit more expensive but that is where we are right now. I received a phone call from the Governor’s Office at 5:15 to let us know they are working on it and it is unfortunate but that is the way it is. No payment made until you receive the merchandise. Also we have been out in the community SUDO ad with the help of Mrs. Tonyah Jefferson because we are concerned with connectivity not only will we have cradle points up our schools that or open and closed where parents will be able to go to but you will also have a list of businesses with WiFi, that I will put on our website, that our students can use. Greater Ebenezer Church will also be added to this list. We also have talked to the Mayor and we will be able to use City Hall Wi-Fi. We are working with businesses all over town and we will identify them all for connectivity. We are still running low on our Pre-K Registration. Send out a JCall to parents to let them know if they know of anyone they will be able to meet at Byrd Avenue next week between the hours of 8 and 3 to get registered. That will be put on our FB page and Website as well. Because we are delaying the start of school we are going to start Summer Feeding again on August 10th. CNP Managers think we should go ahead and start feeding since we are starting late. I will confirm and put the information out on the upcoming Grab N Go. Thank you
11.) Board Comments – Dr. Williams thanked everyone for coming with their concerns and for entrusting us with your children. Adam Kemp said he would like to mimic what Mrs. Breaux said earlier about increasing the daily minutes so they can get out the same as always. Mrs. Breaux commented that there were people in the system who are not being fair and allowing personalities to get in the way of good judgement and decisions. She said she was going to call the Ethics Board in Baton Rouge and report it. She said she was not going to do it anonymously she is going to tell them exactly who was calling. She also made comments that she does not believe that schools are ready to open and we are jeopardizing the health of the children and faculty and that is why she voted no on both calendars. She also asked if she could review the calendar minutes to see if school could let out earlier than June 7th and/or June 11th.
12.) Meeting adjourned by Mr. Kates
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Lisa Tanner, Superintendent Paul Kates, President