BOGALUSA SCHOOL BOARD OFFICE MEDIA CENTER

1705 Sullivan Drive

Bogalusa, Louisiana

BOARD MEETING

THURSDAY, September 24, 2020

6:30 p.m.

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The Bogalusa City School Board met in Regular Board Meeting at the Bogalusa City School Board Office in the Rev. Raymond E Mims Media Center, located at 1705 Sullivan Drive, Bogalusa, Louisiana, on September 24, 2020.  The purpose of the meeting is to address information received from Department Supervisors on September 24, 2020, during the Committee Meeting, regarding updates and approval request.

1.)        Call to Order – President Paul Kates.

2.)        Pledge of Allegiance – Superintendent Lisa Tanner.

3.)        Prayer – Mr. Killingsworth.

4.)        Roll Call: _X_ President Paul Kates, _X_ Vice President Ricky Killingsworth, _X_ Mrs. Breaux, _X__ Mr. Creel, X__ Mrs. Duke, X__ Mr. Kemp, _X_ Dr. Williams

5.)        Approval of Minutes of Regular Board Meeting – August 27, 2020.  It was mentioned by Mr. Creel.  A second was made by Mrs. Duke.  The motion passed with unanimous approval.

6.)        Board Officer and Committee Report – Mr. Killingsworth requested to have a combined Finance and Personnel meeting.

7.)        Presentation of Student of the Year Awards – Central Elementary’s 5^th Grade Jadyn Godbolt.  Presentation and remarks were made by Kewanda August, Principal and Nancy Walker, Teacher.

            Bogalusa High School’s 8^th Grade Roderick Robinson. Presentation and remarks were made by Natasha Oatis, Assistant Principal and Stacy Bond, Assistant Principal.

8.)        Presentation from Northshore Community Foundation for Bogalusa Grant Award for Bogalusa High School.  Presented by Karla Moton a representative of Northshore Community Foundation.  A check in the amount of $1,000.00 was presented to Natasha Oatis, Assistant Principal of Bogalusa High School.

9.)        Recess to Public Session – None

10.)      Old Business

            a.         Approval of June 2020, Revised Finance Statements, General Fund, Food Service, Special Revenue and School Activities.  It was motioned by Dr. Williams.  A second was made by Mr. Creel.  The motion passed with unanimous approval.

            b.         Approval of August 2020 Financial Statements, General Fund, Special Revenue, Food Service and School Activities. It was motioned by Dr. Williams.  A second was made by Mr. Creel.  The motion passed with unanimous approval.

            c.         Approval of LARMA Resolution authorizing the Superintendent to sign the required Louisiana Uninsured/Underinsured Motorist Form reflecting of or rejection of Uninsured/Underinsured Motorist Bodily Injury Coverage.  It was motioned by Dr. Williams.  A second was made by Mr. Killingsworth.  The motion passed with unanimous approval.

            d.         Approval of 2020-2021 General Liability, Automobile, School Errors and Omission, Commercial Crime and Medical Professional Insurance.  It was motioned by Mrs. Duke.  A second was made by Dr. Williams.  The motion passed with unanimous approval.

            e.         Approval of Pupil Progression Plan – Lisa Tanner.  It was motioned by Mr. Creel.  A second was made by Mrs. Duke.  The motion passed with unanimous approval.

11.)      Superintendent Tanner Comments – Congratulations again to the outstanding children who earned the Student of the Year Awards.  We are blessed to have them represent our schools.  I attended the Superintendent Advisory Council in Baton Rouge were they discussed the accountability that will go before BESE.  The test assessments were waved for the 19/20 school year.  However, well will have to look at our Growth to Mastery which is uploaded to the FTP next week.  They will break the scores down by grade per student looking at points they need to grow for mastery by the 8^th Grade.   We will be looking at the with principals and teachers in a couple of weeks.   We want to make sure we all understand.  They are not going to call it a skip year because we have a year where we cannot have a test assessment, so they call it a skip year and we are going to go back to the 18/19 scores and use them to figure growth to mastery.

      A principal and leadership meeting was held today discussing the BCS has quite a few students who want to come back to school hybrid moving from virtual.  I commented to wait until January 2021 unless the child is struggling and was not able to do the work virtually.  I advised we don’t need the children to struggle but to be successful.   

      The BCS will go ahead with the hybrid children on October 5 and hybrid children will go 4 days a week.  Most school systems have already moved to 5 days a week but because they are already coming 2 days a week that will take some of the virtual issues away from those that are hybrid, so they can come Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday.  We will still keep the Wednesdays because some of our teachers are teaching virtual and face to face classes and they need that time to reach out to their students, plan, do conferencing for those who continue to do virtual.

      We also discussed, rather than waiting until January 2021, if the parent truly wants to move from virtual back face to face I will give them the opportunity to do that and to do it at the end of the 9 weeks which is November 5, which is on a Thursday, so they will do it that following Monday. 

      The form that needs to be completed to switch the student from virtual to hybrid will be at the board office.  If they want to move from virtual to hybrid at the end of this 9 weeks they will be able to do so a little bit earlier, because we want the best circumstance possible for the children.

      All virtual and hybrid student have computers and they also can use them when they return to school.

      The numbers for the students logging on virtual have gone up.  There still remains a few who have not logged on probably due to connectivity issues.  Other districts are having the same problems state wide.

      I will like to get back into the cafeteria as quickly as possible and going back to hot meals.

      BCS lost one of its student to a car accident and we (BCS) will take up money for the family.  There is also a Go- Fund Me Account setup if anyone will like to make a donation there.

12.)      Board Members Comments –  Mr. Kates congratulated the students of the year Central Elementary’s 5^th Grade Jadyn Godbolt and Bogalusa High School’s 8^th Grade Roderick Robinson for doing a job well done.  Kates stated this is what he wishes for every child in The Bogalusa City School System.  Kates wishes for every child in the system to achieve and accomplish high scholastic goals.  He hopes the two (2) students of the year encourage other students to study harder.  Kates thanked them again for their accomplishments.

      Mrs. Breaux gave congratulations to Central Elementary and Bogalusa High School Students of the Year for their accomplishment.  Breaux also questioned when will the 1^st game be?  Due to COVID-19, she is concerned about the safety of the students as well as the people.

      Mr. Creel stated he had a conversation with Todd Gigilo who will be willing to demonstrate to the students on how to make prints on a 3-D printer. Creel stated Gigilo is willing to bring his equipment, demonstrate, and teach the students free of charge.  Creel also stated regarding our school system during the pandemic, these are some trying times and we must continue to work together and work through this.

7.   Meeting Adjourn by Mr. Kates 7:15p.m.

__________________________________                                              __________________________________

Lisa Tanner, Superintendent                                                                        Paul Kates, President

The Bogalusa City School Board does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex, age, disabilities, or veteran status. We are an equal opportunity employer.