Bogalusa School Board Office-Media Center

Bogalusa, Louisiana

Regular Board Meeting

Thursday, February 25, 2021

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 February 25, 2021. The purpose of the meeting is to address information received from Department Supervisors, on February  22, 2021, 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 – Mrs. Breaux

4.)       Roll Call:  X President Kates,  X Vice President Creel,  X Mrs. Breaux,  X Mrs. Duke, X  Mr. Kemp, _X Mr. Killingsworth,  X  Dr. Williams

5.)       Approval of Minutes of Regular Board Meeting January 28, 2021. It was motioned by Mr. Creel. A second was made by Mr. Kemp. The motion passed with unanimous approval.

6.)       Board Office Committee Report – Mr. McKinley updated the status of the BHS Baseball field.  There was a delay due to the cold weather but dugouts are coming soon and bricks have been delivered.

7.)         Public Session –  

a.       Lazette Watterson, 59376 Mitchell City Rd., Bogalusa, LA –Wanted everyone to know that on behalf of the Louisiana Retired Teachers they are still working for active and retired members the cost is $15.00 a year.  Also, there are 5 board members and 3 of them are from Bogalusa and they are still meeting virtually.  She also wanted to thank Superintendent Tanner for working with her regarding her past issues with her grandson.

8.)       New Business

a.     Approval of January, 2021 Revised Budget and Finance Statements: General Fund, Food Service, Special Revenue and School Activities.  Deloris Walker, Director of Finance. It was motioned by Dr. Williams. A second was made by Mrs. Duke. The motion passed with unanimous approval.

b.    Approval for BHS Track & Field Team to travel to Mississippi on February 25, 2021 and March 19, 2021. Lisa Tanner Superintendent.  It was motioned by Mr. Creel A second was made by Mr. Killingsworth. The motion passed with unanimous approval. Please note February 25, 2021 meet was cancelled.

9.)       Superintendent Comments- We will have a Finance Committee and Maintenance and Facilities Committee Meeting Tuesday, March 2, 2021 at 5:30 p.m. at SBO.  Also, OLOA will begin Covid 19 vaccines on Tuesday, March 2, 2021. Thanked everyone for coming.

10.        Board Member Comments – Dr. Williams said he is praying that we are all good stewards of the Federal $$ that will be coming to help with the pandemic.  Mr. Kates commented that this year has been a challenging year due to Covid 19 and we are having a lot of kids failing and lots of parents not supporting the virtual learning.  Mrs. Breaux said she is not happy about kids not having internet and we are holding them hostage because they do not have internet and something needs to be done about it.  Dr. Williams thinks we should give the kids without internet first priority to summer school. Mr. Killingsworth wanted to know if we have a scheduled back to school date.  Superintendent Tanner believes it is time to go back to school and said she would have liked to start as soon as all employees have been vaccinated.  She stated she believes we need to do what is best for teachers and students and right now it appears it may not be until next school year.  Face to face is better, but only with a safe environment.  Mr. Kemp stated that St. Tammany schools have been face to face learning all along and they have a higher rate of students failing and not doing their work.  He commended Superintendent Tanner for how she has handled the pandemic thus far.  Superintendent Tanner stated that the USDOE put out a letter about SPS and testing but said that it is very vague and each state is to decide what they want to do. Louisiana is undecided at this time.  Vice President Creel said he has spoken to Bossier Parish schools and they are all over the place virtual, hybrid, fact to face and their pass fail rate is upside down. Vice President Creel asked if there would be funds coming down that we could use to create a program where kids can come in to the school and log onto their work if it is a safe and supervised location for all.  Mrs. Breaux believes that ultimately it is the parents responsibility to make sure their children are getting their work done, but still have a problem making them accountable if they do not have access to internet at their home. Mrs. Breaux stated that an employee had spoked to Ms. Day about being put on for Executive Session and she wanted to know why this wasn’t done.  Superintendent Tanner and President Kates let her know that that was not proper protocol and the employee should file a grievance.  Mrs. Breaux also wanted to know if the custodian issue at BHS had been handled because she wanted the bully handled immediately.

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Lisa Tanner, Superintendent                                                      Paul Kates, President