Bogalusa School Board Office-Media Center
Bogalusa, Louisiana
Regular Board Meeting
Thursday, February 10, 2022
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 10, 2022. The purpose of the meeting is to address information received from Department Supervisors, on February 10, 2022, during the Committee Meeting, regarding updates and approval requests.
Call to Order – President Paul Kates
Pledge of Allegiance – Superintendent Lisa Tanner
Prayer – Mr. Kemp
Roll Call: X President Kates, X Vice President Creel, X Mrs. Breaux, A Mrs. Duke, X Mr. Kemp, A Mr. Killingsworth, X Dr. Williams
1.) Approval of Minutes of Regular Board Meeting January 27, 2022. It was motioned by Mr. Creel. A second was made by Mr. Kemp. The motion passed with unanimous approval.
2.) Board Office Committee Report – Mrs. Walker discussed bid opening for the BHS Track. Mrs. Breaux discussed the Personnel Meeting where they discuss Salaries, Covid Days, Extra Pay, Teacher Raises and Supervisor/Coordinator of Elementary and Secondary Curriculum.
3.) Public Session – Stephanie Warren 907 Marshall Richardson Road, Bogalusa, LA 70427 –I have worked for Bogalusa City Schools since 2017-2018. I have been personally attacked for doing my job. Since that time, I have seen high absentees and high failing grades. I have seen teachers come late, leave early and teaching just not being done. Our school district has given principals orders to transfer our students to the next grade for a more difficult subject setting. Our students are being set up for future failure and more violence in our community due to uneducated students. It has been a trend that if you do not your job and show type of care to our students you are now a target for being personally attacked. As long as you do nothing you are set up for promotions and job recognition. I feel so bad that my nephew will not graduate from the school that his mom, aunts, uncles and cousins graduated from. This is because we are fighting against our own higher ups. You have shown that Every Child Every Day does not apply to Bogalusa City Schools. I challenge you to trust the people you have hired to do THE JOB YOU HIRED THEM TO DO. Please take time to find resources to help the students of BCS to be successful and great citizens
4.) New Business
a. Approval of January, 2022 Revised Budgets, Financial 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 low bid BHS Track Replacement. It was motioned by Mr. Kemp. A second was made by Dr. Williams. The motion passed with unanimous approval
c. Approval of Covid 19/ ESSER Fund Supplement for all full time employees, $2,000. It was motioned by Mr. Creel. A second was made by Mrs. Breaux. The motion passed with unanimous approval
d. Approval to change job title from Coordinator of Secondary Curriculum and Instruction to Supervisor of Secondary Curriculum and Instruction. Mrs. Breaux stated that she has gotten several calls regarding the Secondary Curriculum Coordinator running back and telling her sister (Superintendent Tanner) everything and then the Superintendent goes back and harasses the Principal. Supervisors have told me that it is all about color, but it doesn’t matter to her what color you are and we must do what is right the children. Also it was reported that Superintendent was trying to cut out all after school programs. Mrs. Breaux then stated that Bogalusa has not had a good reputation for the last ten – fifteen years and we need to fix it. People being harassed and threatened daily must stop, no one should be threatened. She also admitted that she has changed her mind about changing Secondary Curriculum Coordinator to Secondary Curriculum Supervisor. Mr. Creel asked for some clarification between Coordinator and Supervisor. It was stated that the Coordinator gets paid less than the Supervisor but job descriptions are the same. Mr. Kates then remarked that we have had 2 people serving as Elementary & Secondary Curriculum Supervisors and we have fallen short. We were supposed to look at one Supervisor of all Curriculum and that these positions should be held by experienced individuals. Mr. Kemp stated he remembered a conversation regarding whether a coordinator was above a principal or is it a lateral move. People in the past have had a title so they could get the salary of a higher paid position. If we are going to have two curriculum positions, then they should be the same equal playing field. Maybe we should get them some more training to help them get better. It was motioned by Mr. Creel to table this item. A second was made by Dr. Williams. The motion passed with unanimous approval
e. Approval for the JROTC to travel to Daytona Beach April 13 – 16, 2022 to the National JROTC Fitness Challenge. It was motioned by Mr. Kemp. A second was made by Mrs. Breaux. The motion passed with unanimous approval
5.) Superintendent Comments- Benchmark Assessment comparisons came in today. We compared benchmark 1 to benchmark 2 and found that more students took and completed benchmark 2 and the ELA and Math scores were up, so we are making progress. We saw increases of as little as one % to 10% since the first benchmark. I attended the Superintendent’s Regional Meeting today where we discussed accountability and BESE looking to change the accountability formula. Superintendent do not want this to be changed at this time. The projection for statewide growth to Mastery was to be attained in 2025. However, during this time, we have faced many obstacles in our schools, specifically but not only COVID. Specific to the changes in the SPS formula would be the growth piece and the High School portion of the formula. They feel the growth piece is not valued as our students are compared to other students in the state when they do not meet their target growth each year. High School portion come down to ACT versus Work Keys. Students who are on a career diploma path can use the Work Keys score rather than ACT (as can other students) to get into a technical/junior college, and they perform much better on the work keys test than ACT. Tutoring has been going well at all schools. Central is averaging 75 – 80 students an afternoon while today we have 97. BHS is averaging about 135 students a day. Byrd Avenue is averaging between 36/39 a day. Their numbers are lower as they are using a curriculum the Canopy Ed Curriculum which is being funded for the Real Grant that only allows for 3 students per teacher. Next month we will recognize our teachers of the year and in April we will recognize students of the month. Progress reports go out next Tuesday. We will need to meet next week to finalize discussions regarding NSC contract renewal.
6.) Board Member Comments-Mrs. Breaux stated how disappointed she is in all of the BCS Board members in not standing up for what is right when it comes to a board member not attending meetings. He is stealing and it is not fair. If he can’t do his job he needs to chose which job he is going to keep. She will be calling John Guice to find out what can be done. Mr. Kates let Mrs. Breaux know he has been working with the board secretary on getting a new policy created regarding this. Mrs. Breaux continue stating that Superintendent Tanner is not working with BHS Principal, Eric Greely, and the black community is not happy about it. If teachers aren’t happy, let them leave. She will go to the Department of Education and make a formal complaint against this board. Deals have been made in moving employees. Mrs. Breaux was cautioned on several occasions about specifically naming employees as she made remarks concerning the “Lawnmower Man” and other individuals regarding whether they were fired, retired or get special treatment. She continued with telling everyone how much she loves this system and her whole family was educated in this system and we must all get on the same page. I want to clear my sons name and I want to know the policy on taking a day off before or after a holiday. She also wants the smoke break policy. She also stated that the people who do not do their jobs are the biggest complainers and therefore we continue to run away good teachers. She then stated that employees should never be disrespected and we need to learn to respect and love one another. Student achievement should be our biggest agenda. Teachers are a kids most valuable tool. Teachers can make a kid feel good or bad about themselves and a student’s first love is their teacher. Mrs. Breaux ended with all she is asking for is peace, love hope and togetherness. Mr. Kemp stated that this board should lead by example. Mrs. Breaux also stated that she has a problem because we do not have executive sessions so she has to discuss all this in public forum and Mrs. Pittman goes to BHS and comes back as a rat for her sister, Superintendent Tanner.
7.) Meeting adjourned
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Lisa Tanner, Superintendent Paul Kates, President