Bogalusa School Board Office-Media Center

Bogalusa, Louisiana

Regular Board Meeting

Thursday, April, 28, 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 April 28, 2022. The purpose of the meeting is to address information received from Department Supervisors, on April 25, 2022, during the Committee Meeting, regarding updates and approval requests.

 

Call to Order – President Paul Kates

 

Pledge of Allegiance – Superintendent Lisa Tanner

 

Prayer – Mr. Adam Kemp

 

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

 

1.)       Approval of Minutes of Regular Board Meeting March 31, 2022.  It was motioned by Dr. Williams. A second was made by Mr. Creel. The motion passed with unanimous approval.

 

2.)       Board Office Committee Report – Mr. Creel gave a report on the status of the BHS Track and Portable Building status.

 

3.)   Public Session –

a.     Taryn Spikes, 725 Mississippi Avenue, Bogalusa, LA - Wanted to start with letting everyone know how much she loves and cares for Mrs. Breaux.  Ms. Spikes wanted to say her child is a straight A student and when her child reported to her that the teacher was using the “N” word repeatedly in class she immediately called the SBO and Superintendent Tanner responded quickly and Dr. Greely also called her. The teacher called me and the conversation got heated so I hung up.  I immediately called Mrs. Breaux and she said for me to meet her at the SBO.  The tape was reviewed and it showed the teacher lied.  The teacher was placed on leave, but will return to teaching and my daughter is frightened to go to school. President Kates ask Ms. Spikes to call Superintendent Tanner and set up a meeting and try to get this resolved.

b.     Roniqua Watkins, 707 Mississippi Avenue, Bogalusa, LA - Mrs. Breaux is great and I am a proud 1992 graduate of BHS and I am highly educated, angry and combative.  Founded on right of properly respecting authority, accountability and ownership.  Transparency is very important and Superintendent Tanner does work hard on our behalf.  School Board Members need to recognize we are in the bottom percentile of the state.  Our schools look like institutions instead of schools.  We need more community involvement.

c.     Marlaina Addison, 1110 Founders Drive, Bogalusa, LA -  Mrs. Addison is here to speak again on the lack of recess and socialization of students.  This topic weighs heavy on my heart and I am speaking for all students in our community.  Thirty minutes for lunch and bathroom break for big kids and 15 minutes for the little kids is just not enough. This is going on everywhere and children are just not learning the socialization skills they need.

d.     Shakemia Miller, 1725 Charlevoix Street. Bogalusa, LA -  How can we hire someone with a disability and the elevators are broken so he cannot attend meetings because he can get to the second floor.  There are also students with disabilities who are not able to access areas without the elevator.  Ms. Walker said they elevators are being looked at and fixed.

e.     Rhonda Arinde – 826 East 7th Street, Bogalusa, LA – I am the NAACP second vice president and I am here to represent concerned citizens in Bogalusa and we want everyone to know Mrs. Breaux is great and we want to make sure the issue of disrespect has been taken care of.  Mrs. Breaux needs to be apologized to and members of the School Board need to learn how to agree to disagree and leave personal issues at the door.  Mrs. Breaux needs an apology and she needs to be respected and we need to all come together for the children. Board needs to come together as one and I Mrs. Breaux should be respected for her opinion.

 

4.)     New Business

a.     Approval to distribute Sales Tax Excess Checks to all fulltime employees. It was motioned by Mr. Creel. A second was made by Mr. Kemp. The motion passed with unanimous approval. No public comments.

b.     Approval of March, 2022 Revised Budgets, Financial Statements, General Fund, Food Service, Special Revenue and School Activities. It was motioned by Mr. Kemp. A second was made by Mrs. Duke. The motion passed with unanimous approval. No public comments.

c.     Approval to adopt millage rate for the tax year 2022.  President Kates read the resolution and a roll call vote was taken as follows: Breaux Y, Duke Y, Kemp Y, Creel Y, Killingsworth Y, Williams Y, Kates Y.  It was motioned by Mr. Creel. A second was made Mr. Kemp. The motion passed with unanimous approval. No public comments

d.     Approval of SWYFT Connect to lease a 20 x20 piece of property at BHS for fiber connection.  There are many questions to be answered regarding this so a vote was taken to table this item at this time. Roll Call vote as follows: Breaux N, Duke N, Kemp N, Creel N, Killingsworth N, Williams N, Kates N. Roniqua Watkins had a lot of questions regarding the contract of SWYFT.  Mr. Killingsworth &Mrs. Gill answered most of her questions.  Roniqua Watkins asked that the board not pass this without doing further research.  The motion failed.

e.     Approval to discard Fixed Assets. It was motioned by Dr. Williams. A second was made by Mr. Killingsworth. The motion passed with unanimous approval. No public comments

f.      Approval of Plan D of City of Bogalusa School Board Redistricting Proposal based on 2020 Census Data as presented and recommended by Marshall (Buddy) Jenkins, Washington Parish Election Commission Chairman. It was motioned by Mr. Kemp. A second was made by Mrs. Duke. The motion passed with one no vote. Roll Call vote as follows: Breaux N, Duke Y, Kemp Y, Creel Y, Killingsworth Y, Williams Y, Kates Y. No public comments.

g.     Approval for BHS Seniors to go to Margaritaville Resort in Biloxi, MS, May 2 - 3, 2022. It was motioned by Mr. Creel. A second was made by Mr. Kemp. The motion passed with unanimous approval. No public comments

h.     Approval to hold both Committee & Board Meetings on Monday, May 23, 2022 @ 5:30 p.m. It was motioned by Mr. Creel. A second was made Mrs. Duke. The motion passed with unanimous approval. No public comments.

 

3.)       Superintendent Comments – So very proud of our BHS Track Team representing BHS at State.  Testing is going well.  We rescheduled Student of the Year for next month.  Graduation is May 12th and Senior Honors Night is May 10th. If board members are interested in going to Southern Region Leadership Conference please get with Ms. Day so she can handle hotel and registration.

 

4.)   Board Member Comments-Mrs. Breaux thanked everyone for coming and for their interest in recess and the elevator issues.  She also stated that she to is a part of this board and you all do not have to agree with me but we certainly need to learn how to agree to disagree.  We never resolve problems and we need to address the good the bad and the ugly. Franklinton is passing.  I am concerned about all races. I try to help anybody, no matter what their race is.  I have seen employees leave BCS because they are afraid of retaliation.  I have witnessed first hand retaliation from supporting the civil rights.  I gave my childhood up to support civil rights.  My mother was beaten and abused while she fought for our civil rights.  All white people are not the same.  Everything my mother did was to make it better for everybody.  The board knows the issues and they do not stand up.  I pledge my loyalty to this community and I will stand alone, if needed.  God has his hand on my back.  I will no longer speak to anyone on this board.  I choose not to speak.  We have not had an executive session in 4 years.  Thank you all for coming.

 

5.)   President Kates asked for any further comments, there were none.  Meeting adjourned

 

_____________________________________                 ___________________________________

Lisa Tanner, Superintendent                                                      Paul Kates, President