BOGALUSA SCHOOL BOARD OFFICE-MEDIA CENTER
BOGALUSA, LOUISIANA
REGULAR BOARD MEETING
THURSDAY, MARCH 30, 2023
Call to Order - President Paul Kates
Pledge of Allegiance - President Paul Kates
Prayer - Dr. Laverne Cook
Roll Call: X President Kates, A Vice President Creel, X Ms. Breaux, X Dr. Cook, K Odie Hughes X Ms. Mitchell, X Dr. Williams
1. Approval of Minutes of Regular Board Meeting - February, 2023. It was motioned by Mr. Creel. A second was made by Mr. Hughes. No public comments. Deloris Walker stated there was a change to the minutes regarding Carr, Riggs and Ingram being tabled until tonight. The motion passed with unanimous approval.
2. Board Officers and Committee Reports. Curtis Creel said he called Mayor's office regarding Central Elementary and a meeting is set up for week after next with their Public Work's Director, Curtis Creel and Lesley McKinley.
3. Presentation - Carr, Riggs and Ingram - Becky Hammonds - June 30, 2022 audit report. Becky Hammond partner with Carr, Riggs the 23rd largest firm in the US. I have been doing Government Account for 22 years. I love working with Mrs. Walker and her staff She is also a graduate of BHS 1996. I am here today to present to the results of the 2022 Audit. Presentation materials were given to board members to follow along with the highlights. We give 3 opinions, well technically 4. First is the Independent Auditors report which was an unmodified clean opinion on financial statements. Second opinion is what we call Government Auditing Standards Opinion, which is a report on your Internal Control and Compliance and other matter based on our audit and we are pleased to report there are no material weaknesses in your internal controls and no incidents of noncompliance which were material to the financial statements. Third Opinion is Single Audit, which is where we audit a portion of your federal awards. Most all of your awards are passed through the LA Department of Education, but those are indeed federal. This year you have 15.1 million in federal awards. No material weaknesses in your internal controls and we were able to present an unmodified opinion on your compliance on your major federal award program. Every year we audit one of your larger dollar programs and cycle through that over three years so we are hitting all of your big dollars and then if any new smaller dollars were required to access that as well. On next page we have 2 other reports that are called Agreed Upon Procedure Reports that we have to do, one is BESE Requirements, with no exceptions and Fifth report is the agreed upon procedures for the State wide that the legislature put best practices in place. No exceptions in that report also. No management letter was required your staff does a very good job at being very organized and we have not come across any issues there. Due to this report we believe you will qualify with ASBO and the GFA Certificates. The last of the slides is just an overview of trends of the big picture of what we do for a 5-year plan. Revenues are continuing to increase and that is a good trend. General Fund balance as you can see we have had issues in past years but you guys over the course of two years have built it back up to 4.6 million with good budgeting, control and smart decisions. Liabilities is your main share of the pension liability. We would like to thank Mrs. Walker and her staff they are a pleasure to work with.
4. Patricia Keller -Mental Hygiene for School Age Children -I am the Education Committee Chair for the Washington Parish NAACP and the Youth Counsel Advisor. My background is a Clinical Nurse Specialists and my focus is on high risk families. The primary goals in the community is to promote a quality/quantity learning environment for our children. Over the last year I have been attending the school board meetings and I have heard the school board describe our system based on BESE as failing. Our school system is not failing if you look who we are compared to or who designed this system, those are selective schools and if you are not in the top 10% you cannot get in to that school. Students are only selected who test at the highest level and if they fail or fall below at any time in their education you get a letter that they cannot meet your needs. What I am most impressed with is the level of the commitment in the Bogalusa school board meeting. One of the things that were presented at the last school board meeting I think the board is taking to heart is "how can we as a board to help our students improve. One thing suggested is year round school. We already have that with summer programs that feed and educate them. Also, if there is a program where children go 9 weeks on and 3 weeks off there is no benefit. This was tried back in the 90 's in systems all around the country and they all failed. Working parents has to find somewhere or the child to go, especially in black communities because families have moved away. You can't ask grands and aunts every 9 weeks to provide a safe environment for these kids. Another suggestion was Pre-K 3 if we do not have funding we need to know how we can move forward. Also another thing we have is a perfect example from one of our administrator's grandson has his struggles with mental health and that should be our priority right now in Bogalusa, LA. We have a lot of violence these kids are dealing with. In 2021 the CDC reported that 4 in JO children felt sad and hopeless and nearly 113 experienced poor mental health. In 20211 in 5 children seriously considered attempting suicide and 1 in IO attempted suicide. So I think we have an opportunity to be proactive from the time we start engaging these kids at Pre k4 level by teaching them coping strategies so by the time they get to BHS the teachers may be able to go into classes and teach instead of having to deal with these kids with unresolved coping skills and mental health issues. Since we are an African American student body the research has showed that black students will more likely attempt suicide over all other races and ethnicity. One of the issue is a lot of people in our community do not understand mental health issues. They believe if this child has all of his physical needs being me, this child should be happy and they stigmatize children who has mental health crisis. We have to turn that around because what it does is the children do not want to admit there is a problem instead of learning to listen. In order to address poor school performance or risk taking violent behaviors we need to establish a mental health hygiene program for our students. Today I am advocating/or our students and our teachers. Another thing that I believe the School Board is looking at is a longer day from an 8 hour to a 10-hour day. Children with ADD/ADHD that is almost a lethal option for them. Why would we ask these kids to listen, listen and listen all day long when adults can't do that? In Louisiana we are rated second in the nation. This is a recipe for disaster. Thank you for looking at all of our considerations to advance our school system. Dr. Williams wanted to know if those schools you speak of are they private. Mrs. Keller gave a couple of public school names, Ben Franklin, Lutcher. Mrs. Breaux said she does not understand that because all public schools are supposed to offer affair and equal education and if it's not a private school they can't turn kids away. Yes, they have been doing for 20 years. Mrs. Breaux believes everybody looks for meds for an answer. Mrs. Breaux asked Marie Goff if this is how her department works. Mrs. Goff explained her department does not prescribe and what we have found is kids are already on medication and it is very rare to find a child not on meds and I can't speak if it is needed or not. Mrs. Breaux thanked everyone but feels we need to look at the parents because parents think it is our job to deal with these kids and I believe parents need to be educated. If the parents are not educated on mental health issues I would like to see us let them know we validate their feelings and help parents that do not understand some mental health education. Mrs. McGehee and Mrs. Goff explained that we do have social emotional coaches on staff at all schools in place this year. Mr. Hughes asked some of the names of programs that we could look into. Mrs. Keller said we must get this information out to our community. Mrs. Goff also explained that in our area we are lacking in mental health because we do not have a child psychologist on staff so they are sent out of town and our parents sometimes can't take them that is why we implemented this year the Social Emotional Learning Program. We need to communicate and explain what we have to offer. Curtis Creel asked if there is a specific program you are familiar with. Mrs. Keller said no but it sounds like we have some good things that are working but we need to let all children understand mental health is from the time they enter school, not just children in crisis, but all students know we can offer them help. Mrs. Breaux thanked Mrs. Keller and thanked her for always coming to the meetings and we thank you for being concerned about our children and our community.
5. Dr. Eric Greely-BHS Principal-I am so privilege to be principal of BHS and we currently have 722 students, 257 middle school students 467 high school students. We currently have 107 seniors. I expect 100 to graduate. Classes offered at BHS are honor classes, AP classes, Dual Enrollment Classes. BHS currently has a school performance score of a "C ". We are at the bottom but it is not an F or a D. We had an 8.1 % growth since COVID. The bulk of our growth came from the ACT index, increase number of students going Mastery and that is what we were recognized for from the State of LA. Our graduation cohort went from a "C" to a "B". This year it will be closer to an "A" or higher. With that being said, the strategies used at BHS to grow teachers and growth are working. As you know in the next 3 years a "C" will be a 70 not a 61.2. I believe we can get there. With that being said I would like to recommend some sort of block form. The first is a 4 x 4 block schedule where students take 90 minute classes every day and finish course in 1 semester, a "college schedule". The second is an AB alternating day block schedule in which students take eight 90 minute classes every other day. 91% of the teachers would like some form of block scheduling. Originally BHS was recommending a 4 x 4 block but after meeting with the central office and believe AB block is best for BHS at this time. We currently have 18 uncertified teachers. We firmly believe that with the 4-day week it will allow us to pick up certified teachers that will add tremendous value to our faculty and students. Other pros to block scheduling include students will have time engagement in class room, they can truly have hands on activities. One hour of teaching and 30 minutes for remediation to ensure students are mastering the lesson and still have time for remediation. We can work together to get it done. Safety is another approach, Fewer transitions on campus, kids will move 4 times instead of 7. This is big yall. I believe as principal that we engage kids more so in the school system because they do not have a lot outside we must bring back theatre, key club, speech and debate, Spartnettes. We have got to bring those kinds of activities back for our children. We connect to our kids through activities, then we connect them to a teacher then we can connect them to academics. If we don't we are going to have them all in the streets. We need to keep them at school. I believe AB block is the way to go. I want everyone to remember our ACT scores just came back and we have 23 students going to give us some scores. The highest score was 23. They are starting to believe in us and themselves. Mr. Hughes said our job is to make sure our kids are developing pride and making education cool and achieving high things is cool and this is the norm. Dr. Cook is so excited about this block because it will help the enthusiastic kids to get more involved Ms. Mitchell said we have got to get the right people in the right places and make sure all are held accountable. Mrs. Breaux said we must be there with the teachers all year not just during evaluation time.
6. Public Session
a. Ellen Magee, 1406 Hickory Avenue, Bogalusa, LA. I am here tonight to discuss some things yall have discussed tonight. I did not know they offered this at school because Dr. put him on medicine.
I have taken them to somewhere else and they put him on more meds. He can't sit still. If I let him get up and move around he is fine but if not his meds have worn off by lunch. My grandson has been sent to Northside and I want to know why. Mr. Kates asked that Mrs. Magee make an appointment with Ms. Mingo and she will explain. I also have another 16-year-old whose grades
are falling. The only one who knows about her is Mr. Harry. Mr. Magee said he was going to get with her other teachers and see why she had all F's. She can't go on campus but they called her to take her ACT Why can she go for ACT and not LEAP. Mrs. Breaux said it is her understanding that they should be allowed to go back for all testing. She is currently on virtual because she was removed from campus. Ms. Breaux said nothing good can come from virtual because some parents do not know how to deal with virtual lessons.
b. Pastor Willie Gallager - P.0. Box 1442, McComb, Ms New pastor at Greater Ebenezer Baptist Church. Thank you for welcoming me to Bogalusa. The school system here has great aspirations. It seems as though we have the right mind set to be able to accomplish the mission we need to accomplish as a family. So therefore I want to just let you all I am here to support or encourage
anyone in our Community. I am someone who always wants things to always get better and be better. What you all are talking about today is our future. If the individuals, we are discussing today if they do not get out and work you won't have a retirement. If they do not become law abiding citizens our community suffers. The change is not going to come from them it first must come from us teaching. So what I would like to do is be an inspiration to this community and I want the children to know we love them. I want parents to know we are here to support them. It takes a village to raise a child. This Bogalusa community needs to be the village to encourage our children to be better. Mr. Hughes said this reminds him of the old saying, "they don't care how much you know until they know how much you care. "
6. New Business
a. Approval of retirement of Superintendent Lisa Tanner effective June 30, 2023. It was motioned by Ms. Mitchell. A second was made by Dr. Cook. No public comments. The motion passed with unanimous approval.
b. Approval of Superintendent selection process & procedures. It was motioned by Mr. Creel. A second was made by Mr. Hughes. No public comments. The motion passed with unanimous approval.
c. Approval of February, 2023 Financial Statements, Revised Budgets, General Fund, Food Service, Special Revenue and School Activities. It was motioned by Dr. Williams. A second was made by Mr. Creel. No public comments. The motion passed with unanimous approval.
d. Approval to discard system wide fixed assets. It was motioned by Dr. Williams. A second was made by Ms. Mitchell. No public comments. The motion passed with unanimous approval.
e. Approval of June 30, 2022 audit report. It was motioned by Dr. Williams. A second was made by Mr. Creel. No public comments. The motion passed with unanimous approval.
f Approval/or Byrd Avenue PreK – 1st grade to travel to Hattiesburg, MS on 4121/23 to Hattiesburg Zoo. It
was motioned by Mr. Creel. A second was made by Dr. Williams. No public comments. Ms. Breaux asked why all these field trips to Mississippi and not in Louisiana. Comments were made that the students do go explore Louisiana culture, but the board does not have to approve those in state trips is why they may not be informed of such field trips. The motion passed with unanimous approval.
g. Approval for BHS 8th grade to travel to Big Play- Biloxi, MS on 5/5/2023 for end of year adventure. It was motioned by Dr. Williams. A second was made by Mr. Hughes. No public comments. The motion passed with unanimous approval.
h. Approval for BHS 6th – 12th grades PBIS- End of year Adventures to Gulf Island Water Park, Gulfport, MS 5124123. It was motioned by Mr. Creel. A second was made by Mr. Hughes. No public comments. The motion passed with unanimous approval.
10. Board Members Comments. None.
10. Adjourn
Lisa Tanner, Superintendent Paul Kates, President