PROCEEDINGS OF THE SCHOOL BOARD OF THE PARISH OF CONCORDIA, STATE OF LOUISIANA, TAKEN AT A SPECIAL MEETING HELD ON THURSDAY, JUNE 28, 2007

The School Board of the Parish of Concordia, State of Louisiana, met in Special Session at the Concordia Parish School Board office in Vidalia, Louisiana, on Thursday, June 28, 2007, at six  (6:00) o’clock P.M.  The meeting was called to order by Mr. Gary Parnham, who after prayer and the Pledge, declared that the Board was ready for the transaction of business.

Members present were Ms. Darlene Baker, Mr. Fred T. Butcher, Ms. Mary Campbell, Mr. Daryle Price, Ms. Martha Rabb, Mr. Raymond Riley, Sr., Ms. Deanie Roberts, and Mr. Gary Parnham, Sr.

Mr. Fred T. Butcher arrived at 6:04 P.M. and Ms. Baker arrived at 6:05 P.M.

Member absent was Mr. Ricky Raven.

It was moved by Ms. Rabb, seconded by Ms. Campbell and carried unanimously to enter into Executive Session at 6:04 P.M. pursuant to R.S. 42:6.1.a.(2) relative to potential litigation following written demand from Rose Tillery and other bus drivers.

It was moved by Mr. Riley, seconded by Mr. Price and carried unanimously to return to Regular Session at 6:35 P.M.

It was moved by Mr. Riley, seconded by Ms. Roberts and carried unanimously on a roll call vote to approve the resolution to request an Attorney General’s opinion concerning payments to bus drivers. 

Ms. Darlene Baker                   YES

Mr. Fred T. Butcher                 YES

Ms. Mary Campbell                 YES

Mr. Daryle Price                       YES

Ms. Martha Rabb                     YES

Mr. Ricky Raven                      ABSENT

Mr. Raymond Riley                  YES

Ms. Deanie Roberts                  YES

Mr. Gary Parnham                    YES

RESOLUTION

BE IT RESOLVED that the Concordia Parish School Board, duly convened at a special meeting held on June 28, 2007, after having given proper notice, request of the Attorney General of the State of Louisiana an opinion on the facts and issues set out herein below:

Facts

Several school buses used to transport Concordia Parish students are owned by the bus drivers as opposed to the school board. Such drivers are sometimes referred to as “owner operators”. Near the beginning of each school year, these bus drivers (owner operators) provide the school board’s transportation department with the total number of compensable miles which encompass their routes. The school board uses this mileage, represented by the drivers to be accurate, as the basis for calculating the operational expenses that are paid the drivers by the school board. Then, during the school year, the transportation department audits the bus drivers’ routes to determine whether the drivers’ records are accurate.

If, as a result of the audit, it is determined that a driver has under reported his/her miles, the school board pays additional operational expenses to the driver. However, should it be determined that the driver has overstated his/her miles, the school board adjusts the amount paid the driver to the actual mileage and seeks recovery of the overpayments. It is the school board’s understanding that such practice is consistent with the prior opinions of the Attorney General, most notably Attorney General Opinion Number 05-0448. The school board’s outside auditing firm has also noted the failure to collect past overpayments as an adverse finding in prior audits.

During the 2005-2006 school year, personnel issues including, but not limited to, illness and the eventual retirement of the transportation director impaired that department’s ability to do the actual mileage audit. The bus drivers turned in their mileage report representing the compensable miles they claimed to be driving, but the transportation department did not complete the audits within the same time lines as in previous years. An outside auditor was hired to conduct the audits. The audits were prepared but were not provided to the drivers and were not used in any way by the school system until they were provided to the drivers in April 2007.

As set out above, the audits were ultimately completed and the drivers were presented with the 2005-2006 and 2006-2007 audits in April 2007. Several meetings were then held with the drivers to discuss the route audit findings and the resulting underpayment/overpayment issues. Those drivers who had been underpaid were paid the additional sums owed them. However, there were several drivers who had been overpaid operational expenses as a result of having turned in more miles than could be justified by the audit.¹  Some of these drivers had their operational expense payments adjusted downward so that the board could recover the amounts owed before the end of the current school year. Other drivers executed promissory notes agreeing to repay the sums over an extended repayment period. Approximately five drivers, however, are resisting repayment and claim that no additional amounts are due. They are questioning the audit findings and the delay in being provided the audit results for the 2005-2006 school year.

Issues

In light of the above facts, the Concordia Parish School Board requests an opinion on the following issues:

(1)           Is the Concordia Parish School Board obligated to seek the recovery of over payments it made to certain school bus drivers or may it forego repayment if it assures that timely annual audits are conducted prospectively?

(2)           If you conclude that the board is legally obligated to collect such over payments, does the fact the board provided its drivers with two school year audits at one time (ie. delayed delivery) affect the School Board’s obligation/ability to collect such over payments and, if so, how?

(3)           For those drivers who question the amounts shown to be owed to the school board as a result of the transportation department’s audits, how should the school board proceed?

(4)           Do the requirements of Bulletin 1191 relative to measuring bus driver routes apply to special routes that vary or to additional bus runs performed at the request of the school board?

¹To give the bus drivers the benefit of the doubt, no recovery of compensation was sought if the difference in the driver’s reported miles and audited miles equated to three hundred dollars or less.

It was moved by Mr. Riley, seconded by Mr. Butcher and carried unanimously to add an item to the agenda.

It was moved by Mr. Riley, seconded by Ms. Rabb and carried unanimously that any adjustment or expense for bus drivers be frozen pending the Attorney General’s opinion.

It was requested that the Board consider an additional meeting prior to the opening of school in order to handle personnel issues.  It was agreed that the Board would meet on Thursday, August 2, 2007, at 6:00 P. M.

It was moved by Mr. Butcher, seconded by Ms. Rabb and carried unanimously to add an item to the agenda.

It was moved by Mr. Butcher, seconded by Ms. Rabb to authorize the Superintendent to give an additional day off to twelve month personnel.

It was moved by Mr. Butcher, seconded by Mr. Riley and carried unanimously to adjourn at 7:05 P.M.

______________________________              ______________________________

Mr. Gary Parnham, Board President                   Kerry Laster, Ph.D., Superintendent