PROCEEDINGS OF THE SCHOOL BOARD OF THE PARISH OF CONCORDIA, STATE OF LOUISIANA, TAKEN AT A SPECIAL MEETING HELD ON THURSDAY, JUNE 18, 2015.

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 18, at 6:00 P.M.  The meeting was called to order by Mr. Raymond Riley, who after prayer and the Pledge, declared that the Board was ready for the transaction of business.

Members present were Mr. Ronnie Bradford, Mr. Warren Enterkin, Ms. Cheryl Probst, Mr. John Bostic, Mr. Jeffery Goodman, Mr. Rickey Raven and Mr. Raymond Riley, Sr.

Mr. Fred T. Butcher arrived at 6:04 p.m.

Member absent was Ms. Mary Campbell.

The We Care group spokesperson, Bishop Justin Conner, stated that the group has some concerns about the Ferriday Schools.  Bishop Conner has concerns about the below average reading ability of the students in the Ferriday area schools.  He asked the board members for help in establishing a bi-racial committee to help address these concerns.  He also asked the superintendent if there is a three to five year action plan in place to improve test scores and students’ performance.

The Superintendent stated that there is an action plan but, there have been a lot of changes from the state department since 2012 regarding performance-based tests.

Bishop Conner asked if the school board could bring back the ROTC program for the junior high and high school, along with the Accelerated Reading program.  If possible, he would like to see changes made at the Concordia Education Alternative Center to include stricter rules/regulations that would make students want to stay in the regular school setting rather than to go to the CEC.

Mr. Riley stated that he had previously spoken with Bishop Conner to approve for Mr. James E. Lee to also speak on behalf of We Care.

Mr. James E. Lee stated that the We Care education sub-committee would like to see the goals of the three to five year action plan for each school in Ferriday.  He stated that the sub-committee wanted to participate in planning activities to help address the goals of the action plan.  He also asked the superintendent to meet with them as soon as possible.  The We Care group asked to be placed on the agenda each month to give committee report updates.

Mr. Riley thanked the We Care group for their presentation.

Mr. Paul Cangemi, representative for the Vidalia parents, asked the superintendent to reverse his decision to transfer Mr. Rick Brown from Vidalia High School to Ferriday Lower Elementary School.  He stated that Mr. Brown was reassigned to Ferriday Lower Elementary after 17 years as principal at Vidalia High School. He also stated that Mr. Brown had a couple more years before retirement.  Mr. Cangemi asked could Dr. Nelson be removed from the position of superintendent.

Mr. Cangemi asked the board if the moves Dr. Nelson made were justified. He asked that the board look into the transfers to see if they were in the best interest of the students.  He wanted to know if the board was included in making these administrative transfers.  He did not believe that everyone agrees with   Dr. Nelson’s decisions.   Mr. Cangemi was concerned that all of the Louisiana educational state standards were not being followed and began to say how it is expected that a superintendent should be ethical.  Mr. Raymond Riley, board president, interrupted and told him he had crossed the line. 

Mr. Jon Guice, school board attorney, told Mr. Cangemi when it comes to the personnel decisions, the superintendent has the authority to make those decisions.  Mr. Guice also stated that the power to move personnel rests solely with the superintendent and that the board could not interfere.

Board member Mr. John Bostic said Dr. Nelson had input from his educational team and concerns from board members before making any transfer decisions.  Mr. Bostic stated that although the board did not make the final decisions, they had concerns that were brought to the superintendent before the decision was made. 

Board member Mr. Rickey Raven stated he had never brought forth a concern.   

Mr. Bostic replied “I know better than that”, to Mr. Raven.

Board member Mr. Fred T. Butcher moved to take Mr. Cangemi’s concerns under advisement.

Mr. Butcher also stated that the board needed to assess cost of the programs identified by the We Care group.

Board president Mr. Raymond Riley stated that the decisions regarding the transfers have been made and will stand for this school year and there’s nothing that the board can do about it.

There were no Announcements.

It was moved by Mr. Butcher, seconded by Mr. Bradford and carried unanimously to adjourn at 6:55 P.M.

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Paul E. Nelson, Ph.D., Superintendent                           Raymond Riley, Sr., Board President