PROCEEDINGS OF THE SCHOOL BOARD OF THE PARISH OF CONCORDIA, STATE OF LOUISIANA, TAKEN AT A REGULAR MEETING HELD ON THURSDAY, OCTOBER 14, 2021

The School Board of the Parish of Concordia, State of Louisiana, met in Regular Session at the Concordia Parish School Board office in Vidalia, Louisiana, and via Zoom Teleconference, on Thursday, October 14, 2021, at 6:00 o’clock p.m.  The meeting was called to order by Mr. Fred Butcher who, after prayer by Mrs. Dorothy Parker and the Pledge, declared that the Board was ready for the transaction of business.

All members were present:  Mr. Warren Enterkin, Mrs. Dorothy Parker, Dr. Raymond Riley, Mr. Derrick Carson, Mr. John Bostic, Ms. Angela Hayes, Mrs. Lisette Forman, Mr. Ricky Raven, and Mr. Fred Butcher.

Via Zoom, the Board recognized the following students receiving the Sidney A. Murray Citizenship Awards in Grades 9-12:

                           Grade 9                       Grade 10                         Grade 11                  Grade 12

CPA                    Ragde Torres               Bailey Friloux                   Vania Hollins             Emma Braley

Ferriday High       Taevion Edwards         Kynah Melancon               Emmoni Ellis             Tkyah Gill

Monterey High      Tanner McClure           Reece Trisler                    Phillip Atkins             Raelin Mount

Vidalia High         Emma Faulk                Kabari Davis                    Stevie Anderson       Trinity Riley

Mr. Bob Bernard with Volkert, Inc., gave an update on the Monterey High School Gymnasium project.  He stated the project’s concrete pour date for the pad is next Thursday, October 22, and the estimated completion date of the project is May 1, 2022.

Mrs. Amanda Roberts Lemoine, a concerned parent, addressed the board with questions about students being quarantined.  Several of her concerns included proper distancing in the classrooms and the students wearing their masks correctly.  Mrs. Lemoine advocated the children being in the classrooms and learning from the teachers, not being at home after being quarantined again and again.  She said her son returned to school after 14 days of quarantine, and failed all his tests the day he returned.  Mr. Raven stated that Superintendent Watson is working on a plan for virtual learning that may address the quarantine issue.  Ms. Watson agreed.  Mr. Butcher thanked Mrs. Lemoine for bringing her concerns to the board. He let her know the board shared her concerns and would be in touch as they were exploring solutions.

Committee Reports were presented.  (see attached)

In presenting the Grounds and Building Committee report, Dr. Riley stated the committee decided to bring before the board the issue of the contract for fertilizing, aerating and weed killing of the football fields in Ferriday and Vidalia to include the Monterey High School softball and baseball fields in that contract.  Mr. Carson then asked that this item be added to the Discussion and Action section of this agenda since it was discussed last month but not voted on.  Mr. Butcher stated he would like to see this item added to the Oct 26 Special Meeting agenda.  Dr. Riley and Mr. Carson agreed.

It was moved by Dr. Riley, seconded by Mr. Raven and unanimously carried to approve the minutes of the Regular Meeting held on September 9, 2021.

It was moved by Mr. Enterkin, seconded by Mr. Raven and unanimously carried to approve invoices in the amount of $4,960,865 for the month of September 2021.

It was moved by Dr. Riley, seconded by Mr. Raven and unanimously carried to approve the following policies:

            JGCE – Child Abuse – In-service training

            GBC – Recruitment – Applications.

Dr. Raymond Riley was next on the agenda to discuss the CDC guidelines for Concordia Parish.  He asked to hear from Superintendent Watson first on the student quarantine guidelines, specifically concerning testing following quarantine.  Mr. Butcher stated we need to follow policy.  Ms. Watson confirmed the policy states 3-5 days are allowed for the children to catch up their school work before taking a test after being quarantined.  The teacher will ask if the student needs help when he/she returns to class before giving any tests that were missed. Mr. Butcher stated we may need to send out information to the parents regarding protocol for COVID and for take overs. 

Dr. Riley asked for a committee or for the superintendent to get us an idea of the pay for an Athletic Director for the same size parish we have and the same size schools because it should be per school.  Mr. Butcher stated we need to have a needs assessment done and a job description.  Mr. Carson, Mr. Raven, and Mr. Riley volunteered to serve on the committee. 

Ms. Toyua Watson, superintendent, gave an update on the LDOE Quarantine Guidelines. There has been one change, which is the parent choice option.  Under this option the parent will be informed of the situation and it will be the parent’s choice whether the child quarantines or remains in school.  The parent will have the option of a free COVID test for the child.  This will be done by our mobile unit through Tensas Community Health Clinic with the cost being paid by a grant.  The LDOE gave one guideline and the LDH gave another guideline.  Until now we have been able to say we were following the policies because they were the same.  Now they are different.  The CDC did not give a position statement nor did BESE.  LDH guidelines recommend seven days for quarantine for non-vaccinated students, and the board has already agreed to follow LDH guidelines.  Ms. Watson asked to shorten the quarantine period for non-vaccinated students to seven days with testing instead of ten days.  If results come back negative, the student can come back to school.  The results will be presented to the principal or his designee.  It was moved by Mr. Bostic, seconded by Mr. Raven and unanimously carried to shorten the student quarantine period for non-vaccinated students to seven days with testing and if the results come back negative, the student can come back to school.  The results will be presented to the principal or his/her designee the first day the student returns to school.

After discussion, Mr. Derrick Carson asked to add a review of the policy concerning discipline and the administration of discipline for physical altercations at each CPSB school to the October 26^th special meeting agenda.  It was moved by Mr. Enterkin, seconded by Mr. Raven, and unanimously carried to give the superintendent and her staff until the next meeting date of October 26 to come up with an alternative to the current policies and procedures.

Mr. Tom O’Neal, business manager, asked the board to set a special meeting for Oct. 26, 2021, to review bids for the paving project.  It was moved by Mrs. Lisette Forman, with a double second by Mr. Raven and Mr. Bostic, and carried unanimously to set a special meeting for October 26, 2021.

Mr. O’Neal explained the need for a resolution confirming an election date change for the general election property tax.  This change, due to the statewide State of Emergency caused by Hurricane Ida, moves the election date from November 13, 2021, to December 11, 2021. The resolution also establishes a new date of January 13, 2022, to canvass the returns of the election and providing for other matters in connection therewith.  It was moved by Mr. Bostic, seconded by Mrs. Parker and carried unanimously to adopt said resolution.  A roll call vote was taken.

Roll Call Vote:

            Mr. Warren Enterkin – Yea

            Mrs. Dorothy Parker – Yea

            Dr. Raymond Riley – Yea

            Mr. Derrick Carson – Yea

            Mr. John Bostic – Yea

            Ms. Angela Hayes – Yea

            Mrs. Lisette Forman – Yea

            Mr. Ricky Raven – Yea

            Mr. Fred Butcher – Yea

Motion passed with 9 Yeas and 0 Nays.

There was no Executive Session.

Mrs. Rhonda Moore presented the following Personnel Announcements:

Concordia Parish School Board

Personnel Announcements

October 14, 2021

Leaves:

Jennifer Lancaster, Teacher, Vidalia Lower Elementary School, return from maternity/extended medical, effective September 27, 2021.

Jerrell Hayes, Teacher, Ferriday High School, extended medical leave September 22, 2021 through October 1, 2021.

Jerrell Hayes, Teacher, Ferriday High School, return from extended medical leave effective October 4, 2021.

Karl Wilson, Jr., SFS Technician/ Driver, Central Administration, extended medical leave upon exhaustion of accumulated leave, effective August 4, 2021 through December 17, 2021.

Jessica Harris, Teacher, Ferriday Upper Elementary School, maternity leave, effective August 23, 2021 through October 29, 2021.

Sarah Campbell, Teacher, Monterey High School, maternity / extended medical leave for maternity upon exhaustion of accumulated leave, effective September 27, 2021 through December 3, 2021.

Appointments:

Cynthia Emanuel, Paraprofessional, Vidalia Lower Elementary School, effective October 13, 2021.

Vickie Johnson, School Secretary, Ferriday High School, effective August 27, 2021.

Darylana Cain, Interim Administrative Assistant, Ferriday Lower Elementary School, effective September 23, 2021 for the remainder of the 2021- 22 school year only.

Ruby Scott, 9 month / 2.5 hour sweeper, Ferriday Upper Elementary School, effective September 15, 2021.

Rex McCarthy, Teacher, Ferriday High School, effective September 20, 2021.

Wilton Nolan, School Psychologist, Special Populations, effective September 13, 2021.

Resignations:

Ronnie Calhoun, JAG Specialist, Vidalia Junior High School, effective September 30, 2021.

Timothy Queen, Teacher, Ferriday Junior High School, effective August 19, 2021.

Jacqueline Seltzer, Teacher, Ferriday High School, effective August 18, 2021.

Brandon Carter, 12 month Custodian, Ferriday Lower Elementary School, effective August 16, 2021.

Transfers:

Laveka Gregory, SFS Manager, Ferriday Upper Elementary School, to SFS Technician, Ferriday Lower Elementary School, effective October 1, 2021.

Mr. Bostic asked to make an announcement.  He will be resigning at the end of the month due to health issues.  Mr. Carson and Mr. Butcher, on behalf of the board, thanked him for his many years of service.

The following Announcements were made by Superintendent Watson:

Bullying Prevention and Breast Cancer Awareness is this month.   Ms. Watson asked that the board members come to the central office and vote on the posters done by students around the parish for “Be a Buddy, Not a Bully.”  There were 30 students who participated.  The winners will get to have lunch with the superintendent.  They will also record an infomercial along with Superintendent Watson and Dr. Brenda Moore about how bullying makes you feel.  Breast cancer survivors around our district are also being recognized and are being given small gifts.  We have nine survivors and we’re making sure they know we see them, we love them and we celebrate them.

Ms. Watson also made available to the board members the LEAP data for the parish.  The data is considered raw, but since it has been announced that the numbers are in, she wanted them to have it.  When the final numbers come in, she will get them to the board members so they can all go over the data together.

Ms. Watson informed the board members that this year every principal added a performance objective on their contract, just as the board added a performance objective on her contract.  Ms. Watson noted that her performance objectives are directly related to the principals’ performance objectives, which are directly related to the teachers’ SLTs.  Every principal has submitted their performance objective and it’s a great opportunity to dig through information and look at what’s working and what’s not working.  They had to do a visual of their written performance objective, and Ms. Watson invited the board members to stop by and see them. 

Another item of interest Ms. Watson shared with the board was that last year she was part of a committee made up of secondary principals that held an “opposite” meeting.  Normally administrators meet about the kids who are low-performing, but this time they met about the kids who are above average and working hard.  That meeting led Ms. Watson to do some data searching, and she found that three years ago, which was before COVID, less than 9% of our sophomores are taking the ACT test.  Since we want more sophomores taking the ACT and to be motivated as well, our group met with Southern University and they decided to assist us in school-feeding the college career children.  So we are doing something called “Sophomores take Southern.”  We are going to pay for our sophomores to take their ACTs early.  That’s $47 they can keep, and we’re going to start them in dual enrollment with one class, the fine arts class.  That’s “food” fed to them.  For every 10 students there will be one mentor. This is a community service project so we’re calling for alumni to be the mentors.  There will be prizes randomly given away:  the Bayou Classic Experience for a student and their parents to attend the game and Southern Year, where twice a year the students will meet their professors – not something that usually happens with dual enrollment classes.  This initiative is all accomplishing two things:  getting our sophomores to take their ACTs early and letting the parents know we’re trying.

It was moved by Mr. Raven, seconded by Ms. Hayes and unanimously carried to adjourn at 7:50 p.m.