PROCEEDINGS OF THE SCHOOL BOARD OF THE PARISH OF CONCORDIA, STATE OF LOUISIANA, TAKEN AT A REGULAR MEETING HELD ON THURSDAY, DECEMBER 9, 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, on Thursday, December 9, 2021, at 6:00 o’clock p.m. The meeting was called to order by Mr. Fred Butcher, who, after prayer and the Pledge, declared that the Board was ready for the transaction of business.

 

Board members present were Mr. Warren Enterkin, Mrs. Dorothy Parker, Mr. Derrick Carson, Mr. Nicky Pere, Ms. Angela Hayes, Mrs. Lisette Forman, Mr. Ricky Raven, and Mr. Fred Butcher.

 

Board member absent was Dr. Raymond Riley.

 

The Board recognized the following 2021 Christmas Card Art Contest Winners:

 

Lower Elementary Schools

1st Place      Aubrey Harrell              2nd grade            Monterey High          Ms. Cloessner

2nd Place     Collins Ann Bourke      2nd grade            Vidalia Lower            Ms. Bernard

3rd Place       Michelle Augustine       2nd grade            Ferriday Lower          Ms. Smythe

 

Upper Elementary Schools

1st Place      Alina Ewing                 6th grade             CPA                         Mrs. Spinks

2nd Place     Kaelin M. Barlow          3rd grade            Monterey High          Mrs. Ganey

3rd Place      Mariah Fair                  4th grade            Ferriday Upper         Ms. Daniels   

 

Junior High Schools

1st Place      Brayden Robinson       7th grade            Monterey High          Ms. A. Smith

2nd Place      Braedyn Moss             7th grade             Vidalia Junior            Ms. Martin

3rd Place       Brayden Duplechin       7th grade             Vidalia Junior            Ms. Sandrock

 

High Schools

1st Place      Caroline Rout             10th grade            CPA                         Ms. M. Price

2nd Place     Alondra Velez-Remos 11th grade            Vidalia High              Mrs. Cooley

3rd Place      Reyna Winkler            11th grade            Ferriday High           

 

Mr. Marco Gonzalez with Volkert, Inc., who is replacing Mr. Bob Bernard, formerly with Volkert, Inc., gave an update on the Monterey High School gymnasium project.  There is an estimated completion date in June 2022.  The weather has been cooperating and materials are on hand so there is no negative news.

 

Committee Reports were presented.  (see attached)

 

It was moved by Mr. Enterkin, seconded by Mrs. Parker and unanimously carried to approve the minutes of the Special Meeting on October 26, 2021, and also the minutes of the Regular Meeting held on November 11, 2021.

 

It was moved by Mr. Enterkin, seconded by Mrs. Parker and unanimously carried to approve invoices in the amount of $6,614,047 for the month of November 2021.

 

The personnel report was available in the board members’ binders.  Mrs. Rhonda Moore was not present so Ms. Watson informed the board that the report had one change since it was presented to the committee.  It was moved by Mr. Raven, seconded by Mrs. Lisette Forman, and unanimously carried to approve the personnel report.

 

Concordia Parish School Board

Personnel Announcements

December 9, 2021

 

Leaves:

Jessica Harris, Teacher, Ferriday Upper Elementary School, return from maternity leave, effective November 1, 2021.

 

Kimberly Jackson, Principal, Ferriday High School, Family Medical Leave, effective November 4, 2021 through January 5, 2022.

 

Kimula Wallace-Turner, Teacher, Vidalia Junior High School, Family Medical Leave, effective November 29, 2021 through December 17, 2021.

 

Appointments:

Shea Boothe, Teacher, Ferriday Junior High School, effective November 29, 2021.

 

Resignation:

Cortez White, Central Office Maintenance, CPSB Central Office, effective December 10, 2021.

 

Retirements:

Richard Clark, 10 Month Janitor, Vidalia Junior High School, effective January 1, 2022.

 

 

Mr. Butcher requested that the board members take the Pupil Progression report home and read it.  They will vote on approval of the report at the next regular meeting.

 

Superintendent Watson gave an update on the ESSER Committee, noting that the RFP was in the paper.  The committee looked at the key investments that the ESSER funds can be used for. 

 

On a motion by Mr. Raven, seconded by Mrs. Forman, and unanimously carried, the board approved a letter of support for the SYRAH ITEP 10-year property tax exemption.  Mr. Butcher asked for a roll call vote.

 

Roll Call Vote:

 

            Mr. Warren Enterkin – Yea

            Mrs. Dorothy Parker – Yea

            Dr. Raymond Riley - Absent

            Mr. Derrick Carson – Yea

            Ms. Angela Hayes – Yea

            Mrs. Lisette Forman – Yea

            Mr. Ricky Raven – Yea

            Mr. Nicky Pere – ineligible to vote

            Mr. Fred Butcher – Yea

 

Motion passed with 7 Yeas and 0 Nays.

 

There was no Executive Session.

The following announcements were made by Superintendent Watson:

 

Superintendent Watson gave an update on teacher certification status. We did put some requirements in place for our uncertified teachers. As of today, we have seven teachers who have passed a part of the practice exam. That is more than the past three years combined. They all have to participate in something called 240 Tutoring at a minimum of 30 minutes a day. We tied that to their bonuses and as a result we’re seeing great progress. We did have some teachers did not pass, but we are seeing growth, 14 points, 17 points, 22 points. So that’s a start. There is a direct correlation between time spent and passing scores, and we’re seeing that and we’re excited about it.

 

Literacy – Mrs. Marsalis is spending a lot of time working on literacy. She works directly with our elementary schools and she spends a lot of time with them. On September 15th we had a Listen and Learn with our lower elementary teachers, and I did the listening and I did the learning. I wanted to find out what we need to focus on, and it was literacy. The day before yesterday Mrs. Marsalis received notice that a grant has been awarded to increase literacy in our district. I don’t know if this is the first time, but this is the first time since I’ve been in this district that we are having district funded tutoring for Ferriday Lower, Vidalia Lower, Ferriday Upper, Vidalia Upper and Ferriday Junior High School. We will provide transportation and snacks in collaboration with Food Services. This will begin in January. All the administrators are on board.

 

In addition to that, Mrs. Marsalis also spearheaded our work with NIET. We started our partnership with NIET several years ago with Mrs. Carson, and the work made such an impact that we knew we wanted to extend that. Mrs. Marsalis wrote a grant for that which has been awarded and we will be able to extend it.

Many of you are aware, and I’ve shared these numbers with you before, that in Concordia Parish most students typically take the ACT for the first time in the 11th grade, with the exception of teachers’ children and principals’ children. We met last year with some high school administrators and spent some time discussing things we would like to happen. We didn’t talk about the children at the bottom, but at the top. One thing that was discussed was that we need to get more of our 10th graders taking the ACT. We did start with our Sophomores Take Southern program, but we didn’t stop there. I wrote a competitive grant in collaboration with our administrators, which has been awarded, which will fund our 9th and 10th graders taking the ACT at no cost to the district.

 

Another highlight, back in July about the first or second week into my job I came to you and asked to start a Freshman Academy. Yes, it was premature, we did not have time to plan for it and make it all the things we need, and it was not and is not what we want it to be, so why stop there?  We have been awarded a grant in the amount of $650,000 in partnership with Warren Eastman in New Orleans to make Ferriday Freshman Academy all it can and will be.

 

In addition to that, I also want to highlight the work we are doing with the Desegregation Order. I inherited a binder with about 200 pages to be turned in to the Department of Justice. I can say today that we are about 70 percent complete with those things that have been requested since 2020. I am excited and thankful to all of you who helped make that possible. I wish to thank Sarah Caviness, who has worked many Saturdays with me to get this done, and Mr. O’Neal as well.

 

The last announcement, and we have already emailed our administrators and I want to thank you for getting the word out about the election on Saturday. I took a little road tour where I spoke in several communities about the taxes. Most of the time people link those taxes with bonuses, but the reality is we’ve gotten a gymnasium built in Ferriday, we’ve got roads done, we’ve got the Monterey gym built.  I highlight competitive grants that we received because there is something called indirect costs, which is money funneled back into our general fund so that we can continue to grow, and that itself should be celebrated as well.  So I say to my board tonight that I know sometimes we only hear all the things that Concordia is not doing, but do know there are some great people in Concordia and there are some great things going on.

 

Mr. Butcher thanked Ms. Watson, her staff and all the administrators for all that they do.

 

It was moved by Mr. Raven, seconded by Mrs. Forman and unanimously carried to adjourn at 6:42 p.m.