PROCEEDINGS OF THE SCHOOL BOARD OF THE PARISH OF CONCORDIA, STATE OF LOUISIANA, TAKEN AT A REGULAR MEETING HELD ON THURSDAY, JANUARY 13, 2022

 

 

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, January 13, 2022, at 6:00 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.

 

The Honorable Andy Anders, Concordia Parish Clerk of Court, was present and administered the Oath of Office for Mr. Nicky Pere, who was appointed to fill the vacancy created at Mr. John Bostic’s resignation on October 31, 2021, for District 5B.

 

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

 

All board members were present.

 

Mr. Butcher informed the Board that the next item on the agenda was the election of officers for 2022.

 

Nominations for the office of President-                Mr. Enterkin nominated Mr. Fred Butcher for the office of President. With no other nominations being heard, it was moved by Mr. Enterkin, seconded by Mr. Raven and carried by Mr. Butcher be reelected as Board President for 2022.

 

Nominations for the office of Vice President-        Mr. Raven nominated Mrs. Lisette Forman for the office of Vice President. With no other nominations being heard, it was moved by Mr. Raven, seconded by Mr. Enterkin and carried that Mrs. Forman be elected to serve as Vice President of the Board for 2022.

 

It was moved by Mr. Enterkin, seconded by Mr. Raven and unanimously carried to appoint Mr. Fred Butcher as president of the school board for 2022.

 

It was moved by Mr. Raven, seconded by Mr. Enterkin and unanimously carried to appoint Mrs. Lisette Forman as vice-president of the school board for 2022.

 

Mr. Marco Gonzalez with Volkert, Inc., was unable to attend the meeting so Mr. Tom O’Neal gave an update on the Monterey High School gymnasium project.

Committee Reports were presented.  (see attached)

 

It was moved by Mr. Raven, seconded by Mr. Pere and unanimously carried to approve the minutes of the Regular Meeting held on December 9, 2021, and the minutes of the Special Meeting on December 29, 2021.

 

It was moved by Mr. Raven, seconded by Mrs. Forman and unanimously carried to approve invoices in the amount of $5,813,005 for the month of December 2021.

 

The personnel report was available in the board members’ binders.  Mrs. Rhonda Moore was not present so Ms. Watson presented the 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. Tom O’Neal reported on the Request for Proposals that was advertised in December for construction management and architectural services using ESSER funds.  Only one proposal was received for construction management, and that was from Volkert, Inc.  Two architectural proposals were received, Waycaster and Associates and M3A ARCHITECTURE.  Mr. O’Neal stated that Ms. Watson requested to have these proposals handled by the ESSER Funds committee.  Mr. Butcher asked to have both architectural firms attend the January 20, 2021 ESSER Funds committee meeting.

 

Mr. O’Neal reviewed the annual audit for 2020-2021, congratulating the administration and board on another successful year.  Copies of the audit were given to the board members. The report stated there were no material weaknesses found.  Mr. Butcher asked for the finance committee to meet one hour earlier before next month’s meeting to go over the audit in detail.

 

Mr.O’Neal reviewed the results of the recently held property tax election with the Board. He indicated that according the official certified tabulation of votes cast, there was a total of 707 votes in favor and 168 against, resulting in a majority of 539 votes cast in favor of the Proposition. The proposition was therefore duly carried by a majority of the votes cast by qualified electors voting at the Election. It was moved by Mrs. Forman, seconded by Mr. Raven and carried to adopt a resolution providing for canvassing the returns and declaring the results of the special election held in School District No. 10 of the Parish of Concordia, State of Louisiana, on Saturday, December 11, 2021, and to authorize the levy of a special tax therein. A copy of this resolution and proceedings will be affixed and is to become a part of the Official Minutes of said meeting.

 

Mr. Butcher asked for a roll call vote:

 

Roll Call Vote:

 

            Mr. Warren Enterkin – Yea

            Mrs. Dorothy Parker – Yea

            Dr. Raymond Riley – Yea

            Mr. Derrick Carson – Yea

            Ms. Angela Hayes – Yea

            Mr. Nicky Pere – Yea

            Mrs. Lisette Forman – Yea

Mr. Ricky Raven – Yea

            Mr. Fred Butcher – Yea

 

Motion passed with 9 Yeas and 0 Nays.

 

Mr. O’Neal gave an update on redistricting requirements.  He has a concern with qualifying July 21-23, 2022, with the amount of work that has to take place before that time period.  Mr. Butcher said he would like to appoint a three person committee who will contact the police jury on this matter.  After discussion, it was moved by Dr. Riley, seconded by Mr. Pere and unanimously carried to table this item until the February meeting for a legal review.

 

 

Mr. O’Neal explained a proposal he received recently from Louisiana Wildlife and Fisheries.  They are interested a lease on an approximate 500-acre tract which we have on CRP.  They will assume the liabilities on the property and include the property with their wildlife management program.  After discussion, it was moved by Mr. Carson, seconded by Dr. Riley and unanimously carried to table this matter.

 

Mr. Butcher recognized The Honorable C. Travis Johnson, State Representative, being present.  Rep. Johnson briefly addressed the board, saying that the board was doing a great job.  Dealing with COVID is a real thing and he was here to see what the board is doing day to day, and that he was here to help. 

 

Supt. Watson asked the board for approval of the Pupil Progression Plan which had been tabled during the December meeting.  It was moved by Mr. Raven, seconded by Mr. Pere and unanimously carried to approve the Pupil Progression Plan.

 

Supt. Watson introduced School Nurse Kay Andrews and asked her to give an overview on the new CDC COVID Policy that changed on December 27 and has been updated on January 9.  Ms. Andrews said the update is for the Omicron variant. The guidelines state that quarantine is considered for exposure.  Isolation is for positive test results.  For quarantine purposes, close contact is considered as someone who has been less than six feet away from an infected person for a total of 15 minutes or more in a 24-hour period.  So that 24-hour period may include three times you were with that person for five minutes at a time, or one 15-minute period. The CDC says now that this will help to cut down the amount of quarantine time that they are missing from work. 

 

If you are unvaccinated and you have been exposed, you are supposed to quarantine for five days.  If you are around anyone else in your house, you are supposed to wear a well-fitted mask, and after Day 5 you are supposed to get tested.  If you test negative and have no symptoms, then you can return to school or return to work, but for the next five days, you have to wear a mask.   So it’s still 10 days, but there’s a cut-off where you can test after five days and then wear a mask for five days.  If at any time during those 10 days you were to develop symptoms from your exposure, then of course, you would immediately isolate yourself and follow the protocol and get tested. 

 

If you’re vaccinated, the CDC requirements are a little different.  You are not required to quarantine if you do not have symptoms. You have to wear a mask for the full 10 days, and even if you do not develop symptoms, they want you to get tested after Day 5. 

 

Quarantine is calculated with the day of exposure counted as Day 0 (Zero), then you count five from that.  If you fall within one of the following groups, you will not have to quarantine: 

 

If you tested positive regardless of your vaccination status, you will stay home and isolate for five days, wear a mask when you are around other people.  You can end your isolation after Day 5 if you never developed symptoms.  You must wear a mask when you are around others for the next five days.  After the Day 5 isolation, if you did not have symptoms, you would end it if you have been fever-free for 24 hours without the use of any type of medication that would have brought your fever down.

 

Those that test positive but have more severe symptoms need to quarantine for the full 10 days.

 

This variant has a lot of symptoms like the common cold or the flu, and that’s what people think they have so they don’t get tested.  So the numbers are probably not what they should be.  Omicron is very contagious. While the other one wasn’t quite as bad, this one is running through schools and families because it is quite contagious.  But the symptoms are not as severe.  Of course, there are always those cases where people have underlying health disease where they have a more severe reaction.  The majority of them just have the mild symptoms.  We have Concordia Parish numbers pulled from yesterday, the 12th.  The measurements for the last seven days, show there were 309 positive cases in Concordia Parish which was a 31.59% positivity rate.  There were zero deaths and there were 10 new hospital admissions related to COVID. 

 

Ms. Andrews said she knew the board was trying to decide whether to go back into the schools or go virtual, and if they follow these guidelines, the teachers and the students will get back into the schools.

 

There were questions about the rapid tests and home tests.  Ms. Andrews noted that if you were in your quarantine period and you take a test after Day 5 and it’s positive, depending on where you work or where you go to school, they’re going to want proof from a second source to verify that test.  So they are recommending that if you take the rapid test and you’re positive, that you go to an urgent care or to a doctor’s office and try to get that verified.  If you can’t get a test, if none are available, you stay home the 10 days.  Students and staff can go to the Vidalia Community Clinic and get tested at no cost to them, and the Tensas Community Health Mobile Unit will be coming to the schools to test as well.

 

After further discussion, Supt. Watson recommended to the board that the mask mandate be kept in place even as we will follow the CDC’s guidelines and that the students return to class next Tuesday after the Martin Luther King Day holiday on Monday.  It was moved by Mr. Carson, seconded by Mrs. Parker and unanimously carried to accept Supt Watson’s recommendation.

 

Dr. Riley introduced the topic of Varsity Broadcast Systems, which would install cameras in our schools and broadcast sporting events.  He asked the board to allow Supt. Watson to get with the principals to look into the program and find out the benefits to the school system.  On a motion by Dr. Riley, seconded by Mrs. Parker and carried unanimously the board voted to allow Supt. Watson and the high school principals to look into the Varsity Broadcast Systems program or a local company which offers the same type of program and find out the benefits to the school system and bring back her recommendations to the board.  It was moved by Mr. Riley, seconded by Mrs. Parker and unanimously carried that Supt. Watson and the high school principals look into the Varsity Broadcast Systems program or a local company which offers the same type of program and find out the benefits to the school system and bring back her recommendations to the board.

 

Mr. Butcher requested that Supt. Watson make her announcements and then the board would entertain a motion to go into executive session.

 

The following announcements were made by Superintendent Watson:

 

On Thursday, January 20, the 2022 Special Committees will meet.  At 12:00 noon will be the Maintenance Purchasing Committee; at 1:00, the DOJ Committee; at 2:00, the Athletic Committee; and at 3:00, the ESSER Committee.

 

Supt. Watson gave a special thanks to our teachers for their flexibility as we went virtual this week.  Last year there were not very many students who participated. This week we had so many teachers step up and were very creative with their students.  A special thanks goes to our paras and interventionists who got on the school buses and delivered to and picked up lessons from the students. 

 

 Supt. Watson asked board members to let Mrs. Cindy know by next Friday if they would be attending the LSBA Annual Convention in March.  She noted there is always good training at this convention and that it would be a good one to attend.

 

Supt Watson announced that January is School Board Member Appreciation Month.  She, the directors and supervisors, and the principals were going to have supper for the board members, but due to Omicron, they decided to wait until next month.  She told board members to bring their appetites in February.

 

It was moved by Dr. Riley, seconded by Mrs. Forman, and unanimously carried to go into executive session at 7:50 PM.

 

It was moved by Mr. Raven, seconded by Mr. Enterkin and unanimously carried to return to regular session at 8:28 PM.

 

It was moved by Dr. Riley, seconded by Mrs. Parker and carried unanimously to continue Mrs. Bethea’s salary for the nutritional duties that she assumed at Ferriday High School.  The current pay rate is applicable through the end of the school year.

 

Supt. Watson noted there have been numerous instances of people not wearing masks to the basketball games recently.  She was told by some of the principals that they had mentioned it to the police officers at the games and were told they were not the mask police, they have other responsibilities while they are there.  Mr. Butcher suggested to have it announced several times during the events that everyone needs to be wearing a mask, but if they still refuse, Spt. Watson can shut the game down.

 

It was moved by Mr. Carson, seconded by Mrs. Forman, and unanimously carried to adjourn at 8:35 p.m.