PROCEEDINGS OF THE SCHOOL BOARD OF THE PARISH OF CONCORDIA, STATE OF LOUISIANA, TAKEN AT A REGULAR MEETING HELD ON THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 10, 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, February 10, 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.

 

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.

 

The 3rd, 4th, and 5th grade recipients of the Sidney A. Murray Citizenship awards were recognized:

 

                                                Grade 3                        Grade 4                        Grade 5

Concordia Parish Academy        J’Keirah K. Prosser        Katie E. Anders             Thomas A. Loiselle

Ferriday Upper Elementary        Paris Daniels                 Santoria Myles              Devin Hunter

Monterey School                       Ryder G. Morris             Brody Whittington          Rylan Barfoot

Vidalia Upper Elem.                   Ryleigh Butler                Jerry Roberts                Seth Lipscomb

 

The students from Ferriday Upper Elementary School were not present and so will be recognized at the meeting in March.

 

Mr. Marco Gonzalez with Volkert, Inc., gave an update on the Monterey High School gymnasium project.

 

Dr. Riley asked to add an item to the agenda. Item I under Section VIII  Items for Discussion and Appropriate Action will be Change Order for Asphalt Paving at VHS.

 

Mrs. Forman asked to add an item to the agenda.  Item J under Section VIII Items for Discussion and Appropriate Action will be “To Obtain Bids for Portable Air Filters.”

 

Committee Reports were presented.  (see attached)

 

It was moved by Dr. Riley, seconded by Mr. Pere and unanimously carried to approve the minutes of the Regular Meeting held on January 13, 2022.

 

 

It was moved by Mr. Raven, seconded by Mrs. Forman and unanimously carried to approve invoices in the amount of $5,839,795 for the month of January 2022.

 

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

Regular Monthly Board Meeting

Personnel Announcements

February 10, 2022

 

Leaves:

 

Vanessa Ealey, Teacher, Ferriday High School, Family Medical Leave, effective January 3, 2022 through February 11, 2022.

 

Teranie Williams, Teacher, Vidalia Junior High School, maternity/extended medical leave upon exhaustion of accumulated sick leave, effective January 3, 2022 through February 25, 2022.

 

Crenisha Hayes, Teacher, Vidalia High School, Family Medical Leave, effective January 27, 2022 through February 17, 2022.

 

Karl Wilson, Jr., SFS Driver, Central Administration, return from Family Medical Leave/extended medical leave, effective January 18, 2022.

 

Dennis Whittington, Master Plumber, Central Office Maintenance, Family Medical Leave / extended medical leave upon exhaustion of accumulated sick leave, effective November 18, 2021.

 

Brenda Naff, Teacher, Ferriday Junior High School, Family Medical Leave/extended medical leave upon exhaustion of accumulated leave, effective January 28, 2022 through February 11, 2022.

 

Resignation:

 

Shea Boothe, Teacher, Ferriday Junior High School, effective January 14, 2022.

 

Marilyn Brown, SFS Technician, Ferriday Junior High School, effective February 4, 2022.

 

Stanley Smith, Teacher, Ferriday High School, effective January 14, 2022.

 

Kenneth Kitchen, Teacher, Ferriday High School, effective February 4, 2022.

 

Schrylean Duncan, Paraprofessional, Ferriday Lower Elementary School, effective January 14, 2022.

 

Mr. O’Neal gave an update on the redistricting project.  It was moved by Mr. Carson, seconded by Mr. Enterkin and unanimously carried to engage the services of Strategic Demographics, LLC, of Baton Rouge.  This is the same provider being used by the police jury to handle their redistricting project.

 

Mr. O’Neal stated that the board decided at the last meeting to ask our attorneys to review the Louisiana Wildlife & Fisheries Lease Proposal.  After having done so with only minor changes,  it was moved by Mr. Carson, seconded by Mrs. Forman and unanimously carried that the Concordia Parish School Board enter into a wildlife management agreement with the Louisiana Department of Wildlife & Fisheries.  The contract is to be incorporated into the Richard K. Yancy Wildlife Management area.

 

Mr. O’Neal presented the next item of Retiree Insurance Reimbursements.  It was moved by Dr. Riley, seconded by Mr. Raven and carried to reimburse insurance premiums for retirees as follows:

 

            Based on OGB current rates:

 

 

Retirees with less than 20 years of service in Concordia Parish are to receive $50 per month toward the cost of their OGB hospital insurance benefits.

 

There was a roll call vote.

 

Mr. Warren Enterkin – Abstain

            Mrs. Dorothy Parker – Abstain

            Dr. Raymond Riley – Yea

            Mr. Derrick Carson – Yea

            Mr. Nicky Pere – Yea

            Ms. Angela Hayes – Yea

            Mrs. Lisette Forman – Yea

            Mr. Ricky Raven – Yea

            Mr. Fred Butcher – Abstain

 

Motion passed with 6 Yeas and 3 Abstains.

 

Mr. O’Neal introduced Mr. Bryant Young with Jordan, Kaiser & Sessions.  Mr. Young is the engineer who is handling our paving projects. Mr. O’Neal presented the board with a proposed Town of Ferriday Cooperative Endeavor Agreement, which addresses the issue of repairs to the shoulders of Bateman Drive, the road in front of Ferriday Lower Elementary School.  The Cooperative Endeavor Agreement states that the school board will make the repairs to the road, but the City of Ferriday will be responsible for maintaining the road.  It was moved by Dr. Riley, seconded by Mrs. Forman and unanimously carried to approve the Cooperative Endeavor Agreement with the City of Ferriday.

 

Mr. O’Neal reported on the appointment of professional personnel for ESSER facilities projects.  From the Request for Proposal that was advertised in December, there was one construction management firm which submitted a proposal, Volkert, LLC, and there were two architectural design firms, Waycaster and Associates and M3A Architecture.  Mr. O’Neal informed the board that the ESSER committee is recommending hiring both architectural firms because of the shortage of time for the project to be completed.  It was moved by Mr. Carson, seconded by Mr. Raven and unanimously carried to hire both architectural firms along with Volkert, LLC, in order to do an assessment and come back to the ESSER committee and then to the board. 

 

Dr. Riley asked Mr. O’Neal about the Vidalia High School project.  Mr. O’Neal stated there was a change order needed at the Vidalia High School campus because when the project was put together we did not intend to pave the area just behind the cafeteria.  Also, at some point we need to extend the parking by a few feet at CEC so our people will have a place to park.  There is going to be a real problem with drainage there that we’re going to have to address.  It was moved by Mr. Raven, seconded by Mr. Carson and carried unanimously to approve the change order.

 

There were no questions regarding the ESSER Academic Plan.  It was moved by Mr. Pere, seconded by Mrs. Forman and unanimously carried to approve the ESSER Academic Plan.

 

Superintendent Watson explained the Star Academy Pilot Program and the Cooperative Endeavor Agreement with the Governor’s Office.  This program targets at-risk students that we will incorporate with our Freshman Academy at Ferriday High School.  There will be no cost to the school district or the high school.  The Star Academy will help with hiring staff, providing instructional materials, desks, etc.  In Louisiana, there are only five of these programs in existence.  Our attorney is looking over the contract, and Supt. Watson asked for the board’s approval pending the attorney’s review.  It was moved by Mr. Raven, seconded by Mrs. Forman and unanimously carried that upon legal review the Star Academy Cooperative Endeavor Agreement is approved.

 

 

There was discussion on getting bids for portable air filters for all schools with grades 6-12.  This matter has been taken care of for grades Pre-K-5.  We will use ESSER funds for the permanent filters, but we need to do something in the meantime since the permanent filters won’t be in place until the next school year.  It was moved by Mrs. Forman, seconded by Mr. Carson, and carried unanimously that Mr. O’Neal is to seek bids for the portable air filters.  Bids will provide for a 10-15 day delivery period.  

 

The following announcements were made by Superintendent Watson:

 

Just want to highlight some good news in Concordia Parish because we only seem to hear about bad news.  Last year we started auditing our current courses in high school because we’ve been teaching the same courses for years.  We, some teachers, every counselor in Concordia Parish and I, had the opportunity to go Walker High School and talk with them.  Today some administrators and counselors went back to talk with them about different courses we can offer the next school year.  Mrs. Caviness will be sharing a pitch to all high school administrators about incorporating EA Gaming, which is creating games, into our entrepreneurship and marketing courses.  We’re not recreating a class, but enhancing a class that has something that is actually marketable.  

 

On Feb 23, if you have a few minutes, come by CPA where we’ll be having a version of “Shark Tank.” In our version, the teachers will be presenting their ideas of things they would like for their school.  I guess that makes me the shark, but instead of me making a plan for their school, the school will make a plan for me.

 

We met with all the lower elementary teachers a few months ago.  One of the things they said was “we never go anywhere to learn.  We keep hearing you talk about literacy, but we’re only talking about it to each other.”  So if you notice a lot of lower elementary teachers out, they are having their opportunity to go talk with others about literacy.  They also asked why they couldn’t have tutoring for their little people, and now they are doing that across the district.

 

Tomorrow morning at 9:30 we are having an academic kick-off rally at Ferriday High School.  They have a theme this year, “Trojan Take Over.”  The kids say, “It’s a whole lot of Winning over here.”  The students acknowledge they have some problems at their school but they want to focus on change and overcoming those problems.  This year started with 56 seniors not meeting the requirements to graduate.  Right now we’re at 27, and by the end of the month we hope to be at an even smaller number.

 

Ms. Watson went to Monterey High School where Mrs. Hale showed her to the “Old Ag Room.” This is where students learned welding and carpentry skills.  Right now Central Louisiana Community Technical College in Ferriday teaches classes in welding and the majority of their students are from Monterey.  So I think we should make the welding classes available to the students again at the school.

 

Ms. Watson was asked about the COVID numbers.  She reported that the numbers are declining in Concordia Parish as well as surrounding parishes.  We are at 33.3% as of Feb 7, 2022, but that is a decline. 

 

It was moved by Mr. Carson, seconded by Mrs. Forman, and unanimously carried to adjourn at 7:10 p.m.