PROCEEDINGS OF THE SCHOOL BOARD OF THE PARISH OF CONCORDIA, STATE OF LOUISIANA, TAKEN AT A PUBLIC HEARING HELD ON THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 8, 2022
The School Board of the Parish of Concordia, State of Louisiana, met in a Public Hearing Session at the Concordia Parish School Board office in Vidalia, Louisiana, on Thursday, September 8, 2022, 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.
Mr. Butcher requested a motion to move Item VIII. A. “Re-appoint Matt Taunton to Fill Vacancy of Seat 5B” to be the next item of business. It was moved by Mr. Derrick Carson, seconded by Mr. Ricky Raven and unanimously carried to do so.
It was moved by Mr. Carson, seconded by Mr. Raven and unanimously carried to appoint Matt Taunton to fill the vacancy of Seat 5B for the remainder of the current term. Concordia Parish Clerk of Court Andy Anders administered the Oath of Office to Mr. Taunton, who then took his seat at the table with the other board members.
Mr. Tom O’Neal, Business Director, continued the public hearing by giving the Board Members and members of the General Public an overview of the proposed budget for calendar year 2023. There were no questions from the public or from the board members.
It was moved by Dr. Riley, seconded by Mr. Raven and unanimously carried to close the public hearing at 6:20 PM.
PROCEEDINGS OF THE SCHOOL BOARD OF THE PARISH OF CONCORDIA, STATE OF LOUISIANA, TAKEN AT A REGULAR MEETING HELD ON THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 8, 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, September 8, 2022, at 6:00 p.m. The meeting was called to order by Mr. Fred Butcher following the close of the public hearing for comments on the budget presented for 2023. Mr. Butcher, 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, Ms. Angela Hayes, Mrs. Lisette Forman, Mr. Ricky Raven, Mr. Matt Taunton, and Mr. Fred Butcher.
Superintendent Toyua W. Bachus and Board President Fred T. Butcher recognized students from Concordia Parish Academy for perfect scores on their LEAP tests:
1. Andrea Cooley, 3rd grade ELA on LEAP 2025 for 2021-22 school year
2. Meredith Black, English II on LEAP 2025 for 2021-22 school year
3. Kailey Freeman, English II on LEAP 2025 for 2021-22 school year.
Marco Gonzalez with Volkert, Inc., gave an update on the Monterey High School Gym via a Zoom Call. During his report, Gonzalez stated there had been a request from the principal and coach to change the color of the paint on the interior walls and also the color of the backboard pads. There is also a request to change the half-court emblem to the letter “M,” and to reduce the striping on the court to be a little less confusing.
Gonzalez gave an amount of $9,945 to change the paint colors, but did not have the cost to change the wall pads. He also noted a broken water line had held up work for a few days. The cost for repairing the line will be $1,620. Mr. Carson pointed out the school board should not be responsible for this repair. Gonzalez agreed he will talk with the contractor about it. Gonzalez noted there will need to be a change order for these altered items. He was not able to give a definite date for completion of the project.
There was some discussion on the ESSER III. Mr. Butcher asked the board members to submit any questions they had on the ESSER projects to Supt. Bachus, and she will give them to Gonzalez. There will be a meeting later with the architects to discuss the questions.
It was moved by Mr. Carson, seconded by Mr. Raven and unanimously carried to add an item to the agenda to change the color of the walls and the pads at the Monterey gym and to change the emblem at half-court. On the referenced motion, the item was unanimously carried as approved.
Mr. Butcher requested a roll call vote.
Mr. Warren Enterkin Yes
Mrs. Dorothy Parker Yes
Dr. Raymond Riley Yes
Mr. Derrick Carson Yes
Mr. Matt Taunton Yes
Ms. Angela Hayes Yes
Mrs. Lisette Forman Yes
Mr. Ricky Raven Yes
Mr. Fred Butcher Yes
The vote was 9 yes, 0 no.
It was moved by Mr. Carson, seconded by Dr. Riley and unanimously carried to add an item which will be to authorize Supt. Bachus and her staff to take any steps necessary to address the issues concerning the central office. Mr. Butcher requested a roll call vote. Subsequently, said item was unanimously approved.
Mr. Warren Enterkin Yes
Mrs. Dorothy Parker Yes
Dr. Raymond Riley Yes
Mr. Derrick Carson Yes
Mr. Matt Taunton Yes
Ms. Angela Hayes Yes
Mrs. Lisette Forman Yes
Mr. Ricky Raven Yes
Mr. Fred Butcher Yes
The vote was 9 yes, 0 no.
Supt. Bachus asked to add an item to the agenda regarding mentors for the students not be restricted to teachers as it is presently described. Just remove the word teacher so that assistant principals, technology supervisors and supervisors who were great teachers can also be mentors. This will change the description to read the mentor must be highly effective.
It was moved by Mr. Carson, seconded by Mrs. Parker and unanimously carried to add mentoring to the agenda. Mr. Butcher requested a roll call vote.
Mr. Warren Enterkin Yes
Mrs. Dorothy Parker Yes
Dr. Raymond Riley Yes
Mr. Derrick Carson Yes
Mr. Matt Taunton Yes
Ms. Angela Hayes Yes
Mrs. Lisette Forman Yes
Mr. Ricky Raven Yes
Mr. Fred Butcher Yes
The vote was 9 yes, 0 no.
Committee reports were presented. (see attached)
It was moved by Mr. Carson, seconded by Mr. Raven, and unanimously carried to approve the minutes of the Special Meeting held on Tuesday, August 2, 2022.
It was moved by Mr. Raven, seconded by Mrs. Forman, and unanimously carried to approve the minutes of the Regular Meeting held on August 11, 2022.
Mr. Fred Marsalis gave the financial report. It was moved by Mr. Carson, seconded by Mr. Raven and unanimously carried to approve invoices in the amount of $2,957,294 for the month of August 2022.
Mrs. Rhonda Moore presented the personnel report. The report was available in the board members’ binders. In addition to that, a non-administrative supplement is also provided which lists the participants in leadership development and therapists.
Concordia Parish School Board
Regular Board Meeting
Personnel Announcements
September 8, 2022
Leaves:
Tanner Parker, Teacher, Monterey High School, return from maternity leave, effective August 29, 2022.
Shelrecker Hargrave, Paraprofessional, Ferriday Junior High School, return from FMLA/extended medical leave, effective August 29, 2022.
Resignations:
Wilton Nolan, School Psychologist, Special Populations, effective June 30, 2022.
Amy Lucas, SFS Technician, CPAMST, effective August 12, 2022.
Amy Mayse, School Secretary, Ferriday Junior High School, effective September 2, 2022.
Dezanique Credit, Paraprofessional, Vidalia Lower Elementary, effective July 26, 2022.
Richard Townsend, 12 month Janitor, Vidalia Upper Elementary School, effective August 31, 2022.
Sonji McKinney, Paraprofessional, Ferriday Upper Elementary School, effective September 14, 2022.
Taylor Rodgers, Speech Pathologist, Special Populations, effective July 31, 2022.
Dominic Pere’, School Board Member District 5B, effective August 11, 2022.
Appointments:
Ponchella Lee, Paraprofessional, Ferriday Lower Elementary, effective August 2, 2022.
Claudia Emmanuel, Paraprofessional, Vidalia Lower Elementary, effective August 2, 2022.
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Thelma Garcia, Paraprofessional, Vidalia Lower Elementary, effective August 8, 2022.
Shemeko Boxley, Paraprofessional, CPAMST, effective August 12, 2022.
Roshonda Brown, Print Shop Manager, Media Center, effective August 30, 2022.
It was moved by Mr. Raven, seconded by Mrs. Parker, and unanimously carried to approve the personnel report.
It was moved by Mrs. Forman, seconded by Mr. Raven, and unanimously carried to approve the school resource officer contracts with the Town of Vidalia and the Town of Ferriday for one year.
It was moved by Mr. Carson, seconded by Mrs. Forman, and unanimously carried to approve the second reading of the Bids and Quotations Policy.
It was moved by Mr. Carson, seconded by Dr. Riley, and unanimously carried to table approval of the 2022-23 budget. There will be a special called meeting held before the deadline to submit the budget to the State to consider approval at that time.
There was discussion led by Mr. Butcher on a leak on the Ferriday Lower Elementary School roof and the Monterey High School roof. Supt. Bachus stated that Mr. Henderson turned in a quote to her today to replace the whole roof at Ferriday Lower Elementary School. Due to the amount of the quote, Mr. Butcher asked that we request RFPs on the roof and discuss them at the October meeting. It was moved by Mr. Carson, seconded by Mr. Raven and unanimously carried to request RFPs for the roof project at Ferriday Lower Elementary School and Monterey High School.
There was discussion led by Mr. Butcher on the drainage situation at Monterey High School. Mr. Butcher recommended giving Supt Bachus and her staff the authority to handle these two drainage issues. It was moved by Mr. Riley, seconded by Mr. Raven and unanimously carried to allow the staff to handle these problems.
Mr. Carson asked about the HVAC installations needed in all the cafeterias. This project was approved by the school board several years ago but has not been done. The money, $36,000, was set aside to do this. Supt. Bachus noted that some of the money has been set aside. Now, three years later, the cost is $81,362. It was moved by Mr. Carson, seconded by Mrs. Forman and unanimously carried to give the superintendent the authority to have the HVAC systems installed.
Mr. Carson asked about the Phase 3 of the Ferriday Junior High School Gym Project. He noted that he was not on the board then, but he understood that the first phase was the gym, the second phase was the parking lot, and the third phase was to install a picnic area with a canopy over it for the students. Mr. Butcher asked to research the minutes and bring the information back to the next meeting.
It was moved by Mrs. Forman, seconded by Mr. Raven and unanimously carried to approve the LPN salary schedule.
Superintendent Bachus asked the board to consider deleting the word “teacher” from the description of Mentoring. It was moved by Mr. Carson, seconded by Mrs. Parker and unanimously carried to delete the word “teacher” from the description of Mentor, and say that the mentor must be highly effective. This will be effective for one year.
It was moved by Mrs. Parker, seconded by Mrs. Forman and unanimously carried to enter into executive session including Mr. O’Neal pursuant to L.R.S. 42:17A(10) and code of evidence 506 according to school board attorney Jon Guice. The time was 7:35 PM.
At 8:23 PM the board members returned to the board room. It was moved by Mrs. Parker, seconded by Mr. Raven and unanimously carried to enter back into regular session. Mr. Butcher asked Mr. Guice to report on the executive session. Guice explained that the central administration office is in need of repairs due to a moisture problem that has contributed to some mold growth, and what is being proposed is that we bring in some people who are more knowledgeable than us and our maintenance department and do an assessment of that and the exact nature of it and what we can do to remediate that. We want to contact the owner of the building, Mr. Weeks, and let him know about the situation. In the interim, in an abundance of caution, we feel it would be best for our employees if the building was vacated until the repairs were complete. It was moved by Dr. Riley, seconded by Mrs. Parker and unanimously carried to accept the recommendations of the attorney to have the repairs made to the building and that it will be vacated until such repairs are complete.
Supt. Bachus made the following announcements:
· She attended the BESE meeting a few weeks ago concerning the accountability proposal. There is an over view of the meeting in your binders. As a member of LASS – we are not in favor of this, and we are preparing our own accountability proposal to report to BESE, but we’ll see how that goes.
· The FYI from last week is in your binders for you to read over again. There is a lot of information in it.
· There is a safety workshop in Houston October 26-28, and we have one person from every school going.
· The letters sent to our local law enforcement agencies are included in your FYI packets.
· Lovescaping Parent Night will be Monday, Sept 12, and you all are invited to attend.
· October 1 starts Bullying Prevention Month so everyone wear a blue shirt on Oct. 3rd.
It was moved by Mr. Carson, seconded by Mr. Raven and unanimously carried to adjourn at 8:35 PM.