PROCEEDINGS OF THE SCHOOL BOARD OF THE PARISH OF CONCORDIA, STATE OF LOUISIANA, TAKEN AT A REGULAR MEETING HELD ON THURSDAY, DECEMBER 14, 2023

The School Board of the Parish of Concordia, State of Louisiana, met in Regular Session at the Vidalia City Hall meeting room in Vidalia, Louisiana, on Thursday, December 14, 2023, at 6:00 p.m.  The meeting was called to order by Mr. Fred Butcher.   After prayer and the Pledge, Mr. Butcher declared that the Board was ready for the transaction of business.

Board members present were Mr. Wayne Wilson, Mrs. Dorothy Parker, Mr. Fred Marsalis, Sr., Mr. Derrick Carson, Mr. Matt Taunton, Mrs. Angela Hayes, Mrs. Lisette Forman, and Mr. Fred Butcher.

Mrs. Vanessa Houck was absent.

Superintendent Bachus recognized the Concordia Parish Students of the Year:

·         Elementary School Student of the Year – Tayde Hinson, 5^th Grade, Vidalia Upper Elementary

·         Middle School Student of the Year – Rebekah Messer, 8^th Grade, Vidalia Junior High

·         High School Student of the Year – Caroline Rout, 12^th Grade, Concordia Parish Academy

Superintendent Bachus then recognized the Christmas Card Art Contest Winners and presented them with gift bags and three Christmas cards each of their artwork.

Marco Gonzalez with Volkert, Inc., gave an update on the ESSER Renovation projects.  The Vidalia/Monterey HVAC project is well underway.  We’re waiting on materials for the windows.

The contractors, Hope, are on their second school with the HVAC.

·         On the Ferriday projects, the bids originally came in for the HVAC at $3.172 million.  We didn’t really look at the alternates because the base bid was already over the budget.  We were able to get the $500,000 we were working toward by some cuts and not replacing some of the units that were still in very good working order or had been replaced recently. 

·         At Concordia Parish Academy they took out all the scope of work completely from that project.  Part of the reason was trying to find one big area where we could work out to be able to save cost, and as you can see it saved about $249,000.  In talking to Mr. O’Neal, he thinks he can find the money to do that project for less than the $249,000. 

Mr.  Carson questioned the age and remaining life of the units not being replaced.  Mr. Butcher noted that the board has to make a decision because after the first of the year the prices will change, and this project has to be completed by September 30, 2024.  We can’t rebid these projects, there isn’t enough time to do so. 

There was a roll call vote taken to add Item G “To Approve ESSER Project with the Cuts Discussed” to Section VI “Items for Discussion and Appropriate Action.”

The vote was as follows:

            Mr. Wayne Wilson                     Yea

            Mrs. Dorothy Parker                  Yea

            Mr. Fred Marsalis, Sr.                Yea

            Mr. Derrick Carson                    Yea

            Mr. Matt Taunton                       Yea

            Mrs. Angela Hayes                    Yea

            Mrs. Lisette Forman                   Yea

            Mr. Fred Butcher                       Yea

The vote was unanimous, 8 yeas, 0 nays, and no abstentions.  Mrs. Houck was absent.

Gonzalez then went over the budget for the Ferriday windows projects.  The bid came in at $1.999 million.  The base bids, without the alternates, came in at $1.6 million.  We are significantly over the budget, so we’ve instructed M3A to put it out for bids again, and what we’ve done is change the type of window. 

Mr. O’Neal stated that the bids will be accepted on January 16, 2024, at 2:00 PM.  Mr. Butcher informed the board that a special meeting to review the bids received might be called. 

The committee reports were presented.

It was moved by Mr. Marsalis, Sr., seconded by Mrs. Hayes, and unanimously carried to approve the minutes of the Regular Meeting held on November 14, 2023.

Mr. Fred Marsalis, Jr., gave the financial report.  It was moved by Mrs. Parker, seconded by Mrs. Forman and unanimously carried to approve invoices in the amount of $7,152,869 for the month of November 2023.

The personnel report was available in the board members’ binders.  Mrs. Darla Johnston presented the report in Mrs. Rhonda Moore’s absence.

Concordia Parish School Board

Personnel Announcements Regular Board Meeting

December 14, 2023

Leaves:

Darla Johnston, Talent Pipeline Lead, Central Administration, return from FMLA, effective November 27, 2023.

Tiffany Lillie, Paraprofessional, Concordia Education Center, return from FMLA, effective November 13, 2023.

Telina Book, Teacher, Monterey High School, FMLA, November 13, 2023 through December 22, 2023.

Roberta Mingee, Teacher, Vidalia Lower Elementary School, FMLA, November 15, 2023 through January 26, 2024.

Audrey Davis, Teacher, Ferriday High School, FMLA / extended medical leave, October 31, 2023 through January 31, 2024.

Lena Mallory Martin, Teacher, Vidalia Junior High, return from maternity leave, effective December 18, 2023.

Laurel Crouch, Teacher, Monterey High School, return from FMLA/extended medical leave, January 8, 2024.

Appointments:

Sabrina Hawkins, SFS Technician, Ferriday Junior High School, effective November 15, 2023.

Barbara Brown, SFS Technician, Ferriday High School, effective November 15, 2023.

Patrick Perkins, SFS Technician/ Driver (10 months), Central Administration, effective November 15, 2023.

Lavan Thompson, Jr., 12 Month Janitor, Vidalia High School, effective November 15, 2023.

Howard Johnson, 12 Month Custodian, Vidalia Junior High School, effective November 13, 2023.

Sondra Brown, 10 Month Janitor, Vidalia Junior High School, effective December 4, 2023.

James Dupree, Jr., 12 Month Custodian, Monterey High School, effective November 6, 2023.

Savannah Richards, Teacher, Vidalia Lower Elementary School, effective December 11, 2023.

Transfers:

Betty Marsalis, Director of Elementary Education, Central Administration to Desegregation Compliance Officer, Central Administration, effective November 13, 2023.

Sandra Burton, Principal, Ferriday Lower Elementary School, to Principal on Assignment, effective January 8, 2024.

Brandon Gousset, Teacher, Vidalia Lower Elementary School, to Administrative Assistant, Ferriday Lower Elementary School, effective January 8, 2024.

Darylana Johnson, Interim Assistant Principal, Ferriday Lower Elementary School, to Interim Principal, Ferriday Lower Elementary School, effective January 8, 2024.

Shirley Perkins, 10 month Janitor, Vidalia Junior High School, to 12 Month Janitor, Ferriday High School, effective December 4, 2023.

Frankie Thomas, 12 Month Janitor, Vidalia Junior High School, to 11 Month Janitor, Vidalia Junior High School, effective January 8, 2024.

Resignations:

James Dupree, Jr., 12 Month Custodian, Monterey High School, effective November 8, 2023.

Item B “Resolution of School Board Member Training” was tabled until next month.

Mr. Tom O’Neal reviewed the results of the recently held property tax election with the Board. He indicated that according to the official certified tabulation of votes cast at said Election, there was a total of 1,965 votes cast in favor of the Proposition and a total of 1,176 votes cast Against the Proposition, resulting in a majority of 789 votes cast in favor of the proposition.  The Proposition was therefore duly carried by a majority of the votes cast by the qualified electors voting at the Election.  It was moved by Mr. Carson, seconded by Mrs. Forman and unanimously 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, November 18, 2023, 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.

President Butcher asked for a roll call vote:

            Mr. Wayne Wilson                     Yea

            Mrs. Dorothy Parker                  Yea

            Mr. Fred Marsalis, Sr.                Yea

            Mr. Derrick Carson                    Yea

            Mr. Matt Taunton                       Yea

            Mrs. Angela Hayes                    Yea

            Mrs. Lisette Forman                   Yea

            Mr. Fred Butcher                       Yea

The vote was unanimous, 8 yeas, 0 nays, and no abstentions.  Mrs. Houck was absent.

It was moved by Mrs. Parker, seconded by Mrs. Hayes and unanimously carried to approve a sales tax collection agreement with and on behalf of the Tensas Parish Educational Facilities Improvement District.

It was moved by Mr. Carson, seconded by Mr. Marsalis, Sr., to approve the meeting dates for 2024.

Mr. Wilson introduced a discussion on the drainage issue at Monterey High School.

It was moved by Mr. Taunton, seconded by Mrs. Parker and unanimously carried to approve the ESSER project with the above stated reductions. 

It was moved by Mr. Taunton, seconded by Mrs. Parker that Superintendent Bachus and her staff put out bids for the work that was taken off the project at CEC to see what it is actually going to cost.

Superintendent Bachus made the following announcements:

·         The district’s new drama team, the Concordia Players, went on a field trip to see “Wicked” in New Orleans recently.  Everyone enjoyed the performance.  The Concordia Players will start presenting the Christmas Toy Story for all the elementary schools beginning tomorrow.

·         We have put out our first newsletter on vocational education in Concordia Parish.  I got to visit Mr. James Thomas’ room at Ferriday High School.  He has gotten all of his students safety certified and they are moving to the next level.  Those students built some chairs.  At Vidalia High School Mr. Vidrine’s students put up some AED boxes and did some renovations. 

·         Syrah Technologies has helped with growing our program.  They set up a meeting with CLTCC, Louisiana Workforce, Mrs. Carter, Mrs. Carson and myself which let us see other revenues to grow our program.

·         Mrs. Parker already mentioned January 8^th, the professional development day.  Let’s take a moment to celebrate our teachers.  We need to be celebrating because we are a district on the move.

It was moved by Mrs. Parker, seconded by Mrs. Hayes and unanimously carried to enter into executive session for a strategy session and/or action, as necessary, regarding litigation entitled Smith, et. al.  v. Concordia Parish School Board, et. al., Civil Action No. 65-11577 on the docket of the United States District Court for the Western District of Louisiana.  The time was 7:33 PM.

It was moved by Mr. Marsalis, Sr., seconded by Mrs. Forman and unanimously carried for the board to return to regular session at 8:38 PM.  Mr. Butcher announced that the above captioned litigation had been discussed.

There being no further business, it was moved by Mr. Carson, seconded by Mrs. Parker and unanimously carried to adjourn at 8:39 PM.