PROCEEDINGS OF THE SCHOOL BOARD OF THE PARISH OF CONCORDIA, STATE OF LOUISIANA, TAKEN AT A REGULAR MEETING HELD ON TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 4, 1997.
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 Tuesday, November 4, 1997, at five-thirty (5:30) o'clock p.m. The meeting was called to order by the Honorable Ernest Lynn White, President, who declared that the Board, after prayer by the Rev. Ferrell Marr, and the Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag, was ready for the transaction of business.
Members present were the Honorable Ernest Lynn White, Mr. Eddie L. Coleman, Sr., Mrs. Marie Cowan, Mr. Mike Grantham, Mr. Manson E. Nelson, Sr., Mr. Charles Partridge, Mr. Sam Williams, Jr. Absent were Mr. Ricky Raven and Mrs. Georgia Washington.
Mr. Ralph Laukhuff, director of Louisiana Hydroelectric, presented Sidney A. Murray Citizenship Awards to the following students:
Monterey High School 9th Grade Randy Hinson
10th Grade Julie Clark
Ferriday High School 9th Grade Sarah Frances Denny
1Oth Grade Shonte Patrice Daniels
Vidalia High School 9th Grade Brendy Renee Ellis
1Oth Grade Joshua T. Marr
Mr. Raven arrived at 5:36 p.m. and Mrs. Washington arrived at 5:38 p.m. during the presentation of the citizenship awards.
Superintendent Lee recognized Mr. Kevin Bridgewater of the USDA Natural Resources office, who reported that Concordia Parish had raised the largest amount of food in the nation in the recent food drive. He recognized FLE, FJH and FKC for their participation and presented the school a certificate of participation.
Superintendent Lee announced that Mrs. Doris Polk, FUE teacher, had been selected Regional Elementary Teacher of the Year by the Louisiana Department of Education. He presented her a check for $150 and an additional personal leave day.
It was moved by Mr. Williams, seconded by Mr. Raven and carried unanimously to approve minutes of October 7 and October 13, 1997.
Mrs. Gloria Dangerfield, Assistant Director of Business affairs, presented invoices and the Financial Report for October 1997. It was moved by Mr. Partridge, seconded by Mr. Coleman and carried unanimously to approve the payment of invoices in the amount of $1,877,352.
Superintendent Lee stated that a request for an attorney general's opinion regarding aspects of the provisional custody by mandate had been sent on July 30, 1997, and that a reply had been received. He recommended that the Board officially receive and refer attorney general's opinions 97-352 and 97-306 to Mr. Norman Magee, school board attorney, for interpretation. It was moved by Mr. Coleman and seconded by Mr. Raven to present the opinions to the Board's legal counsel for an interpretation to be brought to the next meeting. Mr. Darrell Crofford, Vidalia resident, spoke in support of accepting provisional custody by mandates only if the child physically resides in the house of the tutor. Superintendent Lee stated that because there were still questions regarding the attorney general's opinions, he favored requesting Mr. Magee's legal interpretation to be presented at the next meeting. He invited anyone in the audience to submit questions in writing to be turned over to Mr. Magee as part of the request. Following additional discussion, the motion was carried 8-1, with Mr. Partridge voting no.
Mrs. Washington stated that the Building and Grounds Committee had met to review information on air conditioning the school kitchens. She gave a summary of the meeting, reporting that the committees met with Mr. H. L. Irvin, Supervisor of Supportive Services, Ms. Evelyn Fairbanks, Supervisor of School Food Service, Mr. Joe Brocato, architect, and Mr. Bill Murray of Blankenstein's, who provided cost information on the equipment.
Mr. Irvin and Mr. Brocato had toured three kitchens to took at the exhaust systems presently in place and to plan for replacing or upgrading the equipment. Mr. Brocato did not recommend retrofitting the existing exhaust system because of their age and inadequacy for the current kitchen equipment. He also stated that he did not recommend installing air conditioning without first replacing the exhaust systems because the existing exhaust system would cause a loss of cool air creating a need to use a greatly oversized air conditioning system which would be extremely costly to operate. In addition, if the existing exhaust system is replaced, the size of the air conditioning unit would depend on the air quality once the new systems were in place. He recommended replacing the exhaust systems and then evaluating the size of the air conditioning unit which would be needed. Ms. Fairbanks told the committee that she had asked Mr. Murray to provide cost estimates for the exhaust equipment needed in the two types of kitchens, the island type and the wall mounted type. Mr. Murray reported that he had done a study of the kitchens at VJH and FJH, one of which is wall mount and one of which is an island type. He provided preliminary costs for exhaust systems of $9,500 for wall mount and $8,125 for island type. This does not include installation costs. Mr. Murray also stated that he recommended replacing the exhaust systems rather than retrofitting them because they are not up to Fire Marshal codes and could be cited at any time.
Superintendent Lee stated that he had received a letter from Mr. Brocato summarizing his findings and that he recommended carrying out the project in phases. Superintendent Lee recognized the presence of Mr. Brocato and Mr. Murray, who offered to answer any questions the Board might have. There was discussion of costs, specifications, and procedures. It was moved by Mr. Raven, seconded by Mr. Partridge and carried 8-1, with Mr. Williams voting no, to install the exhaust systems as recommended one school at the time, to estimate the needed tonnage after changing out exhaust systems, and to install air conditioning in the kitchens.
Superintendent Lee informed the Board that several types of security measures had been discussed for the school sites, such as two-way communications in classrooms, walkie-talkies or other form of communications for principals, metal detectors, and security cameras. It was moved by Mr. Partridge, seconded by Mr. Grantham and carried unanimously to send questionnaires to parents by students to ask what security measures parents would want at the schools.
Mr. Tom O'Neal, Director of Business Affairs, presented information on Adjusters International, a company which would work on the Board's behalf to maximize insurance claims on Ferriday Junior High School. Under the proposed contract, Adjusters International would receive no fee until they had recouped at least $1.5 million on the building, or $200,000 more than the insurance company's offer of $1.3 million. A sliding fee scale beginning at 2% would go into effect on amounts above $1.5 million. It was moved by Mr. Partridge, seconded by Mr. Nelson and carried unanimously to approve the contract with Adjusters International.
Mr. Partridge requested that the Board look into locating insurance for school bus operators at a group rate to save the drivers money on their insurance. Superintendent Lee reported that Mr. O'Neal had researched this issue previously but had been unable to locate a company that would provide fleet insurance for contract drivers. There was lengthy discussion concerning drivers in other parishes and companies which would offer cheaper rates if the Board used the same company for its insurance as well.
Mr. Partridge asked about the policy on paying for school bus operators' physicals. Superintendent Lee stated that the policy allowed a $50.00 payment on physicals. There was discussion of the law and the procedure originally established to bill the Board directly for the physicals. Mr. Partridge made a motion to revise the policy regarding the cost of the physicals. There was no second or action on the motion. Mr. Butcher suggested that drivers meet with officials at Riverland to investigate the possibility of working out a cheaper rate.
Mr. Partridge asked about the number of bus inspections required by law. Mr. Irvin stated that the law requires two annually.
There was additional discussion regarding fleet insurance coverage for contract buses. It wasmoved by Mr. Partridge, seconded by Mr. Raven and carried unanimously to look into providing fleet coverage for contract bus operators.
It was moved by Mr. Partridge, seconded by Mr. Williams and carried unanimously to approve a resolution proclaiming November 16-22, 1997, American Education Week.
It was moved by Mr. Partridge to approve all personnel items unless there were questions. Mrs. Cowan requested that appointments be pulled out for separate consideration. The motion was revised by Mr. Partridge, seconded by Mr. Raven and carried unanimously to approve the following:
Resignations
Ernest Cubit, Teacher, VHS, effective 10/31/97
Betty Minor, Teacher, FHS, effective 10/31/97
Transfers
Johnnie Clay, Teacher, from FJH to FHS, effective 8/15/97
Jalee Jones, Sp. Ed. Teacher, from VHS to FLE, effective 11/3/97
J.C. Myrick, Teacher, from FHS to VHS, effective 11/3/97
Termination
Linda Kelly Tolliver, Teacher Assistant, FHS, effective 11/5/97
Extended Sick Leave
Elizabeth Nowlin, Teacher, FLE, effective 10/20/97-11/14/97
Extended Hours
Elaine Keith, Cleaner, RES, from 2.5 hours to 4.0 hours, effective 11/5/97
Following discussion regarding the application and interview process and the qualifications of
applicants for the principal's position at Ferriday Kindergarten Center, it was moved by Mr. Partridge, seconded by Mr. Coleman and carried 7-2 with Mrs. Cowan and Mr. Raven voting no to approve the following:
Appointments
Michelle Bethea, Teacher, FHS, effective 10/27/97
Loretta Peterman, Principal, FKC, effective 11/6/97
Gregory Watkins, Sp. Ed. Teacher, VHS, effective 11/3/97
It was moved by Mr. Partridge, seconded by Mrs. Washington to adjourn at 7:00 p.m.
__________________________ __________________________
James E. Lee, Superintendent Ernest Lynn White, President