The Beauregard Parish School Board met in regular session Thursday, June 10, 2021, at 6:00 pm in the Central Office Board Room. Board members David Vidrine, Darrin Manuel, Ray Bowman, Kathy Bruner, Garrett Greene, Cassie Henry, Wesley Taylor, Martha Jackson, Casey Jones, Nikki Weldon, and Student Representative Kynlee Farris were present.
Timothy J. Cooley, Superintendent, was present and acted as secretary.
The Invocation and Pledge of Allegiance were led by Eddie Joslin.
Upon motion of Casey Jones seconded by Darrin Manuel, board members voted to adopt the agenda as presented.
The first agenda item was for board members to consider adopting the minutes of the May 13, 2021, regular meeting of the Beauregard Parish School Board as published in the official journal. Upon voting, board members adopted the minutes of the May 13, 2021, regular meeting of the Beauregard Parish School Board as published in the official journal.
Before beginning the Superintendent’s Report, Mr. Cooley asked Kynlee Fariss to share her Student Representative’s Report. Ms. Fariss began by stating that summer activities for students included various camps and clinics, such as basketball clinics and cheer camps, and that several sports teams had begun summer practices and workouts in preparation for the fall school term.
Next, Mr. Cooley recognized Colonel Ryan Roseberry, who delivered his final report as Fort Polk Garrison Commander, before being deployed to Germany. He began his remarks by expressing how thankful he was for all of the things the board does for the children of military service members, both active duty and retired, and encouraged the board to continue to work with the incoming Garrison Commander, Colonel Sam Smith, to benefit military children. Colonel Roseberry presented an engraved hammer to the board, referencing the hammer and anvil symbols by which Fort Polk is known, for “Forging the Warrior Spirit.” The hammer presented by Colonel Roseberry was engraved with the dates of his term as Garrison Commander and “Forging the Community Spirit.” Colonel Roseberry described some upgrades being pushed out by the Department of Defense to renovate the science and technology areas for fifth graders at the schools on the base, and believes the same opportunity will be offered to fifth grade classrooms in the DeRidder area.
Board members learned that the summer meal program was underway, with meals being made available every Thursday, from 9 am to 11 am, at the following six locations: Carver Elementary, DeRidder High School, East Beauregard Elementary, South Beauregard Elementary, Singer High School, and Merryville High School. Mr. Cooley shared that each box comes with a gallon of milk and contains seven meals. At today’s distribution, 2,500 meals were given out and it is anticipated that these numbers may increase as more families participate. Board members were advised that the 2021-2022 school year would be another free meal year for all students, continuing a program that began in the 2020-2021 school year due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Mr. Cooley called board members’ attention to the LSBA flyer in their packets, noting that the virtual conferences would provide 5 continuing learning units (CLUs) each. Board members wishing to participate in this virtual training should contact Ms. Archer.
Next, board members were advised that official approval had been received for all parts of the first Elementary and Secondary Schools Emergency Relief (ESSER) grant. Mr. Cooley also shared that no final decision had been made concerning the Head Start grant, although a decision was anticipated within the week and pending another conference call.
Mr. Cooley informed the board that Ashley Carpenter was selected as the Director of Finance, effective May 19, 2021, and that the process of filling the Payroll Accountant and Lead Accountant positions should wrap up within the next couple of weeks. On that note, board members learned that the June Sales Tax Supplement for certified staff will be $3,970, support staff will receive $2,539; and retirees, $353.00.
The next agenda item was for the Beauregard Parish District Attorney, Jimmy Lestage, to deliver a report on the Beauregard Parish Truancy and Assessment Service Center (TASC.) Mr. Lestage spoke about the objective of the TASC program, to prevent children from becoming part of the juvenile justice system and later, the criminal justice system. Mr. Lestage spoke about the challenges faced by parents this year in the face of a pandemic, two hurricanes, and an ice storm; much of the work this year was humanitarian and served children whose living conditions had impacted their school attendance.
Following the report on the TASC program, board members were asked to consider school reopening guidelines. Mr. Cooley reviewed the governor’s most recent orders concerning masks, occupancy restrictions, and other COVID-19 related mandates, noting that the decision had been made to allow local entities to made their own decisions on many of these items. Garrett Greene described the measures being adopted by the Calcasieu Parish school system. After additional discussion, Garrett Greene offered a motion to waive restrictions and requirements on group sizes, occupancy limits, band and theater restrictions, high touch cleaning protocols, temperature checks, mask requirements on campuses and buses, and cafeteria restrictions for the 2021 summer school session. Social distancing and hand washing will be encouraged and emphasized. The motion was seconded by Ray Bowman and approved upon voting.
The next agenda item was to discuss including a one-time stipend in the ESSER application for those employees involved in the 2020-2021 school year, due to compliance with COVID-19 regulations. Mr. Cooley described the extra difficulties faced by all school staff, including extra sanitation, masks, static groups, social distancing, and so on. Board members were reminded that the amount of $1500 was seen as a starting point for the discussion and that any amount would have to be approved as part of the next ESSER application, which has not opened up in the Louisiana eGMS (electronic Grants Management System) portal, as of the date of the board meeting. After hearing from Superintendent Cooley about the pandemic-related obstacles that had to be overcome to begin the 2020-2021 school year, which were then complicated by back-to-back hurricanes, after discussion, Ray Bowman offered a motion to include a stipend payment of $1500 to all employees who participated in the 2020-2021 school year during the COVID-19 crisis in the next ESSER application submission. This stipend is to be paid out pending approval by the state and all entities pertaining to ESSER guidelines. During the discussion, board members expressed a desire to see the details of what the most recent ESSER grant application would encompass. Mr. Bowman offered to withdraw his motion to further discuss the matter and perhaps choose a different amount for the stipend, but it was suggested that the decision be delayed until the details of the application could be presented to board members. Upon motion of Wesley Taylor, seconded by Casey Jones, in a voice vote board members chose to involuntarily defer action on Mr. Bowman’s motion until the complete details of what will be included in the next ESSER grant application can be presented at the Wednesday, June 16, 2021, special budget meeting. `
Board members were asked to consider accepting a Request for Proposal (RFP) for auditing services for fiscal year 2020-2021. Irwin Johnson advised board members that two proposals had been submitted and it was recommended to accept the proposal from J. Aaron Cooper, CPA, for $37,500. In response to a question about the optional school audits, Mr. Johnson advised the board that for two schools to be audited, the cost would be $1500, for all 12 to be audited it would cost $7500. Mr. Vidrine suggested to board members that, given the complexity of the school board audits, it might be advisable for the Policy Committee to look at modifying the board policy in the near future to provide for audit awards to be for a minimum of three years to increase the number of auditing firms to express interest. This was confirmed by Mr. Johnson, who stated that several firms called to inquire about the term of engagement, and declined to submit a proposal after finding out the contract would be for just one year. After some discussion about whether school audits were actually helpful, upon motion of of Cassie Henry, seconded by Casey Jones, board members voted to accept the recommendation to engage J. Aaron Cooper, CPA, for the annual central office audit only, for $37,500.
Next, Ashley Carpenter reminded board members that it was time to appoint the official journal for 2021-2022, and recommended that the board continue to use the Beauregard Daily News as its official journal for the 2021-2022 school year. Casey Jones offered a motion to appoint the Beauregard Daily News as the official journal for 2021-2022 school year, which was seconded by Wesley Taylor and approved upon voting.
The next agenda item called for board members to consider a resolution concerning financial authority. Mr. Cooley read the resolution, which will allow Ashley Carpenter to be on the signature cards for all Beauregard Parish School Board accounts at the area banks, transfer funds as needed, and to make all necessary modifications to those accounts. Upon motion of Darrin Manuel, seconded by Ray Bowman, board members voted in favor of adopting the following resolution granting Ms. Carpenter financial authority:
RESOLUTION
WHEREAS, the Beauregard Parish School Board has engaged Ashley Carpenter to serve as the Director of Business/Finance, effective May 19, 2021, and
WHEREAS, the Beauregard Parish School Board authorizes Ashley Carpenter, in her capacity as Director of Business/Finance, to make modifications to financial institution signature agreements as made necessary by personnel changes, and
WHEREAS, the Beauregard Parish School Board authorizes Ashley Carpenter, in her capacity as Director of Business/Finance, to conduct all financial transactions from any Beauregard Parish School Board account to any other Beauregard Parish School Board account,
THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, that the Beauregard Parish School Board has, and at the time of adoption of said resolution had full power and lawful authority, to adopt the foregoing resolution and to confer the powers therein granted to the person named, who will have full and lawful authority to exercise the same.
THUS DONE AND SIGNED, this 10th day of June, 2021, at the Beauregard Parish School Board Central Office, 202 W. Third Street, DeRidder, LA
Next, upon motion of Ray Bowman, seconded by Darrin Manuel, board members voted in favor of renewing the lease agreement with TRIO Community Meals (formerly Valley, LLC) for use of the cafeteria facilities at the Title I/Media Center for senior meals from July 1, 2021 through June 30, 2022.
The next item was to award bid for South Beauregard High School football field repair. Irwin Johnson advised the board that only one bid had been received, and it was recommended to award the bid to Sports Turf Specialists for $83,362. Ray Bowman offered this as a motion, which was seconded by Darrin Manuel, and approved upon voting.
Following action on the SBHS football field repair, Mr. Johnson advised board members that only one bid had been received for the South Beauregard High School football field lighting repair and that it was recommended to award the bid to GeoSports Lighting, for $168,000. Cassie Henry offered this as a motion, which was seconded by Darrin Manuel, and approved upon voting.
For the next agenda item, “To hear recommendations from the Finance Committee,” Kathy Bruner offered a motion to consider agenda items 12a-12g in globo, which was seconded by Garrett Greene. The motion to consider items 12a-12g in globo was approved and following this, upon motion of Casey Jones, seconded by Garrett Greene, the board members approved the following 6 motions without further discussion:
a. Motion to award Request for Proposal to Strategic Demographics, LLC, for the amount of
$16,000.
b. Motion to award bid for Bread and Bakery Products for school cafeterias to Flowers Baking
Company for the 2021-2022 school year.
c. Motion to award bid for Milk and Related Products for school cafeterias to Mid-State Marketing for
the 2021-2022 school year.
d. Motion to award bid for Frozen Foods for school cafeterias in Group A to William George Company, Inc., and Group B to Lamm Food Service for the 2021-2022 school year.
e. Motion to award bid for Produce for school cafeterias to William George Company, Inc., for the
2021-2022 school year.
f. Motion to award bid for Staple Foods for school cafeterias in Group A to William George Company, Inc., and Group B to Lamm Food Service for the 2021-2022 school year.
g. Motion to award bid for Paper Goods for school cafeterias in Group A to West Central Wholesale, and Group B to William George Company, Inc. for the 2021-2022 school year.
The final item on the agenda was for board members to discuss the date of the July committee meetings. Mr. Cooley reminded board members that the July 4 Independence Day holiday would fall on Sunday, this year. Most offices will observe this holiday on Monday, July 5, and according to Mr. Cooley, Central Office will be closed on that day. Casey Jones offered a motion to have the committee meetings on Tuesday, July 6, which was seconded by David Vidrine; however, in discussion, after scheduling conflicts were identified, Mr. Jones withdrew his motion. It was suggested that the committee meetings could be held on the same date as the board meetings, and Wesley Taylor offered a motion to set the July committee meeting date on July 8, 2021, at 4:00 pm, prior to the regular board meeting at 6:00 pm on that date. The motion was seconded by Casey Jones and approved upon voting.
_______________________________ _______________________________
Secretary President