2007-01-18

January 18, 2007

The Jefferson Davis Parish School Board met in regular session at the School Board Central Office, 203 East Plaquemine Street, Jennings, Louisiana, on Thursday, January 18, 2007, at 6:00 p.m., with the following School Board members in attendance: President Richard R. McNabb, Vice-President Julius G. Caraway, Gregory L. Bordelon, Mark E. Boudreaux, Sr., Jason J. Bouley, Charles R. Bruchhaus, David S. Capdeville, Donald E. Dees, Malon U. Dobson, Harry D. Gilbeaux, Michael J. Heinen, Robert W. Menard and James E. Segura. Absent: None.

The meeting was opened with a prayer, followed by the pledge of allegiance to the U.S. Flag.

District Attorney, Michael Cassidy, administered the oath of office to all board members who will serve from January 1, 2007 to December 31, 2010.

Board Superintendent, Tommy Lee Smith, called for nominations for the office of School Board President. It was moved by Mr. Bouley to nominate Mr. Caraway. The motion was seconded by Mr. Menard. It was moved by Mr. Capdeville and seconded by Mr. Bruchhaus, that nominations cease. Mr. Caraway was elected unanimously to serve as 2007 Board President.

Mr. Caraway, President, called for nominations for the office of School Board Vice-President. It was moved by Mr. Menard and seconded by McNabb to nominate Mr. Dobson. It was moved by Mr. Menard and seconded by Mr. Capdeville, and carried that nominations cease. Mr. Dobson was elected unanimously to serve as 2007 Board Vice-President.

Upon motion by Mr. Capdeville, seconded by Mr. Bordelon and carried, the minutes of the December 14, 2006 regular School Board meeting were accepted, with a minor correction noted.

It was moved by Mr. Bruchhaus and seconded by Mr. Menard that the Board call for a 2/3 vote to take care of items of business not listed on the original agenda, or to change the order of topics to be addressed. The motion carried unanimously.

The Sales Tax report was given by J. C. Blank, Tax Collector/Auditor, and accepted by the Board.

FINANCE COMMITTEE RECOMMENDATIONS: The following motions were made by Mr. Dobson, Vice-President, that the School Board:

1. Give permission to Elton High School to accept a $3,000.00 donation from the Coushatta Tribal Council to purchase a barbeque pit and accessories, built by Matte's Welding in Welsh, LA at a cost of $2,800.00, with the pit and accessories to be used by all clubs and organizations associated with the Elton School System. Motion seconded by Mr. Bruchhaus, and carried.

2. Give permission to Elton Elementary School to accept a $17,500.00 donation from the Coushatta Tribe of Louisiana to be used to up-grade, add programs, and expand the current Fast ForWord System being utilized at Elton Elementary School. Motion seconded by Mr. Dobson, and carried.

3. Give permission to accept a $3,000.00 donation from the Imperial Calcasieu Consortium Tech Prep funds to be used to purchase TV/DVD/VHS Combos and Digital Cameras for use by the parish guidance counselors. These items will be used to enhance career exploration by students. The total cost of 10 TV Combos and 5 Digital Cameras is $3,130.00. The $130.00 overage would be paid by the General Fund. Motion seconded by Mr. Segura, and carried.

4. Give permission to Lacassine High School to accept a $265.00 donation from the Lacassine Bayou Belles to be deposited in the School's - School Wide Positive Behavior Fund, to be used for incentives for the students at Lacassine High School. Motion seconded by Mr. McNabb, and carried.

5. Grant permission to make a piggyback purchase, through the St. Landry Parish School Board, of one, Bluebird, Regular Education, 71-passenger bus from Ross Bus and Equipment Sales, Inc., for the price of $69,712.00, to be paid from the General Fund. Motion seconded by Mr. Gilbeaux, and carried.

6. Approve a request from Welsh-Roanoke Junior High School to purchase six Dell Computers to replace and update the teaching stations. A quote, under state contract, was received from Dell in the amount of $6,336.66, to be paid from the CSD #1 Contingency Fund. Motion seconded by Mr. Bouley, and carried.

7. Grant permission to accept bids to re-roof all of Ward Elementary and Welsh High School and a portion of Lacassine High School, to be paid by General Fund. Motion seconded by Mr. Boudreaux, and carried.

8. Accept the best quote received from Habetz Roofing Service, Inc. of $22,482.02 to re-roof the Lake Arthur Elementary School covered walks, to be paid from the General Fund/Hurricane Rita Fund. Motion seconded by Mr. Bordelon, and carried.

9. Approve a request to accept the best quote of $2,852.00 for two (2) three - ton cool/ 18kw heat units for Elton High School Consumer Science classroom from Baker Supply, Lake Charles, LA, to be from Maintenance District #22. Motion seconded by Mr. Bruchhaus, and carried.

10. Declare an emergency and approve payment of $7,671.79 to Berg Mechanical of Lake Charles for repairs and labor to the boiler at Jennings Elementary School, to be paid from Maintenance District #2. Motion seconded by Mr. Menard, and carried.

11. Accept the 2005-2006 audit report, as presented by Mike Gillespie, CPA, Auditor of Record for theBoard. Mr. Gillespie discussed his responsibilities as the Auditor with the Finance Committee. During this time Bill Hebert, Director of Finance complemented the accounting staff, Diana Matt, Polly Bellard, Darlene Richard, Julie Tracy, Anna Comeaux and Keith Willis for their contributions to the success of the audit. Motion seconded by Mr. Gilbeaux, and carried.

POLICY COMMITTEE RECOMMENDATIONS: The following motion was made by Mr. Segura, Chairman, seconded by Mr. Bruchhaus, and carried that the School Board:

1. Adopt the following new or revised policies which reflect the action taken by the 2006 Louisiana Legislature effective November, 2006:

A. FILE: CEC - RECRUITMENT OF SUPERINTENDENTS

B. FILE: GBC - RECRUITMENT OF PERSONNEL

C. FILE DJED - BIDS AND QUOTATIONS

D. FILE GAK - PERSONNEL RECORDS

E. FILE GBK - EMPLOYEE DISCIPLINE (New Policy)

F. Policy recoding Information:

- Policy File GBHA, EMPLOYEE DISCIPLINE, was recoded into Policy File GAMC, Employee Investigations. Recommended deletion of Policy File GBHA.

- Policy File GBK, Suspension, has been recoded as Policy File GBKA.

- Policy File GBKA, Reduction in Staff Personnel, has been recoded Policy File GBNA.

NEW BUSINESS:

It was moved by Mr. Bouley, seconded by Mr. Dobson and carried, to adopt the following resolution regarding School Board meetings during 2007:

R E S O L U T I O N

WHEREAS, ACT 707 of the 1977 Louisiana Legislature makes substantive changes in Louisiana's Open Meeting Law, and

WHEREAS, one change exempts the Board from having to give written notice of each regular meeting (1) if the Board adopts a resolution each January establishing the day, time, and place of the regular meeting, (2) written public notice of this resolution is given at least one time, and (3) the day, time, and place remain the same or, if changed, the Board gives written public notice at least once to the amendment or new resolution no less than twenty-four hours in advance of the changed regular meeting, and

WHEREAS, this Board would like to conform to this change,

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED by the Jefferson Davis Parish School Board in regular session duly convened on January 18, 2007, that the Board does hereby adopt an official resolution establishing the regular meeting schedule for the year 2007 to be on the third Thursday of each consecutive month, the meeting place to be at the School Board Central Office, 203 East Plaquemine Street, Jennings, Louisiana, and the time to be 6:00 p.m. throughout the year. EXCEPTIONS: The Board will meet on the second Thursday in May on May 10, 2007, due to graduation schedules. On December 20, 2007, the Board shall meet at 10:00 a.m. at James Ward Elementary School.

It was moved by Mr. Bruchhaus, seconded by Mr. Gilbeaux and carried, to adopt the following resolution regarding Textbook Adoptions and Allocations:

R E S O L U T I O N

WHEREAS, school boards throughout the state are experiencing difficulty in providing new textbooks because of the increasing costs; and,

WHEREAS, the monies allocated per child for textbooks does not cover the actual cost of these textbooks; and,

WHEREAS, the textbook adoption cycle established by the State of Louisiana does not coincide with the states for whom textbook companies make major editorial revisions; and,

WHEREAS, parishes may use allocated monies to update needed textbooks in areas where sufficient monies were allocated; now,

THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, that the Jefferson Davis Parish School Board petition the Louisiana School Boards Association to sponsor legislation which will change the textbook adoption cycle to coincide with major states, and allocate sufficient funds to cover actual costs of books; and,

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that copies of this resolution be forwarded to the Louisiana School Boards Association, to the Governor of Louisiana, to the State Superintendent of Public Education, to the State Board of Elementary and Secondary Education, and to all Superintendents throughout the state.

It was moved by Mr. Boudreaux, seconded by Mr. Bouley and carried, to approve out-of-state travel for Welsh High School Dance Line to attend a Dance Competition in Houston, Texas, from Thursday, February 15, 2007 to Saturday, February 17, 2007.

It was moved by Mr. Bouley, seconded by Mr. Capdeville and carried, to approve submission to the Louisiana State Department of Education of all 2007-2008 federal and state flow-through projects and any new programs enacted through the "No Child Left Behind Education Act".

It was moved by Mr. Capdeville, seconded by Mr. Bruchhaus and carried, to name Mr. Wayne Corne and Mr. Paul Lemaire of Corne-Lemaire Group, Lafayette, LA as the Jefferson Davis Parish School Board Architects of Record for general architectural work for the fiscal year of 2007-2008.

It was moved by Mr. Menard, seconded by Mr. Bordelon and carried, to renew the following job performance positions, effective 7/1/07 to 6/30/09: (Note: Mr. Heinen and Mr. Segura abstained from voting)

Principals:

Kieran Coleman Jennings Elementary

Mona Miller Hathaway High

David Troutman Elton High

Assistant Principals:

Melissa Savoie Lake Arthur High

Kent Ray Jennings High

Suzanne Doucet Jennings High

Tommy Campbell Jennings High

Rebecca Chapman Lake Arthur Elementary

Martha Phelps Jennings Elementary

Daniel Reed Jennings High

Claire Cormier Elton Elementary

Richard Fuselier Ward Elementary School

Other Contracts:

J. C. Blank Tax Collector/Auditor

Dan LeJeune Manager of Custodial Services

Kathy Mack SIS/JPams System/Curriculum Technical

Helen Atchison Curriculum Technology Specialist

Donald Mallet Technology Technical Specialist

Amy LaSage Migrant Recruiter

Vocational/Counselors/Band:

Rae Daigle JHS Counselor

Mamcy Mallett WHS Counselor

Elaine Segura JHS Counselor

Joan Vidrine EHS Counselor

Deborah Ardoin Speech Therapist

Sabrina Collins Social Worker

Joelyn Doland Sp Ed Interventionist

Jenny Esthay Educational Diagnostician

Mary Faul Educational Diagnostician

Willie Golden JHS Band

Rachel Haydel Social Worker

Mary Herpin LAHS Band

Terry LaBowe Educational Diagnostician

Michael Ortego School Psychologist

Julie Pickle School Psychologist

Joni Thibodeaux School Psychologist

Chris Humble AgScience

Robert Price AgScience

Brant Smith AgScience

Jesse Thibodeaux AgScience

Misty Thibodeaux AgScience

It was moved by Mr. Heinen, seconded by Mr. McNabb and carried, to adopt the school calendar for the 2007-2008 school year, based on the opinions of the school employees, and approved by the Finance Committee.

It was moved by Mr. Bordelon, seconded by Mr. Gilbeaux and carried to grant permission to Etta L. Green, Director, Child Nutrition Program to travel to Washington, D.C. for the Legislative Action Conference for School Nutrition to be held on March 3-7, 2007. Travel, meals, registration to be paid with school lunch funds. Housing may be shared with another parish, if not, it will also come from lunch funds.

It was moved by Mr. Dees, seconded by Mr. Menard and carried, to approve out-of-state travel for Jennings High School Athletic Department to attend a World Gulf Coast Coaching Clinic in Biloxi, Mississippi, from 1/31/07 to 02/02/07.

It was moved by Mr. Gilbeaux, seconded by Mr. Boudreaux and carried, to approve the purchase of a FS015 Folder/Sealer from Tyler MUNIS for use in printing, sealing and mailing accounts payable and payroll checks from our new business software package for $4,510.00 plus a one-year maintenance agreement for $595.00, as requested by the Director of Finance.

PERSONNEL CHANGES:

It was moved by Mr. Capdeville, seconded by Mr. Bruchhaus and carried, to approve the Superintendent's recommendations naming Raynetta Ward, Secretary to the Assistant Superintendent, effective 2/3/07, or as soon as possible, re: Laura Ann Brown, retiring. In addition the board named Lancer Young, as Elton High full-time custodian, re: Richard Borne's transfer, effective 01/19/07 or as soon as possible.

It was moved by Mr. Bouley, seconded by Mr. Menard and carried, to approve the following:

APPOINTMENTS

1. Deidre Clement, Jennings Elementary School, 5^th grade science teacher, re: Heather Dupuis transfer, effective 01/08/07.

2. Rebekah LaBove, Lacassine High, teacher, re: Andree Conner transfer, effective 01/22/07.

3. Jamie Festervand, Welsh High English teacher, re: Candice Semar's resignation, effective 01/22/07.

4. Shannon Prejean, Lacassine High Title I aide, re: Ladonna Singletary, leave without pay, effective 01/16/07.

TRANSFERS

1. Heather T. Dupuis, from Jennings Elementary teacher to Lake Arthur Elementary librarian, re: Vickie Broussard transfer to librarian at Lake Arthur High, effective 1/9/07.

2. Andree Conner, from Lacassine High teacher to Welsh- Roanoke Junior High teacher, re: Naomi Benoit transfer, effective 1/9/07.

3. Naomi Benoit, from Welsh- Roanoke Junior High teacher to Welsh-Roanoke Junior High guidance counselor, re: Teresa Zaunbrecher promoted to Welsh- Roanoke Junior High Assistant Principal, effective 1/9/07.

4. Annabell Jones, Welsh cafeteria 7 hour technician to five hour technician, effective 1/19/07.

5. Lela Thomas, Welsh cafeteria 7 hour technician to five hour technician, effective 1/19/07.

LEAVES

1. Colette Hoffpauir, Jennings High School teacher, extended medical leave, effective 1/22/07 to 02/02/07.

2. Kelly W. Robertson, Welsh Elementary School teacher, maternity leave, effective 12/01/06 to 01/02/07.

3. Erica Savoie, Jennings Elementary cafeteria 7 hour technician, family emergency and medical leave, effective 2/7/07 to 3/12/07.

4. Gwen S. Landry, extended medical leave, effective 1/25/07 to 2/7/07.

RESIGNATIONS AND RETIREMENTS

1. Shelly Manuel, Lacassine High, 7 hour cafeteria technician, effective 12/20/06.

2. Harvey Lasage, Curriculum Supervisor, Central Office, retiring effective 07/05/07, after 35 years of service.

3. Rosemarie R. Sonnier, Jennings High School Teacher, retiring effective 07/18/07, after 38 years of service.

4. Paula L. Barker, James Ward Elementary, 7 hour cafeteria technician, effective 01/18/07.

5. Michelle Lewis, James Ward Elementary, 7 hour cafeteria technician, effective 01/18/07.

6. Jacqueline Adams, James Ward Elementary, 7 hour cafeteria technician, effective 01/18/07.

It was moved by Mr. Dobson, seconded by Mr. McNabb and carried, to extend Evelyn Pilgreen's contract as a Jefferson Davis Parish Educational Diagnostician until Jenny Esthay returns to that position.

INFORMATION:

1. Condolences are extended to the family of Avis Leroy Trahan, who was a Teacher and Assistant Principal at Elton Elementary School from 1962 until he retired in 1991.

2. New Board committees will be announced by the new president and will be mailed to all Board members as soon as available. The appointment of the legislative liaison for the next four years will also be announced.

3. The date set for in-service for new Board members and any other interested members is 1/30/07, at 1:15 p.m. at the Board office.

4. On 1/10/07, Mr. Dees attended the Louisiana School Board Association Financial Leadership Workshop. At that time Mr. Dees earned 4 credit hours towards the mandatary 6 credit hours of credit as well as voluntary LSBA certification.

EXECUTIVE SESSION:

It was moved by Mr. Dobson, seconded by Mr. Bouley and carried, that the Board enter into an executive session.

It was moved by Mr. Heinen, seconded by Mr. Capdeville and carried, to return to regular secession.

It was moved by Mr. Segura, seconded by Mr. Dees and carried, to authorize District Attorney Michael Cassidy to contact the attorney of record for the asbestos litigation suit and to contact the attorney as to what was discussed in executive session.

It was moved by Mr. Heinen, seconded by Mr. Menard and carried, to authorize District Attorney Michael Cassidy to explore further litigation regarding the Jennings High School floor issues.

There being no other business to come before the Board, the Board adjourned.

_________________________

/s/Julius G. Caraway, President

ATTEST:

_________________________

/s/Tommy Lee Smith, Secretary/Superintendent