April 18, 2002
Centerville, Louisiana
The St. Mary Parish School Board met in regular session on Thursday, April 18, 2002, at 5:00 P.M., at the Central Office Complex in Centerville, Louisiana, with the following members answering to roll call:
Messrs: Joseph C. Foulcard, Jr., Mrs. Mary L. Lockley, Daniel J. Brumfield, Ms. Marilyn P. LaSalle, Wayne J. Deslatte, Mrs. Betty Guarisco, Ms. Frances R. Miller, Ms. Marie Trimm, Michael E. Taylor:
Absent: Mr. Willie J. Peters and Mr. Louis J. Lipari.
Mr. Beaubouef gave the Invocation.
The West St. Mary JROTC led the group in the Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag of the United States of America followed by the Presentation of Colors.
Introduction of "Students of the Month":
J. B. Maitland Elementary School:
Principal Tonia Verrette presented sixth grader LaQuesha Davis as "Student of the Month"at J. B. Maitland Elementary School.
B. Edward Boudreaux Middle School:
Assistant Principal Evangeline Butler presented eighth grader Shanice Hatcherson as "Student of the Month"at B. Edward Boudreaux Middle School.
Board Approves Official School Board Minutes:
Ms. Miller moved to approve the official school board minutes from the regular meetings held on January 10th and February 14th, 2002, and the special session sessions held on February 21st and March 4th, 2002 as submitted. Mrs. Guarisco gave a second and the motion carried.
Board Approves Consent Agenda:
Ms. Miller moved to approve the items on the Consent Agenda as presented. Mr. Brumfield gave as second and that motion carried.
Proclamations:
Teacher Appreciation Week (May 5th - 11th, 2002);
Secretaries Week (April 22nd - 26th, 2002);
Awarded Centerville High School Tract Project to Miller Engineers;
Permission to obtain proposals for a newspaper to serve as Official Journal for year commencing July 1, 2002;
Permission to obtain proposals from financial institutions to serve as Fiscal Agent for year commencing July 1, 2002;
Resolution for Whitney Bank to purchase securities and act as depository and custodian for School Board;
St. Mary Community Action Agency Summer Feeding Program at Shannon, Watts, Alternative School, Hines, Hamilton, and Gibbs schools;
Field Trips:
Franklin High JROTC travel to Daytona, Florida, May 2nd - 7th, 2002;
Franklin High Physics Class travel to Houston, Texas, Friday, April 19th, 2002;
Appearances:
Candidate for 1st Circuit Court of Appeal:
Judge Edward Jimmy Gauidry addressed the Board on his candidacy to fill the vacancy on the 1st Circuit Court of Appeal due to Judge John Weimer being elected to serve on the Louisiana Supreme Court. In the 17 years he practiced law, he served as an Assistant District Attorney, Attorney to the City of Houma, Attorney to the Houma/Terrebonne Airport Commission, and District Court Judge since 1984.
He is also an active member of the Houma Chamber of Commerce, the Lions Club, and he has been teaching trial advocacy in association with the Tulane Law Program for the past 8 years. Judge Gauidry asked the Board's consideration of his qualifications in the October election.
Pay Raises:
Mrs. Audrey McIlwain, President of St. Mary Federation of Teachers, urged the Board to find funding in the upcoming school year's budget for a pay increase for teachers and support personnel. Mrs. McIlwain said that new federal legislation requires that all school systems have highly qualified teachers by 2006. Citing statistics of 13 to 14 percent of classrooms statewide being manned by non-certified teachers, she told the Board that salaries in St. Mary Parish must be increased to compete with neighboring parishes for certified teachers. She also noted that the House Bill introduced to provide a one time pay raise for support personnel did not pass and was returned to the calendar subject to call.
President Taylor responded that depending on available funds, consideration would be given to pay increases during the Board's budget deliberations.
Board Approves Modified Summer Work Week:
Superintendent Dressel requested Board approval to operate on a modified summer work schedule where employees report to work at 7:30 A.M. rather than 8:00 A.M., and dismiss at 4:15 P.M., rather than 4:00 P.M., Monday - Thursday. In so doing, an extra 45 minutes is accumulated to allow the closure of all of buildings at 12:00 noon on Friday. This schedule has been well accepted and the Board realizes savings in utilities by turning off all chillers for a half a day.
Ms. Miller so moved, seconded by Mr. Deslatte and the motion carried.
Board Accepts Proposal for Workers Compensation Insurance for Year Commencing May 1, 2002:
Insurance Consultant Fred Dent referred to a handout with information regarding workers compensation coverage that renews on May 1st of this year. He said although several companies expressed interest in submitting quotes, the sole proposal was received from Frank's Agency. In reviewing the rate sheet, he said that the premium rates are substantially higher than they were last year which he attributed to payroll increases and ordinary rate increases, but discounts were given on the net rate figures.
Mr. Deslatte moved to accept the proposal to provide workers compensation coverage for the year commencing May 1, 2002, as presented by Mr. Dent. Ms. Miller gave a second and the motion carried. (See Attached)
Board Schedules District Maintenance Budget Meetings:
The St. Mary Parish School Board scheduled District Maintenance Budget Meetings as follows:
District I: Tuesday, April 30th, 11:00 A.M., at the Central Office Complex;
District III: Wednesday, May 1st, 9:00 A.M. at J. B. Maitland Elementary School;
District II: Thursday, May 2nd, 5:00 P.M. (Time to be confirmed by Chairman Lipari who was not present at the meeting);
Open House at Centerville High School:
Superintendent Dressel informed the Board that the annual Open House held in conjunction with the St. Mary Parish Chamber of Commerce is set for Thursday, April 25th at 5:30 P.M., at the Centerville High School new gym.
The event will feature a Coch-de-Lait ( a roasted pig) by the Ag Department and the Home Ec Department will provide the trimmings and desserts. Cabot Corporation, Mark Tire & Rubber, and Twin Brothers Marine are sponsoring the event.
Board Approves Re-Alignment of Franklin Schools:
Superintendent Dressel stated that students in the Franklin area change schools 5 times, first of all going to a Pre-K-1st school, a 2nd- 4th school, a 5th-6th school, a 7th-8th school, and then a 9th-12th school. In addition, each school must give a test in order to achieve a school performance score. W. P. Foster Elementary, LaGrange Elementary and J. A. Hernandez Elementary schools do not have either a 4th grade or an 8th grade which is a LEAP component, so each of those schools have to borrow scores from the other schools. The Superintendent said that realigning the Franklin schools would allow each school to have a testing grade for the LEAP and the IOWA standardized tests. Assessor Sherel Martin=s mapping program was utilized to develop an equitable division of the schools in designating attendance zones. W. P. Foster Elementary, J. A. Hernandez Elementary, and LaGrange Elementary schools will become Pre-K-5th grade schools.
Mr. Beaubouef said that in assigning students to attend a particular school, consideration was given to maintaining the integrity of the neighborhood and keeping the racial balance already established at the school. Situations where students on one side of the street attend one school and students on the other side of the street attend another school were avoided. Parents will be notified in writing regarding which school their child will be assigned to attend for the next school year. Bus routes are also being entered into the mapping program to determine where bus stops will be located.
Superintendent Dressel added that students residing within 1 mile of their assigned school will walk to school which should help to streamline busing. Upon finalizing the realignment plan in the Franklin schools, he will look into implementing the same plan in District III for the same reasons.
Mr. Foulcard moved to approve the realignment plan for the Franklin Schools as presented by Superintendent Dressel and Mr. Beaubouef, to be effective for the 2002-2003 school year. Mr. Deslatte gave a second and that motion carried.
Committee Reports:
Salary Review Committee:
Chairman Taylor announced that a Salary Review Committee meeting will be scheduled in the near future before the Board gets too far into the budgetary process.
Board Schedules Gifted Committee Meeting:
The Gifted Committee of the St. Mary Parish School Board will meet on Tuesday, May 7th at 4:00 P.M., at the Central Office Complex.
Board Schedules Hi-Tech Committee Meeting:
The Hi-Tech Committee of the St. Mary Parish School Board will meet on Tuesday, April 30th at 4:00 P.M., at the Central Office Complex.
Staff Reports:
School Improvement Plans:
Ms. Cornes reported that on March 28th, the school improvement plans were submitted to the State for the 5 (five) schools in corrective action. She also informed the Board that preparation is underway on the consolidated application for $4 million dollars of federal funding.
Sales Tax Update:
Mr. Fleming reported that audit collections of $161,000 to date are substantially below last year's numbers of $325,000 and below budget figures of $300,000 to date, however, net sales taxes, excluding audits, are up by 6.3 percent above last year, and 4.1 percent above budget figures. He said that total collections are 4.1 percent above last year and 2.3 percent above budget figures.
Reapportionment Update:
In his update, Consultant Cedric Floyd said that the plan the Board approved on February 14th was changed as little as possible from the 1990 plan that was pre-cleared by the Justice Department. Mr. Floyd said that as of yesterday, Senate Bill 65 passed in the Legislature which allows districts to consolidate precincts to be consistent with the redistricting plan as long as there is no interference with higher offices such as State Representatives, State Senators, Congressional Districts and State Judgeships.
He has been working on establishing visible boundaries and in so doing, a few changes resulted as Districts 2 and 3 meet in Baldwin and Districts 1 and 4 meet in Franklin, but racial percentages were not affected. There were no changes to Districts 7, 8, 9, 10, and 11, but Patterson had minor changes. Mr. Floyd referred to the map as he reviewed the modifications with the Board.
He presented a resolution asking Board acceptance of the modified version of the plan previously adopted with changes done to bring the plan into compliance with State law in providing visible boundaries.
Ms. LaSalle questioned if another public hearing would be needed to present the modified version of the plan to the public. Mr. Floyd responded that some fine tuning was done to the plan and a public hearing would not be necessary.
He said that State law requires that the School Board go to the Parish Council and request their approval of whole precincts. Louisiana Revised Statute !8:532 and 18:531 states that "the boundaries of any election district for a new apportionment plan from which members of the School Board are elected shall contain whole precincts established by the parish governing authority". Title 17 gives School Boards who do not have the same number of members as their Parish Council, the discretion to split precincts.
In addressing the time line to submit the plan, Mr. Floyd said that if the plan gets to the Justice Department 70 (seventy) days before qualifying, then the plan is within the allotted time. He is prepared to go to the Parish Council meeting on Wednesday to present the resolution requesting that the School Board's plan be factored in, and requested that representation from the Board also be present.
After being questioned by several Board Members, Mr. Floyd said he feels whole precincts can be accomplished with the Parish Council now that precincts don=t have to be split or subdivided, but can be consolidated. He assured the Board that he makes certain every question and every document he anticipates the Justice Department to request is included in the packet sent to them so no additional time is needed to provide information to them because the 60 days does not begin until the Justice Department has all of the required information in their hands.
Mr. Deslatte offered a motion to accept the plan as amended and presented by Mr. Floyd. Mrs. Guarisco gave a second and discussion ensued.
President Taylor recognized St. Mary Parish Registrar of Voters Jolene Holcomb to address the Board. Mrs. Holcomb said that she was not familiar with the specifics of the amended plan presented by Mr. Floyd. In offering clarification on Senate Bill 65, she said the bill states that the Parish Council could consolidate precincts after the Parish Council and the School Board redistricting plans are completed and approved by the Justice Department.
She noted that the window for consolidation is December 1st, 2002 through March 31st, 2003, which will be after the School Board's election. Mrs. Holcomb also pointed out that the School Board is 4 months away from qualifying and the Justice Department has a 60 day review period, which would allow her office 2 months to implement the plan.
She emphasized that every registered voter in the parish will have to be placed in a district based on the new plan and that process takes time, especially if the precincts are split. She explained that split precincts mean money. Splitting a precinct means creating a new precinct which means a new polling place. A new polling place needs a commissioner in charge and 2 to 4 commissioners for each election for which all of them receive payment. A new polling place also means extra voting machines for which the State is experiencing a shortage.
Mrs. Lockley questioned how often voter rolls are purged to which Mrs. Holcomb responded that felony reports from the Clerk's Office are received on a monthly basis and felony reports from the State are received on a quarterly basis. The reports are checked out and put through the suspension process, so a person has 21 days to come in and dispute the information. If no one disputes the information, then that person is suspended. Upon completion of their sentence, the person can bring in their paperwork and be reinstated. She said that a person can no longer be cancelled for having an incorrect address. A canvas is done every year and if the canvas card is returned saying the address is undeliverable, then that person is made inactive, and if the person remains inactive for a period of 2 federal elections and does not vote, then that person is removed from the voter roll. A quarterly report is received from the State listing deaths.
After further discussion, the Board voted on the motion and the motion carried. Mr. Deslatte then moved to offer the resolution to the St. Mary Parish Council for consideration. Ms. LaSalle gave a second and the motion carried.
Superintendent's Report:
New Mandated Requirements for Paraprofessionals for ANo Child Left Behind Act:
Superintendent Dressel told the Board that the new federal law entitled "No Child Left Behind"act requires that paraprofessionals/aides acting in an instructional capacity obtain an associate degree, or receive 60 hours of college credit, or pass a state assessment test. Paraprofessionals/Aides who otherwise do not conform to this mandate by the year 2006 will be ineligible for hire. Vacancies resulting from resignations and retirements must be filled by an applicant who meets the new requirements. The Superintendent expects there may be a severe shortage of paraprofessional/aides in the next 4 years. He noted that an associate degree salary scale will need to be developed.
St. Mary Community Action Summer Feeding Program:
Superintendent Dressel announced that one of the school sites initially approved to house the St. Mary Community Action Summer Feeding Program has been changed. Due to construction work underway at J. B. Maitland Elementary School, the program will be housed at M. D. Shannon Elementary School instead.
"Secretaries Week":
Superintendent Dressel announced that "Secretaries Week"would be observed next week in the parish.
Teacher Appreciation Week:
Superintendent Dressel announced that "Teacher Appreciation Week"would be observed the first full week in May.
Act 681:
Mr. Deslatte moved to expand the agenda under Act 681 to address proclaiming "National Library Week", approving substantial completions, advertising for summer school principals, and proclaiming "School Food Appreciation Week". Mrs. Guarisco gave a second and the motion carried.
Board Proclaims "National Library Week":
Mrs. Guarisco moved to proclaim April 14th - 20th as "National Library Week". Ms. Miller gave a second and the motion carried.
Board Accepts Substantial Completions:
Ms. Miller moved to accept substantial completion on the boiler projects at Morgan City High School, Patterson Junior High School and G. W. Hamilton Elementary School as presented by Mr. Pontiff. Mrs. Guarisco gave a second and the motion carried.
Board Grants Permission to Advertise for Summer School Principals:
Mr. Deslatte's motion to grant permission to advertise for summer school principals was seconded by Mr. Brumfield and carried.
Board Proclaims "School Food Service Appreciation Week":
Ms. LaSalle offered a motion to declare the week of May 13th - 17th as "School Food Service Appreciation Week". Mrs. Guarisco gave a second and the motion carried.
Resolutions of Respect:
The meeting adjourned out of respect for the late Mazel F. Ball and Benjamin Butler.