PROCEEDINGS OF THE ST. JOHN THE BAPTIST PARISH SCHOOL BOARD
RESERVE, LA - Meeting of January 21, 2010
The Chair called the meeting to order and read the following call:
HONORABLE MEMBERS OF THE SCHOOL BOARD
Parish of St. John the Baptist
Dear Board Member:
Upon call of the President, the St. John the Baptist Parish School Board will meet
in regular session at West St. John Elementary School, 2555 LA Hwy. 18, Edgard, Louisiana, on Thursday, January 21, 2010, at 6:00 p.m.
An agenda for the meeting is attached.
Sincerely,
s/Courtney P. Millet, Ph.D.
Superintendent/Secretary
The Chair called for a moment of silent meditation followed by the Pledge of Allegiance.
ROLL CALL OF MEMBERS:
PRESENT: Messrs. Madere, Jones, Johnson, Wise, Bacas, Ory, Triche, Keller.
ABSENT: Messrs. Jack, Burl, Sanders.
There were 8 members present and 3 absent.
Mr. Jack arrived at 6:02 p.m. and was recorded as present.
ITEM 3. APPROVAL OF MINUTES: Meeting of January 7, 2010. A motion was made by Mr. Madere, seconded by Mr. Jones, to accept the minutes of January 7, 2010 as printed and published. There were no objections and the motion to approve the minutes carried. Messrs. Burl and Sanders were absent.
Mr. Sanders arrived at 6:04 p.m. and was recorded as present.
ITEM 4. SUPERINTENDENT’S REPORT. Courtney P. Millet, Ph.D., Superintendent.
Dr. Millet asked that everyone remember the family of Mrs. Agnes Jacob in their prayers. Mrs. Jacob passed away earlier this week and was a lunch manager in the school system.
Dr. Millet recognized West St. John High School for being named among ”America’s Best High Schools” by US News and World Report. West St. John High was one of only 31 Louisiana high schools named in this report. Dr. Millet congratulated Mrs. Erica Merrick and the entire faculty and staff of West St. John High School and presented them with a plaque.
Dr. Millet recognized two teachers for being named ”Teacher Appreciation” winners by L’Observateur. Mr. James Kline, a social studies teacher at West St. John High and Mrs. Gail Gros, the Response-to-Intervention teacher at West St. John Elementary School were each presented with a plaque.
West St. John High School student Dray Joseph presented his Senior Project to the Board and audience. Mr. Joseph presented a Powerpoint on ”Supplying Energy to a Growing Population”, and thanked his mentor, Mr. Damien Singleton, who is an electrical engineer with Dow Chemical. Dr. Millet thanked and congratulated Mr. Joseph on a wonderful presentation.
Dr. Millet recognized West St. John High and West St. John Elementary Schools on their academic improvement. West St. John High School increased its 2008-2009 School Performance Baseline score by 5.7 points, which reflects a 7% increase over last year’s score. West St. John Elementary School increased their School Performance Score by 8.8 points, which reflects a 10% increase over last year’s score. Dr. Millet congratulated both schools on increasing their performance label from a 1 Star School to a 2 Star School.
Dr. Millet recognized the following students for placing in the Apron Contest at the Andouille Festival this past October:
Ninth Grade: 1st Place - DaJavon Lewis
2nd Place - Belair Dinvaut
3rd Place - Jenada Ketchens
Tenth Grade: 1st Place - Arnella Jack
Eleventh Grade: 1st Place - Rashada Gros
2nd Place - Quad Howard
Each student was presented with a St. John the Baptist Parish Schools t-shirt.
Dr. Millet introduced and congratulated Ms. Shayla Guidry for being named the Region III, Secondary Teacher of the Year by the Louisiana Association of Computer Using Educators (LACUE). Ms. Guidry is the Master Technology Teacher at both West St. John High and West St. John Elementary Schools. Ms. Guidry was presented with a plaque.
Dr. Millet congratulated students in Mr. Brandon Walters’s Social Studies class at West St. John Elementary School. This class won 1st Place in the LACUE Video Contest this past December with their video titled ”No Way Out: The Closing of the Edgard Ferry”. The students presented the video for the Board and audience. Mr. Walters was presented with a plaque.
Dr. Millet introduced and congratulated Ms. Rajwantie Sahai on being selected to receive the VFW Post 3339 National Citizenship Teacher Award. Ms. Sahai was presented a plaque for this accomplishment.
West St. John High School students Devon Jackson and Brandon Schexnayder were introduced to explain the newly created multimedia production class. The students presented a Powerpoint explaining the objectives of this class and thanked Dr. Millet and the Board for affording them the opportunity to take part in this class. Dr. Keller thanked the faculty and staff of both West Bank schools for their hard work.
Mr. Burl arrived at 6:40 p.m. and was recorded as present.
ITEM 5. EDUCATIONAL PRESENTATIONS AND RECOGNITIONS BY THE BOARD OR STAFF. a. None
ITEM 6. PERSONNEL MATTERS: Dr. Leigh Ann Beard, Director of Human Resources.
Personnel Changes (Requires action by the Board). Dr. Beard presented the following Personnel Changes for approval:
I. PROFESSIONAL
A. New Hires
1. Doyan Albert, Sp. Ed. Teacher, Garyville/Mt. Airy Magnet, December 14, 2010
2. Julie Jackson, Teacher, East St. John High, December 14, 2010
3. Alecia Johnson, Head Start Teacher, Lake Pontchartrain Elementary, January 4, 2010
4. Yvette Robinson, Head Start Teacher, St. John Child Development Center, January 12, 2010
5. Aimee Kidder, Teacher, West St. John Elementary, January 13, 2010
6. Cindy Coffey, Teacher, John L. Ory, January 19, 2010
B. Extended Sick Leave
1. Yussef Jasmine, Teacher, East St. John High, October 26, 2009-January 26, 2010
2. Donna Newsome, Teacher, East St. John High, November 13, 2009-December 18, 2009
3. Nancy Giordano-Echegoyen, Milesville, December 18, 2009-February 1, 2010
C. Sabbatical
1. Janet Kinzy, Guidance Counselor, West St. John Elementary, January 4, 2010-May 21, 2010
D. Retirement
1. Janine Ward, Teacher, East St. John High, December 18, 2009
2. Debra Davis, Teacher, Lake Pontchartrain Elementary, December 19, 2009
E. Resignations
1. Mary Bebie Hickman, Teacher, West St. John Elementary, January 8, 2010
2. Donna Newsome, Teacher, East St. John High, January 1, 2010
II. CLASSIFIED
Leave With Pay
Patricia Williams, Janitor, Lake Pontchartrain Elementary, May 23, 2009-May 23, 2010
Govanna Belvin, Bus Driver, January 4, 2010-May 20, 2010
Alice Johnson, Teacher’s Aide, East St. John Elementary, January 4, 2010-May 21, 2010
Extended Sick Leave
Regan Tyler, Head Start Aide, Child Development Center, November 30, 2009-January 14, 2010
Bobbie Turner, Bus Driver, December 7, 2009-January 19, 2010
Conchata Lewis, Custodian, Leon Godchaux, December 18, 2009-February 1, 2010
A motion was made by Mr. Wise, seconded by Mr. Jones, to accept the Personnel Changes as presented. There were no objections and the motion passed unanimously.
ITEM 7. BUSINESS AND FINANCE: Mr. Felix Boughton, Executive Director of Business and Finance.
a. Request to authorize administration to accept proposals on property insurance (Requires action by the Board)
A motion was made by Mr. Madere, seconded by Mr. Triche, to authorize administration to accept proposals on property insurance. There were no objections and motion passed unanimously.
b. Quarterly Budget to Actual Report 2009-2010. This was an informational item only. Mr. Boughton explained that this report gives details of the General Fund’s financial position.
c. Removal of bleachers, block building and concrete footing at the football field in back of Leon Godchaux (Requires action by the Board) Mr. Boughton explained to the Board that the original contractor that was awarded this contract backed out of the transaction. R & R Salvage has agreed to remove all of the items and haul off all debris for the salvage value of the materials, so this contract will not cost the Board any money. Mr. Wise questioned whether we had a guarantee that this contractor will do the job. Mr. Boughton explained that there was not any guarantee on this, but if this contractor failed to do the job, then the Board would have to consider hiring someone to remove all items and debris.
A motion was made by Mr. Triche, seconded by Mr. Jones to award the contract of removal of bleachers, block building and concrete footing at the football field in the back of Leon Godchaux to R & R Salvage. There were no objections and the motion passed unanimously.
d. CSRS - Request Board approval to award contract to apparent low bidder for the Garyville/Mt. Airy Renovation Project contingent upon low bidder meeting all LA Public Bid Law and Contract Document Requirements (Requires action by the Board) Mr. Chris Pellegrin, CSRS stated that on January 14, 2010, bids were received and opened at 2:00 p.m. at the School Board Office. Mr. Pellegrin stated that CSRS is recommending that the Board accept the base bid with no alternates. He explained that Alternate 1 is to supply and install grid cap covers to areas that are to receive new ceiling tiles, which is a temporary fix to an ongoing problem with the HVAC system. Alternate 2 is to provide repairs to the building envelope including adding insulation at the roof, which will be upgrades to the envelope, thermal and moisture protection, which is a more permanent solution. Mr. Pellegrin explained that the budget included $998,000 to spend on this project, and the apparent low-bid was from AME Disaster Recovery:
Base Bid................ 879,000
After some discussion, a motion to table was made by Mr. Wise, seconded by Mr. Triche. Upon roll call there were 3 Yeas (Wise, Ory, Triche) and 8 Nays (Jack, Burl, Sanders, Madere, Jones, Johnson, Bacas, Keller) and the motion to table failed.
Mr. Burl questioned why CSRS is not recommending to accept the alternates. Mr. Pellegrin stated that it is CSRS’s experienced opinion, as Program Managers, that because of the extremely low figure quoted for alternate #2, the company might not be able to meet all requirements of the alternates at the price quoted and it would be best to accept the base bid only.
A motion was made by Mr. Jack, seconded by Mr. Sanders to accept the recommendations of the Program Managers, CSRS, and to award the base contract with no alternates to the apparent low bidder for the Garyville/Mt. Airy Renovation Project contingent upon the low bidder meeting all LA Public Bid Law and Contract Document Requirements and Specifications.
Mr. Jones requested a 5 minute recess. The chair declared a recess at 7:06 p.m.
A motion was made to reconvene in regular session by Mr. Ory, seconded by Mr. Bacas and the Board reconvened in regular session at 7:07 p.m.
After further discussion, Mr. Burl called for question and a vote was taken.
Upon roll call there were 9 Yeas (Jack, Burl, Sanders, Madere, Jones, Johnson, Bacas, Ory, Keller) and 2 Nays (Wise, Triche) and the motion to accept the recommendations of the Program Managers, CSRS, and to award the base contract with no alternates to the apparent low bidder for the Garyville/Mt. Airy Renovation Project contingent upon the low bidder meeting all LA Public Bid Law and Contract Document Requirements and Specifications, carried.
e. CSRS - Request permission from the Board to present an informational item, Monthly Progress Update on the Master Plan and Program Management Services provided by CSRS, Inc. Mr. Floyd Luster, CSRS, stated that all playground equipment had been delivered to all sites with the exception of Garyville/Mt. Airy and West St. John Elementary. The contractor for the playgrounds was on schedule and actually plans to complete ahead of schedule. He also stated a pre-construction conference was held concerning the East St. John High and West St. John High track and that completion is scheduled before football season.
Mr. Sanders questioned whether the School Board Maintenance department is being kept abreast of the goings on at the school sites. Mr. Sanders stated that after the construction and remodeling is complete, our maintenance department will be responsible for all equipment, etc. Mr. Luster explained that as part of the close-out process, CSRS will make sure the maintenance department is properly trained and all as-built drawings and manuals are turned over to them.
Mr. Boughton addressed the Board to inform them that due to the legal problems of area local governments regarding insurance agent fees and fee splitting agreements, St. John the Baptist Parish School Board will now require disclosure of all agent fees and fee splitting agreements on all insurance contracts. Mr. Wise requested that a formal policy be drafted for this purpose. Mr. Boughton stated that drafting a formal policy regarding this issue was currently in progress.
ITEM 8. OLD BUSINESS. None
ITEM 9. NEW BUSINESS. a. Elton Oubre, Director of Safe and Drug Free Schools - Appeal of Expulsion. Item #0910-01-1015 - Students from LaPlace Elementary School. The appeal of expulsion is denied due to failure to appear.
b. Mr. Lloyd LeBlanc, Board Attorney - Legal Update. Mr. LeBlanc reported to the Board that he and Mr. Jack had met recently in regards to the Second Ward property and an update would be forthcoming.
ITEM 10. ADMINISTRATIVE MATTERS: a. Committee Reports. None.
ITEM 11. BOARD-RELATED ITEMS OF INTEREST. Mr. Jones reminded all Board members of the upcoming board retreat. Dr. Millet reminded all Board members to please bring their laptop computers to the Board office for upgrading before the retreat.
ITEM 12. ADJOURNMENT: The agenda having been completed, and there being no further business, Mr. Ory offered a motion for adjournment, seconded by Mr. Bacas. There were no objections. The meeting adjourned at 7:40 p.m.
/s/Gerald Keller
Gerald J. Keller, Ph.D., President
St. John the Baptist Parish School Board
/s/Courtney P. Millet
Courtney P. Millet, Ph.D.Secretary/Treasurer
St. John the Baptist Parish School Board