PROCEEDINGS OF THE ST. JOHN THE BAPTIST PARISH SCHOOL BOARD
RESERVE, LA - Meeting of July 29, 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 special session at Godchaux Grammar Cafeteria, 1600 Highway 44, Reserve, Louisiana, on Thursday, July 29, 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. Burl, Sanders, DeFrancesch, Jones, Johnson, Bacas, Ory, Triche, Keller.
ABSENT: Jack, Wise.
There were 9 members present and 2 absent.
ITEM 3. APPROVAL OF MINUTES: Minutes of July 8, 2010.
A motion was made by Mr. Johnson, seconded by Mrs. DeFrancesch, to approve the minutes of July 8, 2010. There were no objections and the motion carried (9 Yeas, 2 Absent). Messrs. Jack and Wise were absent.
ITEM 4. SUPERINTENDENT’S REPORT. Courtney P. Millet, Ph.D., Superintendent. Dr. Millet shared a PowerPoint presentation regarding the Summer Professional Development. She reported that the Professional Development sessions were very well attended. Dr. Millet also stated that East St. John High School had been removed from the Academically Unacceptable list and congratulated Mrs. Patricia Triche and her faculty and staff. Mrs. Patricia Triche thanked her faculty, staff and students for the hard work and tremendous effort they put forth this last school year. Mrs. Triche also thanked administration and the Board members for their support.
Mr. Jack arrived at 6:06 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.
a. Personnel Changes.
I. PROFESSIONAL
A. New Hires
Jeffrey Barnett, Teacher, East St. John High
Jonathan Baumann, Teacher, Redirection Center
Major Flowers, Teacher, Redirection Center
Brittany Gauthier, Teacher, West St. John High
Kenyon Grimes, Teacher, East St. John Elementary
Julie Jackson, Teacher, East St. John High
Monica McNamara, Teacher, Lake
Kim Moliere, Teacher, Garyville/Mt. Airy Magnet
Rachelle Morris, Teacher, East St. John High
Secole Patterson, Teacher, East St. John High
Angela Perez, Teacher, Emily C. Watkins
Daniel Piacun, Teacher, West St. John High
Sadie Poirier, Teacher, East St. John Elementary
Rajean Populus, Teacher, Emily C. Watkins
Consuelo Rodriguez, Teacher, East St. John High
Jeffrey Russell, Teacher, East St. John High
Barbara Seely, Teacher, West St. John High
Nikki Sewell, Teacher, Lake Pontchartrain
Rhodie Sims, Teacher, Garyville/Mt. Airy Magnet
Donnie Stark, Teacher, Garyville/Mt. Airy Magnet
Nelann Taylor, Teacher, West St. John High
Heidi Tomeny, Teacher, LaPlace Elementary
B. Retirement
Grace Cook, Teacher, East St. John High, August 30, 2010
Claretha Favors, Teacher, Lake Pontchartrain, July 31, 2010
C. Resignations
Jennifer Cabrera, Teacher, Emily C. Watkins, July 6, 2010
Taschica Hansley, Teacher, Fifth Ward Elementary, July 8, 2010
Kate Herndon, Teacher, Lake Pontchartrain Elementary, July 12, 2010
Jaclyn Jensen, Teacher, Fifth Ward Elementary, July 20, 2010
Denice Mitchell, Teacher, East St. John Elementary, July 19, 2010
Kathryn Perry, Teacher, East St. John High, July 21, 2010
Kathryn Richardson, Teacher, East St. John High, July 2, 2010
Rajwantie Sahai, Teacher, West St. John High, June 29, 2010
Jamie Williams, Teacher, East St. John Elementary, July 20, 2010
Ann Wylde, Teacher, Fifth Ward Elementary, July 20, 2010
D. Not Hired
Keiana Arlie, Teacher, West St. John High, July 9, 2010
A motion was made by Mr. Sanders, seconded by Mr. Bacas, to approve the Personnel Changes as presented. There were no objections and the motion carried. (10 Yeas, 1 Absent). Mr. Wise was absent.
ITEM 7 BUSINESS AND FINANCE: Mr. Felix Boughton, Executive Director of Business and Finance
a. Mr. Peter Montz, Purchasing Agent – Request Board approval on Student and Athletic Accident Insurance.
A motion was made by Mr. Triche, seconded by Mr. Bacas, to award Student and Athletic Accident Insurance to Regions Insurance for a total of $58,725.00 (including catastrophic coverage). There were no objections and the motion carried (10 Yeas, 1 Absent). Mr. Wise was absent.
b. CSRS – Request approval of the Board to make the Facility Plan Modifications as reviewed and approved by the St. John Educational Advisory Council on June 24, 2010. Mr. Chris Pellegrin, CSRS, advised the Board that this modification was necessary due to the fact that the LaPlace Elementary Renovation and Addition Project was originally programmed and budgeted as a 750 student capacity facility. This capacity was determined during a Board Workshop held as part of the Master Planning process in early 2008 based on the idea that the elementary student population would be dispersed more evenly across all elementary schools due to the newly constructed Emily C. Watkins School. Subsequent to the master plan being adopted by the Board, the justice department issued a final ruling that left roughly 1,000 students zoned to attend LaPlace Elementary School. The current enrollment (2009-2010) is 1053 and because of this, the Facility Plan Modification is necessary to accommodate 1100 students.
A motion was made by Mr. Ory, seconded by Mr. Bacas to approve the Facility Plan Modifications. There were no objections and the motion carried. (10 Yeas, 1 Absent). Mr. Wise was absent.
Mr. Jones requested that administration address the out-of-district students attending LaPlace Elementary (and all schools).
ITEM 8. OLD BUSINESS.
a. Dr. Leigh Ann Beard, Director of Human Resources – Kelly Educational Staffing pricing for the 2010-2011 school year.
A motion was made by Mr. Bacas, seconded by Mr. Triche to accept the revised, reduced-rate Kelly Educational Staffing Pricing for the 2010-2011 school year. There were no objections and the motion carried (10 Yeas, 1 Absent). Mr. Wise was absent.
b. Mr. Russ Wise, Board Member – Remove from table Motion to reduce School Board salaries.
Dr. Keller stated that in Mr. Wise’s absence, this item would not be addressed. Mr. Keith Jones stated that due to the fact that he made the motion to table this item originally, he would like to address it.
A motion was made by Mr. Jones, seconded by Mr. Sanders, to remove from the table the motion to reduce School Board salaries.
A substitute motion was made by Mr. Burl to hold this item over to the next meeting. The substitute motion failed due to the lack of a second.
Upon roll call on the original motion to remove from the table the motion to reduce School Board salaries, there were 8 Yeas (Sanders, DeFrancesch, Jones, Johnson, Bacas, Ory, Triche, Keller), 1 Nay (Burl), 1 Abstention (Jack), 1 Absent (Wise) and the motion carried.
A motion was made by Mr. Jones, seconded by Mr. Bacas, to take no action on the motion to reduce School Board salaries. Upon roll call there were 8 Yeas (Jack, Sanders, DeFrancesch, Jones, Johnson, Bacas, Triche, Keller), 2 Nays (Burl, Ory), 1 Absent (Wise) and the motion carried.
ITEM 9. NEW BUSINESS.
a. Felix Boughton, Executive Director of Business and Finance – Executive Session – Update on negotiations.
A motion was made by Mr. Sanders, seconded by Mr. Johnson, to go into Executive Session. There were no objections and the Board went into Executive Session at 6:43 p.m.
A motion was made by Mr. Jones, seconded by Mr. Bacas to reconvene in Regular Session. There were no objections and the Board reconvened in Regular Session at 6:55 p.m.
A motion was made by Mr. Burl, seconded by all present Board Members (Mr. Wise was absent), to accept the Memo of Understanding as presented and signed by the President of SJAE and the Superintendent of St. John the Baptist Parish School Board. Said Memo of Understanding is to apply to any and all employees of St. John the Baptist Parish School System, union and non-union, including Administration, of St. John the Baptist Parish School System. There were no objections and the motion carried (10 Yeas, 1 Absent).
b. Mr. Lloyd LeBlanc – None.
ADDENDUM ITEM
c. Mrs. Lanette Perrin – Introduction of Pupil Progression Plan for 2010-2011 school year. This item is for introductory purposes only. Dr. Millet stated that a copy of the Pupil Progression Plan was available for review at the School Board Office or the local library. If anyone has any question concerning the Pupil Progression Plan, you can call Lanette Perrin for K-8 questions, Dr. Kathy McWaters for 9-12 questions or Dr. Courtney P. Millet at the school board office.
ITEM 10. ADMINSTRATIVE MATTERS:
a. Committee Reports. None.
ITEM 11. BOARD-RELATED ITEMS OF INTEREST. Dr. Keller apologized for inadvertently failing to mention the passing of two former employees and offered condolences to the following families: Ms. Ismay Jones and Ms. Allene Gregoire.
Mr. Jack thanked the Girls in Action Club at West St. John High for hosting a very successful, very well attended Back to School Night.
Mr. Sanders thanked the SJAE representatives for working tirelessly with the Board and Administration regarding the budget.
Dr. Millet invited all Board members to the Back to School Prayer Breakfast at New Wine Ministries on Wednesday, August 4th at 8:30 a.m.
ITEM 12. ADJOURNMENT: The agenda having been completed, and there being no further business, Mr. Bacas offered a motion for adjournment, seconded by Mr. Triche. There were no objections. The meeting adjourned at 7:01 p.m.
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Gerald J. Keller, Ph.D., President
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Courtney P. Millet, Ph.D., Secretary