PROCEEDINGS OF THE ST. JOHN THE BAPTIST PARISH SCHOOL BOARD
RESERVE, LA - Meeting of December 2, 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 Emily C. Watkins Elementary School, 944 La Hwy. 628, LaPlace, Louisiana, on Thursday, December 2, 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. Jack, Burl, Sanders, DeFrancesch, Jones, Johnson, Wise, Bacas, Ory, Triche, Keller.
ABSENT:
There were 11 members present, 0 absent.
ITEM 3. APPROVAL OF MINUTES: Meeting of November 18, 2010. A motion was made by Mr. Triche, seconded by Mr. Bacas, to accept the minutes of November 18, 2010 as printed and published. There were no objections and the motion to approve the minutes passed unanimously (11 Yeas, 0 Nays).
ITEM 4. SUPERINTENDENT’S REPORT. Courtney P. Millet, Ph.D., Superintendent. Dr. Millet announced that the First Grade Bell Choir at LaPlace Elementary would perform at tonight’s meeting. Dr. Millet read the following introduction: The First Grade Bell Choir was first developed in 2002 by Ms. Kristina Miller and Ms. Anita Rodriguez. To help with the funding of the choir, the founding teachers held many school-wide fundraising activities, local businesses helped by sponsoring the choir, and a successful RPEI grant was written. The 2010 Bell Choir is under the direction of teachers Mrs. Kristina Miller, Mrs. Leslie Faucheux, and Mrs. Dolly Forsythe.
The Bell Choir performed 2 selections.
Dr. Millet continued: The Jindal Foundation along with Marathon Oil, installed 5 new Promethean boards at Emily C. Watkins in their 1st and 2nd grade classrooms. First Lady Supriya Jindal, will be at Emily C. Watkins on December 9th at 10:30 a.m., to do a Model lesson with students using the interactive board. All Board Members are invited and encouraged to attend.
Dr. Millet announced the winners of this year’s Christmas Card Contest:
9th-12th Grade Division & Overall Winner: Judy Chen, 9th Grade, East St. John High School
5th-8th Grade Division: Lori Chen, 7th Grade, LaPlace Elementary School
1st-4th Grade Division: Carter Byrd, 3rd Grade, LaPlace Elementary School
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 Hire
1. DeIvory Smith, Teacher, Fifth Ward Elementary
B. Sabbatical
1. Theadora Dorris, Teacher, East St. John Elementary School, Spring 2011
A motion was made by Mr. Triche, seconded by Mr. Bacas, to accept the Personnel Changes as presented. There were no objections and the motion passed unanimously (11 Yeas, 0 Nays).
ADDENDUM ITEM 6b. Personnel Changes:
I. PROFESSIONAL
A. New Hire
1. Ronald Barrilleaux, Athletic Directror/Head Coach, East St. John High School
A motion was made by Mr. Wise, to accept the Personnel Change as present. This motion failed due to the lack of a second.
A substitute motion was made by Mr. Burl, seconded by Mr. Sanders, to direct administration to advertise for the position of Athletic Director/Head Football Coach of East St. John High School.
Following discussion, Mr. Sanders called for question. Upon roll call to end discussion, there were 9 Yeas (Jack, Burl, Sanders, DeFrancesch, Jones, Johnson, Bacas, Triche, Keller) and 2 Nays (Wise, Ory) and the motion to end discussion carried.
Upon roll call on the substitute motion to direct administration to advertise for the position of Athletic Director/Head Football Coach of East St. John High School, there were 9 Yeas (Jack, Burl, Sanders, DeFrancesch, Jones, Johnson, Bacas, Triche, Keller) and 2 Nays (Wise, Ory) and the motion carried.
ITEM 7a. BUSINESS AND FINANCE: Mr. Felix Boughton, Executive Director of Business and Finance
a. CSRS - Monthly Progress Update on the Master Plan and Program Management Services provided by CSRS, Inc.
Mr. Floyd Luster gave the Board an update on all ongoing projects.
ITEM 8. OLD BUSINESS. a. Request Board adoption of policies. Dr. Leigh Beard stated that SJAE requested that 7 policies be pulled from the packet presented for approval, citing further clarification was needed. However, Dr. Beard stated that administration was requesting that all the policies included be adopted at this time.
A motion was made by Mr. Triche, seconded by Mr. Sanders, to approve the policies as presented.
Dr. Keller opened the floor to public participation. Ms. Carolyn Batiste, SJAE, asked that the Board pull the 7 policies indicated before approving the packet of policies.
A substitute motion was made by Mr. Wise, seconded by Mr. Sanders, to adopt all policies included in the packet except for the 7 policies that SJAE requested to be pulled pending further clarification. Upon roll call, there were 11 Yeas, 0 Nays and the motion passed unanimously.
ITEM 9. NEW BUSINESS. a. Mr. Russ Wise, Board Member – Reduction in pay for the incoming Board.
A motion was made by Mr. Wise to reduce the monthly stipend for the next term of the Board to $5.00 per month until the Board is able to restore the employee’s pay. This motion failed due to the lack of a second.
b. Mr. Lloyd LeBlanc – None.
ITEM 10. ADMINSTRATIVE MATTERS: a. Committee Reports. None.
ITEM 11. BOARD-RELATED ITEMS OF INTEREST. a.Mr. Ali Burl, Board Member – Recognition of Mr. Rod Dunn. Mr. Burl read the following statement: Ondena Farlough, St. John Child Development Center Coordinator, said, ”Rod Dunn is an excellent volunteer. He has volunteered at the St. John Child Development Center in Garyville for over 14 years. He goes above and beyond the meaning of what a volunteer is and does. Rod almost never misses a day at our center. The only times he misses is when he is volunteering at his church. On those days Rod is truly missed. Whatever Rod is asked to do, he is ready and willing to complete the task. He sometimes performs tasks without being requested to. Rod is truly a part of our staff, and he knows every in and out of our center. He is always the first one here in the morning. Rod Dunn is truly an asset, and we are blessed to have him on board. His tireless effort and dedication is absolutely amazing. We could go on and on and never say enough about his dedication to St. John Child Development Center. I don’t believe that there is another volunteer that could compare to our ROD DUNN!” Mr. Dunn said, ”I volunteer because I like to help the children. I like to help to keep the campus clean and helping to make things run smoothly at the center.” Thank you, Mr. Dunn, for your dedication to the students of St. John Parish.
Dr. Keller stated that the next Board meeting will take place on January 13, 2011 on the West Bank and Judge Gravois would be there to swear in any Board members that wished him to do so. Dr. Keller stated that if any Board member would prefer to have someone else swear them in, that would be acceptable as well. Dr. Keller also stated that the Board Retreat should take place in January, and he needed a Board member to volunteer to organize this function.
Dr. Millet presented Mr. Matthew Ory with a plaque in recognition of over 15 years of service as a Board Member. Several Board members commented that Mr. Ory would be truly missed on this School Board and wished him well.
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 6:55 p.m.
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Gerald J. Keller, Ph.D., President
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Courtney P. Millet, Ph.D., Secretary