PROCEEDINGS OF THE ST. JOHN THE BAPTIST PARISH SCHOOL BOARD
RESERVE, LA – MEETING OF NOVEMBER 9, 2023
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 Godchaux Grammar Cafeteria (Board Meeting Room), 1600 Highway 44, Reserve, LA, on Thursday, November 9, 2023 at 6:00 p.m.
ITEM 1. CALL TO ORDER, INVOCATION, PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE
The Chair called the meeting to order at 6:03 p.m. and called for the invocation, led by Mr. Mamou, followed by the Pledge of Allegiance, led by Mr. Wise.
ITEM 2a. ROLL CALL OF MEMBERS:
PRESENT: Triche, Morris, DeFrancesch, Frizzell, Mamou, Schum, Mitchell-Williams, Vicknair, Wallace
ABSENT: Holden, Burl
There were 9 members present and 2 members absent.
ITEM 3. APPROVAL OF MINUTES:
ITEM 3a. Public Comment. Meeting of: October 12, 2023 and October 26, 2023
MOTION BY: DeFrancesch
SECOND BY: Mamou
MOTION: To approve the minutes from the meeting of: October 12, 2023 and October 26, 2023
Roll Call:
8 Yeas - Triche, Morris, DeFrancesch, Mamou, Schum, Mitchell-Williams, Vicknair, Wallace
1 Abstention – Frizzell
2 Absent – Holden, Burl
The motion carried.
MOTION BY: Mitchell-Williams
SECOND BY: Morris
MOTION: To amend the agenda to address ITEM 9a at this time.
Roll Call:
9 Yeas - Triche, Morris, DeFrancesch, Frizzell, Mamou, Schum, Mitchell-Williams, Vicknair, Wallace
2 Absent – Holden, Burl
The motion carried.
ITEM 9a. Public Comment. Mr. Robert Schaff – Expulsion Hearing 2023-01 (Open or Closed Hearing)
Mr. Schaff stated that the parents have requested an extension of this appeal to afford the opportunity to meet with the Superintendent. The parent of the student stated for the record, that this is her request.
ITEM 4. SUPERINTENDENT’S REPORT
ITEM 4a. District Updates
Interim Superintendent Spears reported the following:
Mrs. Holden arrived at 6:09 p.m. and was recorded as present.
Mr. Burl arrived at 6:12 p.m. and was recorded as present.
ITEM 5. EDUCATIONAL PRESENTATIONS AND RECOGNITIONS BY THE BOARD OR STAFF
ITEM 6. PERSONNEL MATTERS.
ITEM 7. BUSINESS & FINANCE.
ITEM 7a. Public Comment. Mrs. Janice Gauthier – Request Board approval to award a 1-year custodial supply contract to the lowest responsive Bidder (Economical)
MOTION BY: DeFrancesch
SECOND BY: Triche
MOTION: To award a 1-year custodial supply contract to the lowest responsive Bidder (Economical).
Roll Call:
11 Yeas - Holden, Burl, Triche, Morris, DeFrancesch, Frizzell, Mamou, Schum, Mitchell-Williams, Vicknair, Wallace
0 Absent
The motion carried.
ITEM 7b. Public Comment Mrs. Janice Gauthier – Request Board approval to extend Power School (TalentEd) Software Agreement (Sole Source)
Mr. Burl asked that the following be placed in the record: “Last meeting, I stated that we are not reviewing our contracts and just rolling them over. When I look at this contract, I think Ms. Iman Montgomery was the HR Director that signed this contract, so I just want it on the record that we are not, as a Board, reviewing contracts as we should.”
MOTION BY: DeFrancesch
SECOND BY: Schum
MOTION: To extend the Power School (TalentEd) Software Agreement.
Roll Call:
11 Yeas - Holden, Burl, Triche, Morris, DeFrancesch, Frizzell, Mamou, Schum, Mitchell-Williams, Vicknair, Wallace
0 Absent
The motion carried.
ITEM 7c. Public Comment. Mrs. Janice Gauthier – Request approval to enter into a two-year agreement with L’Observateur as the District Office Journal
MOTION BY: Triche
SECOND BY: Vicknair
MOTION: To enter into a two-year agreement with L’Observateur as the District Office Journal
Roll Call:
11 Yeas - Holden, Burl, Triche, Morris, DeFrancesch, Frizzell, Mamou, Schum, Mitchell-Williams, Vicknair, Wallace
0 Absent
The motion carried.
ITEM 7d. Public Comment. Mrs. Janice Gauthier – Request Board approval to enter into a 1-year agreement with Education Logistics Inc. (Edulog)
MOTION BY: Triche
SECOND BY: DeFrancesch
MOTION: To approve extending the agreement with education Logistics Inc., Edulog, until June 30, 2024.
Roll Call:
11 Yeas - Holden, Burl, Triche, Morris, DeFrancesch, Frizzell, Mamou, Schum, Mitchell-Williams, Vicknair, Wallace
0 Absent
The motion carried.
ITEM 7e. Public Comment. Mr. Clay Slagle/Volkert – Request approval to reject all proposals re: RFP-2024-001, Geotechnical Services – Capital Bond Related and re-advertise
MOTION BY: Morris
SECOND BY: Holden
MOTION: To reject all proposals re: RFP-2024-001, Geotechnical Services – Capital Bond Related and re-advertise.
Roll Call:
11 Yeas - Holden, Burl, Triche, Morris, DeFrancesch, Frizzell, Mamou, Schum, Mitchell-Williams, Vicknair, Wallace
0 Absent
The motion carried.
ITEM 7f. Public Comment. Mrs. Janice Gauthier – Request approval to enter into a one-year agreement with AM-PM for temporary support staff
This item was pulled from the agenda. No action was taken.
ITEM 7g. Public Comment. – Request approval to create design and submit for quotes, the repairs to concrete driveways at LaPlace Elementary, East St. John Prep, and other concrete repairs throughout the district (11-07-2023: L&F Recommends Approval)
MOTION BY: Triche
SECOND BY: Mitchell-Williams
MOTION: To approve to create design and submit for quotes, the repairs to concrete driveways at LaPlace Elementary, East St. John Prep, and other concrete repairs throughout the district.
Roll Call:
11 Yeas - Holden, Burl, Triche, Morris, DeFrancesch, Frizzell, Mamou, Schum, Mitchell-Williams, Vicknair, Wallace
The motion carried.
ITEM 8. OLD BUSINESS
ITEM 9. NEW BUSINESS
ITEM 9a. Public Comment Mr. Robert Schaff – Expulsion Hearing 2023-01 (Open or Closed Hearing) (Requires action)
This item was addressed at the beginning of the meeting.
ITEM 9b. Public Comment. Mr. Shawn Wallace – Introduction to the School Board Meeting Calendar for Calendar Year 2024
Mrs. Schum stated that there is an error on the calendar. March 17th is a Sunday, so the March meeting should be shown as the 7th.
Mr. Burl asked that more meetings be considered.
ITEM 9c 1. Public Comment Mr. Bob Hammonds – Discussion/Action regarding the Superintendent Selection Procedures: 1. Determination of the Number of Applicants to be Interviewed (Requires action)
MOTION BY: Triche
SECOND BY: Holden
MOTION: To interview 4 applicants for the Superintendent position.
Following discussion, there was a
SUBSTITUTE MOTION BY: Burl
SECOND BY: Mitchell-Williams
MOTION: To interview all 6 applicants for the Superintendent position.
Roll Call:
5 Yeas – Burl, Triche, DeFrancesch, Mamou, Mitchell-Williams
6 Nays – Holden, Morris, Frizzell, Schum, Vicknair, Wallace
The motion failed.
Following further discussion, there was a
2nd SUBSTITUTE MOTION BY: Mitchell-Williams
SECOND BY: Morris
MOTION: To interview 5 applicants for the Superintendent position.
Roll Call:
9 Yeas – Holden, Triche, Morris, Defrancesch, Frizzell, Mamou, Schum, Mitchell-Williams, Wallace
2 Nays – Burl, Vicknair
The motion carried.
ITEM 9c 2. Public Comment Mr. Bob Hammonds – Discussion/Action regarding the Superintendent Selection Procedures: 2. Determination of the Specific Applicants
Each Board member was given a ballot with all 6 applicants names listed. Board members were instructed to place a check mark next to 5 applicants that they would like to see interviewed. The ballots were turned in to the Board President, who then read them aloud:
Schum – Jason Beber, Barry Filce, Kelli Joseph, Cleo Perry, Corwin Robinson
Mitchell-Williams - Jason Beber, Barry Filce, Kelli Joseph, Cleo Perry, Corwin Robinson
Morris - Jason Beber, Barry Filce, Kelli Joseph, Cleo Perry, Corwin Robinson
Vicknair - Jason Beber, Barry Filce, Kelli Joseph, Cleo Perry, Corwin Robinson
DeFrancesch - Jason Beber, Barry Filce, Kelli Joseph, Cleo Perry, Corwin Robinson
Frizzell - Jason Beber, Barry Filce, Kelli Joseph, Cleo Perry, Corwin Robinson
Holden - Jason Beber, Barry Filce, Kelli Joseph, Cleo Perry, Corwin Robinson
Triche - Jason Beber, Barry Filce, Kelli Joseph, Cleo Perry, Corwin Robinson
Mamou - Jason Beber, Barry Filce, Kelli Joseph, Cleo Perry, Corwin Robinson
Wallace - Jason Beber, Barry Filce, Kelli Joseph, Cleo Perry, Corwin Robinson
Mr. Burl’s ballot contained 6 check marks, so he was given the opportunity to choose only 5 as the Board voted, and he declined, which disqualified his votes.
The following candidates each received 10 votes and will be interviewed: Jason Beber, Barry Filce, Kelli Joseph, Cleo Perry, Corwin Robinson
ITEM 9c 3. Public Comment Mr. Bob Hammonds – Discussion/Action regarding the Superintendent Selection Procedures: 3. Determination of the Order of Interviews
The applicant names were put into a hat and drawn randomly to determine the order in which they will be interviewed:
Cleo Perry, Corwin Robinson, Jason Beber, Barry Filce, Kelli Joseph
ITEM 9c 4. Public Comment Mr. Bob Hammonds – Discussion/Action regarding the Superintendent Selection Procedures: 4. Determination of the Date/Time/Place of Interviews
Following extensive discussion, there was a call for question by Mrs. Triche, seconded by Ms. Frizzell. Upon roll call to end discussion, there was:
10 Yeas – Holden, Triche, Morris, Defrancesch, Frizzell, Mamou, Schum, Mitchell-Williams, Vicknair, Wallace
1 Nay – Burl
The motion carried and discussion ended.
MOTION BY: Morris
SECOND BY: Holden
MOTION: To interview all 5 applicants on Monday, November 27, 2023, beginning at 9:00 a.m., with the location being the Board meeting room, 1600 Highway 44, Reserve, LA
Roll Call:
10 Yeas – Holden, Triche, Morris, Defrancesch, Frizzell, Mamou, Schum, Mitchell-Williams, Vicknair, Wallace
1 Nay – Burl
The motion carried.
ITEM 9c 5. Public Comment Mr. Bob Hammonds – Discussion/Action regarding the Superintendent Selection Procedures: 5. Determination of the Procedures for Conducting the Interviews
Mr. Hammonds and the Board discussed the following procedures and there was agreement with the general procedure: Each candidate would have an opportunity for an opening statement of 8-10 minutes, followed by 5 Board members and the Board President asking questions of the applicant, followed by a closing statement by the applicant of 8-10 minutes.
MOTION BY: Mitchell-Williams
SECOND BY: Triche
MOTION: To have Hammonds & Sills provide a question bank around topics of the Board’s choosing.
Roll Call:
10 Yeas – Holden, Triche, Morris, Defrancesch, Frizzell, Mamou, Schum, Mitchell-Williams, Vicknair, Wallace
1 Nay – Burl
The motion carried.
*Board members will send topics to Mrs. Stacey Waller before Friday, November 17th and Mrs. Waller will forward the topics to Mr. Bob Hammonds by close of business, Friday, November 17th.
ITEM 10. ADMINISTRATIVE MATTERS
ITEM 11. BOARD ITEMS OF INTEREST
· Schum – East St. John High and West St. John High Literacy Night – Ms. Darville is collecting donations for prizes.
· Burl – Very concerned about this process. We’re back where we were in July of 2020. We have a new CFO, Purchasing Director is leaving in December, there’s nobody over Technology and we cannot have on the job training in these key positions. Our auditor has told us repeatedly that if all these positions leave at once, we would be in chaos. At the time, Mr. Bob passed away unexpectedly, Peter left, Boughton left and it’s time we stop. People are leaving this parish because of the school system.
· Mamou – Congrats to both our high schools for making it to the playoffs. He encouraged the Board members to do some soul-searching ahead of choosing a Superintendent.
· Triche – Remind everyone that we are Top 10 in Growth in the state of Louisiana and I believe that we have a lot of hard working employees and it is showing in our test results. Please stay the course. We will do our best as a Board to choose a Superintendent that will lead us in the right direction with respect to students and employees. Thanks to all the Veterans
· Spears – Agree with Mrs. Triche – we did make a tremendous amount of growth and we are on track to continuing that growth. Thanks to ALL staff for all your hard work!
· Wallace – December 7th Board meeting will be held at Lake Pontchartrain due to the amount of students being recognized.
ITEM 12. ADJOURNMENT
The agenda having been completed, and there being no further business, there was a
MOTION BY: Mitchell-Williams
SECOND BY: Frizzell
MOTION: Motion for adjournment.
Roll Call:
9 Yeas - Holden, Burl, Triche, Morris, DeFrancesch, Mamou, Schum, Vicknair, Wallace
2 Absent – Frizzell, Mitchell-Williams
The motion carried.
The meeting adjourned at 8:01 p.m.
________________________________ ________________________________
Kendria Spears, Secretary Shawn Wallace, President