2016-12-06

PROCEEDINGS OF THE PARISH SCHOOL BOARD OF THE PARISH OF EAST FELICIANA, STATE OF LOUISIANA, TAKEN AT A REGULAR MEETING HELD ON DECEMBER 6, 2016

December 5, 2016

REVISED

PROPOSED AGENDA FOR

EAST FELICIANA PARISH SCHOOL BOARD

Central Office Board Room, located at

12732 Silliman Street, Town of Clinton, Louisiana

TUESDAY, DECEMBER 6, 2016 - 5:00 P.M.

1. Call to order

2. Roll Call

3. Approval of the agenda

4. Approval of the minutes of November 1, 2016 regular meeting and November 17, 2016 special meeting

5. Special Recognitions

A. Presentation on Employee of the Month for December, 2016

B. Presentation on Volunteers Program in support of Area Schools

C. School Highlights

D. Presentation on 2016 Holiday Greeting Card Winner

6. Communications/Reports

Expression of sympathy to the Family of Mr. Burnell Johnson, Father of Rev. Martin Tyrone Johnson, Contract CDL Bus Driver; in his passing on Saturday, November 26, 2016

A. Sales Tax Collections Report

B. Superintendent's Report

(1) Receive authorization for minute entry to reflect La. Board of Ethics

Campaign Finance Disclosure Certificate, as follows:

(a) Joyce A. Kent Dated: November 2, 2016

(2) Presentation of Student 2016 District Holiday Greeting Card

(3) Request Board ratification of Carlos J. Sam, Superintendent, using his discretion on behalf of the East Feliciana Parish School Board; in receipt and distribution of Volunteer Grants from ExxonMobil Foundation in the sum of $1,500.00 to Jackson Elementary School

(4) Request Board ratification of Carlos J. Sam, Superintendent, using his discretion on behalf of the East Feliciana Parish School Board; in receipt and distribution of donation from The Highlands Bank in the sum of $100.00 to Jackson Elementary School “Adopt A Classroom 2016-2017"

(5) Request Board ratification of Carlos J. Sam, Superintendent, using his discretion on behalf of the East Feliciana Parish School Board; in receipt and distribution of donation from Dr. Nwabueze d/b/a East Feliciana Primary Care Clinic in the sum of $250.00 to Jackson Elementary “Class Adoption”

(6) Request Board ratification of Carlos J. Sam, Superintendent, using his discretion on behalf of the East Feliciana Parish School Board; in receipt and distribution of donation from Entergy® Corporation in the sum of $1,000.00 to Slaughter Elementary “Leaping Into Literacy With Technology Project”

(7) Receive request for out-of-state travel by Knight Roddy, Ph.D. to attend National Title I Conference, February 22^nd thru 25^th, 2017 in Long Beach, CA {funding source: Title I 329}

(8) Receive information on PreK Coordinated Funding Request for 2016/2017 as prepared by Dr. Kim Germany, Executive Director

(9) Receive District Assessment Data Report as prepared by Dr. Kim Germany and Ms. Latricia Ford-Anderson

(10) Personnel Matters (FOR INFORMATION ONLY)

(11) Maintenance and Operations Report

(12) Receive request for out-of-state travel by Derald Spears, Sr., Board Member to attend National School Boards Association (NSBA) Equity Symposium, January 27^th thru 29^th, 2017 at the Marriott Marquis, Washington, D.C. {funding source: Board Travel}

7. Old Business

A. Board President Michael Ray Bradford Committee Membership Assignments:

(1) Economic Development Committee Member Rufus Nesbitt

(2) Personnel Committee Member Rufus Nesbitt

(3) Policy Review Committee Member Rufus Nesbitt

B. Receive request from Sales Tax Attorney Drew Talbot for executive session to receive and review information regarding threatened litigation in re: East Feliciana Parish Sales Tax and thereafter take action

8. New Business

A. Finance Committee Report

Pursuant to the requirements of La. R.S. 42:19, matters not included on the agenda posted at least 24 hours prior to the meeting will not be considered unless the school board members present vote unanimously to add the item to the agenda.

In accordance with the Americans with Disabilities Act, if you need special assistance, please contact Carlos J. Sam, Superintendent at (225) 683-8277, describing the assistance that is necessary.

There were present: School Board Members Rhonda Matthews, Richard Terrell, Rufus Nesbitt, Joyce A. Kent, Michael Bradford, Mitchell Harrell, Timothy Corcoran, Melvin L. Hollins, Elizabeth Dawson and Derald Spears, Sr. Board Member Edward Brooks, Jr. joined the meeting at 5:31:31 P.M. Board Member Paul Kent joined the meeting at 6:06:18 P.M. Other Attendees: Carlos J. Sam, Superintendent, Irma Lee Bendily, Confidential Asst. and Samuel D’Aquilla, 20^th JDC District Attorney. Tommy LeJeune, C.P.A., Representative of Faulk & Winkler LLC joined the meeting at 5:08:25 P.M. Drew Talbot, Sales Tax Attorney joined the meeting at 5:48:34 P.M.

Board President Michael Ray Bradford opened and chaired the meeting and asked Vice-President Mitchell Harrell, to open the meeting with prayer. Board President Bradford then lead reciting the Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag in unison.

The Parish School Board of the Parish of East Feliciana, State of Louisiana, was duly convened as the governing authority of said Parish for school purposes by Michael Ray Bradford, Board President, who announced the purposes of said meeting in accordance with the aforesaid written notice thereof. Board President Bradford stated the Board was ready for transaction of business.

Item 2. Board President Bradford called for an attendance roll call, as follows:

Present: Matthews, Terrell, Nesbitt, J. Kent, Bradford, Harrell, Corcoran, Hollins, Dawson and Spears

Absent: E. Brooks, Jr. and P. Kent

Item 3. Board President Bradford called for a motion to approve the above agenda.

Motion by Mrs. Joyce Kent, seconded by Mr. Terrell to approve the above revised agenda.

Board President Bradford then asked for any public questions or comments before a vote is taken on this motion.

Item 4. Motion by Mrs. J. Kent, seconded by Mr. Terrell, to approve the minutes of November 1, 2016 regular meeting and November 17, 2016 special meeting, as published in the official journal.

Board President Bradford then asked for any public questions or comments before a vote is taken on this motion. Receiving none, Board President Bradford then proceeded with the vote. All yeas. The motion carried. Absent: E. Brooks, Jr. and P. Kent.

Items 5.A. Board President Bradford turned the floor over to Superintendent Sam.

Carlos J. Sam, Superintendent turned the floor over to Mrs. DeShonda Coleman for her presentation.

DeShonda Coleman, Supervisor presented to Board Members, Superintendent Sam and Audience our Employee of the Month for September, 2016 being Karen Kinchen, Teacher, Slaughter Elementary and thanked Taylor & Sons for sponsoring same.

Ms. Becky Johnson, Representative of Taylor & Sons presented Ms. Karen Kinchen with a plaque and related items.

Board President Bradford called for a photo opportunity with Ms. Karen Kinchen, Kimberly Glascock, Principal, Slaughter Elementary, Superintendent Carlos J. Sam and Board Members Timothy Corcoran, Melvin L. Hollins, Elizabeth Dawson and Derald Spears, Sr.

Item 5.B. Board President Bradford turned the floor over to Superintendent Sam.

Carlos J. Sam, Superintendent turned the floor over to Mrs. DeShonda Coleman for her presentation.

DeShonda Coleman, Supervisor presented Board Members, Superintendent Sam and Audience with our Volunteer in Support of Area Schools, namely Slaughter Elementary, for the Month for December, 2016 being Ms. Pamela Lockwood. She then thanked Ms. Pamela Lockwood for volunteering and Slaughter Elementary Staffers presented her with a gift.

Board President Bradford called for a photo opportunity with Ms. Pamela Lockwood, himself, Superintendent Carlos Sam, Board Members Joyce A. Kent, Rufus Nesbitt, Richard Terrell and Rhonda Matthews and Kimberly Glascock, Principal, Slaughter Elementary.

Tommy LeJeune, C.P.A., Representative of Faulk & Winkler LLC joined the meeting at this time.

Board President Bradford related we are going to pause right here and let me go on record to recognize one of our Police Jury Members, Mr. Chris Hall who is in the audience.

Board President Bradford continued and recognized Coach Nesbitt, if you have got time to stop that talking and we want to say it is glad to have you back, we all look forward and I think I speak on behalf of everyone, that we look forward to working with you. Okay.

Rufus Nesbitt, Board Member related yes, sir. I am looking forward.

Item 5.C. Board President Bradford turned the floor over to Superintendent Sam.

Carlos J. Sam, Superintendent turned the floor over to Mrs. DeShonda Coleman for her presentation.

DeShonda Coleman, Supervisor turned the floor over to Kimberly Glascock, Principal, Slaughter Elementary and her SES Staff for their School Highlights of their Jr. BETA Club which has 35 Members, of which 6 made a presentation this evening, while a SES power point ran in the background.

Item 5.D. Board President Bradford turned the floor over to Superintendent Sam.

Carlos J. Sam, Superintendent related that Item 5.D. will be taken up with agenda Item 6.B.(2) below.

Item 6. Board President Bradford turned the floor over to Superintendent Sam

Carlos J. Sam, Superintendent related to Board Members present the expression of sympathy to the Family of Mr. Burnell Johnson, Father of Rev. Martin Tyrone Johnson, Contract CDL Bus Driver; in his passing on Saturday, November 26, 2016.

Board Member Richard Terrell requested the addition of an expression of sympathy to the Family of Mr. William Matthews, respective Uncle of Board Member Rhonda Matthews and Retired Bus Driver Sidney Matthews.

Board President Bradford related his deepest sympathy to Miss Rhonda Matthews and called for a moment of silence. Amen.

Item 6.A. Board President Bradford turned the floor over to Superintendent Sam.

Carlos J. Sam, Superintendent turned the floor over to Tommy LeJeune, C.P.A., Representative of Faulk & Winkler LLC.

Tommy LeJeune, C.P.A., Representative of Faulk & Winkler LLC related good evening, so you have the Sales Collection Report in front of you. As you can see for the Month of November, 2016, which is basically related to your October Sales, collections are right at or just short of $285,000.00, you can see that is up quite a bit from last year at this time. So that is a nice spike, unfortunately Sales Tax still continues to be a bit erratic for us. But you did have some special collections in the Month of October, I really appreciate Mr. Sam a couple large purchases with some companies and we had some additional Sales Tax you know are probably one-time in nature. Then your Delinquent Sales Taxes were pretty nice size at about $27,000.00, all in coupled with additional purchases and delinquent payments kind of spiked the numbers up a little bit. But a good number, we take that every month if we can get it.

Board President Bradford questioned so compared to last year at this time, what is the difference Tommy, while we are looking at it?

C.P.A. LeJeune related you know we are up probably about $100,000.00.

Board President Bradford related we are up about $100,000.00, from last year?

C.P.A. LeJeune related yes, because we have got some special items in this month, so I expect that to kind of flatten out. But you can see as you come down to December last year, that was a big month, that would be a tough month to replicate. So we will have some give backs, but obviously 4-months in, that is pretty strong...

Board President Bradford related okay.

C.P.A. LeJeune continued you know so it looks good, you were down in July of $20,000.00, you were down in August about $5,000.00...

Board President Bradford related yes.

C.P.A. LeJeune continued up in September about $30,000.00 and then this month we are up right at about what $64,000.00 or $65,000.00. So you net or you have got a nice increase of $75,000.00 to $100,000.00, 4-months in, that is a good start.

Board President Bradford called for any more questions. Receiving none, Board President thanked C.P.A. Lejeune and proceeded with the agenda.

Items 6.B.(1) Board President Bradford turned the floor over to Superintendent Sam.

Carlos J. Sam, Superintendent related to Board Members present that Item 6.B.(1), which item as you can see is relative to the Board of Ethics Training Certificate for Mrs. Joyce Kent.

Motion by Mr. Terrell, seconded by Miss Matthews to authorize a minute entry to reflect La. Board of Ethics Campaign Finance Disclosure Certificate, as follows:

(a) Joyce A. Kent Dated: November 2, 2016

Items 6.B.(2) Board President Bradford turned the floor over to Superintendent Sam.

Carlos J. Sam, Superintendent related to Board Members present that Items 6.B.(2) and turned the floor over to Latrice Smith, Director and Miss Sharon Jones for their presentation regarding our Holiday Greet Card and our Christmas Ornaments that were sent to the Governors’ Mansion. So I will ask those two Ladies to please share the presentation with the Board at this time.

Latrice Smith, Director began her power point presentation entitled “Joyeux Noel” and related as a part of the Louisiana Tradition, the Governors’ Wife show cased the talents of our States children art work by decorating wooden ornaments, this evening she has the pleasure of sharing with you the Christmas Ornaments that were decorated by the East Feliciana Parish Talented Visual Arts Students. These ornaments will be displayed on the Christmas Tree at the Louisiana Governors’ Mansion. This year the First Lady Mrs. Donna Edwards chose the decorations with a French Theme “Joyeux Noel” meaning Merry Christmas. So please sit back and enjoy the power point presentation that I have prepared. She then turned the floor over to Miss Sharon Jones to come and talk to us about the Christmas Card.

Miss Sharon Jones related good evening to Board Members present, Superintendent Sam and our welcomed audience. To continue our Annual Tradition as related to you by Miss Latrice Smith, Students throughout our District decorated wooden holiday ornaments for the Louisiana Theme Tree, which will be housed and highlighted at the Governors’ Mansion. Also, this year, we wanted to take it a step further and we are going to use their designs as part of our Christmas Card collection this year in our distribution. Before you in your packet you should see a DRAFT Copy of the 2016 Christmas Card and this is what it looks like, we just took the pictures from there and highlighted them on the Christmas Card with a message on the inside and the names of the students are listed on the back. These cards will be distributed to our Staff, our Board Members, our Community Leaders and Organizations along with Individuals inside and outside of our School District. She noted to also acknowledge these Students, we will be recognizing them in our next Board Meeting with an authenticated Certificate from the East Feliciana Parish School System, with the seal. So we just want to continue to give our Gifted and Talented Students within our East Feliciana Parish School System a round of applause.

Board Members, Superintendent Sam and audience attendees then gave a round of applause. Board President Bradford related thank ya’ll very much and proceeded with the agenda.

Item 6.B.(3) through 6.B.(6) Board President Bradford then called for a motion on agenda Items 6.B.(3) through 6.B.(6).

Motion by Mr. Terrell, seconded by Vice-President Harrell and Miss Matthews, to authorize ratification of the following donations:

(3) Board ratification of Carlos J. Sam, Superintendent, using his discretion on behalf of the East Feliciana Parish School Board; in receipt and distribution of Volunteer Grants from ExxonMobil Foundation in the sum of $1,500.00 to Jackson Elementary School

Item 6.B.(7) Board President Bradford turned the floor over to Superintendent Sam.

Carlos J. Sam, Superintendent related to Board Members present that Item 6.B.(7) is a request for out-of-state travel by Knight Roddy, Ph.D. to attend National Title I Conference, February 22^nd thru 25^th, 2017 in Long Beach, California and the funding source is Title I 329 Funds.

Motion by Mrs. Joyce Kent, seconded by Mr. Terrell to approve the written request

for out-of-state travel by Knight Roddy, Ph.D. to attend National Title I Conference, February 22^nd thru 25^th, 2017 in Long Beach, CA {funding source: Title I 329}.

Item 6.B.(8) Board President Bradford turned the floor over to Superintendent Sam.

Carlos J. Sam, Superintendent related to Board Members present that we have information that Dr. Germany is going to share with us related to the Pre-K Coordinated Funding and turned the floor over to Dr. Germany for her presentation.

Dr. Kim Germany related good evening Board President Bradford, Superintendent Sam, Board Members and audience guests. As a requirement of Act 3 in Bulletin 140, it requires that each Pre-K Lead Agency submit a coordinated, binding request on behalf of the Community Network. Our Network, East Feliciana Parish Network, we are requesting 60 seats to be funded by the LDOE and that is the same amount that we requested last year. Currently we have 52 Pre-K seats available with 8 available slots. Any questions on that? Also, you will see in your packet, we have some Early Childhood Profiles and they look like this. Act 3 requires the State to evaluate publically funded Early Childhood Programs to help Families chose the best option for their children. In 15/16 Louisiana launched a unified rating and improvement system with practice performance profiles to define and measure core elements needed for positive child outcomes. The hope of Bulletin 140 is to align the Performance Profiles to those items to determine Kindergarten Readiness. This year they released Performance Profiles for all of the Pre-K Programs in our District and all of our Pre-K Programs are Rated as Proficient, which is excellent news for us. The highest rating is Excellent, but we are all Proficient in our Programs. This year these Profiles are what they call just “Practice” there is no consequence for the Profiles this year, but there will be “Real” Profiles next year. So in essence all three (3) of our Elementary Schools will receive the equivalent of two (2) School Performance Scores, they will receive a School Performance Profile based upon Grades 3 through 8th or 3 through 5th Grade Testing, they will also receive a Performance Profile based on their Pre-K. So for us to be in Practice Year and all three (3) of Pre-K’s are Proficient is actually excellent. If you look on the Profile handout, you will see that we have five (5) measures, but we are only going to be looking at the three (3), because we only have Pre-K, we don’t have Toddler, we are right neck and neck with the State on all of our Averages, we have also out performed the State on a couple of our Indicators. So we are looking very good as we progress to but a big serious handle on our Pre-K Program, which is a big push from the LDOE.

Carlos J. Sam, Superintendent related Dr. Germany let me just make a note on Slaughter Elementary School, if you go to the last page, down at the bottom to the far left it says “What is the Highest Degree Earned by Teachers?” and it said 100% No Degree. That is actually an Error on the States part and so they are in the process of fixing that for use and we could not get it for tonight’s presentation, but I just wanted to make a note of that. Any questions about these Profiles? They are similar to the School Report Cards.

Board Member Edward Brooks, Jr. joined the meeting at this time.

Board Member Corcoran questioned what about the Children per Teacher, the Ratio...

Carlos J. Sam, Superintendent questioned which page are you on?

Board Member Corcoran related it is the first page on each one with the “X” on it...

Dr. Kim Germany related that is actually an item that we have put in for correction for all of our Pre-K Programs...

Carlos J. Sam, Superintendent related right...

Dr. Kim Germany continued all of our Programs will be rated three (3) stars because we do meet the criteria, we have 1 to 10 Ratio, so those will be three (3) stars for us.

Carlos J. Sam, Superintendent continued quite frankly I contemplated not giving you this, because there were some Errors on it, as you can see. But I thought it would be good for you to have because be rated so high. This is the first time the State is actually starting to rate Pre-K Programs and so working very closely in previous years with St. Helena and now very closely with our Head Start Programs, you can see that we are kind of on track.

Board President Bradford questioned on the bottom they are comparing Teachers, what is that again, 100% Bachelors Degree and then how many Teachers have Louisiana Teacher Certification, Superintendent Sam?

Dr. Kim Germany related well we know that all of our Pre-K Teachers are Certified for Pre-K, so this is just telling us the Highest Degree that our Teachers, that they have in our Schools.

Board President Bradford related okay.

Carlos J. Sam, Superintendent related so for Clinton Elementary you see 100% of them have at least a Bachelors Degree.

Board President Bradford related okay and what is the 67%, over to the side on mine?

Carlos J. Sam, Superintendent related that is the Number of Teachers that are Certified...

Board President Bradford questioned that we have Certified?

Carlos J. Sam, Superintendent continued at Clinton Elementary for Pre-K.

Board President Bradford related on Pre-K?

Carlos J. Sam, Superintendent related right.

Board President Bradford questioned and Jackson Elementary Certified?

Carlos J. Sam, Superintendent related 100% Certified.

Board President Bradford related 100% Certified.

Carlos J. Sam, Superintendent related and Slaughter 100% Certified.

Board President Bradford related at Slaughter 100% Certified. Okay, what else are you doing Superintendent Sam on the Certification? Don’t ya’ll have some Programs that you are working on?

Carlos J. Sam, Superintendent related we do have Certifications and Mrs. Netterville can go more into depth, I think she may even talk about it later in the presentation...

Board President Bradford related okay.

Carlos J. Sam, Superintendent continued our Goal is to have 100% Certification of Teachers throughout the District and we are kind of holding their feet to the fire to make sure that they meet all of the requirements by taking the Tests in a timely fashion and attending any Sessions that we may Host for Practice Tests or those kinds of things. And of course during our Recruiting Season we are trying to make sure that we try to find Certified Teachers as well.

Vice-President Harrell related that he is hearing a lot of good things about the Pre-K System from every area in all Schools.

Dr. Kim Germany related absolutely...

Board President Bradford related very good.

Dr. Kim Germany continued I wanted to make one note, at the bottom, where it says how many Louisiana Teachers have Certification, that is the Pre-K Certification and at Clinton Elementary we do have three (3) Pre-K Teachers and two (2) of those Teachers are Certified. The State of Louisiana has a big push now to make it or different avenues to have Alternative Certification for Pre-K, so they are coming out with a big program to do that. We are also encouraging our Head Start Teachers to go through that same process as well.

Board Member Dawson questioned now Pre-K Schools at Quad Area don’t have to do this, right?

Dr. Kim Germany related yes.

Board Member Dawson questioned oh, they do?

Dr. Kim Germany related yes, they do have to do this.

Board President Bradford related oh, okay.

Vice-President Harrell related it is great to hear good feed back from the Parents through, especially from the younger kids.

Board President Bradford related very good. Okay, go ahead Mr. Terrell.

Board Member Terrell related let me ask this, Quad Area is tied into this as well?

Dr. Kim Germany related they are part of our Network, yes they are.

Carlos J. Sam, Superintendent related they are part of our Network. So in years past, a few years ago, the State made a push to basically create a Network of Pre-K Programs to align our Standards to other Providers and so we worked closely with the Head Starts to make sure that we and them are providing the same level of rigor and so we raise all kids to a Standard. So when those Head Start Kids leave them and come to us, they are not behind.

Board President Bradford related okay.

Board Member Dawson questioned but these Scores here are not included with theirs?

Dr. Kim Germany related no...

Board Member Dawson related no...

Dr. Kim Germany continued these are ours...

Board Member Dawson related right.

Dr. Kim Germany continued we do have their Performance Profile as well.

Board President Bradford questioned oh, you do?

Miss Sharon Jones related they were Approaching Proficient...

Dr. Kim Germany related they were Approaching Proficient.

Miss Sharon Jones continued and they were about two tenths away from Proficient...

Board Member Dawson related okay.

Miss Sharon Jones continued and their Certification of Teachers are at 95%.

Board Member Dawson questioned they are?

Miss Sharon Jones related yes, because they have to have a Mandated Certification, via a License...

Board President Bradford related okay.

Miss Sharon Jones continued and the advantage is that they are also included in the Class and TS Gold Program, so they are like Dr. Germany said, they are under the same rigor as we are in our Regular School Settings and they are Scored and Graded the same way...

Board Member Dawson related oh, okay. Good.

Miss Sharon Jones continued and Evaluated.

Board President Bradford related okay. Go ahead Mr. Harrell.

Vice-President Harrell related so Dr. Germany that means next year we can expect a lot out of our 1^st Graders.

Dr. Germany related your Kindergarten.

Vice-President Harrell related Kindergarten, then 1^st Grade.

Dr. Germany related yes, essentially the push, they wanted this to be, they wanted to have some rigor at the Pre-K Level so the Kids are ready for Kindergarten, they are ready for those upper Grades in the Elementary Levels.

Board President Bradford related very good. Any more questions? Receiving none, Board President Bradford related thank you and proceeded with the agenda.

Item 6.B.(9) Board President Bradford turned the floor over to Superintendent Sam.

Carlos J. Sam, Superintendent related to Board Members present and asked Dr. Germany and Ms. Latricia Ford-Anderson to join her and provide us with a presentation regarding the District Assessment Data. Particularly the School Performance, or I should say the School Letter Grades and District Letter Grades. Dr. Germany.

Dr. Kim Germany related well continuing in the spirit of Good News, we have more Good News to share. As you will remember in October, October 4^th to be exact, we came before you and we shared with you the Proficiency Scores that we received for our Students. But tonight we are actually able to share with you our District Performance Score as well as our School Performance Scores for each School and proceeded with her power point presentation entitled “East Feliciana Public Schools Data Presentation Tuesday, December 6, 2016 “Take Pride”’. In 2016, for four (4) consecutive years, the East Feliciana District Performance Score has steadily increased. In 2013, you will see that we had a Performance Score of 72.9 “C”, in 2014 we went up a little bit 77.6, 2015 we continued to grow 78.4 and here were are 2016 79.5 “C” and that is very, very good. Considering the change that we had continuously with our Standards, the Higher Accountability that we are seeing in our State as far as Teaching and Learning is concerned, as well as with the Retention and Turn-Over that we sometimes deal with in our District. Our Highlights we had 0.7 one year increase in our Assessment for Grades 3 -8, we had 3.1 one year increase in our ACT Assessment Index, we had a 1.4 one year increase in our Dropout Credit Accumulation Index, we had a 10.1 increase in our Strength of Diploma, we had a 16.0 one year increase in our Cohort Graduation Index, we had a 8.0 one year increase in our Cohort Graduation Rate, we had a 7.6 Progress Points that we earned as a District and we had increase in School Performance Scores for two (2) of our Schools Jackson Elementary and Clinton Elementary. The School Performance Score for Clinton Elementary is currently a 53.2, although we are still a “D” as far as the Letter Grade is concerned, we did show Growth with 2.2 Points. Jackson Elementary although we still maintained our “D” Letter Grade, we did show Growth of 0.5 Points. Slaughter Elementary School we did have a little decline -3.4, but Slaughter is still a “B” School. East Feliciana Middle School we were able to maintain our “D” Letter Grade although we almost had a 2.0decrease. At our High School we were still able to maintain our “C” Letter Grade of 71.7, although we did have a decline of -4.7. At our Charter School we are still able to maintain a “B” Letter Grade, although they as well experienced a decline of -9.5.

Ms. Latricia Ford-Anderson related we want to talk to you a little bit about the High School Data Comparison and these are some of the components that make up the School Performance Score for the High School which is a little bit more complex than the Middle School and Elementary Schools. But at our District Level is made up of the Grades 3-8 Assessment Index and for our District that increased 0.7, the Dropout Credit Accumulation Index increased 1.4, the End-of-Course Index went down a -1.5, our ACT Assessment Index increased 3.1, the Strength of Diploma Graduation Index increased 10.1 and Cohort Graduation Rate Index increased 16.0 points. For the High School, the components that made up the High School, was the End-of Course Assessment Index, which is the EOC Tests that they take, the ACT Assessment Index, which is a test that they take, the Strength of Diploma, the type of Diploma that they receive and the Cohort Graduation Rate which just ensures that Students that enter our Schools in 9^th Grade, Graduate within 4-Years, and so there was an increase in two (2) of those components and a decrease in two (2). At the Charter School the same Components, End-of-Course increased, the Grades 3-8 Assessment Index, because they are a Combination School, also increased, the Dropout Credit Accumulation Index it decreased. This is the first year that they have had an ACT Assessment Index because 2016 was their first Graduating Class of Seniors and Strength of Diploma and Cohort Graduation Rate will be computed into their School Performance Scores for the 2017 School Year, because of their first year of having a Graduating Class. Each School will send Home a Letter to their Parents along with a Copy of their School Report Card which will provide general information on Student Performance on Assessments and other Academic Indicators. Are there any questions?

Vice-President Harrell questioned what are we doing to make our Scores Increase next Year?

Board President Bradford directed the question to Superintendent Sam.

Ms. Latricia Ford-Anderson related each one of the Schools, but I think we mentioned this in the last presentation when we did our Performance Scores have come up with a Plan to Increase Scores. So they will be, Schools will be more able to tell you, better what each Individual School is doing.

Carlos J. Sam, Superintendent related so let me remind you as you all recall, we had Dr. Patrice Pujol here last month and talked about the TAP Program that we entered into. I had Dr. Roddy calculate today, the Grant is going to provide us about $3.1 Million Dollars over the next 5 Years, to make the District a Full TAP District. And if you are familiar with TAP, the Teacher Advancement Program, this will allow us to basically implement strategies and a Model in every School for improvement. So it is a School Reform Model and it is based on the utilization of Master Teachers and Mentor Teachers at each School, which we will bring on next month, because this will allow us, this is our Year of Planning, the 2016-2017 School Year is our Year of Planning. In fact on Thursday, all of the Principals will hear a detailed presentation from me and Staff about the Implementation of the TAP Model. Okay, so we are moving in that direction in terms of School Improvement. As you all know, we brought on Mrs. Sarah Guidry, who is our Executive Master Teacher who will be leading this Initiative District-Wide for the next 5-Years. Most of the Personnel in your District, including some of your Central Office Staff are very familiar with the TAP Model, because you District was once a TAP District. One of the reasons we decided to use this Model was because of the Grant Opportunities that we had and because it is a Model that you must sustain Financially. It is a, I guess you could say, incentatived by money. So as Student grown, Principals and everyone on the Staff are able to earn Funds. Okay, but that is not necessarily the driving force, the driving force is those Cluster Meeting at those Schools, where Teachers are really talking about and discussing Data, Achievement Data and Strategies that they are going to use in the Classrooms and the Master Teacher and the Principal are ultimately responsible for making sure those Strategies are implemented. That is just one of the ways, I think we are going to improve. Yes, sir?

Board President Bradford questioned Superintendent Sam, explain it to me now, how is that as the District we Increased by 1.1, am I correct? Increased as a whole, our District, 1.1?

Carlos J. Sam, Superintendent related yes.

Board President Bradford continued but our Slaughter Elementary decreased -3.4 right, our Middle School -1.9, High School -4.7and our Charter School, which is our top school, dropped almost 10 points, -9.5 points. How is that?

Ms. Latricia Ford-Anderson related the reason for that is there Individual Component from each that we grew in that we were able to sustain our Growth. For instance if you will look on the page where it says “2016 District Highlights”, it tells you all of these different Components that were from Various Schools that helped us to Grow.

Carlos J. Sam, Superintendent related so the District Performance Score is calculated a little bit different from the School Performance Scores, so the State has a Formula that the use that basically if you look at the slide that says “District Highlights”, all of those areas where we Grew, where we are Graduating Kids on time, where Kids are improving on ACT Scores, where Students are basically taking Courses like Dual Enrollment Courses, or Advanced Placement Courses are getting Credentials for Jump Start, all that Counts and is calculated into your District Performance Score. Now let me say something to you, both the District Performance Score and the School Performance Score is a very complex Formula. In fact on Thursday, December 8, 2016, I am having Dr. Jennifer Beard from the State Department come to the District to talk to my Principals about how School Performance Scores and District Performance Scores are calculated. It is a major talk around the State about Scores, there are some surrounding Districts that Dropped significantly and you may have been reading the paper, they are in or fighting with the State about why their District Dropped. One of the things that you have noticed that we have didn’t highlight was that some of our Schools did not earn Progress Points or Bonus Points. Had we earned those Points we would have improved even more. Okay, so you have some local Districts who didn’t earn Progress Points and therefore they grew or they dropped in their District Performance Scores and went maybe from a “B” District to a “C” District. So it is, I think what we have to make sure that we concentrate on is every individual Child, in making sure that each Child is getting what he or she needs at the time he needs to get it. Because this can be confusing not only to us, to me and to Parents. But are we providing what Kids need each and every day in the Classroom? Who know that best, the People who are in the Classrooms the Teachers and the Principals, they probably know best what Kids need at the time they need it and the kind of Instruction that we are providing. Our Goal is to always make sure that we Train our Teachers well, I have told you in past Months, we have various People on Staff, Ms. Emily Hurst is one of them who is working specifically with just New Teachers, just to make sure that New Teachers understand the Curriculum and delivering the Curriculum in such a way that is appropriate for the Kids. So, you know we could talk about this all night long, but the State basically has a Formula they use to decide you know whether your District Grew or not.

Drew Talbot, Sales Tax Attorney joined the meeting at this time.

Board President Bradford related right. What is the Grading Scale, Superintendent Sam? What is the Grading Scale?

Carlos J. Sam, Superintendent directed Ms. Ford-Anderson to share that with the Board, the Grading Scale, I am glad that you asked that question.

Vice-President Harrell related well these are Benchmarks, for what they set, these are Benchmarks for the Grading Scale.

Carlos J. Sam, Superintendent related right. Exactly right.

Board President Bradford questioned Benchmarks for the Grading Scale?

Carlos J. Sam, Superintendent related yes, so like for an “A”, what is the Scale for an “A”?

Ms. Latricia Ford-Anderson related an “A” School would fall in the range of 100 to 150...

Board President Bradford related okay.

Ms. Ford-Anderson continued a “B” School 85 to 99.9, a “C” School 70 to 84.9, a “D” School 50 to 69.9 and an “F” School is below 50.

Board President Bradford questioned the “D” School is what 50 to what?

Ms. Ford-Anderson related 50 to 69.9.

Carlos J. Sam, Superintendent related now and let me share something with you, that is going to change, there is discussion right now about changing the way the District and School Performance Scores will be calculated and there is discussion about that Particular Range and Scale Changing as well. So everything you hear tonight, next year at this time, you will hear it differently and we won’t be comparing apples and oranges. That is just the World that we live in.

Board President Bradford related okay.

Board Member Corcoran questioned about the Plan, the question was asked about what are we doing to make the Grades improve, talking about Teachers. Is there any talk in that Plan about Raising the Pay?

Carlos J. Sam, Superintendent questioned raising the pay? Sure, I think...

Board Member Corcoran related pay is what, I mean more money to retain Teachers, I mean that is known.

Carlos J. Sam, Superintendent related Mr. Corcoran I think that would be a Board decision, if you guys want to raise the pay...

Board Member Corcoran related I am not trying to make a decision...

Carlos J. Sam, Superintendent related no...

Board Member Corcoran continued I am talking about, is it being talked about?

Carlos J. Sam, Superintendent continued no, I am saying I think that could be a discussion...

Board Member Corcoran continued and questioned is it even on the Table?

Carlos J. Sam, Superintendent continued well that could be a discussion the Board could bring to the Table. Absolutely, I would support that whole heartedly, if the Board feels like that is something that we can do.

Vice-President Harrell related absolutely, if you’ve got Funds to Fund it, we can discuss it. But you’ve gotta have the Funds. The thing about it I feel like that we play on an unfavorable playing field, because each Parish has to divvy up and give their own, but you also have the State. The State pays a certain amount, but then each Parish has a certain amount, so if you don’t have the Tax Base in a Parish, like we don’t then it is unfair for us. Because East Baton Rouge has Businesses, where East Feliciana don’t have that many Businesses. West Feliciana has Businesses and all of that money divvied into that pool, makes it to where you can pay your Teachers. Unfortunately we are in a poor Parish, that is the reason why we can’t pay our Teachers everything that West Feliciana does, everything that Zachary does, everything that East Baton Rouge Parish does. And I think that it is unfair and because we have State Land and most of our Parish is made up of State Land and Large Landowners, which they are not going pass a Tax. And that is what kills our Teachers and our chances for our Children to learn and have the same Opportunities that Zachary and West Feliciana does, that is the bottom line. Everybody can go around it, it is all about “green”.

Board Member Dawson related and we have the five (5) Institutions in Jackson and none of them pay any Taxes.

Vice-President Harrell related absolutely, that is unfair to us.

Board President Bradford related to Superintendent Sam, also whenever the State Mandates Programs, they normally don’t send any money with it, am I right? So locally, whatever they Mandate, we have to account for.

Board Member Dawson related adding Programs, but they don’t take any away.

Vice-President Harrell related that Retirement has killed us over the last 24 years, I have been here, it has been terrible. I mean we are always having to put money up, but they don’t ever Fund that Money, they always just say hey it is yours, you take care of it.

Board Member Corcoran questioned how efficient are we running it?

Vice-President Harrell related well that is something that you have to have Benchmarks set, we have never really set Benchmarks on how our Efficiency is. If you set Benchmarks on where your Efficiency is and then you go to each Department and see where they are Efficient, then we could probably do better. But I mean you Employees are doing as good as they can with what they have. I mean we have Teachers that are spending money out of their pockets to put stuff in Classrooms for their own Kids, those are our Kids, they are not that Teachers Kids, but she is spending her money. It is aggravating, it really is and I understand it.

Board President Bradford turned the floor over to Ms. O’Quin.

Christel O’Quin, Ed.D. related she just wanted to make a suggestion, I know that it is a poor Parish and there aren’t Tax Bases around here for Salaries. But at one time you had a 4-Day Week, when you went back to a 5-Day Week, you lost a lot of Teachers. You can’t pay them with Money, but you can pay them with and I hate to say “Perks”, but Teachers like having that Monday. They are not scared to work an extra hour and half or two hours. So I just hope that you will consider it, when you look at giving Raises, that maybe some things like that might help you to retain some Teachers and get some Teachers.

Board President Bradford related to Superintendent Sam, I thought you looked at that before and we really didn’t see any...

Carlos J. Sam, Superintendent related well let me suggest this to you...

Board President Bradford continued what was the difference in that?

Carlos J. Sam, Superintendent continued because I would not come to you with a recommendation in a “slot machine manner”. If you are going to go, or if you want to consider going to a 4-Day Week, the first thing I would suggest we do is we Survey the Parents. Because any time that you make a change of that nature, it impacts the Parents and Kids in your Community. Okay, so for me as your Superintendent, I would want to do that first. Okay, now we can sit around this table and have that discussion and figure out what the implications are. Okay, now let me say to this and I am going to say this to you publically, when I look at the Employees out in this room, the kind of results that they are bringing you, that they are bringing us, is unprecedented in comparison to some of these Districts who don’t bring these kinds of results and make a way lot more money than the Folks that are sitting out here. So I can tell you, I am proud of them and you have got to be proud of them...

Board President Bradford related and we are.

Carlos J. Sam, Superintendent continued because I see what they do everyday and they do a whole lot with a little and you are right Mr. Corcoran, they deserve a whole lot more money...

Vice-President Harrell related I agree.

Carlos J. Sam, Superintendent continued and so we work very hard every day to keep the People we have and to cultivate a relationship with them and to make sure that they understand that we appreciate them in some way, shape or form. Whether we Celebrate them in a Meeting, my Meeting, Principals Meeting, any time, publically or otherwise. Because I can tell you that most of these Folks could go just about any place else and get a job, tomorrow if they chose to. Okay, so you know I have made it my business to make sure that the People who are here that we care about them, we know that we want them to stay here, because the results that they are giving us are just phenomenal. They are phenomenal results, regardless of what Formula we use. Okay, my job is to make sure that we have People in place who care about the Kids that we service...

Board President Bradford related that is good.

Carlos J. Sam, Superintendent continued okay and I just want to say that to the Staff publically that I appreciate you know the results that you are giving us.

Board President Bradford related we are going to go to Coach Nesbitt and then I will come back to you, Vice-President Harrell. Mr. Nesbitt.

Rufus Nesbitt, Board Member related I done heard two (2) things that puzzle me and that is that word “TAP” and that “4-Day Work”. I remember that TAP, ya’ll remember to, I just wonder who Sponsored this TAP, who Coordinated this TAP?

Carlos J. Sam, Superintendent questioned who is Coordinating it?

Board Member Nesbitt related yes.

Carlos J. Sam, Superintendent related you are looking at him.

Board Member Nesbitt related okay, but you Board Members that are setting here, you remember we got a lawsuit behind that TAP. Second thing, when you start talking about Students and you said we have to Teach according to the Students that we have, I don’t think a 4-Day Period is going to Accommodate our Students. We went through that once before...

Board President Bradford related we have, that is right.

Board Member Nesbitt continued there you go again, we went through it for the Dollar Bill and now we going through it for the Dollar Bill, we are going through it for the Parents, we are going through it for the benefit of the Students. Every time and there you go again, every time it comes around you put a Dollar Bill over what a Student can do and what a Student can’t do. In my Teaching in East Feliciana Parish, I think you asking the Students that attended all these Schools, you are asking them to do too much in 4-Days and a lot of Students can not do it...

Board President Bradford related right.

Board Member Nesbitt continued now if you are going to Teach Students give them time to learn.

Board President Bradford related we should be adding days, not taking days back?

Board Member Nesbitt related that is right.

Board President Bradford related I agree, I dare say you work a little harder during this time.

Board Member Nesbitt related but you are try to cram something at a Student over 4-Days, that a lot of you ain’t even got time to even see them, but you are going to ask the Student to come to School 4-Days and learn that we are asking that are having problems doing it in 5-Days. And if anything, there you go again, a lot of Schools are asking Students to come a whole Year, rather than come 4-Days.

Board President Bradford related that is right. Okay, Vice-President Harrell.

Vice-President Harrell related I want the ones that have been the East Feliciana School System over 15-Years to raise your hands. Everyone of you that is here are not here because you are being paid it is because you are loyal to this System and we appreciate what you do, I mean I hate to just say we appreciate it, but you are here because of loyalty, not because of money.

Board President Bradford related that is true.

Carlos J. Sam, Superintendent related right.

Board President Bradford related okay.

Board Member Derald Spears, Sr. asked Mr. Sam, I have a question about TAP...

Board President Bradford related okay, Mr. Spears.

Board Member Spears continued in you professional estimation, how long will it take for the TAP Program to take fruit in our numbers? Just a guesstimate.

Carlos J. Sam, Superintendent related well, let me say this to you. I don’t want you to think that I think that TAP is the end to all. Because that is not the only thing that we are going to do to improve this School District. Okay, right now we are working with the Curriculum Team that Mrs. Netterville is leading to make sure we align our Standards and Curriculum for the 2^nd Semester to be prepared for the Spring Testing Cycle. So there are a lot of things that we do everyday to improve. But to answer your question though it depends. Now what I mean by that is, it depends upon the commitment of People in the School Buildings. And that is going to vary from Site to Site. So that Meeting Thursday with the Principals, is a Come to Jesus Meeting, it is to let the know that look we are investing a lot of time and money in you and your people and we are going to need you to go back and lead this initiative to make sure it renders the results that we are expecting. Okay, so every Leader is going to have to have a gut check about how they are going to go back and make that happen. Alright, Clinton Elementary is a full TAP School this year, they have already started. Next year this time, we will be handing those Individuals Checks, those Teachers Checks, based on Student Growth. The other Schools are coming on-line in somewhat we call a year behind. Because we actually got a different Grant to start Clinton Elementary a Year early. So you know we are hoping to see benefits next Year at this time when we make another presentation to you. I want to be able to say to you, we think the TAP Program benefitted Students and look at the results. That is our goal.

Board President Bradford turned the floor over to Coach Nesbitt.

Board Member Nesbitt related let me say something about that TAP, Mr. Sam...

Carlos J. Sam, Superintendent related okay.

Board Member Nesbitt continued in the last TAP, the last TAP that I am familiar with the TAP Program benefit the Teachers, not the Students, the Teacher got the Check...

Carlos J. Sam, Superintendent related and they did.

Board Member Nesbitt continued and they fought over those Checks...

Carlos J. Sam, Superintendent related okay.

Board Member Nesbitt but there again, like I was saying, do you have all Teachers participating in TAP or just a few?

Carlos J. Sam, Superintendent related all Teachers.

Board Member Nesbitt related okay.

Board President Bradford related Coach Nesbitt, you and I had a conversation a couple of weeks ago and I told you don’t come back here with all that talking and sit over there and be quite. I told you that, so go ahead Mr. Hollins.

Board Member Melvin L. Hollins related I think we also need to consider that the Stipend or whatever comes along with TAP is just a Perk, but the Model of TAP is something that Effective Schools do with or without the Program. I am sure when we discontinued TAP, the Principals continued to adopt that Model. You know they may not had a Master Teacher, or whatever to give them that extra manpower, but the whole Framework is something that you do whether you do TAP or NAPE or EA or whatever you call it. So the money may actually be a little Perk to push them to do a little extra.

Board Member Nesbitt related I understand what you are saying Mr. Hollins, but in the last TAP Program, there was a few Individual Teachers that was participating in the TAP...

Board President Bradford related yes, sir.

Board Member Nesbitt continued and that is where the problem occurred at...

Board President Bradford related okay.

Board Member Nesbitt continued because they was hand picked and they was perfect picked. Now my question was the Teachers that was really Teaching the Students, was a Teacher who wasn’t receiving no TAP.

Board President Bradford related okay. Alright Coach Nesbitt and turned the floor over to Mrs. Brittany Hollins.

Mrs. Brittany Hollins related I need to ask something, I am an Educator, but not in this Parish. I am an Educator in Baker. My first year of Teaching, Baker Middle was a TAP School; I can tell you that was the best thing that probably could have ever helped me and helped my students...

Board President Bradford related well good.

Mrs. Brittany Hollins continued the Master Teacher and the things we would do in the PLC and the Cluster Meetings, they were phenomenal in helping me and helping my Students. So I think that it is something that everyone should be open to and give it a chance before you knock it.

Board President Bradford related okay.

Carlos J. Sam, Superintendent related Mrs. Hollins, you are right Mrs. Hollins.

Board Member Melvin L. Hollins asked who was your Master Teacher in TAP?

Mrs. Brittany Hollins related my Master Teacher was Mr. Laron McCurry.

Board President Bradford related well good. Just one more comment to Superintendent Sam...

Carlos J. Sam, Superintendent related yes, sir.

Board President Bradford continued I am sorry, but I don’ see no reason why we couldn’t be at least at a “70", all our Schools should be at a “70". I am sorry...

Board Member Hollins related TAP is going to get us there.

Board President Bradford questioned TAP is going to get us there? We should be at that...

Carlos J. Sam, Superintendent questioned you mean raising the Schools Scores?

Board President Bradford related yes.

Board Member Rhonda Matthews related raising the Scores.

Board President Bradford related that “52", “51", my Daddy whipped me when I come Home with that kind of stuff there.

Carlos J. Sam, Superintendent related that is unacceptable, it is unacceptable...

Board President Bradford related yes.

Carlos J. Sam, Superintendent continued I don’t disagree with you.

Board President Bradford related okay and asked who else had a question? Go ahead Dr. Roddy.

Knight Roddy, Ph.D., Supervisor related I just wanted to throw a few things out as has been mentioned we started TAP and if my memory serves me correct, like in 2010 and probably through like 2015. In the Year that we went from “D” to “C” as a District, that particular year, TAP was one of the things that we were doing.

Board President Bradford related yes, it was. Okay, very good.

Dr. Roddy related so it brings our Staffs to a High Level of Professionalism as our Friend back here mentioned and then also, it has been brought up a couple of Board Meetings ago about what can we do to keep our Teachers here...

Board President Bradford related right.

Board Member Corcoran related that is my next question.

Dr. Roddy continued and that Financial Perk in terms of you know the Stipends that the Teacher Leaders get and then also the Pool or the Incentative Pool that gets Paid Out, that is really big in terms of helping keep our Teachers here. And then last time we did TAP, we had to use a lot of our local Grant Money, like EEF, we used EEF. This Grant that we are getting we have to put up relatively speaking to the $3.1 Million Dollars, we have to put very little, the Grant covers almost everything. So we are not going to have to go into Title I and Title II to get a lot of Matching Funds, this Grant is providing almost the whole show.

Carlos J. Sam, Superintendent related in actuality we won’t be Matching the Funds until the 3^rd Year of the Grant...

Board President Bradford related okay.

Carlos J. Sam, Superintendent continued and you will only be matching a percentage of the Funds. So looking at the numbers today, it is a $3.1 Million Dollar Grant over 5-Years, we are responsible for about $140,000.00 over those 5-Year Period.

Board President Bradford related okay. Okay, let me pause one more time to recognize Mrs. Brittany Hollins, I didn’t see you in the back, I wanted to recognize you. It is good to have you Visit us and also, Mrs. Nesbitt, it is good to have you with us and I hope you come back some more to where you can help us calm him down a little bit Mrs. Nesbitt. It is good to have you with us, thank you.

Carlos J. Sam, Superintendent related to Mr. President and Members of the Board this is a bitter sweet announcement for Dr. Kim Germany, this is going to be her last School Board Meeting...

Board President Bradford related oh, Lord.

Carlos J. Sam, Superintendent continued and I just want to personally, I want to personally thank her for her service to East Feliciana Public Schools...

Vice-President Harrell related if you don’t let her go, she won’t go!

Board President Bradford related you are right.

Carlos J. Sam, Superintendent related it was a Family decision on her part, you all may know that her Husband jumped ship on the Jaguars and went to Jackson State...

Board President Bradford related yes, he sure did.

Carlos J. Sam, Superintendent continued and so she is going Home to meet her Husband and so I want you to know that we appreciate your services.

Dr. Kim Germany related thank you.

Vice-President Harrell related we do.

Board President Bradford related we beat her Husband in High School, we are going to beat him in College!

Dr. Kim Germany related yes, you did!

Board Member Nesbitt questioned Mr. President can I say one more thing about that TAP?

Board President Bradford related no, sir. Go ahead Mr. Nesbitt.

Board Member Nesbitt related the only thing about the TAP, seems to like to me the TAP Program is for the High Level Kids, I don’t and that is what tears me up. I think the TAP needs to touch all Kids, not just the High Level Kids. If you are going to TAP them, TAP them all.

Board Member Paul Kent joined the meeting at this time.

Miss Pamela Lockwood related I have got to tell you this, my last year of Teaching we used TAP at our Slaughter Elementary School and that was the Highest Performance that my Kids ever had and my Kids rated in the 90's every year. But my Kids rated 98 and 95 that year, not just because of TAP, but because that was the buzz, the Scores that I had, I had to go up so many percentage points, my Kids had to go up and I had some of the lowest Kids that I had ever taught in Math coming to me on the 3^rd Grade Level, on the Kindergarten Level and the made, helped me make my 98% in Math. So I am just saying TAP is not a bad thing.

Board Member Nesbitt related I am not saying TAP is not good, but in my experience, when we had TAP in 2010, it was misused...

Board Member Hollins related so we are going to manage it well this time.

Carlos J. Sam, Superintendent related yes, manage it well.

Miss Pamela Lockwood related this was in 2013 when I had it.

Board Member Nesbitt related well okay.

Board President Bradford turned the floor over to Ms. Kinchen.

Karen Kinchen, Teacher, SES related TAP was very stressful for Teachers, but Pam and Mary and I were Partner/Teachers for that Year for 3^rd Grade and like I said we had a lot of really low Kids and in Reading we had 6 Advance and 17 or 18 out of 60 Kids Mastery.

Board President Bradford related well very good. Okay, that ends that item and proceeded with the agenda.

Item 6.B.(10) Board President Bradford turned the floor over to Superintendent Sam

Carlos J. Sam, Superintendent related to Board Members present that he was going to turn the floor over to Mrs. Keisha Netterville who will share with us Personnel Matters for this Month.

Keisha Netterville, Executive Director related good evening to Board President, Superintendent, Board Members and audience guests, you have before you the Personnel Report for the Month of November. The first listing are the Vacancies that we currently have within the District, 1 at EFHS, 2 at EFMS and 1 is in the Transportation Department and those Positions are listed to the right of that. Additionally, you have the Resignations for the Month, there were 2 at EFHS, 2 at EFMS, 1 at CES and 1 was in the Transportation Department. Of which we have 2 or 3 Positions that are still Open.

Board President Bradford related okay and called for any questions.

Executive Director Netterville called for any questions.

Board President Bradford related thank you.

Board Member Rhonda Matthews questioned EFMS, the Mathematics, have we filled that Position?

Executive Director Netterville related we did fill that Position and that Person left us right before Thanksgiving, he stayed I believe a week and a half or almost two weeks, Mr. McCurry?

Laron McCurry, Principal EFMS related yes.

Executive Director Netterville continued and he Resigned right before Thanksgiving due to Transportation Issues.

Board Member Matthews questioned so who is Teaching in that Position? Nobody?

Principal McCurry related we have a long-term substitute that is taking them to the Computer Lab where they are using ALIS Math as of right now.

Board Member Matthews related so that means that you are going to come out of the Office and go Teach them to?

Principal McCurry related only as an Alternative!

Board Member Matthews related alright, good deal.

Board President Bradford related okay that is it. Thank you Miss Matthews and Mrs. Netterville and proceeded with the agenda.

Item 6.B.(11) Board President Bradford turned the floor over to Superintendent Sam.

Carlos J. Sam, Superintendent turned the floor over to Mr. Bell for his presentation.

James Bell, Jr., Supervisor related to Board President Bradford, Vice-President Harrell, Superintendent, Board Members and distinguished guests I have a very brief Operations Report. He noted the District is currently working with FEMA at the Old Clinton Middle School Facility we are in the process of mitigating mold and water damage at that School, we are at about 70% finished at that specific School. However, we are working with a Contractor and FEMA to develop a Scope of Work to cover the Areas that EPA designates that a Contractor must take care of. So we are trying to hammer out a working Scope of Work for that specific Facility and we plan to have that Facility finished by Early January.

Board President Bradford related okay, is that it Mr. Bell? Any questions, receiving none Board President Bradford proceeded with the agenda.

Item 6.B.(12) Board President Bradford read aloud Item 6.B.(12) to receive request for out-of-state travel by Derald Spears, Sr., Board Member to attend National School Boards Association (NSBA) Equity Symposium, January 27^th thru 29^th, 2017 at the Marriott Marquis, Washington, D.C. {funding source: Board Travel}.

Motion by Mr. Terrell, seconded by Mrs. J. Kent to approve the request for out-of-state travel by Derald Spears, Sr., Board Member to attend National School Boards Association (NSBA) Equity Symposium, January 27^th thru 29^th, 2017 at the Marriott Marquis, Washington, D.C. {funding source: Board Travel}.

Board President Bradford then asked for any public questions or comments before a vote is taken on this motion.

Board Member Dawson related she would like to make a comment. I am really against this, as we have been talking about how much we don’t have and can’t do for the Teachers. I get that Miss Lockwood left, but yesterday she spent all day yesterday and she will spend all day tomorrow raising money just to buy Paper for the School, they don’t have Paper...

Carlos J. Sam, Superintendent questioned who does not have paper?

Board Member Dawson related Miss Lockwood, Slaughter. Right?

Kimberly Glascock, Principal, Slaughter Elementary related well is to pay for the copies that we use, we have the Paper, but you have to pay the Copy Bill. Just different Fund Raisers.

Board Member Dawson related I mean needing Money for things like that and then when the Students would go from one Building to another one, there were like Streams going across the Sidewalk and the had to put milk crates for them to step on to get across these places. And it is things like that that shouldn’t go on, because we need money for that. I don’t see where it benefits the Board, I don’t see where it benefits the Students, I don’t see where it benefits Teachers. If we could go on one of these things and we come back and give a Program, were we could get some Credits or something that is fine. But I think we can spend the money in other ways than taking Trips.

Board President Bradford called for any further comments or discussion. Receiving none, Board President Bradford then proceeded with the vote:

Yeas: E. Brooks, Jr., Matthews, Terrell, J. Kent, Bradford, Harrell, Hollins and Spears

Opposed: Dawson, Corcoran, P. Kent and Nesbitt

Absent during vote: None

Absent and not voting: None

Board President Bradford announced by a majority vote of 8 to 4, the motion carried.

Item 7.A. Board President Bradford made the Committee Membership Assignment of Mr. Nesbitt, Coach Nesbitt to the Economic Development Committee, the Personnel Committee and the Policy Review Committee. I think Mr. Hollins is Chairperson of Personnel and Mrs. Joyce Kent is Chairperson of the Policy Review Committee.

Board Member Hollins related Chair of Personnel.

Board Member J. Kent related Chair of Policy Review Committee.

Board President Bradford related to Mr. Nesbitt, those are the Committees that you will serve on. Okay.

Board Member Nesbitt related alright, yes, sir.

Item 7.B. Board President Bradford turned the floor over to Superintendent Sam.

Carlos J. Sam, Superintendent related to Board Members present that we need a motion to go into executive session related to Sales Tax.

Vice-President Harrell questioned is he here?

Board President Bradford related he is here, yes, there he is. Board President Bradford called for a motion to go into executive session with no time limit.

Motion by Mrs. J. Kent, seconded by Mr. Brooks to go into executive session, with no time limit.

Board President Bradford adjourned the meeting into an executive session.

Attendees after the executive session: E. Brooks, Jr., Matthews, Terrell, J. Kent, Bradford, Harrell, P. Kent, Corcoran, Hollins, Dawson and Spears. Absent: Nesbitt.

Motion by Mr. Terrell, seconded by Mrs. J. Kent to return to regular session at this time.

Board President Bradford called for a motion to act on item taken during the Executive Session on Item 7.B.

Motion by Mr. Spears, seconded by Mrs. Dawson to authorize Board ratification of Carlos J. Sam, Superintendent and Sales Tax Director, using his discretion on behalf of the East Feliciana Parish School Board; in signing any and all documents necessary to bring to fruition a Sales Tax Settlement Agreement as presented by Drew Talbot, Sales Tax Attorney regarding said Vendor. Further authorizing Carlos J. Sam, Superintendent and Sales Tax Director to receive and disburse any and all proceeds received to-date and to be received in the future regarding same.

Board President Bradford then asked for any public questions or comments before a vote is taken on this motion. Receiving none, Board President Bradford then proceeded with a roll-call vote, as follows:

Yeas: E. Brooks, Jr., Matthews, Terrell, J. Kent, Bradford, Harrell, P. Kent, Corcoran, Hollins, Dawson and Spears

Opposed: None

Absent during vote: None

Absent and not voting: Nesbitt

Board President Bradford announced by a majority vote of 11 to 0, with 1 absent and not voting, the motion carried.

Board President Bradford then proceeded with the agenda.

Item 8.A. Board President Bradford proceeded with the next Item 8.A. and turned the floor over to Mr. Richard Terrell.

Richard Terrell, Chairperson of the Finance Committee related a Finance Committee Meeting was held on Tuesday, November 29, 2016 at 10:00 A.M. we had four (4) Items and we have one (1) recommendation coming forth. He related that recommendation is on behalf of myself and the Finance Committee a recommendation to the Board accept Carlos J. Sam, Superintendent and C.P.A. Tommy LeJeune recommendations and authorize disbursement of a capped sum of $250,000.00 issuance of ad valorum revenues as a one-time payment as a 13^th Check. He then called for a motion on Agenda Item 8.A.(5).

Motion by Vice-President Harrell, seconded by Mr. J. Kent to accept the Finance Committee recommendation in connection with Item 8.A.(5) recommendation the Board accept Carlos J. Sam, Superintendent and C.P.A. Tommy LeJeune recommendations and authorize disbursement of a capped sum of $250,000.00 issuance of ad valorum revenues as a one-time payment as a 13^th Check (with December, 2016 payroll) to all eligible employees who are actively employed. The amount to be paid eligible employees will be based on a percentage and according to their base pay earned January through December, 2016. Applicable federal and state taxes, Medicare tax and pension contributions will be deducted from the gross amount.

Finance Chairman Terrell related thank you and Merry Christmas!

Board President Bradford asked Mr. Terrell, let me ask a different question, when will these money be distributed? The Employees have been asking.

Finance Chairman Terrell related it is in the process to go out December 15^th?

Carlos J. Sam, Superintendent related December 31^st...

Finance Chairman Terrell questioned December 31^st, the New Year?

Carlos J. Sam, Superintendent related I am sorry December 21^st. I am sorry the 21^st of December!

Board President Bradford then related for the record his Wishing everyone a Merry Christmas.

There being no further business to come before the Board, a motion for adjournment by Mrs. J. Kent, seconded by Mr. Terrell, prevailed until the next regular meeting unless called into special session by the President.

CARLOS J. SAM, SUPERINTENDENT MICHAEL RAY BRADFORD,

SECRETARY-TREASURER BOARD PRESIDENT