PROCEEDINGS OF THE PARISH SCHOOL BOARD OF THE PARISH OF EAST FELICIANA, STATE OF LOUISIANA, TAKEN AT A REGULAR MEETING HELD ON NOVEMBER 7, 2017
November 3, 2017
PROPOSED AGENDA FOR
EAST FELICIANA PARISH SCHOOL BOARD
Central Office Board Room, located at
12732 Silliman Street, Town of Clinton, Louisiana
TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 7, 2017 - 5:00 P.M.
1. Call to order
2. Roll Call
3. Approval of the agenda
4. Approval of the minutes of October 3, 2017 regular meeting
5. Special Recognitions
A. Presentation on Employee of the Month November, 2017
B. Presentation on School Highlights: Clinton Elementary
C. Presentation on Volunteers Program in support of Area Schools
6. Communications/Reports
A. Sales Tax Collections Report
B. Superintendent's Report
(1) Receive 2018 NSBA Advocacy Institute information scheduled for February 4th thru 6th, 2018, Marriott Marquis, Washington, D.C.. Additionally, request Board authorization for out-of-state travel by Board Members and/or Carlos J. Sam, Superintendent
(2) Receive 2018 LSBA Annual Conference information scheduled for February 28th - March 2nd, 2018 at the Crowne Plaza Hotel, Baton Rouge, LA
(3) Receive 2018 NSBA Annual Conference information scheduled for April 7th thru 9th, 2018, San Antonio, Texas. Additionally, request Board authorization for out-of-state travel by Board Members and/or Carlos J. Sam, Superintendent
(4) Receive presentation on Classroom Enhancement Solutions of Homeland® Safety Systems, Inc.
APPROVED:
/s/ 3:27 P.M.
Carlos J. Sam, Superintendent
(5) Receive report regarding District-wide Assessment Data and Plans for continuous improvement
(6) Request Board authorization for Carlos J. Sam, Superintendent, to use his discretion on behalf of the East Feliciana Parish School Board; in receipt and distribution of various musical instruments from Feliciana Trading Post, Joe Howell, Owner valued at $3,000.00
(7) Receive and review written requests for out-of-state travel by East Feliciana High School Staffer, Rayla Hunt-Davis, TAP Master Teacher, to 2017 NCTE Annual Convention in St. Louis, Missouri on November 16th thru 19th, 2017 {funding source: Title II Fund 209}
(8) Receive and review written request for Use of Facilities by Alonzo Jones, Coach, Feliciana Speed of EFHS JSC for Dance Competition on Saturday, December 2, 2017 from 6 P.M. to 9:30 P.M. Further requesting waiver of fees
(9) Receive and review written request for Use of Facilities by Alonzo Jones, Coach, Feliciana Speed of EFHS JSC for Cheer Competition on Saturday, December 9, 2017 from 10:00 A.M. until 8:00 P.M. Further requesting waiver of fees
(10) Receive and review written request for Use of Facilities by Josh Cougle, Associate Pastor/Youth Minister, Feliciana Baptist Church of East Feliciana Professional Development Learning Center Gymnasium on Saturday, November 18, 2017 from 8:00 P.M. until 1:00 A.M. Further requesting waiver of fees due to use of Feliciana Baptist Church’s Parking Lot, Tables and other Materials throughout numerous School Years
(11) Personnel Matters (FOR INFORMATION ONLY)
(12) Operations and Maintenance Report (FOR INFORMATION ONLY)
7. Old Business
A. Board President Richard Terrell announcement of issuance of Stipend Payment for Meeting §VIII. Specific Performance Objectives ¶A and ¶B, as set out in Superintendent’s Contract for Carlos J. Sam
B. Request and receive Board ratification of Carlos J. Sam, Superintendent, using his discretion on behalf of the East Feliciana Parish School Board; in signing all documents deemed necessary in his discretion registering two (2) Modular Classrooms total value if $20,775.00 located at Slaughter Elementary School Campus, 3170 Church Street, Slaughter, LA, as recited in Johnson Controls Contract {Board Approved: 08/02/2016 Item 9.B.(4)} in the name of the East Feliciana Parish School Board as Owner
8. New Business
A. Building Committee Report
B. Personnel 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, Michael Bradford, Rufus Nesbitt, Joyce A. Kent, Richard Terrell, Mitchell Harrell, Paul Kent, Melvin L. Hollins and Elizabeth Dawson. Board Member Derald Spears, Sr. joined the meeting at 5:59:42 P.M. Board Members absent: Edward Brooks, Jr. and Timothy Corcoran. Other Attendees: Carlos J. Sam, Superintendent of Schools, Irma Lee Bendily, Confidential Assistant to the Superintendent, Samuel D’Aquilla, 20th JDC District Attorney and Scott Lazarone, C.P.A., Member of Faulk & Winkler, LLC.
Board President Richard Terrell opened meeting with prayer. Board President Terrell turned the floor over to Clinton Elementary Staffers and their Students who 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 Board President Terrell announced the purposes of said meeting in accordance with the aforesaid written notice thereof. Board President Terrell stated the Board was ready for transaction of business and asked that all electronic devices and cell phones be turned off, due to interruption of recording devices. So at this time, kindly turn off your cell phones and electronic devices and I thank you.
Item 2. Board President Terrell called for an attendance roll call, as follows:
Present: Dawson, Hollins, P. Kent, Harrell, Terrell, J. Kent, Nesbitt, Bradford and Matthews
Absent: Spears, Corcoran and Brooks
Board President Terrell noted we have a quorum of 9, with 3 absent.
Item 3. Board President Terrell proceeded with the agenda and called for a motion to approve the above agenda.
Motion by Mr. Bradford, second by Mrs. J. Kent to approve the above agenda.
Board President Terrell then asked for any public questions or comments before a vote is taken on the motion. Receiving none, Board President Terrell then proceeded with the vote. All yeas. The motion carried. Absent: Spears, Corcoran and Brooks.
Item 4. Board President Terrell proceeded the agenda and called for a motion to approve the minutes of October 3, 2017 regular meeting.
Motion by Mr. Bradford, seconded by Ms. Matthews, to approve the minutes of October 3, 2017, regular meeting, as published in the official journal.
Board President Terrell then asked for any public comment before a vote is taken on this motion. Receiving none, Board President Terrell then proceeded with the vote. All yeas. The motion carried. Absent: Spears, Corcoran and Brooks.
Item 5.B. Board President Terrell related Item 5.A. Special Recognitions Presentation of Employee of November, 2017... Just redirect it as you present, we are going to move to Item 5.B.
DeShonda Coleman, Supervisor related okay and proceeded with Item 5.B. School Highlights and turned the floor over to Clinton Elementary Staffers Teacher, Ms. Matthews and four (4) 5th Grade Clinton Elementary Students for their School Highlights presentation on Chrome Books using Typing.com and concluded their presentation by doing a Clinton Elementary Cheer.
Board President Terrell related thank you and thank you Ms. Matthews.
Item 5.A. DeShonda Coleman, Supervisor returned to Item 5.A. and related to Board President Terrell, Superintendent Sam, Board Members and Audience Guests, at this time I would like to recognize our Employee of the Month for November our Theme is “Plays a Role as a Mentor.” The November Employee of the Month is from Clinton Elementary School. She goes above and beyond for the Students, Faculty and Staff daily. She has created a Book Mobile to encourage the Students to Read and take Accelerated Reader Tests on the Books they have Read. She travels the Halls with her Cart of Books with a clear sign that reads “Magic comes in Success flows out.” The Students have an opportunity to exchange their Books for a new one once they are done Reading it. They also receive Lion Bucks at the time of the Exchange. The Students are able to use those Lion Bucks in the Lions Den, which is the Schools PBIS Store. At this time I would like to Recognize our November, 2017 Employee of the Month, none other than Ms. Lillie Mack.
Becky Johnson, Representative of Taylor & Sons then presented Ms. Lillie Mack with a plaque and related items. Congratulations.
Supervisor Coleman called for a photo opportunity with Ms. Becky Johnson, Ms. Lillie Mack and Clinton Elementary Principal Ebony Montgomery.
Item 5.C. DeShonda Coleman, Supervisor related at this time I would like to recognize our Volunteer of the Month, Picture Day in an Elementary Schools is no small feat, shirt tails must be tucked in, faces checked, hair inspected and sweaters and jackets kept in a holding place until Photos of the Students are taken. The November Volunteer of the Month for Clinton Elementary School took on the task and Volunteered on Picture Day, she assisted the Photographers with all of the previously mentioned tasks which took up the majority of the School Morning. At this time I would like to recognize Ms. Mary Ann Carmeno for the helping hands that were truly an asset to Clinton Elementary School. She then thanked Ms. Carmeno for Volunteering and presented her with a gift.
Item 6.A. Board President Terrell proceeded with the Sales Tax Collections Report.
Scott Lazarone, C.P.A., Member of Faulk & Winkler, LLC related to Board Members present good evening. Ugh so the Sales Tax Collection Report ugh Collections during October, ugh related to September were $289,000.00, ugh compared to $284,000.00 last September, ugh if you look down at the bottom your Total Year-to-Date is almost $950,000.00, which is 30% of your Budgeted Amount, so 25% would be an even allocation through the year, so you are about 5% ahead of Budget right now through 3 Months, some of that is related to the Settlements that are being Paid in Installments, ugh the first 3 Months...
Board Member Bradford related yes...
C.P.A. Lazarone continued but even if you backed that out, you are still right on track we Budgeted 24%, even when you exclude that information. So Sales Tax Collections are looking good through the first 3 Months.
Board Member Bradford continued the ugh the Delinquent Taxes for this Month, it seems to be a little lower than what it has been in the past, isn’t it?
C.P.A. Lazarone related it the actual Delinquent on the, it was well the Agreement is $50,000.00, which you get 75% for the School Board.
Board Member Bradford related but on here it is showing $6,778.76.
C.P.A. Lazarone related oh, I am sorry, I am talking about the separate Agreement, that is not included in that $6,000.00 figure.
Board Member Bradford related I know that, I would hope not because it is not $50,000.00...
C.P.A. Lazarone related right.
Board Member Bradford related it is $6,778.76.
C.P.A. Lazarone related I am not sure what that number normally is...
Board Member Bradford related right.
C.P.A. Lazarone continued I don’t think it is normally that large, is it?
Board Member Bradford related I didn’t think it was normally that low.
C.P.A. Lazarone related I would have to look in previous Months...
Carlos J. Sam, Superintendent related yeah, it is a little bit more than the past numbers.
Board Member Bradford related it is normally more than $6,000.00?
Carlos J. Sam, Superintendent related right.
Board Member Bradford related okay, you are gonna check?
C.P.A. Lazarone related I don’t think it is substantially, but I will look at it.
Board Member Bradford related okay, alright.
Board President Terrell called for any other questions.
Board Member Bradford continued unless everybody is “paid up”, Mr. Sam.
Carlos J. Sam, Superintendent related no they are not “paid up”!
Board President Terrell related are they any other questions?
Carlos J. Sam, Superintendent related no, sir.
Board President Terrell related thank you.
C.P.A. Lazarone related thank you.
Items 6.B.(1), (2) and (3) Board President Terrell proceeded with the Superintendent’s Report.
Carlos J. Sam, Superintendent related Mr. President, ugh Members of the Board, ugh we have Items ugh (1), (2) and (3) for ugh Requests for Travel. As you can see ugh two (2) of them are National Conferences and one (1) of them is a ugh the LSBA Conference, so ugh we just wanted to make sure that we have these on the Agenda. Ugh one (1) is in um February, that National School Board Conference is obviously in April. So if we have any Board Members who are interested in Traveling at either one of those Conferences then we would need to notify Mrs. Bendily, ugh well in advance so that we can get the appropriate Rates and ugh Airfares for any Board Members who are interested. Ugh moving to Item #...
Motion by Mr. Bradford, seconded by Vice-President Harrell to approve the following Board Member(s) and/or Carlos J. Sam, Superintendent in-state and/or out-of-state travel:
(1) Receive 2018 NSBA Advocacy Institute information scheduled for February 4th thru 6th, 2018, Marriott Marquis, Washington, D.C.. Additionally, request Board authorization for out-of-state travel by Board Members and/or Carlos J. Sam, Superintendent
(2) Receive 2018 LSBA Annual Conference information scheduled for February 28th - March 2nd, 2018 at the Crowne Plaza Hotel, Baton Rouge, LA
(3) Receive 2018 NSBA Annual Conference information scheduled for April 7th thru 9th, 2018, San Antonio, Texas. Additionally, request Board authorization for out-of-state travel by Board Members and/or Carlos J. Sam, Superintendent
Board President Terrell called for any questions or comments.
Board Member Dawson related I just want to know what does the District get out of this, when one (1) Person goes, I have never heard a Report, I have never heard of anything that they or what the District gets out of it.
Board President Terrell related Professional Development.
Board Member Dawson related for that one (1) Person...
Board President Terrell continued oh, for just for that Individual.
Board Member Dawson continued and we’ve got lots of Children who needs more things in the Schools than taking a Trip for some one (1) Person.
Board Member Bradford related I don’t see anything...
Vice-President Harrell related well my question is going to be, is it in the Budget?
Board Member Bradford continued I don’t see anything wrong with Board Members Travels and going to ugh to learn more to come back and help serve the Community. I don’t see anything wrong with that, I don’t see anything wrong with that, it is something that we have been doing this for years. Because one (1) Board Member don’t want to go, don’t mess it up for everybody else, it is one thing if you don’t want to go an learn anything.
Vice-President Harrell questioned but do we have money Budgeted for it, do we have money in the Budget for Travel?
Carlos J. Sam, Superintendent related I don’t think you have a line item or Budget item ugh traditionally I don’t think we have you know put any money in the Budget, ugh that is something obviously we could do in the Budget Process...
Vice-President Harrell related I thought we had always had some in there for Travel.
Board Member Matthews related I thought there was always some.
Board Member Bradford related no, I don’t think so.
Carlos J. Sam, Superintendent related not to my knowledge.
Board President Terrell called for public questions or comments. Receiving none, Board President Terrell proceeded with the following vote:
Yeas: Hollins, P. Kent, Harrell, Terrell, J. Kent, Nesbitt, Bradford and Matthews
Opposed: Dawson
Absent during vote: None
Absent and not voting: Spears, Corcoran and Brooks
Board President Terrell announced by a majority vote of 8 to 1, with 3 absent and not voting, the motion carried.
Item 6.B.(4) Carlos J. Sam, Superintendent related ugh Item #4, ugh Ladies and Gentlemen if you look at this little Brochure that says “Classroom Enhancement Solutions”, if you recall ugh through the QZAB process we were able to ugh provide Security Cameras in our Middle and High Schools ugh the Vendor was Homeland® Safety Systems. They have graciously agreed to Pilot a Program for ugh Interior Classroom use now until the end of the School Year. We are going to put twelve (12) Cameras in ugh twelve (12) different Classrooms ugh for Safety Purposes of course. Ugh these Cameras will have ugh Video, ugh and it will obviously cover the entire Classroom, ugh so ugh my Goal is to have these Installed by ugh Thanksgiving Break. We have had some conversations with the Principals and the Teachers in terms of what Classrooms were Identified at both Locations, ugh but it basically is just to enhance the Security at all at our Schools and it is going to be at no Costs to us.
Vice-President Harrell questioned do you need a motion for it?
Board President Terrell related yes.
Vice-President Harrell related so move.
Board President Terrell related motion by Mr. Harrell, second?
Board Member Dawson related I’ll second.
Board President Terrell related second by Mrs. Dawson. Any questions or comments?
Board Member Hollins questioned, so ugh you said you spoke with the Teachers and the Principals have Teachers been Identified that Agreed to have a Camera in their Room? Because I wouldn’t be in favor of a Camera in my Room all day, as a Teacher, I wouldn’t.
Carlos J. Sam, Superintendent related and my answer to that is this, as I have told Teachers just do what you continue, what you normally do. Ugh I am not sure why ugh anyone would be Opposed to it, in that it is not that we are trying to “watch” the Teacher ugh we want to make sure that we keep Kids Safe, Employees Safe. Ugh you have Cameras in the Hallways of both Locations. Ugh this is not to “catch” a Teacher doing something wrong per say, obviously if you are mistreating Kids and it is on Camera you shouldn’t be doing it anyway...
Board Member Hollins related that is right.
Carlos J. Sam, Superintendent continued you know, I don’t know how better to provide Safety for our Students than we have Cameras on some of our Buses. Ugh I haven’t had any Bus Driver tell me, don’t put a Camera on the Bus, if we had more money we would probably put more Cameras on Buses and these Cameras are basically for Safety Precautions. If something happens in the Classroom, ugh obviously Administrators are going to use our Cameras when Parents come in, ugh we have recent Incidents that we have been to really pin point where the Incident Occurred, how it Occurred and we will continue to use that Camera for that same Purpose. And keep in mind this is only for a “Pilot”...
Board Member Nesbitt related yeah, okay...
Carlos J. Sam, Superintendent continued we will do through...
Board Member Nesbitt continued that is what I or my question...
Carlos J. Sam, Superintendent continued through the end of May and ugh if for some reason that we deem that we either can’t afford it or don’t want to use the Cameras, then it is going to be Uninstalled anyway.
Board Member Nesbitt questioned but you are sure this won’t Infringe on Anyone’s ugh Privacy or anything...
Carlos J. Sam, Superintendent related like I said I don’t know if there is any “Privacy” there, listen we are all Public School Employees...
Board Member Nesbitt related okay.
Carlos J. Sam, Superintendent continued we have to answer to the Public, we are Paid and Employed by the Public, ugh I think we have to be as Transparent as Possible in terms of what we do as to what is going on in the Classrooms. Look if I am a Parent, I am going to be honest with you and I am a Parent, ugh I want to know ugh whether my Child is Performing up to his Level or not. If he is going to School and he is sleeping in Class everyday, I want to know that too. Ugh so here again it is a Safety Precaution that we are going to use in twelve (12) Classrooms, ugh we will Monitor that, I personally don’t have time to “watch” those Cameras....
Board Member Hollins related right.
Carlos J. Sam, Superintendent continued ugh I don’t have time to “watch” the Cameras we have Installed, ugh they are not there for that, but I think you talk to any School Administrator they will tell you that they have been very Useful ugh in their Work Environments.
Board Member Dawson questioned your Buses, the Cameras you have on the Buses, they swap them around to different Buses or they stay on the same one permanently?
Carlos J. Sam, Superintendent related we can “swap” them around, I think last year we had one (1) Bus that really had some Issues that we kept the Cameras on that Bus...
James Bell, Jr., Transportation Supervisor related yes, sir.
Carlos J. Sam, Superintendent continued ugh know we are going to get a LARMA Grant and we are going to Buy a few more Cameras to provide every Bus with a Camera. We have Bus Drivers who want Cameras on their Bus...
Board Member Nesbitt related yes.
Carlos J. Sam, Superintendent continued ugh because look they are Driving, their Job is to keep Kids as Safe as possible, ugh Comply with ugh Load Laws and a lot of times they don’t have time or the ability to maintain what is going on behind them. That Camera can often deter unwanted behavior on the Bus.
Board President Terrell questioned will they be placed on all Campuses?
Carlos J. Sam, Superintendent questioned these?
Board President Terrell related yes.
Carlos J. Sam, Superintendent related these are going to be at the High School and Middle School. The reason being is because the “Servers” sit at those particular Locations, you know for the Exterior and the Hallway Cameras, so we could not put them at the Elementary Schools ugh because the “Servers” are not there. So I guess I am assuming for Costs Reasons ugh the Vendor would only allow us to put them at the Middle and High Schools.
Board Member Hollins questioned so it would be like 6 and 6?
Carlos J. Sam, Superintendent related 6 in the Middle School and 6 at the High School.
Board Member Hollins related now I understand the Safety Issue, but I would just say let’s make sure that we put them in the 6 Rooms where I guess Teachers don’t have the Option you can’t say “I don’t want you doing Walk-thrus and coming in my Room,” but being that it is “Piloted” it is not going to be in All of the Rooms let’s kind of make sure that we say “Are you okay with this Camera being placed in your Room?” Because I would say “Well why can’t we place it in her Room or his Room or why mine?”...
Carlos J. Sam, Superintendent related so let me tell you...
Board Member Hollins continued am I up to something that...
Carlos J. Sam, Superintendent continued let me tell you how we have made a decision, so our ELA and Math Teachers are the one who will have the Cameras. Because obviously you know you are going to get into a “Tug-of-War” about where or who gets the Camera...
Board Member Hollins related right.
Carlos J. Sam, Superintendent continued and who doesn’t ugh so I have made an Executive Decision to put the Cameras in the ELA and the Math Teachers Classrooms.
Board Member Hollins related okay.
Board President Terrell called for any public questions or comments. There be none, Board President Terrell called for any other questions from the Board? Roll-call please.
Yeas: Dawson, P. Kent, Harrell, Terrell, J. Kent, Nesbitt, Bradford and Matthews
Opposed: Hollins
Absent during vote: None
Absent and not voting: Spears, Corcoran and Brooks.
Board President Terrell announced by a majority vote of 8 to 1, with 3 absent and not voting, the motion carried.
Carlos J. Sam, Superintendent related let me just say this, I want to thank the Board for the Vote of Confidence, but let me reassure you we are not going to let anyone abuse the Use of the Cameras. Okay, the Camera is not there to “Watch” the Teacher, the Bottom Line is this, the Teacher comes to School and does their Job, it doesn’t matter who is in there “Watching”. Okay, so I want to reassure the Board and this Community that the Cameras are not there to “Watch” the Teacher. Okay and if the Teacher is not at Work prepared, to me as a Superintendent and this Board, we ought to be upset about it anyway. Our Job as a collective thirteen (13) Member Body is to Require Teachers and hold them Accountable to Teach every day all day to the young Babies in this Community. That is our Mission, it is that simple. Okay, so I want to make sure that the Community understands the Purpose that this is a “Pilot” in this School District for there are Cameras all over this Country in Classrooms. This is not the first time that this is going on. So it is just something that we would like to try ugh and if for some reason we deem that it is inappropriate for our Community, by May they will be gone. Okay. Thank you.
Board President Terrell related thank you.
Item 6.B.(5) Carlos J. Sam, Superintendent related ugh this is gonna be a Report regarding our District-wide Assessment Results ugh and proceeded with his power point presentation entitled “East Feliciana Public Schools Instructional Accountability Report “We are Family!” November 7, 2017 (a copy of which is attached hereto for reference). So ugh we are going to go through a ugh Report this afternoon as it relates to the ugh Results of the ugh State Assessment Tests that was publically released by the Louisiana Department of Education today at 11:00 A.M. So we have scrambled as much as we can to get you as much Data for this Presentation as possible. If for some reason you have ugh questions or comments or need more information after tonight, I would be glad to provide that for you. As you can see in our Topic is that “We are Family!” and that is the Theme that we have instituted throughout the Course of ugh this School Year ugh and so when I say “We are Family!” that means that all of us including Members of the Board and the Community are ultimately responsible for Results. Ugh we were just talking about Cameras, the bottom line is this at every Level of the Organization, including myself, Parents and Others, we are held Accountable for Students. We are Accountable for Student Results and it begins honestly with me as Superintendent and you as a Board to ensure that we provide the best Services possible for Student Results, instead what we are going to talk about tonight we want to know about Student Results. Ugh it is our hope that you know that we dream big about what we expect in our Community, or we set Goals to meet Expectations and honestly we have to take Action and Execute. With this Upcoming School Year ugh we have set a Total of about four (4) Goals, ugh and you will hear more about the ugh Results in the 1st Goal you will see that our Goal for this Year is to grow at least 1.5% overall. Now let me tell you why that is critical, that will move the District from a “C” District to a “B” District next School Year. Now you’ve gotta applaud yourselves and applaud the People in the Audience because we are 1.5% Points away from being a “B” District. Now that is a huge feat ugh considering some of the Resources that we don’t have, that we can’t provide to our Employees that potentially need it. We go about doing that by obviously improving Teacher Effectiveness, ugh in improving the or I should say increasing the Percentage of Students who Score Proficient in Grades 3 through 8. Now the tide is changing as you heard in a previous Workshop on a Sunday where we talked about the changes that the State are making to the Accountability System. So the stakes are going to be very High, the Formula is changing very drastically. Okay, as I went through the Results today and looked at School Districts, many many School Districts around us in particular are High Performing Districts are not showing ugh I guess the kind of Growth that we showed this time around. So we have Grown 4% Points from last year from 79.3 to an 83.5. Okay, we will see that one of our other Goals is to Improve Proficient Rate ugh for End-of-Course Exams and as I said the State has raised the Bar on the ACT, we will get no Points for Students who Score below 21.
Board Member Michael Ray Bradford left the meeting at this time.
Carlos J. Sam, Superintendent continued okay, so while this School Year we were Recognized by the State as having the Highest Growth in the State...
Samuel D’Aquilla, 20th JDC District Attorney left the meeting at this time.
Carlos J. Sam, Superintendent continued of ACT, ugh we now have to push ugh much harder ugh in order for us to ugh meet the Goals with ACT. So the question is “How do we get there?” Well on a Weekly Basis ugh you can go into our Schools and you will see Teachers, Administrators and Others participating in Cluster Meetings. Plain and simple that means that Teachers and Others are Collaborating about Student Data. Talking about how to change the Instructional Approach, what can we do differently on a Daily Basis to Improve Student Achievement. We are participating in a Pilot Program this School Year, ugh “Standards-Base Assessments” with the State, this Year it is Free, next Year it may not be. But all of the Students in our Schools and all of the Schools use Diagnosis and using Interim Assessments, we just got our results on Interim Assessments about a Week ago and we will have about one or two other more in Assessments coming up ugh to basically give us a Check Bar of how Students are performing. Okay, ugh we really pushed Principals in Classrooms, through a Tool we call the “E-Walk System” and on a Weekly Basis Principals get a Report from me every Friday, demonstrating how many times they have actually gone and done Walk-thrus in Classrooms. The Research is very clear, if you are going to be a true Instructional Leader, you can’t do it in the Office. So we Monitor as much as we possibly can, where Principals are, how much Feed-back we are giving the Teachers. One of the other Processes that you may or may not be familiar with is the “Curriculum Quality Reviews”, so on an unannounced Basis me and my Team show up at a School, ugh yesterday we went to Jackson Elementary, unannounced and we do a ugh Series of Walk-thrus or Observations on Teachers along with checking out the Climate of the School and sitting down with the Principals ugh in a Post Observation Setting, providing Input to the Principal on things that we have scene through the course of the day. Now that is simply a snap shot of what happened at the School, obviously there is probably a whole lot of other things that are going on that we didn’t see during that course of time. So it is not “I caught you,” it is “It is hey we are here to Support you,” this is what we see going on, here are some things we think you could do a little bit better. Ugh we leave the School with a Goal, hopefully within two (2) Weeks, so that they can go back to their Administrative Leadership Team and the Teachers to talk about okay, the District Leadership Team has been here, they have advised that we are doing these things well, let’s keep doing these well and then they said look these are some things that we can change to get better. Ugh Ms. ugh Netterville will talk to you a little bit more about that Process later in the presentation. Alright, so the next slide gives you the Model for the 17/18 School Year around the Accountability System, ugh as you can see from this Model the Elementary Schools 75% of the Score will come from ugh Peer Assessments, how Kids Perform on ELA, Math, Science and Social Studies and the other 25% is what they call “Growth Index”. The Growth Index is rather simple, ugh Teachers know at this point what the “Growth Targets” are for each Student and ugh those are Written into what they call their “Student Learning Targets” and then we try to Reach those Growth Targets...
Board Member Bradford rejoined the meeting at this time.
Carlos J. Sam, Superintendent continued if we Reach the Growth Target then obviously in the Formula we get a Percentage of some kind of Growth and if you don’t then the Formula is obviously written by some Statisticians and ugh very complicated. As you know if you have been on this Board for more than 4-Years the change is pretty often, ugh this is the New Model, you can see that the Elementary Schools are very similar except for the 5% under ugh Drop-Out Credit Accumulation Index. Basically means ugh how many Courses at each School, particularly at a Middle School for High School Credit, ugh at the Middle School right now they are Offering Algebra I for High School Credit and ugh possibly one (1) other Course for High School Credit....
Casey Smith, Principal, East Feliciana Middle School related Environmental Science.
Carlos J. Sam, Superintendent continued Environmental Science. Okay, ugh the High School Formula is very similar ugh it hasn’t changed very much in past year, the difference you will notice is that ugh 21 is now the New I guess you could say Target. Ugh Students who Score Proficient, particularly in the Elementary, Middle and High School are Basic, instead of us getting 100 Points in that Formula we will only get 20 Points. So now they are trying to push Kids to Mastery Level, ugh and even at the Mastery Level in previous Years, Schools and School Districts received 125 Points, we will now only get 100 Points. So ugh I think Mr. Hollins can probably tell you that we are gonna see some ugh drastic changes around the State as it relates to School Performance Scores and District Performance Scores. This gives you an Outline of how the Scale is going to change over time from the State Level, ugh I talked to you a little bit about us being 1.5% Points away from a “B” District for the 16-17 Year, ugh you can see going forward how the Scale will change. Ugh and then in a more drastic way it will gradually get harder and harder over the ugh as you can see the last three (3) ugh cells, the Scale for 17-18 through 2021, you can see an “A” is going to be ugh 90-150 and then it is going to Scale up to 95-150 and then to be an “A” District it is going to go from 100-150. So even though the Target is going to move on us between now and 2025. So right now we have ugh three (3) Schools that are “B” Schools, ugh three (3) “B” Schools. So you can see we had one (1) School that was a “C” last year and it has now moved to a ugh “B”. So our focus for this School Year is obviously gonna be Maintaining those three (3) “B” Schools and hopefully trying to get them to “A” Schools. But giving intensive Support to the three (3) “B” Schools...
D.A. D’Aquilla rejoined the meeting at this time.
Carlos J. Sam, Superintendent continued ugh this just shows you ugh the change in the ugh District Performance Scores, you can see for the 2016 we were at 79.5 as I mentioned to you earlier, we have moved to 83.5, we are on the backs of State, ugh the State obviously moved a little bit as well. Ugh our Goal is always to supercede the State Rate, ugh so we gotta work smarter and not harder to get to this point. One of the other things that you have seen in the Meeting, you have heard from me, is the Change in our ACT Scores this kind of gives you ugh over the Years the Improvement at the ACT Level. You can see we are very close to the Average Rate of the State at 19.6, we are at 19.2. Now, it is very difficult to move your Composite Score, ugh 1 Point you will see that in most School Systems it is going to be 0.1, 0.2 a whole Point is I have to commend the Teachers at East Feliciana High School and the Principals, Parents and the Students who really have taken this very seriously. This is about Scholarships, this about Kids Futures, ugh you know to do this again, you know at 21.0, hopefully I am not just standing in front of you saying you know we took a major dip. So yes, we are going to be pushing Teachers and pushing Kids and encouraging Parents to do the same so that we can get Kids that 21.0.
Keisha Netterville, Executive Director related good evening, I present to you tonight our Highlights ugh we will start with the overall District Performance, it was a 4 Point Increase ugh in the Overall District Performance Score. In addition the Total Number of Progress Points that a District can earn is 10 and East Feliciana Parish School District Earned all 10 of those Progress Points. In addition we were the 12th Highest Growth Growing District in the State of Louisiana. Hence that we also owe some Recognition to ugh two (2) of our Schools, particularly East Feliciana High School had a 15.6 Point Increase in the Overall School Performance Score, thereby moving from a “C” to a “B” and Slaughter Community Charter School is Recognized also by the Louisiana State Department of Education Top Gain School for an 11.5 Increase in their Student Performance Score. And it doesn’t stop there, in ACT Performance, East Feliciana High School their ACT or Raw Composite Increased by 30 Points, Slaughter Community Charter also Increased by 31 Points. And then finally our last Highlight is the Increase in the Number of Middle School Students Earning High School Credits, that Increased by 36.6. And so we now kind of move into our District Framework For Student Achievement on the next slide. We are gonna start with the District and where we are headed, what our Goals are, we have District Goals of course. You all have the presentation in front of you, so I will keep going Board Members. We also have a Long Range Plan for our School, for our District, excuse me, our District and have Areas of Focus particularly ugh four (4) Areas that I will get into in a moment and then our definite ugh Implementation and Best Instructional Practices at our Schools. With that our District Forecast trickles down to the School Forecast, the Schools have the same Plan, with Goals, Long Range Plans, Areas of Focus and Implementation of Best Practices followed by Implementation in the Classroom, the same Area of Focus. With that we have four (4) Areas of Instructional Focus that we have chosen to ugh kind of Focus on this Year, Planning, Assessment, Instructional Delivery and Classroom Management. And as Mr. Sam said we took the Opportunity to Conduct Curriculum Quality Reviews at all of our Schools, so that we could get a Gauge or sort of a Post on where our Schools are currently. This is an ongoing Process, our Goal is to Conduct at least five (5) Curriculum Quality Reviews this Academic School Year at each School is Lead by the Curriculum Team of about six (6) Members all Instructional Staff is Observed for no less than twenty (20) minutes in each Classroom. Ugh we use a District Observation Tool and Immediate Feedback is sent via e-mail to the Teacher once we leave. All Walk-thru Results are Compiled into a Plan of Action that is Developed for the School Leader to Review and Execute with his or her Team. Finally, the following are Criteria for our Overall Plan of Action, we look at School Successes, Challenges, Possible Solutions to the Challenges and we leave them with a Time-Sensitive S.M.A.R.T. (Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic and Time-Sensitive) Goal. On the next slide you will actually see what ugh that Template looks like, to the right and to the left of that you will see where our Schools Currently are. We have two (2) Schools in Need of Support and Instructional Planning, two (2) in the Area of Standards Based Assessments and one (1) in the Area of Instructional Delivery. So our Goal is to Help and Support these Schools in these Areas until our next Visit. The following slide is our Partnered Strategic Initiatives ugh as you all know we are in a five (5) year Partnership with the National Institute For Excellence In Teaching (NIET) ugh this is how we Implement our Best Instructional Practices via Cluster Meetings. Also, we were Awarded a one (1) year Grant we recently received an additional $15,000.00 so that Totals ugh $35,000.00 in Principals Support Grant Funding. We also received a School Redesign Planning Grant, we have a Partnership with the Urban and Learning and Leadership Center, also known as ULLC and the School Leadership Center (SLC) of Grater New Orleans. Those are two (2) Leadership Initiatives geared toward helping Principals become better Leaders. We also have an Educational Program Consultant provided by the State that Meets with us Bi-Weekly, ugh and she offers Support and Guidance in the Area of Academics. We have also as Mr. Sam said ugh taken ugh the LEAP 360 ugh Partnership with the Department of Education and we are now ugh Administering the Diagnostic and there is an Interim Assessment. I think we are back on track, go on, okay. The District Strategic Academic Initiatives ugh that we have of course the CQR (Curriculum Quality Review) this is what our District Staff is doing, as I said our Goal is to get into Each School five (5) times per Month, we have a Monthly Principals Collaborations, which are centered around Goal Setting and moving the Schools forward Academically, we have Master Teacher Meetings that occur Monthly, this is so that our Cluster Meetings can Operate Efficiently and Best Instructional Practices are Implemented in the Classrooms. We have the New Teacher Induction Cohort, this is a Strategic Support Plan for 1st and 2nd Year Teachers so that we can Retain and hopefully they can continue to Implement Best Instructional Practices and they are also provided Support in that Cohort. We have our Secondary Mathematics Cohort for Students in Grades 6th through 12th, this is a Monthly Meeting that occurs with our Mathematics Teachers and the same thing for Science Grades 6th through 12th. Our District Curricular Initiatives includes Frog Street Press our Early Childhood Curriculum, this is a Tier 1 Curriculum Approved by the State of Louisiana in English Language Arts and Mathematics. This is so that Students are fundamentally prepared to enter Kindergarten. We also Implemented Journeys Curriculum Reading Program, ugh this is Strategic Implementation of an Elementary Program ugh so that Students are prepared and Reading Successfully. And then Finally we have Implementation of ELA Guide Books 2.0 Curriculum and Eureka Mathematics, this is or they are both Tier I Curriculum. Our Overall Mission “We Are Family” and it includes everybody and you and we hope we have your Support in moving forward this School Year. Thank you. Any questions?
Board Member P. Kent related yes, I have one...
Board Member Bradford yeah, I got one for Mr. Sam’s, I want to talk to you.
Board Member P. Kent continued Mrs. Netterville...
Exec. Director Netterville related yes, sir.
Board Member P. Kent continued if they are going to take the “Curve” away...
Exec. Director Netterville related yes, sir.
Board Member P. Kent continued and we are setting with ugh two (2) Elementary Schools that rated a “D” and ugh I think a Middle School is rated a “D”...
Exec. Director Netterville related yes, sir.
Board Member P. Kent continued today, that came out...
Exec. Director Netterville related yes, sir.
Board Member P. Kent continued and questioned well what are you going to say to those Schools?
Board Member Hollins related it is going to get real.
Exec. Director Netterville related the “Curve” is not necessarily going “Away”, the “Curve” is Implemented based on the Overall State Performance. So they haven’t told us yeah or nay the “Curve” is going “Away”, I think it depends on how the State Performs as a Whole as to whether or not the “Curve” will be Implemented. Mr. Sam, I don’t know if you want to add anything...
Carlos J. Sam, Superintendent related yes, I mean
Exec. Director Netterville continued to that.
Carlos J. Sam, Superintendent continued absolutely ugh we have not been told unequivocally that the “Curve” was to be going “Away”. Ugh but yeah the Scores are Based on a “Curve” Statewide and they have been based on a “Curve” for oh at least since 2012.
Board Member P. Kent questioned because People, Superintendents’ have asked for it, is that correct Superintendent? I I don’t know, I am asking you.
Carlos J. Sam, Superintendent related I I don’t think there are any requests from Superintendents’, it is just ugh, it is the way that the Statisticians in Louisiana basically ugh provide the Data to us ugh which can be very confusing for the General Public and for Educators often times. Ugh you know talking to ugh Consultants from the State on yesterday, we asked the same question, can you explain to us you know how this is Formulated and how these School Performance Scores are Developed. And she said Mr. Sam quite honestly I can’t. Ugh you know I think it is important for us to just make sure that Parents understand ugh what is required of them at Home to Support their Kid, ugh when we send Homework Home, ugh when asking Parents to come and ugh provide Support to their Students at School. I think it is incumbent upon us to make sure that we Train Teachers well, ugh we provide Resources to them as needed, ugh when we can afford it. Ugh you know basically we are in a System where we don’t “Control”. Ugh you know if you talk to others, you know you have Folks who are Anti-Letter Grades, you know and you have some Folks who are far right with Letter Grades and some Folks who are far left and the question really becomes what does it really tell us about our School. Ugh you have right now, you have Superintendents’ who are in High Performing School Districts, “A” Districts, I won’t name them but you know as I look at the Data today they Dropped 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 Points. Ugh so they are scrambling for Answers because they have been on this Trajectory for a long time and all of a sudden Boom and next year they are going to take a bigger hit. And so as they go out and try to get New Taxes, that they have been able to get over the course of Years, they are wondering how do I explain this to my General Public. Ugh and it is hard to explain.
Board Member P. Kent related well Superintendent that is why I am asking the question, if they are Dropping like that...
Carlos J. Sam, Superintendent related right.
Board Member P. Kent continued then our Elementarys are going to Drop too and I only see bad things happening for at least two (2) of our Elementary...
Exec. Director Netterville related right.
Board Member P. Kent continued and the Middle School...
Exec. Director Netterville related and one (1) of our Elementary...
Board Member P. Kent continued and that is where I want to aim this thing, we’ve gotta pick those People up...
Board Member Bradford related right.
Exec. Director Netterville continued which is exactly why we are in those Schools as all that I mentioned to you and so we also Tiered our Schools based on the Need. Our Schools are Tiered, I won’t mention those Tiers here because we are in a Public Forum, but I would love for you to sit down and show you how we Tier our Schools based on Need Academically, based on Teachers/Teaching Staff, ugh based on Student Population, based on a number of different Demographics...
Board Member Bradford related right.
Exec. Director Netterville continued and so we are aware that the “Curve” you know could possibly go away and we are also aware of the Need of the Schools...
Board Member Bradford related right. Ugh Mr. Sam, this is the same Song you gave us last year....
Carlos J. Sam, Superintendent related I hope that this is some Good News for you. Listen...
Board Member Bradford continued no, no I am talking about with these Elementary Schools and this Middle School Mr. Sam...
Carlos J. Sam, Superintendent related I understand.
Board Member Bradford continued let me ask you this, ugh you had two (2) Elementary Schools that are “D” Schools, right? “D” Schools and the one (1) Middle School? As far as the Points Score, did they did it Drop a lower “D” or what?
Carlos J. Sam, Superintendent related now I think two (2) of them took a dip.
Board Member Bradford questioned two (2) of them took a dip?
Carlos J. Sam, Superintendent related two (2) took a dip, right.
Board Member Bradford related okay, so last year when you told us these different Programs, these Assistance and all this, so apparently they didn’t work in the Middle School and the High School?
Carlos J. Sam, Superintendent related I wouldn’t say they didn’t work, what you have to understand is ugh this is an on-going process, you are not going to turn these Schools around in one (1) year. Ugh this School Year as you know I made some Administrative Changes to two (2) of them ugh and I did that for various reasons. So ugh we are going to be holding both of those New Administrators Accountable for ugh New Results. Ugh and what you are going to probably hear is that there are some Changes in Both of those Schools now. Look there is no Secret there are Folks sometimes and in the very first Slide was Accountability and I can assure you that Both of those Principals in those two (2) Schools are holding Folks Accountable and you might be hearing about it. You are going to hear about it from Employees, you are going to hear about it from Parents, I am hearing about it. Look we are pushing Folks, we are only going to get Results when our People get better and we do we know some People who come to Work just to come to Work. That is the bottom line and I am saying to you as a Board, when you get those kind of Calls the conversation has to be such that look we hold the Superintendent Accountable, we are holding him Accountable for Results...
Board Member Bradford related you can bet that.
Carlos J. Sam, Superintendent continued and so I am saying to you as you get Calls from your Constituents about how the Principal is holding People Accountable to do their Jobs the conversation has got to change. It can’t be well okay, because Principals know I am in those Schools quite often, there is not an Individual in this Building or in this Room that will tell you they don’t see me in their Schools...
Board Member Bradford related right.
Carlos J. Sam, Superintendent continued every other day. Now they probably don’t know why I am in there, but I am in there for a variety of reasons. I am checking the pulse, look it don’t take me but 2 to 3 to 5 minutes to figure who is doing their Job and who is not, plain and simple...
Board Member Bradford related that is right.
Carlos J. Sam, Superintendent continued I had a conversation with a Teacher just today, because I passed by the Classroom and nothing was going on, now is not my Job to have those conversations with Teachers, we hire Principals to do that. I am saying to you as a Community we have to be Proud of what we have done, what we have done and we have to realize that the Bar is...
Board Member Matthews related it is raising.
Carlos J. Sam, Superintendent continued it is raising. Yeah, I might come back to you next Year and say you know what, this School is an “F” School...
Board Member Bradford related don’t do that Mr. Sam.
Carlos J. Sam, Superintendent continued okay, now I don’t want to Report that, but what I am saying to you is the Bar is being raised so high is one of the reasons why I said let’s have this Workshop and we may need to have some more so we can understand. Because look there are going to be some High Performing Schools throughout this State, many of them are already know about it, that has taken a “Dip”. The have taken a Point “Dip” and they have taken a Letter Grade “Dip”...
Board Member Bradford related okay.
Carlos J. Sam, Superintendent continued okay, but yeah we don’t want to do that and we are working very hard to make sure that doesn’t happen.
Board Member Bradford related Mr. Sam, I think Coach Nesbitt brought a point up before with this Workshop, it was outrageous...
Carlos J. Sam, Superintendent related well the Workshop was just conversations and so it is information for you to understand what is going on in Public Education, but there are a lot of moving parts in Public Education. So the Workshop is not for us to just to show up and have a conversation, it for the Board help me to come up with Solutions. See because look I am only one (1) Person, see I can’t do this without the Collective Support of Everybody in this Room.
Board Member Bradford continued whatever Mr. Sam...
Carlos J. Sam, Superintendent related yes.
Board Member Bradford continued but you are the Person that is held Accountable for all of this...
Carlos J. Sam, Superintendent related I am.
Board Member Nesbitt related but let me say this, and the way I under, now I mean in my listening to this Assessment ugh Mr. P. Kent, this Assessment is about like this Core, Peoples are Implementing this Core that they don’t have an answer to it as to what they are going do with it once, if they get there, or if they don’t get there. They are Implementing these Assessments, but they don’t have any answers what are you going to do with the Students if they make it there, and if they don’t make it there. You know nobody is saying hey they are saying we are going to be under the Core, but they ain’t give me money and how to Achieve the Core Regulations. Now that is almost the same thing with this Assessments...
Board President Terrell related Mr. Nesbitt.
Board Member Nesbitt continued that is what we are gonna do...
Board President Terrell continued Mr. Nesbitt, hold a second...
Board Member Nesbitt continued but they ain’t giving...
Board President Terrell continued just a second. Now could you, I had asked that you turn your Recorder Off.
Female Standing against left Board Room Wall said no...
Board Member Bradford related I think that, I thought you said that.
Female continued this is a Public Meeting and I can have mine on.
Board Member Matthews related it is a Public Meeting, she can record.
James Bell, Jr., Technology Supervisor related we have a Policy Posted.
Carlos J. Sam, Superintendent related it is Posted out there.
Board President Terrell related proceed.
Board Member Nesbitt continued but I think what they are doing is shit they are putting you know, putting stuff in front the School System but they ain’t putting no way on how to get there. If you find it, you find it, if you don’t, you don’t. But this is what, this is what we gonna said need to be done. I mean that is the way, I mean that is the way I look at it, I mean I was sitting there listening and I was sitting there listening and I said to that Lady what ya’ll asking People to do is almost like six (6) years ago when they Implemented the Core.
Board Member Hollins questioned so...
Board Member P. Kent related okay, I hear you.
Board Member Hollins continued so ugh I will wait until next time!
Board Member Bradford related Mr. Sam, are you going to answer him?
Board Member Hollins related so Mr. Sam, I just um, let me commend the Schools that are performing well and of course we have a lot of work to do...
Audience erupted in thank you and applause.
Board Member Hollins continued but considering that there are multiple variables as long as we can keep being pro-active in trying to enhance what we have...
Board Member Bradford related right.
Board Member Hollins continued and maintain what we have and you come back with a Plan, every time a Plan seems like it is not working, then we will just “Keep Hope Alive!”
Audience erupted in applause.
Board President Terrell called for any other questions.
Board Member Bradford related just a couple for Mr. Sam, with these Scores, we need to do better. Okay.
Carlos J. Sam, Superintendent related I do to, absolutely.
Board Member P. Kent related thank you. Thank you, Mrs. Netterville.
Vice-President Harrell related thank you.
Exec. Director Netterville related Mr. Sam.
Board President Terrell called for any public questions.
Carlos J. Sam, Superintendent related so ugh, I want to reiterate that we do have two (2) Schools that is, that really came through the course of this Accountability System, have beaten the odds ugh and so I want to recognize ugh first East Feliciana High School and we have something that we want to give both Schools, East Feliciana High and Slaughter Community Charter and I have asked both of them to come with Representation and ugh so at this time we are going to Present them with a Gift ugh on behalf of the Board on behalf of myself. So we will start with East Feliciana High School ugh Dr. Roddy and Mr. Bell would you unveil our ugh Gift to the School?
Dr. Knight Roddy, Supervisor and James Bell, Jr., Supervisor displayed the stand and sign in the front of Board U-Shaped Table.
Carlos J. Sam, Superintendent related so if you don’t know, the School has been Recognized by the Department of Education as a “Top Gains School” for 2017. So we are going to present the Administration, the Faculty and Staff with a Banner that will sit in their School Building ugh indefinitely.
Audience erupted into a round of cheers and applause.
Carlos J. Sam, Superintendent asked Co-Principal McMullen-Dunn do you want to invite your Faculty?
Victoria McMullen-Dunn, Co-Principal, East Feliciana High School related we would like for our EFHS Family to please come forward for a photo opportunity.
Audience erupted into a round of cheers and applause.
Co-Principal McMullen Dunn related as Mr. Wilson always said “It is a great day to be a Tiger!”
Samuel D’Aquilla, 20th JDC D.A. left the meeting at this time.
Carlos J. Sam, Superintendent related we would also like to make the same presentation to Slaughter Community Charter School, Mr. Ebey we want to say Congratulations to you and the Slaughter Community Charter School Family as well. And Mr. Ebey if anybody wants to join you please come forward for a photo opportunity. Carlos J. Sam, Superintendent related now we want to make the same presentation to the Slaughter Community Charter School and commend them on a Job Well Done, ugh so we are going to have the same Photo Shoot for their School as well.
James Bell, Jr., Supervisor displayed the stand and sign in the front of Board U-Shaped Table.
Dr. Roddy asked do you got it Mr. Bell?
Carlos J. Sam, Superintendent related put it in the middle Bell, put it in the middle Bell.
Clint Ebey, Chief Executive Officer of Slaughter Community Charter School related thank you, now our Board President is back there but he is not going to come up her so. Thank you and I appreciate this.
Glen LeDoux, Board President of Slaughter Community Charter School related I am in my Work Clothes, I am an Electrician but came forward and joined Clint Ebey, Chief Executive Officer to receive their Gift and Photo Opportunity.
Audience erupted into a round of cheers and applause.
Item 6.B.(6) Board President Terrell related okay we are going to move to Item 6.B.(6) Request Board authorization for Carlos J. Sam, Superintendent, to use his discretion on behalf of the East Feliciana Parish...
Board Member Bradford related so move.
Board President Terrell related motion by Mr. Bradford. Second?
Board Member J. Kent related I’ll second.
Board President Terrell related second by Mrs. J. Kent. Board questions or comments on Item 6.B.(6) distribution of various musical instruments from Feliciana Trading Post, Joe Howell, Owner valued at $3,000.00?
Carlos J. Sam, Superintendent related yes, the Trading Post, ugh right here on Plank Road, unfortunately is Closing Down. Ugh Joe Howell, is ugh President of the ugh East Feliciana Chamber of Commerce, ugh he has become a Good Friend of mine. He has donated $3,000.00 worth of ugh musical instruments that we are going to use for our Band.
Audience erupted into a round of cheers and applause.
D.A. D’Aquilla rejoined the meeting at this time.
Board President Terrell called for any public questions or comments. All in favor may vote at this time. All yeas. Opposed none. Motion Passed. Absent and not voting: Spears, Corcoran and Brooks.
Item 6.B.(7) Board President Terrell proceeded with Item 6.B.(7) Receive and review written requests for out-of-state travel by East Feliciana High School Staffer...
Board Member Hollins related so move.
Board Member Bradford related so move, second.
Board President Terrell related motion by Mr....
Board Member J. Kent related Hollins.
Board President Terrell continued Hollins, second by Mr. Bradford. Questions or comments? Public questions or comments?
Board Member Derald Spears, Sr. joined the meeting at this time.
Board Member Bradford related it is good to see you Mr. Spears.
Board President Terrell continued All in favor may vote at this time. Opposed. All yeas. The motion passed. Absent and not voting: Corcoran and Brooks.
Items 6.B.(8) and (9) Board President Terrell related okay, Items 6.B.(8) and (9):
(8) Receive and review written request for Use of Facilities by Alonzo Jones, Coach, Feliciana Speed of EFHS JSC for Dance Competition on Saturday, December 2, 2017 from 6 P.M. to 9:30 P.M. Further requesting waiver of fees; and
(9) Receive and review written request for Use of Facilities by Alonzo Jones, Coach, Feliciana Speed of EFHS JSC for Cheer Competition on Saturday, December 9, 2017 from 10:00 A.M. until 8:00 P.M. Further requesting waiver of fees.
Board Member Bradford related so move.
Vice-President Harrell related second.
Board President Terrell related motion by Mr. Bradford, second by Mr. Harrell. Questions or comments.
Board Member P. Kent related yes, I do, I do.
Board President Terrell related yes. sir.
Board Member P. Kent questioned is Coach Jones with here?
Board Member Dawson related I haven’t seen him yet.
Board Member J. Kent related yes.
Board Member Dawson related there he is.
Board Member P. Kent related what, tell me what the Dance Competition is, is that our Kids doing a Dance Competition or something?
Alonzo Jones, Coach of Feliciana Speed related that is going to be a Dance Competition between the Dancing Dolls in the Baton Rouge Area.
Board Member P. Kent questioned in the Baton Rouge Area?
Coach Jones related yeah that is going to be Baton Rouge, ugh West Feliciana, Northeast, ugh St. Helena and the Cheerleading Competition is gonna be the same as the Baton Rouge Area Cheerleading Competition is going to be out of the Baton Rouge Area. All Schools from Baton Rouge will be Invited, ugh Wilkinson County, Amite County, Northeast, St. Helena and so on and so forth.
Board Member P. Kent questioned so that would be kind of like what they used to, I don’t know if they still do it, the “Battle of the Bands” and stuff like that?
Coach Jones related yeah it is a lot similar to that.
Board Member P. Kent related okay, now what happens there, you charge a Entry Fee or something?
Coach Jones related there will be an Entry Fee, ugh ugh at the Door it will be $7.00, there will be an Entry Fee of $8.00 per Cheerleader, per Dancing Doll, any Participant will receive a ugh Competition T-Shirt. We will give Awards 1st through 5th Place, ugh 1st through 5th Place Team Awards and each ugh Cheerleading Team will ugh 1st through 5th will receive Individual Awards for Participating.
Board Member P. Kent questioned and that and this is held where Baby?
Coach Jones related it will be held at East Feliciana ugh High School. Proceeds will help our ugh Summer Track Program, we will Travel to Monroe, which will be a 3-Night Trip, we will Travel to ugh Memphis, Tennessee for the Regional Meet, which will be a 4-Night Trip and we will Travel to ugh South Carolina, which is going to be a 6-Night Trip. So we had to start earlier because there is more Traveling this Summer than we have ever done across the Summer. So we are trying to get an early start to pay the Transportation, Room and Board and Meals for when Kids are out on the Road. This is same Program where we Placed 5th in the Nation Last Year and we are taking those same Kids on to Nationals, of course they are going to the Nationals, not to Place 5th but to Win!
Audience erupted into a round of cheers and applause.
Board Member P. Kent related and ugh let me ask you this and what time is during Track Season?
Coach Jones related it will be ugh during ugh, we Run during ugh Summer Program, Program starts...
Board Member P. Kent related oh, it is a Summer Program.
Coach Jones continued right after the State Meet...
Board Member P. Kent related I got you, okay.
Board Member Nesbitt related ugh, ugh let me say this much, I am pretty, I I assure you I don’t know if Mr. Jones is ugh ugh ugh aware of this, but I’ll guarantee you 90% of those Kids Dancing, I bet they are either Track Stars or Basketball Players or other Athletes. Because they are like I say I did it for years, I incorporated Dancing in my Running...
Board Member P. Kent questioned you Danced?
Board Member Nesbitt continued oh yes! That is why I was always considered Dancing, if you can Dance, you can Run!
Audience erupted into a round of cheers and applause.
Board Member P. Kent related we need to see that now!
Board Member Bradford related I got a question, Mr. Jones the Funds, the Funds, is this a Private Track Club, is this Private or is this a School Track? Who is this for?
Coach Jones related well in the Summer the Rules for Age, you will say Track and Field and we can’t Run as a High School Team, but all of our Kids, 100% of our Team comes from East Feliciana High School and East Feliciana Middle School.
Board Member Bradford related so, so it is our Kids, it is our Kids, but it is Private?
Coach Jones related yes.
Board Member Bradford related but the Money goes to the Private Club?
Coach Jones related yes, it goes to Travel and ugh Expenses for the Summer Track Program.
Board Member P. Kent questioned that doesn’t go into the ugh School Accounts?
Board Member Bradford questioned not to the High School, not to the School, but the pot right?
Coach Jones related see if we had, the only way that we can do it Legally, we can not Legally Deposit Money into East Felicianas School Account and Take Money out of the School Account for a Summer Track Program.
Board Member Bradford related I will take my motion back.
Samuel D’Aquilla, 20th JDC D.A. rejoined the meeting at this time.
Board Member Hollins related I will make the motion.
Board President Terrell related we need a second.
Board Member Dawson related and I got it.
Board President Terrell related we have a motion by Mr. Hollins and a second Mrs. Dawson. Public questions or comments? Any other questions?
Coach Jones related I have a, I have a comment and my comment is this, we are trying to move these Kids Goal and the only way we are going to move these Kids Forward is we have to put these Kids in what I call a “Shark Tank”. We have got to get these Kids out of East Feliciana and have them Compete against Kids and Build their Confidences and what we are trying to do is not only Move these Kids through Competition, but these Boys are gonna Earn Scholarships. I’ve got five (5) Boys who are gonna be Seniors, I give you my word I am going to get them some type of Money to pay for their College Education. We had a Kid that Competed last year, Freddie Carter and nobody knew who he was and I am telling you he got involved in Summer Track and got involved in our Summer Track Program, this Kid received 90% of his College Education Paid for. So the thing is I am about Children, I am not about Politics...
Board Member Bradford related that is all...
Coach Jones continued but my problem is, is to do Work, we need some People to come out and see and Support, you Talk about Community and you Talk about Family, you have to be able Support the Community and Support those People in the Community, not to put up roadblocks, roadblocks to put up hurdles to stop them from doing what is necessary. Because everybody doesn’t want to do, it ain’t no money and it ain’t no gain, every year my Wife and I and Other Family Members we end up Paying for Supplies, Paying up for Room and Board, Paying up for Travel. You see I am asking for a little bit of Help and if you don’t want to give Help, step out of the way and let us press on. Because I am going to do it regardless.
Board Member Bradford continued yes, sir. All that sounds good...
Audience erupted into a round of cheers and applause.
Board Member Bradford continued all that sounds good, Mr. Jones, but to have a, to have a Club with Private monies coming in, not coming to the School District...
Board Member Spears related I I have a question Mr. Jones, your ugh Track Club...
Board Member Bradford continued I am not going with that.
Board Member Spears continued your Treasurer and your Secretary of your Track Club are they Licensed and Bonded...
Coach Jones questioned sir.
Board Member Spears continued your Treasurer and your Secretary of your Track Club are they Licensed and Bonded?
Coach Jones related ugh no, sir they are not, but the Secretary or Treasurer of our Track Club us ugh a full-time Teacher at East Feliciana High School. The Secretary of our Track Club is a full-time Teacher at East Feliciana High School...
Board President Terrell related Mr. Jones...
Coach Jones continued and the thing to ask me a question, all of the things that you are asking, in the Future we will be able to do that. But right now we barely have enough, we would like to have enough in our Organization, but in the Future as we Raise Funds we will be able to do that. But right now, we barely have enough money to get the Kids where they need to be...
Board President Terrell continued Mr. Jones, I am going to call for a vote at this time, roll-call please Mrs. Bendily.
Board Member Matthews questioned are you serious?
Yeas: Spears, Dawson, Hollins, Harrell, Terrell, J. Kent, Nesbitt and Matthews
Opposed: P. Kent and Bradford
Absent during vote: None
Absent and not voting: Corcoran and Brooks
Board President Terrell announced by a majority vote of 8 to 2, with 2 absent and not voting, the motion carried.
Audience erupted into a round of cheers and applause.
Item 6.B.(10) Board President Terrell related we are going to move to Item 6.B.(10) Receive and review written request for Use of Facilities by Josh Cougle, Associate Pastor/Youth Minister, Feliciana Baptist Church of East Feliciana Professional Development Learning Center...
Vice-President Harrell so move.
Board Member Matthews second.
Board Member Dawson second.
Board President Terrell related motion by Mr. Harrell, second by Miss Matthews. Questions or comments from the Board. Public questions or comments. All in favor may vote at this time. All yeas. Opposed. The motion passed. Absent and not voting: Corcoran and Brooks.
Thank you.
Item 6.B.(11) Board President Terrell proceeded with Item 6.B.(11) Personnel Matters.
Keisha Netterville, Executive Director related good evening again, you have the Personnel Report ugh in front of you as of November 6, 2017 and this reflects all of the Vacancies for the Month of October...
Board Member P. Kent related I don’t think we have that.
Vice-President Harrell related I don’t know.
Exec. Director Netterville continued as you see we only have one (1) Vacancy District wide at this point. Do you have any questions?
Board Member P. Kent related Mrs. Netterville I don’t think we have one.
Exec. Director Netterville related yes, sir.
Board Member P. Kent related I don’t think we have one.
Exec. Director Netterville related sir, you all didn’t get this?
Board Member P. Kent questioned is that the one you normally give us?
Board Member Dawson related yes.
Exec. Director Netterville related yes, sir, it was e-mailed out, I saw it...
Board Member Bradford questioned it was e-mailed, I saw that e-mail.
Exec. Director Netterville continued but I not sure that we have any...
Board Member P. Kent related that is okay, I mean we can...
Exec. Director Netterville continued we have one (1) Vacancy District wide....
Board Member P. Kent related okay.
Exec. Director Netterville continued it is a ugh Para Position and that is it.
Board Member P. Kent related yes, I mean that is simple, I can handle that.
Exec. Director Netterville related yes, sir. I am sorry you didn’t get the handout, I know it was e-mailed out earlier.
Board Member Dawson related it was.
Vice-President Harrell related it was.
Exec. Director Netterville related yes, okay.
Board Member Spears related I have a question on this...
Exec. Director Netterville related yes, sir, yes, sir.
Board Member Spears continued do we have a Data Base, I I know you have the ugh Background and Educational Ability of Peoples and Principals. But whenever whenever you hire someone, especially in the Central Office, do you first look at the Pool of Applicants you have within the System? And the reason I am asking that is because when I looked at the ugh Performance Scores...
Exec. Director Netterville related yes.
Board Member Spears continued one (1) School always have, consistently always Score High at Slaughter, but I don’t know if you all use your Principals’ ugh I guess sort of Experience and Knowledge to where it could be used to Help other Schools. So my thing is, if you have found a Principal and my School is always #1, I want to know why I am not in the Central Office.
Exec. Director Netterville related I think you know that Person would have to Apply first, you know so that we could consider you know him or her for that capacity.
Board Member Spears related but what I am saying is, if I am in the Central Office and I see a Principal Performing like that, I would bring them to the Central Office...
Exec. Director Netterville related I agree with you. But again, that Person would have to you know...
Board Member Spears continued I am not saying to Apply, Create, you have two (2) “D’s” for Jackson Elementary and Clinton Elementary and Clinton Middle, if I am not mistaken and that School is either a “B” or an “A”...
Exec. Director Netterville related correct.
Board Member Spears continued that you should be able to Create a Position.
Exec. Director Netterville related I agree with you.
Board President Terrell related Mr. Spears, I am ask you to direct those concerns to the Superintendent.
Carlos J. Sam, Superintendent related yes, and as you all know we are not going to get into a Public conversation about Personnel in particular Job Positions and you know that, I would be glad to have that conversation after this meeting ugh with any Board Member. But in terms of Appointing People to Certain Positions, we have a ugh Process, if there is a Vacancy then it is Open to Public for an Application...
Board Member Spears related you might not ever have a Vacancy for a Position that you need if it is not Created...
Carlos J. Sam, Superintendent continued and I...
Board Member Spears continued you gotta do something to get the Scores up...
Carlos J. Sam, Superintendent continued but what I am saying is...
Board Member Spears continued and doing the same thing consistently all the time, that is insanity, to do the same thing and expect a different result.
Board President Terrell related may I, are you through complete?
Exec. Director Netterville related yes.
Board President Terrell related thank you.
Exec. Director Netterville related okay.
Board President Terrell related okay, Operations and Maintenance and I am going to ask that now goes to Personnel.
Item 6.B.(12) James Bell, Jr., Supervisor related good evening, I have a brief Operations Report. Ugh the Maintenance Department has been working with ugh JCI, which is “Johnson Controls” to ugh refine the HVAC Controls at the ugh various School Locations. The ugh Cool Snap provided a ugh Opportunity to ugh refine the Heating and Cooling. Ugh the Maintenance Department is on several Campuses completing ugh Drainage and Fencing Projects and ugh finally the Maintenance Department has been working with the ugh Building Committee to look at solutions for the Various Parking Issues at some of our ugh Local Schools. The concludes my Maintenance Report.
Samuel D’Aquilla, 20th JDC D.A. left the meeting at this time.
Board Member Dawson related can I ask you a question.
Supervisor Bell related yes, ma’am.
Board Member Dawson questioned ugh the Complex, some nights the little Lights in front of the Elementary School are all lite up and some nights they aren’t, is there a problem with those Lights?
Supervisor Bell related yes, ma’am. We do have a problem with those Lights...
Board Member Dawson related okay.
Supervisor Bell continued we have Mr. Hills, we have some Parts that have been Ordered, ugh someone actually ran into one (1) Light Pole, the Light Pole came down, so we have to secure it with some polaris blocks and get it back up...
Board Member Dawson related no, I am not talking about any on a Light Pole, these are right under where the Awning, I guess you would call it.
Supervisor Bell related yes, ma’am, they are all on the same little circuit.
Board Member Dawson related oh, okay.
Board Member Nesbitt related I have one question, how are we coming with the Fence for the RKM Building?
Supervisor Bell questioned RKM?
Board Member Nesbitt related yeah.
Supervisor Bell related that is going to be handled in the ugh Building Committee...
Board Member Bradford related it is on there, yeah.
Supervisor Bell continued ugh Report. Yes, sir.
Board Member Spears related I have a question relative to the QZAB ugh Program that we initiated. The “Costs Savings” are we on Target with those “Costs Savings”?
Supervisor Bell related ugh we have reached out to Johnson Controls, they have been looking at it, what they have been doing is they per that request what they did is they set up “Trend Logs” so what they are basically doing is they set up Monitors to look at what the Chilled Water Temps are, to look at what the ugh Discharge Air Temps are and see if there is a Correlation between those ugh Temperatures and ugh Savings...
Vice-President Mitchell Harrell left the meeting at this time.
Supervisor Bell continued so, yes, sir we have started that process since the Board...
Board Member Spears questioned so when are we going to get Reports on what we are paying for the Electric Costs prior to the Project and what the Project is at now? So we can actually see if we if are making that?
Carlos J. Sam, Superintendent related Mr. Spears...
Supervisor Bell continued yes, sir...
Carlos J. Sam, Superintendent continued we were Scheduled to have a ugh Johnson Controls Representative here tonight, ugh he could not be here, so we have Scheduled it for the next Board Meeting to give you our Report on just that question. Ugh we have been assigned a Person from Johnson Controls, I think for the next year, to Monitor ugh the Progress ugh of the Energy Efficiency ugh I know he has been, what is his name?
Supervisor Bell related Walter Firmin.
Carlos J. Sam, Superintendent continued Walter Firmin, ugh he actually met with our Principals, ugh last Month and talked with Principals about you know how they can help us with the Project. Make sure that Employees understand that we are under a New System, that there are New Controls, there are New Thermostats and so often times when he gets Complaints about the Room Temperature ugh and so you have to really know we work very closely together ugh to make sure that the Temperatures are conducive to Students and Employees. But we will give you a full Report next Month.
Board Member Spears related okay, also ugh if we don’t make those “Targets” and if I am not mistaken Johnson Controls makes up the “Difference” right?
Supervisor Bell related yes, sir they owe us a Check.
Board Member Nesbitt related now ugh ugh ugh how many Years are we under Johnson Controls Program before they turn it over to us now?
Supervisor Bell related I do believe our ugh 10-Year Contract, it is 20-Years, I do believe, 20-Years.
Board Member Nesbitt questioned they would Assist us for that that Number of Years, ugh making sure that the AC and Climate and this stuff Operates functioning properly?
Supervisor Bell related that is the contingency of our Contract, yes, sir.
Board Member Nesbitt related okay.
Board President Terrell related yes, sir. Mr. Hollins.
Board Member Hollins related and I have always been charged to ugh make the gentle reminder for the “Ribbon Cutting Ceremony” for that Jackson Elementary School Playground! They need it.
Supervisor Bell related yes, sir.
Board President Terrell related okay, any other questions. Public questions. Thank you Mr. Bell.
Supervisor Bell related thank you sir.
Item 7.A. Board President Terrell related okay, Item 7.A. Old Business, Item 7.A. is ugh an announcement from the Board President in reference to the issuance of Stipend Payments for meeting, the Superintendent meeting Performance Objectives ¶A and ¶B, and ugh you received that information in the e-mail as well. Would you like to have something to say at this time?
Board Member Bradford questioned have you received the check yet, Mr. Sam?
Carlos J. Sam, Superintendent questioned have I received the check yet? Ugh, quite honestly ugh I I have to commend you know the People in the Audience, very particularly the Employees for a Job Well Done. Ugh, this is directly related to the District Performance Score and ACT Scores, as you know there are some Performance Objectives in my Contract and so ugh, it is because of the hard work that...
Vice-President Mitchell Harrell rejoined the meeting at this time.
Carlos J. Sam, Superintendent continued that you do as a Board and the Community and the Employees put forth to allow me to receive the stipends. I want to thank the Board and thank all of the Employees for a Job Well Done.
Board Member Nesbitt related ugh let let me say this ugh also with the recommendation I was just telling ugh Mr. Bradford, ugh I was at Home Depot and I ran into this former Jackson Student and he said “Thank God for Jackson High School”, because he has two (2) Kids going to School this year, because they was required to take the ACT this year, that they had no knowledge. I mean that was their hope to go to BRCC, but after they passed the ACT, now he has gotta pay for two (2) Kids to go to School!
Audience erupted into a round of applause.
Board President Terrell related thank you.
Item 7.B. Board President Terrell proceeded with Item 7.B. request and receive Board ratification of Carlos J. Sam, Superintendent, using his discretion on behalf of the East Feliciana Parish School Board; in signing all documents deemed necessary in his discretion registering two (2) Modular Classrooms total value if $20,775.00 located at Slaughter Elementary School Campus, 3170 Church Street, Slaughter, LA, as recited in Johnson Controls Contract {Board Approved: 08/02/2016 Item 9.B.(4)} in the name of the East Feliciana Parish School Board as Owner.
Board Member Bradford related so move.
Board President Terrell related motion by Mr. Bradford, second, we need a second...
Vice-President Harrell related second.
Board President Terrell related second by Mr. Harrell. Questions or comments? It is in reference to the Modular Buildings as Slaughter.
Board Member Bradford related right.
Board President Terrell related no questions, public questions or comments. All in favor may vote at this time. All yeas. Opposed, no opposition. Absent and not voting: Corcoran and Brooks.
Item 8.A. Board President Terrell related Building Committee Report, Mr. Harrell.
Vice-President Mitchell Harrell, Chairman related a Building Committee Meeting was held on Wednesday, November 1, 2017 at 5:38:30 P.M. (a copy of which is attached hereto for reference). He related okay Item 1., let me get all of this straight, on behalf of the Building Committee a recommendation in connection with Item 8.A.(2) that the Board Deny the written request from Lee Cox, Chief Operating Officer, Primary Care Providers For a Healthy Feliciana, Inc. for construction of additional parking at RKM School Clinic located on the Jackson School Complex. Further to direct the RKM Staffers to utilize the Existing Parking Areas at the Jackson School Complex and leave their Existing Clinic Parking Area Open for their Visitors.
Board Member Bradford questioned we don’t really need a motion now, we just don’t even take any action on it, am I right?
Board Member Nesbitt questioned say you are gonna do what now?
Chairman Vice-President Harrell related yes, we need to take action on this to Deny their request for building the Parking Lot.
Board Member Bradford related so move.
Board President Terrell related motion by Mr. Bradford, second...
Board Member Nesbitt questioned so we are doing what now?
Board President Terrell continued give me a second to discuss...
Board Member P. Kent questioned second, you need a second? I give it.
Board President Terrell related we have a motion and a second.
Board Member Nesbitt related okay, now you say you are doing what now?
Chairman Vice-President Harrell related if you’ve gone by the ugh the Jackson School Complex...
Board Member Nesbitt related okay.
Chairman Vice-President Harrell continued RKM is trying to build an additional parking lot in front of the Parking Lot...
Board Member Nesbitt related oh, okay, yeah I been knowing that...
Chairman Vice-President Harrell continued that they got. We are Denying their request...
Board Member Nesbitt continued okay.
Chairman Vice-President Harrell continued to build that that Parking Lot because that was never put in, supposed to be put there to begin with...
Board Member Nesbitt related I don’t see how they got that far...
Board Member Spears related let me ask you this though, even though they didn’t, they didn’t tell us, could we talk to them and negotiate...
Board Member Nesbitt continued they don’t tell ya’ll nothing.
Board Member Spears continued they may need some more room, I mean they Service our Area, don’t they?
Board Member Hollins related they got a Playground that still belongs there.
Board Member Bradford related well ugh Mr. Spears ugh what we talked about is there is enough Parking already at the Complex, all they have to do is Park and just walk down the hill. It is only...
Board Member Spears questioned they are going to Park on the School Property?
Board Member Bradford continued for one (1) day, is it for one (1) day of the Month, one (1) day a Week, it is only for one (1) day a Week, I think.
Chairman Vice-President Harrell related that is, we discussed that, most of their Parking is going to their Employees, all their Parking that is up Front has been Employees. We gave them an ugh alternative for the Employees to Park around Back or to the Side, to where they can give the Public the Parking in the Front. We don’t want any additional clutter on that Campus, no more than what it is already being cluttered, to where that Building is at. I know that we agreed that ugh it would Support the Community, but it Supports our Children, so that that is basically what we let me get it there for is for the Children. The Community, I don’t really support the Community going there all the time, because it is ugh a Threat or an additional Threat to our Children. But their Employees can Park around Back and give up their Front Parking Spots, they have to Walk a little bit, but it gives them Additional Parking.
Board Member Spears related okay, now if you tell them that their Employees Park on our Campus, there will be no need for a Fence, because they are Walking through our Campus, through the Building. Why would you ask them to put a Fence, they don’t have enough Parking and they are going to Walk through your Campus to go to that Building.
Board Member Hollins related they will have to follow the same path as the Students will follow.
Board Member Nesbitt related yeah.
Board Member Spears related the the Employees are with the Students then, they could be a Threat. So why not give them the space, redo the Parking and then just move on. I mean...
Board Member Dawson related but now I was there the other day and I couldn’t find a Parking place, I had to just Park out in the middle and hoped nobody came and blocked me in!
Board Member Nesbitt related you mean to tell me there ain’t enough Parking, enough Parking...
Board Member Dawson related it wasn’t that day I was there, it is always crowded.
Board Member P. Kent related I, I disagree.
Board Member Spears related most certainly...
Board President Terrell related we have a motion and a second. You had a question Mrs. J. Kent.
Board Member J. Kent related no, sir.
Board President Terrell related okay, public questions or comments? All in favor of the motion may vote at this time. Yeas: Spears, Hollins, P. Kent, Harrell, Terrell, J. Kent, Nesbitt, Bradford and Matthews. Opposed: Dawson. Absent and not voting: Corcoran and Brooks. Board President Terrell announced by a majority vote of 9 to 1, with 2 absent and not voting, the motion carried.
Chairman Vice-President Harrell related okay, the Elementary Playground Equipment Replacement at the Jackson School Complex, on behalf of the Building Committee a recommendation in connection with Item 8.A.(2) the Board accept and approve the Proposal presented Lee Cox, Chief Operating Officer, Primary Care...
Board Member Bradford related so move.
Board President Terrell related motion by Mr. Bradford...
Board Member P. Kent related I’ll second it.
Board President Terrell continued second by Mr. P. Kent. Questions or comments? Public questions or comments?
Chairman Vice-President Harrell continued okay, for Providers For a Healthy Feliciana, Inc. in connection with the Purchase, Delivery and Set-Up of Elementary Playground Equipment Replacement at the Jackson School Complex of a Circus Circuit which is $9,800.00, so that is one Piece of apparatus that will include a Variety of Activities that includes Monkey Bars, Chin Pull-Ups, Climbing Wall, etc. and a Standard Commercial Swing Set Galvanized with a 4 Set of Swings, which is $1,300.00 with Boarder, Liner and Engineered Mulch for same, for a Total Donation of $20,900.00. Chairman Vice-President Harrell concluded that is what you are voting on.
Board President Terrell related okay, public questions or comments? Any other questions before we vote? All in favor may vote at this time. All yeas. Opposed: None. Absent and not voting Corcoran and Brooks. Motion passed.
Chairman Vice-President Harrell related on behalf of the Building Committee a recommendation on Agenda Item 8.A.(3) the Board approve the written request from Lee Cox, Chief Operating Officer, Primary Care Providers For a Healthy Feliciana, Inc. to re-stripe Parking Area for RKM School Clinic...
Board Member Bradford related so move.
Chairman Vice-President Harrell continued located on the East Feliciana Middle School Campus.
Board President Terrell related motion by Mr. Bradford.
Board Member J. Kent related second.
Board President Terrell related second by Mrs. J. Kent. Questions or comments? Public questions or comments? All in favor may vote at this time. All yeas. Opposed: None. Absent: Corcoran and Brooks. Motion passed.
Chairman Vice-President Harrell related RKM School Clinic Fencing at the Jackson School Complex, on behalf of the Building Committee a recommendation in connection with Item 8.A.(2) the Board accept and approve the Proposal presented Lee Cox, Chief Operating Officer, Primary Care Providers For a Healthy Feliciana, Inc. in connection with their Purchase, Delivery and Installation of 4 Foot Galvanized Fencing in connection with the RKM School Clinic relocation at the Jackson School Complex.
Board Member Bradford related so move.
Board President Terrell related motion by Mr. Bradford...
Board Member P. Kent related second.
Board President Terrell continued second by Mr. P. Kent. Questions or comments from the Board? Public questions or comments? All in favor may vote at this time. All yeas...
Board Member Nesbitt related yeah and questioned a 4 Foot Fence?
Board President Terrell related pardon?
Board Member Nesbitt questioned a 4 Foot Fence?
Board Member Bradford related it is 4 Foot already.
Chairman Vice-President Harrell related that is what is already up there is a 4 Foot Fence.
Board Member Nesbitt related I thought we was putting Fencing up for Protection, 4 Foot, I mean they will jump over that 4 Foot.
Board Member P. Kent related we don’t it to look like a Correctional Facility.
Board President Terrell called for any opposition?
Board Member P. Kent related that is it, ugh.
Board President Terrell related may I have or will there be any Opposition, before we proceed? Proceed. Absent and not voting: Corcoran and Brooks.
Chairman Vice-President Harrell related one (1) item left, on behalf of the Building Committee a recommendation on Agenda Item 8.A.(1) for the Board to authorize Carlos J. Sam, Superintendent, to use his discretion on behalf of the East Feliciana Parish School Board, in exploring Option #2 as being Primary, Option #2 as being Primary, Option #3 as being the Secondary and Option #1 being the Last Resort to alleviate the Car Pooling Traffic Situation at the Slaughter Elementary School Campus.
Board Member Bradford questioned is that item for information, or you need a motion on that...
Chairman Vice-President Harrell related ugh, we need a motion to allow him to...
Board Member P. Kent related yeah, to Research it.
Chairman Vice-President Harrell continued to Research it and proceed forward.
Board Member Bradford related so move.
Board Member Nesbitt questioned he is going to do what now?
Chairman Vice-President Harrell related to Research it and to proceed...
Board Member Nesbitt questioned how long ya’ll gonna Research this thing?
Board President Terrell related hold up, I need a motion and a second.
Board Member Bradford related I motioned it.
Board President Terrell related motion by Mr. Bradford, is there a second?
Board Member P. Kent related I second it.
Board President Terrell related second...
Board Member Nesbitt questioned how long are we gonna Research it?
Chairman Vice-President Harrell related hold on a second, Coach.
Board President Terrell continued by Mr. P. Kent.
Chairman Vice-President Harrell related what we are looking at the Slaughter, at the Slaughter Elementary School, is there is a ugh Parking Issue with Parking. People are Parking down the Road, all the way back to the Town Hall and the Police Station. What we are trying to do is get these Parents and these Children off the Road. There is a Parking Lot right beside the Police Department in Slaughter that we may be able to ugh put the over flow traffic in that Parking Lot and then let them come out on the Road as you need it. Option #1 was the Land right by the ugh...
Board Member Bradford related Post Office.
Chairman Vice-President Harrell continued Post Office, where we would make a Parking Lot out there, but the Kids would have to cross the Street and crossing the Street is probably not the best idea for the Elementary Kids, but that is an Option that ugh we are gonna look at. See what it would cost and then we will go from there. Option #2 was there is a Street that goes right beside the Slaughter Police Department that goes back and there are two (2) Landowners that own Land back there and make a Street back behind there and make a Circular Driveway in the back part of it to where everybody is off the Street and the Children can present or go with the Parents down there and they can pick them up right there at the Slaughter School. So these are the Options and that is what we are looking at, we are trying to relieve the Kids from being on the Streets and the Parking Issues because there is so many Parents there that we are trying to help them and with Safety Issues.
Board President Terrell related thank you. Any other questions? Public questions or comments? All in favor may vote at this time. All yeas. Opposed: None. Absent and not voting: Corcoran and Brooks. Motion passed.
Board Member Bradford questioned is that it?
Item 8.B. Board President Terrell related Personnel Committee, thank you.
Melvin L. Hollins, Chairman related a Personnel Committee Meeting was held on Thursday, November 2, 2017 at 4:00 P.M. (a copy of which is attached hereto for reference). Ugh on November 2nd the Personnel Committee met and after ugh 18 pages of notes, we came out with a recommendation, ugh and that recommendation is in connection with Item 8.B.(1) is to revise job description(s) with the recommended changes, as compared to current job descriptions, for the following:
(a) Supervisor of Ancillary and Instructional Support Services
(b) Supervisor of Operational Services
(c) Instructional Support Specialist Early Childhood
Chairman Hollins continued we requested that they send the “New Revisions” as well as the “Old Job Descriptions” to us and at that time, I ask Mr. Sam or Mrs. Netterville to give us a brief on that.
Board President Terrell questioned at this time, is what you mean?
Chairman Hollins related I mean if ya’ll will hear them...
Board Member P. Kent questioned you are wanting a briefing from them?
Chairman Hollins continued and ask some questions.
Board Member P. Kent questioned you told them to bring it back to the Board for a briefing?
Chairman Hollins related no, not ugh, I I make a motion.
Board President Terrell related okay, motion by Mr. Hollins and need a second at this time.
Board Member Dawson related an I’ll second it.
Board President Terrell second by Mrs...
Board Member P. Kent questioned that we Revise the, for those ugh Positions, is that what you just said?
Chairman Hollins related yes, sir.
Board President Terrell continued by Mrs. Dawson, we have a second...
Board Member P. Kent questioned are we trying to create another Position or what?
Board Member Nesbitt related that question was asked Mr. P. Kent...
Chairman Hollins related no ugh Positions are being created with this, Mrs. Netterville is going to speak on it.
Keisha Netterville, Exec. Director related no, sir...
Board Member Nesbitt continued I asked that too, Mr. P. Kent.
Exec. Director Netterville continued no Positions are being created at this time. What we did was we just ugh changed Responsibility ugh about a year ago from Operations to another Supervisor and so we are just putting that, letting that be reflected on the Job Description, the Job Description was never Updated, the Duties have already been swapped over per the Superintendent. I was waiting until he finished so I could give you a rundown on that, ugh but these are not New Job Descriptions at all.
Board Member Spears questioned but why you have...
Board Member P. Kent related they had several Positions...
Exec. Director Netterville related I am sorry.
Board Member P. Kent continued Mrs. Netterville...
Exec. Director Netterville related sir.
Board Member P. Kent continued we had several Positions ya’ll are wanting to Revise...
Exec. Director Netterville related right, there are two (2) in particular that that work interchangeably, the Supervisor of Ancillary and Instructional Support Services, gained Food Service Duty, the Supervisor of Operational Services, lost Food Service Duty, that is the only change and I think the Superintendent notified you all via e-mail last year when that change was done physically here in the Office. And so we are just making sure that the Job Description reflects that so that those Employees can be Evaluated according to them...
Board Member Nesbitt related I am going to tell you that I appreciate that, because I bet they thought I was Special during that that Meeting.
Board Member Spears related I have got a question...
Board Member P. Kent continued that is not, I understand...
Board Member Spears continued when you changed those Job Descriptions, does the Salaries change?
Samuel D’Aquilla, 20th JDC, D.A. rejoined the meeting at this time.
Exec. Director Netterville related no, sir.
Board Member Spears questioned so so one loses and one gains more work and there is nothing wrong with that?
Exec. Director Netterville related one also gains, if you look at the ugh Supervisor of Operational Services, it also replaced now with Technology, which was not on there previously, on the previous Job Description. So nobody loses anything, if that makes sense, it is just the Job Descriptions hadn’t been Updated for a number of years and we wanted to make sure that you know when we are Evaluating these Employees that the appropriate Duties are Listed on the Job Descriptions is all.
Vice President Harrell and 20th JDC D.A. D’Aquilla left the meeting at this time.
Board Member Spears related alright the next one...
Board Member P. Kent related but Mrs., Mrs. Netterville...
Exec. Director Netterville related yes, sir.
Board Member P. Kent continued didn’t ugh, when you when you talk about Job Descriptions, one loses and one gains, ugh I know Mr. Bell at one time was the over Food Services, Technology, and he is losing all of that, what did he gain?
Exec. Director Netterville related he no, he he still has Technology, Technology was removed previously, I am assuming by a previous Administration...
Board Member P. Kent related oh, I thought you just said somebody else gained Technology.
Exec. Director Netterville continued ugh the no sir, nobody gained Technology, he did, it was just placed on the Job Description, it was never there prior to me coming on board...
Board Member P. Kent related I see.
Exec. Director Netterville continued so we just made sure the Job Description reflected that.
Board President Terrell called for any other questions. Public questions or comments. All in favor may vote at this time. Yeas: Dawson, Hollins, R. Terrell, Bradford and Matthews...
Board Member Nesbitt related it is kind of complicated Mr. P. Kent.
Board President Terrell continued Opposed: P. Kent, J. Kent and Spears. Absent during vote: Harrell. Absent and not voting: Corcoran and Brooks. Yeas: Nesbitt.
Board Member Bradford questioned did it pass or what?
Chairman Hollins related thank you Mr. Terrell.
Board Member Dawson questioned is that it?
Carlos J. Sam, Superintendent related yeah, let me make two (2) Announcements before we adjourn, ugh you should have received an e-mail from me relative to the ugh implementation our Superintendents’ Parent Advisory Council (PAC), ugh as you may or may not know, if you looked at the e-mail we have asked each Principal to recommend ugh three (3) Parents from each School to Serve on the Superintendents’ Parent Advisory Council (PAC). This Council will meet three (3) or four (4) times a year, with me, ugh the 1st Meeting being Thursday Night at 6:00 P.M. here in the Board Room. I would like to invite ugh all Board Members if you would like to attend that Meeting. Ugh so basically what we want to do is ugh inform our Parents more about the kinds of things that we are doing in the School District, ugh initiatives that are being implemented and ugh ask them to Serve as a conduit between ugh we as a Staff and Parents. And so ugh 12 of the 15 Parents have committed to Serving and will be here on Thursday Night and ugh the other 3 have other obligations and they have assured me that they would ugh attend the next Meeting which is going to be in February...
Board Member Dawson questioned that is this Thursday?
Carlos J. Sam, Superintendent continued this Thursday at 6:00 P.M., yes, ma’am. Ugh and the last ugh Announcement I want to make is the ugh East Feliciana High School Football traveling to Mansfield High School on Friday, playing at 7:00 P.M. in Mansfield, Louisiana, in the 1st Round of Playoffs. Ugh so in my communication today to you as you know we are going to Dismiss ugh at 1:00 P.M. on Friday, ugh so we will properly notify Parents and Employees about their Dismissal Time so that Stakeholders can travel over to ugh Mansfield, which is about a 4 Hour Drive from East Feliciana to attend the ugh 1st Round of Playoffs.
Mitchell Harrell, Vice-President and Samuel D’Aquilla, 20th JDC D.A. rejoined the meeting at this time.
Board Member Dawson related and Slaughter is also in the Playoffs...
Carlos J. Sam, Superintendent related Slaughter, okay, very good. One last thing...
Board Member Dawson continued they are traveling on the other side of Opelousas...
Clint Eby, Principal of Slaughter Community Charter School related Basile...
Carlos J. Sam, Superintendent questioned Basile?
SCCS Principal Eby continued Basile, Louisiana.
Carlos J. Sam, Superintendent related Basile.
SCCS Principal Eby continued we only have 2 Hours.
Carlos J. Sam, Superintendent related 2 Hours.
Board President Terrell called for a motion to adjourn.
Vice-President Harrell related so move.
Carlos J. Sam, Superintendent related Mrs. Dawson...
Board Member Dawson related yes.
Carlos J. Sam, Superintendent continued you made 21 today, or yesterday, Happy Birthday Mrs. Dawson.
Board Member Dawson related well thank you.
Board President Terrell related we have a motion by Mr. Harrell, we need a second.
Board Member J. Kent related second.
Board President Terrell related second by Mrs. J. Kent that we adjourn. No opposition. Absent and not voting: Corcoran and Brooks. Motion passed. Thank you.
There being no further business to come before the Board, a motion for adjournment by Vice-President Harrell, seconded by Mrs. J. Kent, prevailed until the next regular meeting unless called into special session by the President.
CARLOS J. SAM, SUPERINTENDENT RICHARD TERRELL,
SECRETARY-TREASURER BOARD PRESIDENT