2022-08-08

Central Community Schools

School Board Meeting

08/08/2022 06:00 PM

Central Administrative Office

10510 Joor Road, Suite 300

Central, LA 70818

MEETING MINUTES

Voting Members

Dr. James Gardner, President

Dr. Keith Holmes, Vice President

Roxanne Atkinson, Board Member

Dr. G. David Walker, Board Member

Kimberly Powers, Board Member

Ruby Foil, Board Member

Sharon Browning, Board Member

1. Call to Order

Chairman James Gardner called to order the Regular School Board Meeting of the Central Community School Board on Monday, August 8, 2022 at the Central Administrative Office at 6:00 P.M.

2. Prayer

Prayer led by Dr. James Gardner

3. Pledge

4. Roll Call

Tracy Barnes conducted a roll call. The following persons were present: Roxanne Atkinson, Sharon Browning, Ruby Foil, James Gardner, Keith Holmes, Kimberly Powers and David Walker. A quorum was present.

5. To consider approval of the minutes from the Regular School Board Meeting held on Monday, July 11, 2022 and take appropriate action.

A motion was made by Ms. Atkinson and seconded by Ms. Browning to approve the minutes from the Regular School Board Meeting held on Monday, July 11, 2022. There being no objections, the motion passed.

6. To receive the Superintendent's report on personnel. (Dr. Fountain)

Board members received a report of ten (10) Resignations. This was a report only and required no action.

Board members received a report of twenty-two (22) Appointments. This was a report only and required no action.

Board members received a report of six (6) Reassignments. This was a report only and required no action.

A motion was made by Dr. Walker and seconded by Dr. Holmes to approve a Leave Without Pay request for the first semester of the 2022-2023 School Year from Ms. Carrie Lawson, CNP Technician at Central Middle School. There being no objections, the motion passed.

a. Administrative Contracts

Board members received a report on Administrative Contracts. This was a report only and required no action.

7. To receive a report from the Human Resources/Policies Committee Meeting held on Wednesday, July 27, 2022 and take appropriate action regarding the following:

a. Revised Job Description for the Director of Accountability and Federal Programs position

The committee recommended approval of the revised Job Description for the Director of Accountability and Federal Programs position. A motion was made by Ms. Browning and seconded by Dr. Holmes to approve the committee's recommendation. There being no objections, the motion passed.

b. 2022-2023 Employee Handbook

The committee recommended approval of the Employee Handbook for the 2022-2023 School Year. A motion was made by Ms. Browning and seconded by Ms. Foil to approve the committee's recommendation. There being no objections, the motion passed.

c. 2022-2023 Personnel Evaluation Plan

The committee recommended approval of the Personnel Evaluation Plan for the 2022-2023 School Year. A motion was made by Ms. Browning and seconded by Ms. Atkinson to approve the committee's recommendation. There being no objections, the motion passed.

d. 2022-2023 Organizational Flow Chart

The committee recommended approval of the Organizational Flow Chart for the 2022-2023 Fiscal Year. A motion was made by Ms. Browning and seconded by Dr. Holmes to approve the committee's recommendation. There being no objections, the motion passed.

e. 1st Reading of the following proposed New and Revised policies:

Committee members received a 1st Reading of proposed New and Revised policies. This was a 1st Reading only and required no action.

1. Policy B-15 - School Board Ethics

2. Policy E-3.2 - School Bus Scheduling and Routing

3. Policy F-2 - Equal Employment Opportunity

4. Policy F-11.2 - Employee Dress Code

5. Policy H-1 - Equal Education Opportunity

6. Policy H-2.1 - Student Absences and Excuses

7. Policy H-3.3d - Bullying and Hazing

8. Policy H-3.4 - Student Dress Code

9. Policy H-3.5 - Discipline

10. Policy H-3.5c - Expulsion

11. Policy H-3.6 - Student Health Services

12. Policy H-3.6b - Administration of Medication

13. Policy H-11.2 - Expectant and Parenting Students

14. New Policy - Student Voter Registration

8. To receive a report from the Finance Committee Meeting held on Wednesday, July 27, 2022 and take appropriate action regarding the following:

a. Athletic stipends and Extra Curricular stipends

The committee recommended approval of a $1,000 stipend for Event Catering (Culinary) and a $1,000 stipend for District Videographer. A motion was made by Ms. Atkinson and seconded by Ms. Browning to approve the committee's recommendation. There being no objections, the motion passed.

9. To receive a report from the Curriculum/Instruction/Accountability/Student Services Committee Meeting held on Wednesday, July 27, 2022 and take appropriate action regarding the following:

a. Update to the Discipline Procedures for the 2022-2023 School Year

Discussion was held on the updates to the Discipline Procedures for the 2022-2023 School Year. This was a report only and required no action.

b. Proposed changes to the Student Handbook for the 2022-2023 School Year

The committee recommended approval to add the Discipline Procedures to the Student Handbook for the 2022-2023 School Year. A motion was made by Ms. Foil and seconded by Dr. Walker to approve the committee's recommendation. There being no objections, the motion passed.
The committee recommended approval to add the following to the Student Handbook for the 2022-2023 School Year: 1) Girls are allowed to wear two (2) pairs of earrings. Earrings cannot be greater than one inch in diameter. Hanging earrings cannot be wider than one inch in diameter or extend more than one inch from the ear lobe. 2) Boys are allowed to wear one pair of stud earrings. No hoops are allowed. 3) No other visible body piercings are allowed. A motion was made by Ms. Foil and seconded by Dr. Holmes to approve the committee's recommendation. Ms. Powers abstained. There being no objections, the motion passed.

10. To consider a Change Order for the Central High School Renovation project and take appropriate action. (Dr. Fountain)

A motion was made by Dr. Holmes and seconded by Ms. Atkinson to approve the Change Order for the Central High School Renovation project in the amount of $200,000.00 (from the Capital Outlay Budget). There being no objections, the motion passed.

11. To consider approval of engagement letters from Hannis T. Bourgeois, LLP and take appropriate action. (Dr. Fountain)

A motion was made by Dr. Walker and seconded by Ms. Powers to approve the engagement letters for auditing services provided by Hannis T. Bourgeois. There being no objections, the motion passed.

12. To consider a Change Order for the Central Office Construction project and take appropriate action. (Dr. Fountain)

A motion was made by Dr. Holmes and seconded by Ms. Powers to approve the Change Order for the Central Office Construction project in the amount of $100,000.00 (from the Capital Outlay Budget). There being no objections, the motion passed.

13. To have discussion on Revised Policy D-7.4a - Bids and Quotations and take appropriate action. (Dr. Fountain)

A motion was made by Dr. Holmes and seconded by Ms. Atkinson to approve the board to temporarily suspend the policy adoption procedures to allow the 1st Reading of Revised Policy D-7.4a - Bids and Quotations to be adopted by the board during this board meeting.

A roll call vote was taken for the board to temporarily suspend the policy adoption procedures to allow the 1st Reading of Revised Policy D-7.4a - Bids and Quotations to be adopted by the board during this board meeting and is listed as follows:

For: Atkinson, Browning, Foil, Gardner, Holmes, Powers, Walker

Against: None

Absent: None

Abstain: None

There being seven (7) votes "For", zero (0) votes "Against", zero (0) votes "Absent", and zero (0) votes "Abstain", the motion passed.
A motion was made by Dr. Walker and seconded by Dr. Holmes to approve the adoption of Revised Policy D-7.4a - Bids and Quotations. There being no objections, the motion passed.

14. To grant an employee permission to be employed as a tutor while on Leave Without Pay and take appropriate action. (Dr. Fountain)

A motion was made by Ms. Foil and seconded by Ms. Browning to approve an employee's request to be employed outside of the school system as a tutor while on Leave Without Pay. There being no objections, the motion passed.

15. To consider approval of a Revised School Calendar for the 2022-2023 School Year and take appropriate action. (Dr. Fountain)

A motion was made by Ms. Powers and seconded by Ms. Atkinson to approve the revised School Calendar for the 2022-2023 School Year as presented by the staff. There being no objections, the motion passed.

16. To receive information on the proposed Central Community School System Multi-Use Activity Center funded by Capital Project funds. (Dr. Fountain)

Board members received information on the proposed Central Community School System Multi-Use Activity Center funded by Capital Project Funds. This was a report only and required no action.

17. To consider approval of a list of Qualified Disciplinary Hearing Officers and take appropriate action. (Dr. Fountain)

A motion was made by Ms. Atkinson and seconded by Ms. Browning to approve the list of Qualified Disciplinary Hearing Officers. There being no objections, the motion passed.

18. To receive the results from the Superintendent's Yearly Evaluation. (Ms. Browning)

Ms. Browning reported on the Superintendents Yearly Evaluation. This was a report only and required no action.

19. To consider an extension of the Superintendent's contract and take appropriate action. (Dr. Gardner)

A motion was made by Dr. Gardner and seconded by Ms. Foil to approve an extension of the Superintendent's contract to December 31, 2024. There being no objections, the motion passed.

20. Superintendent's Report

We held our annual Administrative Retreat on Monday, July 25th at LSU. We had a great time together planning for the upcoming school year. Nearly 40 administrators from the district were together for this time of fellowship and growth. Our annual Back-to-School Convocation was held this morning at Greenwell Springs Baptist Church. We had breakfast together, we laughed, some of us cried, and we had a wonderful kickoff to the new year. Many thanks to our friends at GSBC for serving breakfast, and especially Mike Davis who always goes out of his way to accommodate our speaker and work so closely with me. They are truly ministering through their service. As I mentioned at the Convocation this morning, our middle and high school teachers completed two days of Capturing Kids’ Hearts training. This will be our tier 1 approach for building healthy relationships between our staff and students. The goal of Capturing Kids’ Hearts is to implement a process that helps our students develop productive behaviors, build and maintain positive relationships, and set and achieve goals. We are very excited about the implementation of Capturing Kids’ Hearts. We are in the final planning stages of our Phase 1 Reimagine Grant. Our first cohort of 94 students will begin this fall. We are completing our Phase 1 initiative totaling $300,000. This helps create the foundation of the program. The final phase providing approximately $870,000 (which we are about to begin) will provide sustainability for the program. This summer, we began LETRS training for our K-3 teachers and administrators. This professional development will provide training in The Science of Reading, mandated by Act 108, for our teachers to learn a research-based approach to teaching our youngest students how to read. This will be a two-year process to include eight days of professional development for our teachers and administrators. Of course, Thursday is the first day for students. All students at CIS, CMS, and CHS will attend on day one. Bellingrath and Tanglewood will have a staggered start, with preK and 1st grades attending on Thursday, and Kindergarten and 2nd grades attending on Friday. We have been holding Committee Meetings on Wednesday night for many years. Recently, we have discussed the possibility of moving our Committee Meetings to a different night of the week to prevent conflict with those who attend church on Wednesdays. We believe that Monday night would be the best option. That way, our board meetings would be on the second Monday of the month and our Committee Meetings would be on the last Monday of the month. If everyone is agreeable with this, we will begin this new schedule this month. Therefore, our next Committee Meetings will be held on Monday, August 29th .

21. Announcements

a. Committee Meetings - Monday, August 29th

b. Next Regular School Board Meeting will be held on Monday, September 12^th

22. Adjourn

A motion was made by Dr. Walker and seconded by Ms. Browning to adjourn the meeting. There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned.