Central Community Schools
School Board Meeting
12/11/2023 06:00 PM
Central Administrative Office
11576 Sullivan Road
Central, LA 70818
MEETING MINUTES
Voting Members
Roxanne Atkinson, Board President
Dr. G. David Walker, Vice President
Jason Leaphart, Board Member
Nick Carmena, Board Member
Mike Davis, Board Member
Michael Hooper, Board Member
Carol Norwood, Board Member
1. Call to Order
Chairperson Roxanne Atkinson called to order the Regular School Board Meeting of the Central Community School Board on Monday, December 11, 2023, at the Central Administrative Office, at 6:00 P.M.
2. Prayer
Prayer led by Dr. David Walker
3. Pledge
4. Roll Call
Tracy Barnes conducted a roll call. The following persons were present: Roxanne Atkinson, Nick Carmena, Michael Hooper, Jason Leaphart, Carol Norwood and David Walker. A quorum was present. Mike Davis arrived after the roll call.
5. Recognitions
Four students from the CIS Beta Club were recognized for winning an essay contest and will present the Wreath at Arlington when they travel to D.C. in the Spring.
The following students were recognized as the 2023 CCSS Christmas Card Art Contest Winners:
Hartley Harvey- Bellingrath Hills Elementary School
Jacki Masoner - Tanglewood Elementary School
Alina Martinez - Central Intermediate School (District Winner)
Lokey Kiltoff - Central Middle School
Pierce Fry - Central High School
6. To consider approval of the minutes from the Regular School Board Meeting held on Monday, November 13, 2023 and take appropriate action.
A motion was made by Mr. Hooper and seconded by Ms. Norwood to approve the minutes from the Regular School Board Meeting held on Monday, November 13, 2023. There being no objections, the motion passed.
7. To receive the Superintendent's report on personnel (Dr. Fountain)
Board members received a report of three (3) Retirements. This was a report only and required no action.
Board members received a report of seven (7) Resignations. This was a report only and required no action.
Board members received a report of five (5) Appointments. This was a report only and required no action.
8. To consider and take action with respect to adopting a resolution ordering and calling a special election to be held in the Central Community School System, to authorize the renewal of an ad valorem tax therein, making application to the State Bond Commission and providing for other matters in connection therewith. (Dr. Fountain)
A motion was made by Dr. Walker and seconded by Mr. Carmena to adopt a resolution ordering and calling a special election to be held in the Central Community School System, to authorize the renewal of a special tax therein; making application to the State Bond Commission and providing for other matters in connection therewith.
A roll call vote was taken for the board to adopt a resolution ordering and calling a special election to be held in the Central Community School System, to authorize the renewal of a special tax therein; making application to the State Bond Commission and providing for other matters in connection therewith, and is listed as follows:
For: Atkinson, Carmena, Davis, Hooper, Leaphart, Norwood, 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.
9. Superintendent's Report
Groundbreaking for the Taylor Conrad Memorial Playground for students with special needs was held last Tuesday. The playground will be on the campus of CIS and they are already making great progress. If weather permits, this should be a 5-7 week build. This playground will be for all students and will complement nicely with our current playground on site. 100% of the funding for the playground came from state funds procured by Senator Bodi White. Special thanks to Mrs. Dawn Conrad Beckham, Taylor’s mom, for traveling from Texas for the groundbreaking. Also, thanks to Debbie Dougherty and Central City Autism Awareness for being persistent in making this playground a reality. Our school system will be recognized tomorrow morning at a BESE meeting. They will memorialize our recognition as a Models of Excellence recipient. We were recognized for our Response to Intervention program that provides remediation to struggling students as well as enrichment opportunities for those students achieving on level. We had a formal ceremony at Central High School back in October. Despite my best efforts to convince him otherwise, David McLaughin is retiring this month. We will be holding a retirement celebration for David this Wednesday from 3:00 – 4:30 here in the school board office. There are many activities going on in the schools over the next week. Parents, please be sure to check the Dojo app in elementary school and our school app at CMS and CHS to make sure you don’t miss any events. We will soon begin our Christmas break. Students will have early dismissal days on Wednesday and Thursday, December 20th and 21st. Thursday, December 21st will be the last day of school for 2023. Teachers and staff will return on Monday, January 8th and students will return on Wednesday, January 10th. We will not hold committee meetings in December. Our next board meeting will be on Monday, January 8th and our next committee meetings will be on Monday, January 29th.
10. Announcements
a. The next Regular School Board Meeting will be held on Monday, January 8, 2024.
b. The January Committee Meetings will be held on Monday, January 29, 2024.
11. Adjourn
A motion was made by Dr. Walker to adjourn the meeting. There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned.