6,882
Port Allen, Louisiana
January 21, 2015
A regular meeting of the West Baton Rouge Parish School Board was held this date with the following membership:
Present: Jason P. Manola, President, Craig Sarradet, Toby Sarradet, Dr. Atley D. Walker,Sr., Ronald P. LeBlanc, Leon N. Goudeau, Rose A. Lee Roche’, G. Alden Chustz,Jr., Michael A. Maranto
Absent: Teri Bergeron
The meeting was opened with the invocation by Dr. Atley D. Walker,Sr.
Emma Sarradet, a student from Brusly Middle School, and Jeanette Coco, a student from Lukeville Upper Elementary School, led the Pledge of Allegiance.
Jason P. Manola, President, announced that the next item was Election of Officers.
President Manola called for the following roll call vote to adopt the voting procedures and to open the floor for nomination of officers.
Aye: Mr. Craig Sarradet, Mr. Toby Sarradet, Dr. Walker, Mr. LeBlanc, Mr. Goudeau, Mrs. Roche’, Mr. Chustz, Mr. Maranto, Mr. Manola,
Nay: None
Absent: Mrs. Bergeron
Upon the adoption of the voting procedures, President Manola opened the floor for nominations for President of the West Baton Rouge School Board.
Mr. Toby Sarradet nominated Jason Manola for President of the Board, and the nomination was seconded by Mr. Craig Sarradet.
There being no further nominations for President of the Board, the following resolution was offered by Mr. Toby Sarradet and seconded by Mr. Craig Sarradet:
Be It Resolved, That the nominations for President of the Board be closed, and
Be It Further Resolved, That Mr. Jason Manola be declared President of the Board by acclamation.
The above resolution was adopted by the following vote:
Aye: Mr. Craig Sarradet, Mr. Toby Sarradet, Dr. Walker, Mr. LeBlanc, Mr. Goudeau, Mrs. Roche’, Mr. Chustz, Mr. Maranto, Mr. Manola
Nay: None
Absent: Mrs. Bergeron
Mr. Manola expressed his appreciation to the members of the board for re-electing him to serve as President of the Board and thanked them for their cooperation and support.
President Manola opened the floor for nominations for Vice President of the West Baton Rouge Parish School Board
Mr. Chustz nominated Dr. Atley D. Walker,Sr., for Vice President of the Board, and the nomination was seconded by Mr. Toby Sarradet.
There being no further nominations for Vice President, the following resolution was offered by Mr. Chustz and seconded by Mr. Toby Sarradet:
Be It Resolved, That the nominations for Vice President be closed, and
Be It Further Resolved, That Dr. Atley D. Walker,Sr., be declared Vice President of the board by acclamation.
The above resolution was adopted by the following vote:
Aye: Mr. Craig Sarradet, Mr. Toby Sarradet, Dr. Walker, Mr. LeBlanc, Mr. Goudeau, Mrs. Roche’, Mr. Chustz, Mr. Maranto, Mr. Manola
Nay: None
Absent: Mrs. Bergeron
Dr. Walker thanked the board for electing him Vice President of the Board.
The next item was approval of the minutes of the board meeting held on December 17, 2014.
.
Whereupon, the following resolution was offered Dr. Walker and seconded by Mr. Goudeau:
Be It Resolved, That the minutes of the board meeting held on December 17, 2014, be approved as presented.
The above resolution was adopted by the following vote:
Aye: Mr. Craig Sarradet, Mr. Toby Sarradet, Dr. Walker, Mr. LeBlanc, Mr. Goudeau, Mrs. Roche’, Mr. Chustz, Mr.Maranto, Mr. Manola
Nay: None
Absent: Mrs. Bergeron
The next item was Educational Presentations. Whereupon Mr. Watts presented certificates to board members for Continuing Education Units for 2014 as required by Act 705 of the 2010 Louisiana Legislature. Distinguished School Board Member certificates were issued in November, by the State Department of Education, to Mrs. Thelma L. Pattan and Mr. Leon Goudeau,Sr. This award is issued to any board member that receives sixteen hours of training their first year of service on the board (including incumbents during their first year of being re-elected) and also completes the six hours of annual training for each of the subsequent three years of their term.
President Manola recognized City of Port Allen Mayor Richard N. Lee,III., and Senator Richard Ward,III. Senator Ward addressed the members of the board and commended them for moving forward in a positive manner with all of the recent changes. He informed the board that the Legislative session would start soon and told them to feel free to call him with any questions.
The next item was the Superintendent’s Report. Whereupon, Superintendent Watts presented information on the following:
a) Mrs. Sharon Lair, Associate Superintendent for Instruction, and Mrs. Dawn Henry, Supervisor of Secondary Education, greeted officials on January 12th & 13th from the Center of Educational Leadership, University of Washington in Seattle. West Baton Rouge was selected as the only school district in the State of Louisiana and one of only three school systems in the country to be featured as a Case Study by the Center of Educational Leadership. All three school systems, West Baton Rouge, Boone County Kentucky, and Bayfield County Colorado, will be featured because of their timely and significant implementation efforts toward meeting the needs of Common Core State Standards. CEL in partnership with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, began working with West Baton Rouge for the past year because of the exemplary work done with the Literacy Design Collaborative and Math Design Collaborative, both frameworks for providing the rigor, student engagement, and critical thinking necessitated by Common Core. These efforts were coordinated by Mrs. Sharon Lair and Mrs. Dawn Henry.
b) Mr. John White, State Superintendent of Education, visited Brusly Middle School on January 12th and Port Allen Elementary School on January 21st.
c) The Jump Start Conference started in Baton Rouge on January 21st. This conference involved students from Brusly High School and Port Allen High School.
d) Brusly High School Beta Club members and Port Allen High School Beta Club members attended the State Beta Club Convention in Lafayette. Brusly High School placed 1st in the state in the Wreath category and 3rd place in the Banner category. Port Allen High School placed 1st in the state in the T-Shirt Design.
e) Update on status of Brusly High School and Port Allen High School girls and boys basketball teams. Update on Brusly High School Wrestling Program competition.
f) Announced that schools would be closed for Mardi Gras holidays on February 16th and February 17th.
The next item was introduction of the following item on the Consent Agenda.
Consideration of request for approval of the monthly expenditures and financial reports/Jared Gibbs (Personnel & Finance Committee Report- 1/13/15)
The Chairman declared the floor open for public comment.
Whereupon, the following resolution was offered by Mr. Maranto and seconded by Mr. Chustz:
Be It Resolved, That the board accept and adopt Consent Agenda Item #8 as presented.
The above resolution was adopted by the following vote:
Aye: Mr. Craig Sarradet, Mr. Toby Sarradet, Dr. Walker, Mr. LeBlanc, Mr. Goudeau, Mrs. Roche’, Mr. Chustz, Mr. Maranto, Mr. Manola
Nay: None
Absent: Mrs. Bergeron
The next item was End of Consent Agenda item #9: Consideration of adoption of the 2015-16 School Calendar/Wes Watts.
Superintendent Watts presented the proposed school calendar for 2015-16.
The Chairman declared the floor open for public comment.
Whereupon, the following resolution was offered by Mr. Maranto and seconded by Mr. LeBlanc:
Be It Resolved, That the board does hereby approve and adopt the proposed School Calendar for 2015-16 as presented.
The above resolution was adopted by the following vote:
Aye: Mr. Craig Sarradet, Mr. Toby Sarradet, Dr. Walker, Mr. LeBlanc, Mr. Goudeau, Mrs. Roche’, Mr. Chustz, Mr. Maranto, Mr. Manola
Nay: None
Absent: Mrs. Bergeron
The next item was End of Consent Agenda item #10:Presentation of Vision Statement, Mission Statement, Core Values, and Five Areas of Focus to be adopted by the board to guide them in the Development of a Five Year Strategic Plan/Wes Watts
Superintendent Watts called on each Chair Person to give an overview of his/her committee’s progress thus far. Following the reports by the individual chair persons, Superintendent Watts stated:
a) June 30th is the target date for completion of the Five Year Strategic Plan.
b) West Baton Rouge is striving to be an “A School District” and to be recognized as a “Top 10 School District in Louisiana”
c) 2020 will be the completion date of the Five Year Strategic Plan
The Chairman declared the floor open for public comment.
Whereupon, the following resolution was offered by Mr. LeBlanc and seconded by Mr. Chustz:
Be It Resolved, That the board does hereby approve and adopt the following Vision Statement, Mission Statement, Core Values, and Five Areas of Focus to be used by the board to guide them in the development of a Five Year Strategic Plan:
VISION
To serve our community by inspiring academic excellence and building good character in
all students.
MISSION
To prepare every student for success through high-quality instruction and character
building experiences.
CORE VALUES
Student Centered
Integrity
Teamwork
Moral Purpose
Pride
Safety
Diversity
Community Involvement
AREAS OF FOCUS
Academics
Personnel
Budget
Building/Facilities
Transportation
The above resolution was adopted by the following vote:
Aye: Mr. Craig Sarradet, Mr. Toby Sarradet, Dr. Walker, Mr. LeBlanc, Mr. Goudeau, Mrs. Roche’, Mr. Chustz, Mr. Maranto, Mr. Manola
Nay: None
Absent: Mrs. Bergeron
The following Academics Committee Report was presented. No action was necessary as the items were updates.
The next End of Consent Agenda item was #11: Committee meeting date: February 10, 2015; and Board meeting date: February 18, 2015
There being no further business to come before the board, the following resolution was offered by Mr. Toby Sarradet and seconded by Mrs. Rose Roche’:
Be It Resolved, That the meeting be adjourned.
The above resolution was adopted by the following vote:
Aye: Mr. Craig Sarradet, Mr. Toby Sarradet, Dr. Walker, Mr. LeBlanc, Mr. Goudeau, Mrs. Roche’, Mr. Chustz, Mr. Maranto, Mr. Manola
Nay: None
Absent: Mrs. Bergeron
Wes Watts
Wes Watts
Secretary-Treasurer
Jason Manola
Jason Manola
President