7,062

Port Allen, Louisiana

October 18, 2017

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 Goudeau, Sr., Rose A. Lee Roche’, G. Alden Chustz,Jr., Michael A. Maranto

Absent:   Teri Bergeron

Omari Jackson, Cohn Elementary School student, and Jason Jarvis, Port Allen Middle School student, led the Pledge of Allegiance.

The next item was the following resolution offered by Dr. Walker and seconded by Mr. Goudeau:

Be It Resolved, That the minutes of the regular board meeting held on September 20, 2017, 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:

a) Introduction of Teachers of the Year

b) Announcement proclaiming that October is National Head Start Awareness Month/Crystal Leon  

c) Request for approval of Head Start Continuation Grant and the Head Start Director’s Report for September 30, 2017

The Chairman declared the floor open for public comment.

Whereupon, the following resolution was offered by Mrs. Roche’ and seconded by Dr. Walker:

Be It Resolved, That the West Baton Rouge Parish School Board does hereby acknowledge that October has been proclaimed National Head Start Awareness Month in West Baton Rouge Parish.

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 recognition of Teachers of the Year from each school and Parish Teachers of the Year.

PARISH TEACHERS OF THE YEAR

Elementary:           Emily Webre                     Lukeville Upper Elementary School

Middle:                  Brooke Harlan                   Brusly Middle School

High:                     Kimberly Eckert                Brusly High School

STATE HIGH SCHOOL TEACHER OF THE YEAR    Kimberly Eckert/BHS

INDIVIDUAL SCHOOL TEACHERS OF THE YEAR

Brusly Elementary                                         Kathryn Darensbourg

Brusly High                                                   Kimberly Eckert

Brusly Middle                                                 Brooke Harlan

Chamberlin Elementary                                  Lacy Behl

Cohn Elementary                                           Ashley Hebert

Devall Middle                                                 Tara West

Lukeville Upper Elementary                            Emily Webre

Port Allen Elementary                                    Becky Landry

Port Allen High                                              Heather Hoffpauir

Port Allen Middle                                            Samantha Mendenhall

The Chairman declared the floor open for public comment.

Whereupon, the following resolution was offered by Mr. Maranto and seconded by Mr. Toby Sarradet:

Be It Resolved, That the members of the West Baton Rouge Parish School Board do hereby commend and congratulate all of the individual school Teachers of the Year, the Parish Teachers of the Year, and the State Teacher of the Year.

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 approval of the Head Start Continuation Grant.

Whereupon, the following resolution was offered by Mr. Maranto and seconded by Mr. LeBlanc:

Be It Resolved, That the West Baton Rouge Parish School Board does hereby adopt and approve the Head Start Continuation Grant and the Head Start Director’s Report for September 30, 2017, as presented by Crystal Leon, Head Start Director.

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 a resolution of condolences to the family of Mrs. Kim Riviere, retired Paraprofessional.

Whereupon, the following resolution was offered by Mr. LeBlanc and seconded by Mr. Maranto:

Be It Resolved, That the members of the West Baton Rouge Parish School Board do hereby extend to the family of Mrs. Kim Riviere their feelings of sincere appreciation for the years of dedicated service to the students of West Baton Rouge Parish rendered by Mrs. Riviere, and

Be It Further Resolved, That the members of the Board do hereby express their sincere sympathy and condolences to the family of Mrs. Riviere.

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 a report from Community Committees/Agencies: National Red Ribbon Celebration Resolution October 23-27, 2017/Charlotte Blanchard, Supervisor of Child Welfare and Attendance.

Whereupon, the following resolution was offered by Mrs. Roche’ and seconded by Mr. Craig Sarradet:

Whereas, the West Baton Rouge Parish School System recognizes that alcohol and other drug abuse has been identified as one of the greatest threats to the future of our nation, and in particular our nation’s youth.  Due to this threat, our school board feels that it is imperative that visible, unified, preventive education efforts by community members be launched to reduce the demand for drugs.  Therefore, the National Family Partnership and the West Baton Rouge Parish School Board are sponsoring the National Red Ribbon Celebration offering citizens the opportunity to demonstrate their commitment to drug free lifestyles.

The National Red Ribbon Celebration will be celebrated in every community in America during “Red Ribbon Week”.  Business, government, law enforcement, schools, religious institutions, service organizations, youth, physicians, senior citizens, military, sports teams, and individuals, will demonstrate their commitment to drug free, healthy lifestyles by wearing and displaying red ribbons during this week-long campaign.

The West Baton Rouge Parish School Board commits it’s resources to ensure the success of the Red Ribbon Celebration.

Now, Therefore, Be It Resolved, That the West Baton Rouge Parish School Board does hereby support October 23^rd –October 27^th, 2017 as “Red Ribbon Week” in the West Baton Rouge Parish School System and encourages it’s students and employees to participate in drug prevention educational activities, making a visible statement that we are strongly committed to a drug free community.

Be It Further Resolved, That the West Baton Rouge Parish School Board members and Superintendent do hereby “Sign-Up” for DRUG FREE LOUISIANA.

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 a Report from Community Committees and Agencies: Mrs. Rose Roche’ announced that the first Port Allen Fright Night and Pandemonium will be held on Monday, October 30^th between North Jefferson and Sixth Street from 5:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m.

The event is open to students from Head Start to 8^th Grade and costumes are encouraged.

The next item was consideration of the following items on the Consent Agenda:

8.         Consideration of a request for approval to increase the hourly rate of pay for Food Service Technician substitutes from $7.25 an hour to $9.00 an hour after substituting for 15 days/Vivian Landry (Finance Committee Report 10/10/17)

9.         Consideration of a request for approval of the monthly expenditures and financial reports as presented by Mr. Jared Gibbs, Supervisor of Business Services (Finance Committee Report 10/10/17)

10.       Consideration of a request for approval of the annual renewal of the Policy360, (which combines the Policy Updating Service and the updating service for CAPS, Computer Assisted Policy Service) and inclusion of school board minutes, for an annual fee of $8,600 for the period November 1, 2017 through October 31, 2018, James Prescott, Jr., Forethought Consulting Inc. (Finance Committee Report 10/10/17)

11.       Consideration of approval of the request to adopt the Louisiana Compliance Questionnaire 2016-17 Audit (for audit engagements of Government Agencies) Jared Gibbs, Supervisor of Business Services (Finance Committee Report 10/10/17)

12.       Consideration of approval of the request submitted by Dr. Tammy Seneca, Supervisor of Information Systems and Educational Technology, to purchase a Virtual Network and Server for each school location to be funded with Technology Funds in the amount of $54,000 plus $20,000 from the Contingency Fund.(Finance Committee Report 10/10/17)

13.       Consideration of a request for approval by Mr. Manola to move the date of the November Committee meeting to Tuesday, November 7, 2017. (Finance Committee Report 10/10/17)

14.       Consideration of request for approval and adoption of the revised Drug Testing Policy for student athletes as presented by Superintendent Watts (Academics Committee Report 10/10/17)

The Chairman declared the floor open for public comment.

Whereupon, the following resolution was offered by Mr. Maranto and seconded by Mr. Toby Sarradet:

Be It Resolved, That the board does hereby approve and adopt Consent Agenda items #8, #9, #10, #11, #12, #13, #14 as presented this date.

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 #15: Consideration of request to approve a tax free designation for materials and supplies purchased for the WBR School Board Building Program as requested by Mr. Earl Kern to be considered at the October 18^, 2017 regular meeting of the board. (deferred from September 20, 2017 Consent Agenda pending completion of Mr. Watts meeting with parish officials.)

Whereupon, President Manola reported that the parish municipalities and the WBR Parish Council approved and supported the request by Mr. Kern.

The Chairman declared the floor open for public comment.

Whereupon, the following resolution was offered by Mr. Chustz and seconded by Mr. Maranto:

Be It Resolved, That the West Baton Rouge Parish School Board does hereby approve a tax free designation for materials and supplies purchased for the WBR School Board Building Program as requested by Mr. Earl Kern.

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 presented an update on the project to pave the Brusly Elementary car pool line in the adjacent park with the cost for the asphalt to be divided three (3) ways: WBR School Board, Town of Brusly, and WBR Parish Council.

The next item was announcement of the committee meeting date of November 7, 2017 and the regular board meeting date of  November 15, 2017.

There being no further business to come before the board, the following resolution was offered by Mr. Chustz and seconded by Mrs. 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

Wesley Watts                           Jason P. Manola

Wesley Watts                           Jason P. Manola

Secretary-Treasurer                 President