Sep 15, 2022 School Board

THE APPROVAL OF THE MINUTES.

THANK YOU ALL.

APPRECIATE IT.

WE ARE HAVING A FEW LITTLE TECHNICAL DIFFICULTIES WITH THE COMPUTER, SO, UH, WE WILL, UM, WE READY FOR A ROLL CALL? OKAY.

WELL, MADAME SECRETARY, PLEASE CALL THE ROLL DISTRICT.

NON PRESIDENTS, CHAPMAN PRESIDENT DISTRICT FOUR, VICE PRESIDENT COLLINS DISTRICT ONE.

MR. BLUE HERE, DISTRICT TWO, MR. LANIS DISTRICT THREE, MR. HOWARD DISTRICT FIVE, MS. WHERE JACKSON PRESENT DISTRICT SIX, MS. DIASON DISTRICT SEVEN, MR. GOODDAY PRESENT DISTRICT EIGHT.

MS. BERNARD PRESENT.

WE HAVE A QUORUM.

WE WILL MOVE NOW TO

[B. Minutes]

ITEM B ONE APPROVAL OF THE SCHOOL BOARD MINUTES OF THE AUGUST 18TH, 2022 REGULAR BOARD MEETING AND THE SEPTEMBER 8TH, 2022 COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE MEETING AS PUBLISHED IN THE OFFICIAL JOURNAL.

DO I HAVE A MOTION? UH, MOVED BY MR. GODDE SECONDED BY MS. BERNARD SEEING NO, UH, QUESTIONS OR COMMENTS FROM THE BOARD.

ARE THERE ANY COMMENTS FROM THE AUDIENCE ON THE MINUTES SEEING NONE, UH, BACK TO THE BOARD, BELIEVE WE'RE GONNA HAVE TO DO A ROLL CALL VOTE.

WE WILL DO A ROLL CALL.

THE MINUTES ARE APPROVED.

WE WILL NOW MOVE TO ITEM

[C1. Monthly Financial Report]

C1, MONTHLY FINANC.

THESE ARE FOR INFORMATION ONLY MY MONTHLY FINANCIAL REPORT.

[C2. Personnel Changes]

NUMBER ONE, UH, PERSONNEL CHANGES.

C2.

MS. WE JACKSON.

TAMAN.

UH, LAST TIME I I'D ASKED ABOUT, YOU KNOW, WHETHER WE WERE LOOKING AT, UH, ANY INDICATIONS TO, UH, WHY WE ARE HAVING SUCH TURNOVER.

I SEE A LOT OF, A LOT OF TURNOVER, A LOT OF MOVING AROUND AND, UM, I HAD A, A LETTER THAT'S VERY COMPLIMENTARY OF THE DISTRICT THAT, UH, I'D LIKE TO SHARE REAL QUICK, UM, FROM, UM, AN EMPLOYEE THAT'S WON NATIONAL AWARDS THROUGH THE DISTRICT AND, UH, BUT HAS, HAS MOVED ON.

AND UM, SHE SAYS, DEAR DR.

DR.

NAIS AND MEMBERS OF THE BOARD FIRST, I'D LIKE TO THANK THE FINE ARTS AND HR DEPARTMENTS.

THEIR EFFORTS MADE ME FEEL VALUED AND I'M GRATEFUL FOR EVERYTHING THEY DID.

I AM A NATIONALLY RECOGNIZED AWARD-WINNING AND PUBLISHED ARTS EDUCATOR.

ONE OF ONLY 75 IN THE NATION.

AND THE ONLY ONE IN EBR TRAINED IN ARTS LEADERSHIP BY CRAYOLA AND THE NAE.

A I COULD NOT HAVE ACCOMPLISHED ANY OF THIS WITHOUT THE EXPERIENCES GIVEN TO ME BY THIS DISTRICT FOR THAT, I AM FOREVER GRATEFUL FOR CLASSROOM TEACHERS

[00:10:01]

IN EBR.

THERE IS STILL VERY LITTLE OPPORTUNITY FOR UPWARD MOBILITY.

THERE ARE LIMITED NON-AD ADMIN LEADERSHIP POSITIONS.

THOSE THAT EXIST ARE USUALLY UNPAID AND OVERWORKED PROMOTIONS OFTEN COME IN.

TITLE ONLY EVEN GROW THROUGH HIGHER.

ED IS LIMITED FOR ARTS EDUCATORS.

THERE ARE NO ARTS EDUCATION PROGRAMS IN BATON ROUGE AND NO FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE ARE AID FOR ARTS EDUCATORS WHO SEEK IT.

BOTH OF THESE FACTS ARE CONTRIBUTING TO THE LOSS OF ART TEACHERS AND THE INABILITY TO ATTRACT NEW ONES.

WE FEEL WE HAVE BEEN CONTROLLED, BULLIED AND THREATENED INTO COMPLIANCE.

I WAS JUST ONE ON A LONG TRANSFER REQUEST LIST WHO WAS WILLING TO RELOCATE WHEN 230 OF MY COLLEAGUES WERE MOVED AGAINST THEIR WISHES.

A LACK OF RESPECT FROM THOSE IN BOTH DISTRICT AND SCHOOL SITE, LEADERSHIP HAS MADE THE JOB UNATTAINABLE.

THERE IS NO COLLABORATION, NO TRUST IN EDUCATORS ARE VALUING OF THE, OF OUR EXPERTISE EXPERIENCE IN TIME UNMANAGEABLE, UNMANAGEABLE UNMANAGEABLE CLASS SIZES, UNREASONABLE EXPECTATIONS AND EXCESSIVE RESPONSIBILITIES MAKE OUR JOBS IMPOSSIBLE.

WORK.

LIFE BALANCE IS NON-EXISTENT.

WE HAVE BEEN SET UP TO FAIL ANY ARTS EDUCATION IS MY PASSION.

THE EBR FINE ARTS DEPARTMENT IS THE STRONGEST PART OF THIS DISTRICT.

IT IS FILLED WITH TALENTED AND DEDICATED PEOPLE WHOM I RESPECT AND LOVE.

I CANNOT EXPRESS IN WORDS HOW HARD IT WAS TO WALK AWAY FROM THOSE COLLEAGUES OR THE LOSS I FEEL FOR THE WORK I'VE BUILT HERE AND WHAT COULD HAVE BEEN.

IT IS MY DREAM TO ENHANCE ARTS EDUCATION, BUT WORKING FOR EBR THESE PAST THREE YEARS HAS BEEN A DEATH BY A THOUSAND CUTS.

I MADE EVERY ATTEMPT TO STAY.

I REALLY DID.

UNFORTUNATELY, THE COMBINATION OF WHAT'S DESCRIBED IN THIS LETTER AND THE LACK OF COMPETITIVE PAY HAS LEFT ME NO CHOICE.

IT IS MY HOPE IN WRITING THIS, THAT THE BOARD WILL LISTEN AND BE BRAVE ENOUGH TO CALL FOR FUNDAMENTAL CHANGES.

TEACHER RECRUITMENT IS IMPORTANT, BUT TEACHER RETENTION WILL MAKE OR BREAK THIS DISTRICT IN THE LONG RUN.

PS.

THIS IS A LITTLE ODD, I GUESS, DR.

NAIS WON'T BE BRINGING ANY CAKE TO MY CLASSROOM.

I'M NOT SURE ABOUT THE, THE CAKE COMMENT, BUT I THINK THIS SORT OF GIVES US A LITTLE INSIGHT INTO SOME OF THE THINGS THAT WE MIGHT BE ABLE TO HELP WITH AS WE TRY TO RECRUIT MORE, UH, TEACHERS BACK INTO THE DISTRICT AND RETAIN THOSE THAT WE HAVE.

ALSO HAVE PUBLIC RECORDS REQUEST MONTHLY REPORT ITEM C3, SEEING NO COMMENTS OR QUESTIONS FROM THE BOARD.

ANY OTHER, UH, QUESTIONS OR COMMENTS ON, UM, ONE OF THE FINANCIAL REPORT OR PERSONNEL CHANGES? WE

[C3. Public Records Request Monthly Report]

WE'LL MOVE NOW TO ITEM D

[D1. Update from Superintendent]

ONE UPDATE FROM THE SUPERINTENDENT.

UM, ME AND MY TEAM HAVE BEEN SUPPORTING THE EBR REIMAGINE TEAM, UM, TO IDENTIFY THE ACTION SPECIFIC DELIVERABLES, TO BEGIN COMPLETING SOME OF THESE DELIVERABLES, WHICH I'LL TALK MORE IN DETAIL ABOUT WHAT I MEAN BY THAT.

TAMAN, UH, IT'S JUST, UH, SO EXCITING ABOUT WHAT, UH, GREAT WORK THAT, UM, OUR 6,000 EMPLOYEES AND 3,200 TEACHERS DO EVERY DAY COMMITTED TO OUR WORK.

THIS WAS A WONDERFUL WEEK FOR THE EAST BATON ROUGE PARISH SCHOOL SYSTEM.

UH, THE EXCITEMENT HAS BEEN THAT WE'VE AS A DISTRICT HAVE MOVED TOWARDS PUTTING CHILDREN FIRST AND EVERYTHING.

SECOND, UH, WE APPRECIATE, AS WE'VE TOLD MANY OF OUR STAFF ABOUT THE GREAT THINGS THAT ARE GOING ON, AND ALSO WE ARE VERY APPRECIATIVE ABOUT ALL OF THE STAFFING, UM, UH, TEAMS ACROSS SCHOOLS, AROUND THEIR COMMITMENT TO ENSURING THAT THE CHILDREN OF EAST BATON ROUGE PARISH, UH, HAVE ACCESS AND OPPORTUNITY ACROSS THIS DISTRICT.

UH, THIS, UH, ACTUALLY YESTERDAY, UH, WAS OUR INTERNSHIP MATCH DAY.

WE HAD THE PRIVILEGE OF MATCHING OVER, UM, UP TO 150 SENIORS WITH COMPANIES ACROSS THE SYSTEM.

AND THOSE SENIORS WOULD BE PAY, BE PAID $15 AN HOUR TO DO INTERNSHIPS WITH MAJOR COMPANIES THAT ARE THERE.

AND WE SHOULD GIVE THAT A HAND TO THE COMPANIES THAT ARE LETTING THOSE KIDS HAVE THOSE PRACTICES.

UH, AS YOU SAW IN THE RECOGNITION GROUPS LIKE EXXON MOBIL, UH, LA MOINES, UM, UH, FUSION ARCHITECT, BATON ROUGE, GENERAL ASHNER, UH, OUR LADY OF LAKE, UH, UM, WE HAD SO MANY COMPANIES AND I'M ALWAYS FEARFUL TO NAME COMPANIES BECAUSE YOU DON'T WANT TO MISS ANYBODY BECAUSE YOU'RE, WE'RE GONNA BE ASKING

[00:15:01]

THEM AGAIN.

THE FOLLOWING YEAR.

UH, ONE OF THE MAJOR GOALS WE HAD WAS NOT ONLY TO GIVE CHILDREN INTERNSHIPS SO THEY CAN LEARN WITHIN THEIR PROFESSION, BUT TO EXPAND THAT EVERY SINGLE YEAR, THIS YEAR WE PILOTED 150 STUDENTS.

NEXT YEAR.

OUR GOAL IS TO HAVE 1000 STUDENTS THAT HAVE INTERNSHIPS ACROSS THIS CITY AND NOT ONLY GETTING CREDIT, BUT FOR THEIR HIGH SCHOOL EXPERIENCE, BUT ALSO GETTING PAID SIMULTANEOUSLY AT $15 AN HOUR AND YEAR THREE, WE PLAN TO HAVE 2,500 STUDENTS DOING THAT.

LET'S GIVE THAT A HAND BECAUSE WE NEED TO BE CELEBRATED CHILDREN DOING WELL AND MAKING SURE THAT CHILDREN ARE FIRST IN OUR WORK, UH, WANTED TO RECOGNIZE JUST A FEW MORE THINGS.

UM, UH, HISPANIC HERITAGE MONTH, AS MANY OF YOU KNOW, WE ARE A SCHOOL SYSTEM THAT HAVE MANY DIFFERENT CULTURES AND MANY DIFFERENT FOLKS IN IT.

TODAY IS THE BEGINNING OF HISPANIC HERITAGE MONTH, WHICH IS OBSERVED FROM SEPTEMBER 15TH TO OCTOBER 15TH.

DURING THIS TIME WE CELEBRATE THE HISTORY, CULTURE AND CONTRIBUTIONS OF AMERICANS WHOSE ANCESTORS CAME FROM PLACES SUCH AS SPAIN, MEXICO, THE CARIBBEAN AND CENTRAL AND SOUTH AMERICA, PLEASE STAY CONNECTED TO ALL OF OUR SOCIAL MEDIA CHANNELS AND THE DISTRICT WEBSITES FOR UPDATES ON HOW WE'LL BE CELEBRATING THIS MONTH.

ONE OF OUR MAJOR GOALS HAS BEEN TO CELEBRATE ALL THE CULTURES THAT WE HAVE IN OUR SCHOOL SYSTEM, NO MATTER WHERE YOU ARE, WHAT NATIONALITY YOU ARE, WHETHER YOU MALE OR FEMA, WHATEVER YOUR CONTEXT, IT'S IMPORTANT THAT, YOU KNOW, YOU HAVE A PLACE IN THIS SCHOOL SYSTEM.

AND WE CELEBRATE AS A COMMUNITY BECAUSE THAT IS WHAT MAKES OUR SCHOOL SYSTEM AND OUR COMMUNITY MUCH STRONGER WITH ITS DIVERSITY.

AND WE'RE EXCITED ABOUT THAT.

UH, WE ALSO, UH, THIS EVENING WE ARE JOINED BY REPRESENTATIVES OF L D E AND EMPOWERS SCHOOLS WHO ARE HERE TO SHARE WITH YOU INFORMATION ABOUT THE REIMAGINED GRANT AND THE SUPPORT THAT'S BEING PROVIDED TO THE SCHOOL DISTRICT.

AS WE PLAN TO IMPLEMENT THE PROJECTS THAT HAVE BEEN APPROVED BY THE STATE FOR SCHOOL SYSTEM INNOVATION, UM, AS MANY OF YOU KNOW, UH, WE APPLIED FOR A GRANT, WHICH WAS VERY COMPETITIVE WITH LDO E AND I THINK I JUST SAW MAX WALK IN HERE AS WELL.

UH, WE'VE BEEN PARTNERING WITH LDO E IN A LOT OF MANY INITIATIVES AND COLLABORATING A LOT OF OUR WORK TOGETHER AND DUE TO US, UH, UH, COMPETING FOR THIS GRANT, WE WERE AWARDED TO WORK WITH EMPOWER SCHOOLS, UH, TO BE ABLE TO, UM, TAKE SOME OF OUR MOST SUCCESSFUL PROGRAMS AND REPLICATE THEM TO PROVIDE EVEN MORE OPPORTUNITY.

SO I'M GONNA ASK, UH, FOR MS. CASEY LAWRENCE FROM EMPOWER SCHOOLS AND DR.

BEDLEY FROM OUR FEDERAL PROGRAMS THAT COME UP JUST TO QUICKLY AND BRIEFLY SHARE WITH THE BOARD, UH, SOME OF THIS WORK DAY AS PROMISE.

UM, WE HAVE OUR CONSULTANT FROM EMPOWER, UH, MS. CARRIE LAWRENCE, WHO WILL PRESENT TO YOU.

AND WE ALSO HAVE REPRESENTATIVES FROM THE STATE DEPARTMENT, UH, DR.

TOTON AND DR.

MATTHEWS ARE HERE WITH US AS WELL.

AND AS LONG AS ALSO OUR REIMAGINED TEAM, RAISE YOUR HAND.

SO TODAY, UH, WE'RE GOING TO LET MS. LAWRENCE TALK TO YOU ABOUT EMPOWERED.

SURE.

GOOD EVENING, EVERYONE.

MY NAME IS CARRIE AND I WORK WITH THE NONPROFIT EMPOWER SCHOOLS, AS Y'ALL HAVE MENTIONED.

AND I'M HERE, UM, ON EBRS REQUEST TO SHARE MORE INFORMATION ABOUT THE REIMAGINED SCHOOL SYSTEMS GRANT FROM L DOE.

SO, UM, STARTING THIS OFF, JUST TO QUOTE FROM DR.

BRAMLEY THAT WHEN REIMAGINED WAS LAUNCHED, THE VISION WAS TO ENCOURAGE SCHOOL SYSTEMS TO CREATE NEW HIGH QUALITY EDUCATIONAL OPPORTUNITIES, TO BE INNOVATIVE AND TO CHALLENGE THEMSELVES IN YOUR STUDENTS.

AND THAT'S EXACTLY, UM, WHAT YOUR SYSTEM IS PROPOSING DOING WITH THESE GRANTS.

AS DR.

NAIS MENTIONED, THIS WAS A COMPETITIVE GRANT PROCESS.

SO FIRST OF ALL, CONGRATULATIONS, UM, WANTED TO SHOW ON THIS SLIDE, THAT THERE WERE 80 APPLICANTS FOR THIS GRANT.

THERE WERE 36 GRANTS AWARDED, AND, UM, THESE ARE TWO OF THOSE GRANTS AND 17 PARISHES ARE REPRESENTED FROM THE AWARDEES.

THAT'S ON THE MAP HERE.

AND AS I MENTIONED, IT'S A NEW GRANT FUNDING OPPORTUNITY FROM L DOE TO PLAN AND IMPLEMENT TRANSFORMATIVE AND INNOVATIVE, SUSTAINABLE LOCAL INNOVATION.

SO I WANNA SHARE MORE ABOUT THE STRUCTURE OF THIS GRANT.

THIS GRANT IS DIVIDED INTO A PLANNING PHASE, WHICH IS CALLED PHASE ONE AND AN IMPLEMENTATION PHASE, WHICH IS IN PHASE TWO, AND THE GRANT IS STRUCTURED SO THAT, UM, DOE WILL ASSESS COMPLETION OF PHASE ONE, THE PLANNING PHASE, AND BEFORE MOVING THE SYSTEM ONTO THE IMPLEMENTATION PHASE IN PHASE TWO.

SO RIGHT NOW,

[00:20:01]

AND OF COURSE, TO COMMUNICATE PROGRESS TO L DOE THROUGHOUT.

SO ONCE, UM, ALL OF THESE HAVE BEEN COMPLETED, WE WILL SUBMIT, UM, A REQUEST TO L DOE TO ASSESS OUR PROGRESS.

AND IF APPROVED, THEN THE LARGER AMOUNT OF IMPLEMENTATION FUNDS WOULD BE RELEASED AND WE WOULD MOVE INTO IMPLEMENTATION.

UM, UM, SO THIS GRANT IS STRUCTURED WITH LD RECOMMENDING SYSTEMS, TAKING A PLANNING YEAR.

UM, EBR IS TAKING THIS PLANNING YEAR RIGHT NOW WITH A GOAL OF IMPLEMENTING IN 2324.

AND I MENTIONED DELIVERABLES.

SO DELIVERABLES ARE ESSENTIALLY WHAT DRIVES THE PLANNING PROCESS.

THESE ARE DOCUMENTS THAT EACH SYSTEM IS COMPLETING, BUT IS COMPLETELY CUSTOMIZED WITH ALL OF THE CONTENT FROM EACH SYSTEM TO DRIVE THESE CONVERSATIONS THAT ARE REALLY DEEP AND MEATY CONVERSATIONS ABOUT PLANNING AND WHAT IT TAKES TO ACTUALLY DO THIS WORK.

UM, AND THEN OF COURSE, A RUBRIC.

SO LDS DEVELOPED A RUBRIC TO CREATE A BAR OF QUALITY FOR WHAT THEY'RE EXPECTING IN THE DELIVERABLES THAT ARE CREATED THROUGHOUT THIS GRANT PROCESS.

AND WE, THERE IS AN ADVISORY COMMITTEE, WHICH I'LL SPEAK ABOUT IN A SECOND.

AND ONCE THE ADVISORY COMMITTEE FINALIZES EACH DELIVERABLE, IT'S SUBMITTED TO L D OE FOR SCORING AGAINST THIS RUBRIC.

SO TODAY I'M HERE TO SHARE MORE ABOUT TWO SPECIFIC REIMAGINED GRANTS AWARDED TO EBR.

WE HAVE ONE FOR THE BATON ROUGE CENTER FOR VISUAL AND PERFORMING ARTS, B C BPA, AND THE FOREIGN LANGUAGE, ACADEMIC IMMERSION, MAGNET, FLAME.

SO TWO DIFFERENT SCHOOLS, BUT A SIMILAR GRANT STRUCTURE, WHICH IS WHY THAT WE'VE LOOPED THEM TOGETHER IN THIS PRESENTATION.

AND THAT THE GOAL IS TO EXPAND ONE GRADE AT A TIME.

UM, SO YOU CAN SEE IN THE TABLE AND BELOW THAT NEXT YEAR, THE PROPOSAL IS TO EXPAND TO GRADE SIX, FOLLOWING BY EXPANSION TO GRADE SEVEN, FOLLOWED BY AN EXPANSION TO GRADE EIGHT, TO HAVE A FULL CONTINUUM OF RIGOROUS UNIQUE MODEL ALIGNED INSTRUCTION FROM GRADES PRE-K TO EIGHT BY THE END OF SCHOOL, YEAR 25, 26.

AND THERE'S ALSO FUNDING AMOUNTS LISTED HERE.

EACH GRANT WAS AWARDED $300,000 IN THE PHASE ONE PLANNING PHASE.

AND IF SUCCESSFULLY APPROVED FOR PHASE TWO IMPLEMENTATION, WOULD EACH RECEIVE OVER A LITTLE OVER A MILLION DOLLARS EACH, UM, AND I WILL HAND IT NOW TO DR.

BETHLE TO SHARE MORE ABOUT THE GRANTS ALIGNMENT TO THE DISTRICT.

MY TEAM, THEY ATTEND ALL THE ADVISORY COMMITTEE MEETINGS.

SO AS YOU KNOW, BOTH GRANTS ARE DIRECTLY, UH, ALIGN WITH OUR DISTRICT'S MISSION VISION AND OUR OVERALL STRATEGY.

OUR MISSION OF COURSE, IS INSPIRING HUMANITY THROUGH TRANSFORMATIONAL LEARNING IN THE CLASSROOM AND IN THE COMMUNITY.

SO THE TRANSFORMATIONAL LEARNING WILL OCCUR AT BOTH.

SCHOOLS WILL ALLOW FOR IMMERSION PROGRAMMING AND ALSO FOR VISUAL AND PERFORMING ARTS PROGRAM PROGRAMMING.

THE LEARNING INSPIRES HUMANITY, BOTH, UM, IN THE CLASSROOM AND BEYOND AS STUDENTS DEVELOP NEW PERSPECTIVES AND SKILLS.

SO OF COURSE THE GRANTS ALLOW ALIGNED WITH OUR VISION.

THE KEY FOCUS OF OUR VISION, UH, IS TO INCREASE HIGH QUALITY EDUCATIONAL OPTIONS BY EXPANDING SUCCESSFUL SCHOOLS.

OF COURSE, BY WITH OUR EXPANSIONS IN BOTH SCHOOLS, IT'S, THIS WILL ALLOW FOR EXCEPTIONAL PROGRAMMING THAT WILL ENABLE ALL OF OUR STUDENTS TO CULTIVATE THE COMPETENCIES AND THEIR DESIRED PATHWAYS THAT WILL ENABLE THEM TO PARTICIPATE IN A MORE MODERN WORKFORCE.

SO I'VE MENTIONED AN ADVISORY COMMITTEE.

I WANNA SHARE MORE ABOUT WHAT I MEAN BY THAT.

THE REIMAGINED GRANT REQUIRES THE ESTABLISHMENT OF AN ADVISORY COMMITTEE FOR EACH GRANT, WHICH IS MADE UP OF DISTRICT LEADERS WITH THE GOAL OF PROVIDING INPUT AND FEEDBACK ON THESE PLANNING DOCUMENTS THAT I'VE MENTIONED, UM, AND ALSO WORK TO BRING THIS VISION TO FRUITION BY BUILDING CONSENSUS AND COMMUNICATING ABOUT THIS WORK ACROSS THE SYSTEM.

YOU CAN SEE HERE ARE THE LIST OF THE ADVISORY COMMITTEE MEMBERS, UM, BEING FROM THE CHIEF OF STAFF AND, UM, OTHER DIRECTOR LEVEL POSITIONS.

AND OF COURSE, THE PRINCIPLES OF EACH OF THE TWO SCHOOLS THAT WE'VE MENTIONED.

WE ALSO HAVE A LIST ON THIS SLIDE OF THE DATES OF EACH ADVISORY COMMITTEE MEETING.

SO YOU'LL NOTICE THAT TWO HAVE ALREADY BEEN CONDUCTED AND THE WORK, UH, WITH THE ADVISORY COMMITTEE WILL WRAP UP BY JANUARY OF 2023.

I ALSO WANNA TALK ABOUT THE PROJECT COORDINATORS.

EACH REIMAGINED GRANT HAS A PROJECT COORDINATOR, AND I'M LUCKY TO GET TO WORK WITH TWO FROM EAST BATON ROUGE, AND THEY SERVE AS A KEY POINT OF CONTACT FOR ANYTHING REIMAGINE.

THEY WORK ON WEEKLY PLANNING MEETINGS, IF NOT MORE, UM, WITH ME AND

[00:25:01]

AND OF COURSE, ALL OTHER LD GRANT CONVENINGS.

AND ALSO I'M HERE TO TALK TO YOU AS A TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE SUPPORT.

SO AS A PART OF REIMAGINE, ALL GRANTEES ARE REQUIRED TO WORK WITH TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE THROUGH THE PLANNING AND IMPLEMENTATION PHASE.

AND MY ORGANIZATION EMPOWER SCHOOLS WAS APPROVED THROUGH A COMPETITIVE RFA PROCESS AT THE STATE LEVEL.

UM, OUR SUPPORT DURING THIS PLANNING PHASE IS FOCUSED ON MAKING SURE THAT WE ARE PROVIDING AS MUCH SUPPORT POSSIBLE THROUGH BOTH, UM, PROGRESS.

UM, I'M SORRY.

I JUST LOST MY TRAIN OF THOUGHT, UM, THROUGH PROJECT MANAGEMENT TO MAKE SURE THE PROJECT IS MEETING ALL THE DELIVERABLES, BEING FINISHED ON TIME.

AND OF COURSE, COMPLETED TO DLY STANDARDS ALSO, UM, PROVIDING CAPACITY TO YOUR TEAM.

WE KNOW THAT, UH, DISTRICT LEVEL LEADERS HAVE LOTS OF THINGS ON THEIR PLATE.

AND SO WE AIM TO MAKE THEIR JOB AS EASY AS POSSIBLE WITH REIMAGINE AND PROVIDE SUPPORT TO CREATE DELIVERABLES, FACILITATE ADVISORY COMMITTEE MEETINGS, AND ALSO, UM, HOPEFULLY TO SHARE A ROLE AS A THOUGHT PARTNER IN SHARING ANY ADDITIONAL IDEAS WHEN REQUESTED ABOUT WAYS TO MAKE THE PROJECT EVEN BETTER.

UM, SO OF COURSE WE WANT TO MAKE SURE THAT ALL OF THE GRANT REQUIREMENTS ARE MET AND THAT WE CAN SUPPORT EBR TO DEVELOP REALLY EXCEPTIONAL PLANS TO SERVE KIDS.

WELL, LOOKING AHEAD, UM, WE HAVE PLANNING IS UNDERWAY FOR THE TWO GRANTS.

THE ADVISORY COMMITTEE MEETING HAS MET TWICE AND ALL FIVE OUT OF 13 OF THE DELIVERABLES FOR PLANNING HAVE BEEN COMPLETED.

WE ANTICIPATE CONDUCTING THE FINAL ADVISORY COMMITTEE MEETING IN JANUARY WITH A PROJECTED COMPLETION OF MARCH, 2023 FOR PLA THE PLANNING PHASE WITH AN ESTIMATED APRIL, UM, APPROVAL BY L DOE AND RELEASE OF THOSE LARGER IMPLEMENTATION FUNDS TO ENABLE, UH, EBR WITH EMPOWER SUPPORT, TO BEGIN PHASE TWO IMPLEMENTATION PHASE NEXT MAY THROUGH THE END OF THE REIMAGINED GRANT TERM, WHICH IS THROUGH SEPTEMBER OF 2024, TO GIVE YOU A BETTER SENSE OF WHAT WE MEAN WHEN WE SAY DELIVERABLES.

I ALSO INCLUDED THIS TABLE HERE, WHICH YOU CAN SEE IN THE FIRST COLUMN IS A LIST OF ALL THE TYPES OF DOCUMENTS THAT GRANTEES ARE WORKING THROUGH, UM, FROM ALIGNING ON A MISSION AND VISION TO GETTING REALLY DETAILED ON A BUDGET AND SUSTAINABILITY PLAN.

UM, YOU'LL ALSO SEE THERE ARE YELLOW TRIANGLES FOR THE ADVISORY COMMITTEE MEETINGS AND WHITE TRIANGLES FOR SYSTEM BOARD MEETINGS.

SO WE HAVE A QUESTION MARK IN THE LAST ONE.

UM, WE NEED TO GET THE DATE SET, BUT WE WILL BE BACK TO REPORT ON PLANNING PROGRESS TO YOU ALL IN THE SPRING OF 2023.

SO THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR YOUR TIME.

AND I HOPE THIS WAS HELPFUL.

UM, AS I MENTIONED, THE GROUP WILL BE BACK TO PRESENT TO YOU IN SPRING OF 2023.

AND ALSO ONE OF THE DELIVERABLES IS A STAKEHOLDER ENGAGEMENT PLAN.

SO THERE WILL BE BOARD TOUCH POINTS, OF COURSE, INCORPORATED UP THROUGHOUT.

PLEASE REACH OUT TO THE PROJECT COORDINATORS WITH ANY QUESTIONS.

UM, AND I BELIEVE THE BOARD HAS A COPY, BUT THERE'S ALSO LINKED HERE A REIMAGINED PARTICIPANT GUIDE WITH LOTS OF INFORMATION ABOUT THE GRANT.

SHOULD YOU WANT TO DIG, UM, VERY DEEP, BUT I'LL STOP NOW AND OPEN IT UP FOR QUESTIONS.

AND, UM, WE ALSO HAVE OUR RE REPRESENTATIVES HERE WITH ANY LDU FOCUSED QUESTIONS.

THANK YOU, MS. MORRIS, UH, VICE PRESIDENT COLLINS.

UM, THIS AC ACTUALLY IS MORE GEARED TOWARDS, UH, STAFF EBR, DISTRICT STAFF.

I, I RAISED CONCERN ABOUT, UH, SIX, SEVEN AND EIGHT AT B AT, UH, BATON ROUGE, FLAME IMPACTING WESTDALE, MIDDLE PROGRAMMING.

UM, AND IT SLIPPED MY MIND IN THE MOMENT TO RAISE CONCERN ABOUT SIX, SEVEN AND EIGHT EXPANSION POTENTIALLY BEING DETRIMENTAL TO MCKINLEY MIDDLE, WHICH HAS THIS PROGRAMMING ALREADY.

UH, AND WE HAD CONCERN ABOUT THIS.

WE'VE HAD CONVERSATION ABOUT EXPANDING SIX, SEVEN, AND EIGHT GRADES WITH THIS SAME KIND OF PROGRAMMING THAT IS AT, UH, B C B P A AND MCKINLEY.

WHEN WE HAD OUR DISCUSSION AND APPROVED AND VOTED FOR 6 78 GRADE EXPANSION AT FOREST HEIGHTS.

I HAVE NOT HEARD ANY DISCUSSION SEEN ANY PRESENTATION TO HELP US TO HELP ALLEVIATE CONCERN THAT WE ARE NOT GOING TO HAVE A NEGATIVE IMPACT ON A WHOLE SCHOOL SITE AT MCKINLEY MIDDLE.

IF WE EXPAND OVER AT BR CV P A, IT IS AMAZING PROGRAMMING.

EXPANDED IN THAT TYPE OF PROGRAMMING WHEN WE SAID, YES, LET'S SPEND TAX PLAN DOLLARS TO MOVE FORWARD AT THOSE STUDENTS AT FAR AS HEIGHTS ELEMENTARY, CONTINUING PAST FIFTH GRADE AND DOING SIXTH, SEVEN AND EIGHTH GRADE THAT IS GOING TO PULL, OR PROBABLY HAS ALREADY BEGUN PULLING, UM, FROM MCKINLEY.

YES, PEOPLE WANT IT, BUT WE ALREADY

[00:30:01]

AND NOW WE SAYING, I DON'T KNOW, OR WE, IT IS JUST ALL OF A SUDDEN NOT GONNA HAVE AN IMPACT ON, ON A SCHOOL THAT IS DEDICATED SPECIFICALLY TO THIS.

UM, OKAY.

I, THE, THE GENERAL FRUSTRATION BEYOND THIS IS THAT WE CONSISTENTLY GET PRESENTATIONS ON AMAZING IDEAS, BUT IT DOESN'T TAKE TOO MUCH SCRATCHING TO RAISE SIGNIFICANT CONCERNS THAT HAVE NOT BEEN PLANNED FOR JUST LIKE WITH FLAME.

THERE NEEDS TO BE SOME EXPANSION AT FLAME, AND I PERSONALLY BELIEVE IT CAN BE DONE WITHOUT HARMING WESTDALE, BUT AIN'T NO PLANS AND NO STRATEGY BEEN THOUGHT THROUGH, UH, TO, TO ADDRESS IT.

I DON'T KNOW HOW YOU CAN MITIGATE HARM TO MCKINLEY MIDDLE.

UH, MAYBE WE COULD CAN, AND MAYBE THERE WON'T END UP BEING ENROLLMENT PROBLEMS AT MCKINLEY MIDDLE, BUT I DON'T SEE IT.

AND I'VE JUST RAISED CONCERN.

I KNOW THIS IS A GRANT.

I KNOW WHEN IN A CERTAIN PHASE, THIS, THAT, AND A THIRD, UH, I APPRECIATE THE UPDATE, BUT I HAVE TO RAISE THOSE CONCERNS BECAUSE WE HAVEN'T HEARD IT THUS FAR ADDRESSED.

AND I HATE FOR US TO GET TO THE LAST PHASE.

AND THEN, OOPS, WE HAVE A MAJOR PROBLEM.

AND THEN ALSO IN TERMS OF, UH, B R C V P A, HAS THERE BEEN CONVERSATION WITH CSR OR DO WE JUST HAPPEN TO KNOW IN TERMS OF LAND SPACE USAGE AND THEM GETTING THEIR NEW SCHOOL, UH, WITH THE TAX PLAN, THEIR NEW SCHOOL BUILDING, DO WE HAVE SPACE FOR SIX, SEVEN AND EIGHT? IS THERE PART OF WHAT'S ALREADY BEING, IS THERE ROOM TO, UH, HAVE THAT CONVERSATION OF, WELL, MAKE SURE WE DON'T DO THIS, LET'S MAKE SOME ADJUSTMENTS ON THAT.

SO THAT WITH THE, WITH THE HELP OF THIS GRANT, WE CAN, UH, MOVE FORWARD WITHOUT HAVING TO SPEND MORE MONEY, CORRECTING SOME THINGS TO ACCOMMODATE IT.

UM, AND SO I JUST WANTED TO PUT THAT ON THE RECORD THAT, UH, WE REALLY HAVE TO BE CAREFUL NOT TO CAUSE HARM TO OUR STUDENTS.

SO I DON'T WANT NOBODY TO SAY I AIN'T WORRYING ABOUT THE STUDENTS, THE STUDENTS IN THE BUILDINGS RECEIVING THOSE PROGRAMS. THANK YOU.

SORRY.

UH, IF, IF MS. LAWRENCE IS SINCE, UH, THE BOARD'S MAKING COMMENTS, OF COURSE, UM, YOU CAN GO AHEAD AND HAVE A SEAT.

IF HE HAS ANY NUMBERS FOR THE WAITING LIST AND IF HE COULD ADDRESS THE GO WIDER COMMENT, BECAUSE IN SOME OF OUR CONVERSATIONS, MY CONVERSATIONS WITH YOU TAKE IT AWAY.

VICE PRESIDENT COLLINS, MS. WE JACKSON, THANK YOU, MR. TAMAN.

UM, MS. COLLINS MADE SOME OF THE, UH, COMMENTS THAT, THAT I WANTED TO, TO BRING TO YOUR ATTENTION, BUT, UH, ON TOP OF THAT, YOU KNOW, I WANNA REMIND US OF OUR LACK OF A BROADER PLAN FOR THE DISTRICT AND HOW WE MAY BE MOVING FORWARD IN ONE AREA WITHOUT, WITHOUT THAT PLAN.

UM, I WANTED TO, TO ASK ALSO, UH, WHAT'S THE DATE FOR THE REBUILD TO BEGIN ON B R C VPA.

AND IF WE'RE LOOKING TO EXPAND UPWARD WITH A, A HIGHER, UH, GRADE LEVEL, YOU KNOW, DO WE HAVE SPACE FOR THAT, BUT ALSO, YOU KNOW, IF THIS, THIS GRANT WAS BROUGHT TO US TO LOOK AT THE, UM, THE DEMAND THAT SOME OF THESE SCHOOLS ARE, ARE, SOME OF OUR SCHOOLS HAVE, AND THESE TWO ARE SOME OF OUR MOST HIGHLY DEMANDED SCHOOLS, BUT WE SEE THAT THE WAITING LISTS ARE FOR EXISTING CLASSES.

HAVE WE THOUGHT ABOUT EXPANDING OUTWARD, BROAD, BROADER INCREASING THE NUMBER OF, OF CLASSROOMS FOR EXISTING GRADES SO THAT WE CAN FILL THE DEMAND THAT'S COMING IN? WE, EVERY YEAR WE HAVE A WAITING LIST FOR JUST ABOUT EVERY GRADE, UH, THAT EXISTS THERE.

AND, UH, BY DOING THAT, WE WOULD NOT IMPACT THE PROGRAMMING AT, UM, ANY OF THE, THE MIDDLE SCHOOLS THAT ARE ALREADY OFFERING THE SAME, UH, TYPES OF

[00:35:01]

PROGRAMMING.

UM, SO, UM, AND, AND I KNOW THAT, UH, AT LEAST AT ONE OF THESE SCHOOLS, THE, THE LEADERSHIP IS THEY'RE NOT AS AWARE OF, OF EVERYTHING THAT, THAT WE'RE SPEAKING OF, AS WE SAY THAT THEY ARE, AND WITHOUT COMMUNITY INPUT ON ANY OF THESE IDEAS, WE MAY BE RUNNING FORWARD BECAUSE WE HAVE SOME DOLLARS TO DO SOME THINGS THAT WE MIGHT NEED TO THINK A LITTLE BIT MORE ABOUT.

SO I WOULD REALLY, UH, ASK THAT YOU WOULD TAKE A LOOK AT WHAT THOSE WAITING LISTS REALLY LOOK LIKE, BECAUSE I KNOW THERE'S, THERE'S LOTS OF DEMAND.

THERE'S PEOPLE WAITING TO GET IN, ESPECIALLY BR CVPA, UH, FOR THOSE EXISTING GRADES.

AND IF WE WENT WIDE INSTEAD OF HIGHER, WE MAY FILL THAT BILL A WHOLE LOT FASTER.

CUZ IF YOU GO HIGHER, YOU'RE STILL GONNA HAVE THE DEMAND FOR THE CLASSROOM SPACE FOR THE GRADES THAT EXIST NOW.

SO THANK YOU FOR CONSIDERING THOSE THINGS.

THANK YOU, MS. SWEAR, JACKSON, UH, MR. LS, THANK YOU, PRESIDENT.

TAMAN.

UH, I JUST WANTED TO MAKE A QUICK CLARIFYING POINT BECAUSE I HEARD FARS HEIGHT'S, UH, EXPANSION BEING BROUGHT UP.

UH, AND THE CLARIFYING POINT IS THAT THE MIDDLE SCHOOL IS NOT GONNA BE A DESIGNATED MAGNET.

THAT WAS SPECIFICALLY A PART OF THE CONVERSATION THAT WE INITIALLY STARTED.

THE MIDDLE SCHOOL AT FARS HEIGHTS IS GONNA BE A PORTFOLIO SCHOOL.

AND THE REASON BEING IS BECAUSE WE WANT TO ALLOW ACCESS FOR STUDENTS THAT ACTUALLY LIVE INSIDE OF THEIR COMMUNITY, FAR AS HEIGHTS IN ITS, UH, IN ITS BEGINNING, STAGES WAS NEVER DESIGNED TO BE A DESIGNATED MAGNET SCHOOL.

AND SINCE SUCH, WE HAVE TAKEN THAT COMMUNITY COMPONENT AWAY FROM WHAT THE SCHOOL HA WAS, WAS POTENTIALLY CREATED TO BE USED FOR.

UH, AND I JUST WANTED TO BRING THAT UP AS A, AS A, AGAIN, A POINT OF CLARITY BECAUSE I DIDN'T WANT US TO, UH, TO GROUP THAT PARTICULAR INSTANCE IN WHEN THAT JUST MAY NOT HAVE BEEN THE CASE.

SO THANK YOU.

THANK YOU, MR. LANIS.

MS. BERNARD, I JUST WANTED TO ASK THE SUPERINTENDENT

[00:40:06]

UH, BOARD MEMBER, UH, BERNARD, UH, FIRST, LET ME JUST SAY THIS, UH, BECAUSE, UH, UH, LET'S SEE, UH, PRINCIPAL BRIAN AND DR.

WOULD YOU PLEASE STAND LET'S, UH, LET'S FIRST GIVE THESE TWO LEADERS A HAND, THEIR LEADERSHIP AND THEIR WORTH.

UH, THEY ARE, UH, FIERCE ADVOCATES WHO ARE ENSURING GREAT PROGRAMMING IN THEIR SCHOOLS.

AND, UH, THEY'VE BEEN A PART OF THE CONVERSATIONS.

WE BEGAN THAT AS WE, UH, HAVE BEEN EXCITED TO WORK WITH, UH, EMPOWER, WHO'S DONE THIS IN MANY CITIES LIKE DALLAS AND OTHER PLACES TO HELP, UH, HELP TO, UM, EXPAND, UH, GREAT SCHOOLS, UH, IN TERMS OF QUALITY ACROSS THE COUNTRY.

UM, UH, ONE OF THE THINGS, UM, UH, THERE HAS, AS, AS YOU HEARD, MS. LAWRENCE SAID, UH, IN ORDER TO COMPETE FOR THE GRANT, WE HAD TO PROVIDE A NUMBER OF SET OF DATA AND, UH, UH, ALL OF THOSE DATAS HAD TO BE WHERE YOU HAD TO SHOW THAT THE SCHOOL WAS, UH, DEMAND.

UH, ALSO YOU HAD TO SHOW THAT THERE WAS A NUMBER SET OF CRITERIA FOR THAT.

UM, THERE, UH, THE PROPOSAL WAS FOR US TO, UH, MAKE THAT REQUEST ON EXPANSION FROM, UH, PRE-K EIGHT, AS YOU SAW, UH, MS. LAWRENCE SHARED IN HER POWERPOINT AND THEN WORK WITH EMPOWER TO HELP US WITH OUR TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE ON HOW TO ENGAGE OUR COMMUNITY AROUND WHATEVER THE EXPANSION IS.

AND SO WE ARE CURRENTLY IN THE PHASE ONE PROCESS, AS YOU SAW IN THE POWERPOINT PRESENTATION, THERE'S TWO PHASES TO THAT.

AND SO, UM, I KNOW THE, BOARD'S ASKING A LOT OF TECHNICAL QUESTIONS RIGHT NOW.

THERE'S A LOT OF SET OF THINGS THAT HAVE TO HAPPEN, UH, SUCH AS, UH, BEGIN THE ENGAGEMENT OF THE COMMUNITY.

WE'VE ENGAGED WITH SCHOOL LEADERS, UH, THAT ARE GONNA START ENGAGING THE COMMUNITY.

THEY'VE BEEN A PART, UH, OF THE CONVERSATIONS AS SOON AS WE RECEIVE THE GRANT.

AND SO, UH, WE ARE IN INITIAL STAGES IN THAT PROCESS.

AND SO, UH, WE WILL HAVE EVEN MORE DETAILS AS WE COME, UH, COME DOWN.

BUT AS YOU KNOW, UH, ONCE YOU GET THE GRANT AND YOU BEGIN CERTAIN CONVERSATIONS, THEN YOU START BEGINNING ALL THESE, UH, EXPANSION COMPONENTS.

UM, UH, AND ALSO I WOULD SAY, UM, UM, A LOT WAS CONSIDERED IN TERMS OF THE CHOICE OF THESE TWO SCHOOLS.

NOT ONLY BECAUSE THEY'RE MOST UNIQUE, BUT ALSO THERE'S BEEN CLEAR DEMAND FROM FAMILIES AROUND HIGH QUALITY CHOICE OF SCHOOLS ACROSS THE PARISH.

UM, AND SO WE'VE BEEN TRYING TO CREATE MORE QUALITY SEATS AS YOU KNOW, UH, AT SCHOOLS, WHETHER YOU ARE AT BR CVPA, UH, FLAME, UH, WESTDALE.

THESE ARE SOME OF OUR MOST, UH, MCKINLEY, MIDDLE, OR SOME OF OUR MOST DEMANDING SCHOOLS.

WE DON'T HAVE ENOUGH SEATS IN THEM TO PROVIDE SERVICE.

AND SO, UH, THIS IS JUST A WAY TO BEGIN TO PROVIDE MORE OPPORTUNITIES AS WE ARE WORKING TO BALANCE OUT OPPORTUNITIES ACROSS THE ENTIRE SCHOOL DISTRICT.

AND SO, UH, JUST WANTED TO, UH, TELL THE BOARD THERE'S MORE CONVERSATIONS THAT ARE COMING.

UH, WE DON'T WANNA PUT THE CART BEFORE THE HORSE ON EVERYTHING, BUT WE'VE HAD TO GO THROUGH ALL THIS DATA APPROACH BEFORE WE CAN EVEN BE AWARDED THE GRANT.

UH, AND SO WE'RE REALLY EXCITED ABOUT, UH, PROVIDING MORE OPPORTUNITIES ACCORDINGLY.

UH, WE APPRECIATE THE LEADERSHIP OF PRINCIPAL, UH, MCBRIDE AND DR.

MOORE, UH, AT B R CPA AND PRINCIPLE MCBRIDE AT, UM, UH, FLAME, UH, IN TERMS OF ENGAGING.

UH, WE'VE ALSO ENGAGED 'EM A LITTLE BIT, AND THEY'VE BEEN LOCKSTEP KEY AS WE WERE WALKING THROUGH THE PROCESS.

UH, OR, AND AS WE GO THROUGH THE NEXT PHASES, WE'LL BE STARTING TO ENGAGE THE COMMUNITY.

AND SO WE'RE REALLY EXCITED ABOUT, ABOUT THAT.

AND SO, UM, SO ARE YOU SAYING THEN THAT THE, THE PLANS WILL BE DEVELOPED WITH COMMUNITY INPUT AND THAT THESE OPTIONS ARE ON THE TABLE GOING WIDER? YES.

SO THERE'S, THERE'S, THE OPTIONS ARE WIDER.

SO, UH, THE CONVERSATION, WE, WE HAVEN'T FULLY ENGAGED THE COMMUNITY YET BECAUSE WE'VE BEEN WORKING THROUGH OUR PROCESS.

THAT'S A PART OF THE NEXT RIGHT.

THE NEXT STAGES.

UM, AND SO TO GIVE YOU SPECIFICS ON WHICH GRADE, IF WE'RE GONNA EXPAND HERE OR DO THAT, WE'RE JUST NOT AT THAT, THAT STAGE YET.

I UNDERSTAND.

WELL, THANK YOU FOR ADDRESSING THAT.

I REALLY APPRECIATE IT.

UM, CAN I HAVE A MOMENT OF PERSONAL PRIVILEGE, MR. CHAPMAN MAY I WOULD LIKE TO RECOGNIZE THE ESTEEMED MEMBER OF THE 19TH JDC JUDGE, DON JOHNSON, WHO IS SITTING IN THE FRONT ROW.

AND THANK YOU FOR YOUR SERVICE JUDGE, YOUR HONOR.

I DROPPED THE BALL WHEN I FIRST HAD THE MIC, CUZ MY NERVES WAS BAD.

THANK YOU, MS. BERNARD VICE PRESIDENT COLLINS.

MY NAME WAS IN THE QUEUE CUZ

[00:45:01]

I WAS SUPPOSED TO RECOGNIZE JUDGE JUSTIN AND KIND OF, I APPRECIATE YOU FOR PICKING UP THE BALL ON MY BEHALF.

LOOK FOR, UH, ANOTHER QUICK PERSONAL, UH, NOT PERSONAL, EXCUSE ME.

ANOTHER QUICK POINT OF CLARITY.

W WHAT WAS, WHAT'S APPROVED THIS? WE APPLIED FOR WHAT, BECAUSE THE SUPERINTENDENT JUST MENTIONED THAT WE HAVE SOME THINGS TO PLAN AND, AND I, I UNDERSTAND THAT, BUT THEN WE APPLIED FOR WHAT? SO THAT WE FOCUS ON SPECIFICALLY WHAT, IN THIS MOMENT ARE WE SPECIFICALLY SUPPOSED TO BE FOCUSING ON 6, 7, 8 EXPANSION RIGHT NOW AT THOSE TWO SCHOOL SITES? IS THAT WHAT WE APPLIED FOR? AND THAT'S WHAT WE APPROVED TO MOVE FORWARD WITH? YES, MA'AM WE APPLIED FOR, TO HAVE INNOVATIVE PROGRAMS AND TO EXPAND OUR PRE-K PROGRAMS AND ALSO TO MOVE UP A GRADE LEVEL SIXTH, SEVENTH, AND EIGHT, UM, YEAR, LIKE THE FIRST YEAR WOULD BE SIXTH GRADE, SECOND YEAR, SEVENTH GRADE, AND THEN LIKE THAT.

SO THEN WE ARE IN THIS MOMENT BASED ON WHAT WAS APPROVED AND NO AMENDMENT APPLIED FOR AND ALL THAT KIND OF THING.

IN THIS MOMENT, WE ARE MOVING FORWARD WITH PREPARING TO EXPAND 6, 7, 8 GRADE AT B R C VPA AND FLAME.

YES, MA'AM AND PRE AND PRE-K.

VERY GOOD.

THANK YOU, VICE PRESIDENT COLLINS.

WE ARE BACK TO YOUR REPORT SUPERINTENDENT.

UH, YES.

SO JUST ONE FINAL, UM, UH, COMPONENT WE HAVE, UM, UH, FOR MY LAST UPDATE, I WANTED TO INVITE UP JUST BRIEFLY THE ACHIEVED 3000 TEAMS JUST COME UP, UM, AND JUST PRESENT, UH, JUST A FEW SLIDES OF AN OVERVIEW OF, UH, THE ACADEMIC COMPONENT FOR CHILDREN, UH, AS THE BOARD SHARED, UM, AS WE DISCUSS, UH, IT WAS IMPORTANT THAT IN ORDER FOR US TO BE ABLE TO KEEP, UH, WE WANTED TO KEEP CHILDREN FIRST WAS TO LOOK AT THE BENCHMARK ASSESSMENTS THAT OUR CHILDREN TAKE QUARTERLY.

UM, AS YOU KNOW, WE HAD A NET ELA, A NET MATH DIBBS FOR K TO ACHIEVE 3000 IN OUR DREAMBOX FOR MATHEMATICS.

SO WE WANTED TO ALLOW GET YOU THOSE TEAMS TO PROVIDE A REPORT AS STUDENTS ARE TAKING THEIR DIAGNOSTIC.

AND THIS WOULD BE VERY BRIEF.

UM, PRESIDENT HARTMAN, MADAM VICE PRESIDENT COLLINS, DISTINGUISHED BOARD MEMBERS AND, UH, SUPERINTENDENT DR.

NASSEY MY NAME ISM NT, AND I SERVE AS THE, UH, VICE PRESIDENT OF SCHOOL, SCHOOL AND COMMUNITY TRANSFORMATION WITH MCGRAW HILL.

UM, I JUST WANNA TAKE A FEW MINUTES, ACTUALLY INTRODUCE MY TEAM.

WHO'S GONNA BE LEADING US THROUGH THE PRESENTATION TODAY.

UM, I WANNA START ACTUALLY WITH K UM, ANDEN DR.

ANDEN ACTUALLY DU FOUR.

UM, AND DR.

DU FOUR ACTUALLY SERVES AS OUR REGIONAL DIRECTOR HERE IN LOUISIANA.

SHE'S ALSO A NATIVE OF, OF THE STATE OF LOUISIANA.

SHE LIVES IN NEW ORLEANS.

UH, SHE'S A FORMER PROFESSOR AT LSU.

UM, AND THEN NEXT I WANT TO INTRODUCE, UH, UH, TIFFANY GLASSER.

UH, TIFFANY SERVES AS OUR REGIONAL, UH, REGIONAL VP OF CUSTOMER ADVOCACY.

AND IT'S REALLY FOCUSED AROUND, YOU KNOW, UH, THE TEAM OF, UH, CUSTOMER ADVOCATES THAT WORK WITH ALL OUR SCHOOL PARTNERS AROUND THE COUNTRY.

AND, UM, SHE HAS A SMALL GROUP THAT'S DEDICATED TO THE WORK THAT WE'RE DOING AT, UH, EAST BATON ROUGE AS WELL.

AND, UM, SHE'S GONNA BE PRESENTING AS WELL.

AND THEN LAST BUT NOT THE LEAST, I WANT TO INTRODUCE YOU TO DR.

COURTNEY BROWN.

I'M SURE MOST OF YOU ACTUALLY KNOW DR.

BROWN.

UM, SHE'S A, A NATIVE HERE, A LOUISIANA.

SHE TAUGHT IN THE SCHOOLS HERE IN LOUISIANA.

UM, AND SHE'S CURRENTLY TEACHING AS WELL AS AT LSU.

UH, HER FOCUS IS AROUND READING ACROSS THE CONTENT.

SO I'LL BE AVAILABLE, UM, AGAIN, TO ANSWER ANY ADDITIONAL QUESTIONS, BUT I'M GONNA HAND OVER TO MY TEAM TO ACTUALLY DO THE PRESENTATION.

IS ALSO WORD STUDIO, WHICH PROVIDES, UH, FOUNDATIONAL LEARNING SKILLS FOR STUDENTS IN SECONDARY SCHOOL.

GOOD EVENING, EVERYONE.

WE ARE EXCITED AND DELIGHTED TO BE HERE WITH YOU TODAY TO KIND OF SHARE WITH YOU SOME INFORMATION ABOUT THE, UH, DYNAMIC DUO OF DIGITAL LITERACY PLATFORMS, UH, BOTH EVIDENCE BASED, AND THAT IS NOTHING OTHER THAN SMARTY ANTS AND ACHIEVE 3000, UH, LITERACY.

AND SO THEN SMARTY ANTS IS PRIMARILY DESIGNED FOR STUDENTS IN PRE-K THROUGH SECOND GRADES, UH, AND IT IS A MULTISENSORY CUSTOMIZED LEARNING PATHWAY FOR STUDENTS THAT MOVES THEM FROM LEARNING TO READ TO THEN READING, TO LEARN, AND THEN ACHIEVE 3000 LITERACIES PRIMARILY FOR STUDENTS IN THREE THROUGH 12TH GRADES.

UH, AND IT PROVIDES DIFFERENTIATED READING INSTRUCTION FOR STUDENTS, COMPLEX TEXTS ON THEIR JUST RIGHT READING LEVEL, UH, AND INCLUDED WITHIN THAT PLATFORM FOR YOUR KNOWLEDGE

[00:50:01]

IN ADDITION TO THE WRITING CENTER, IN ADDITION TO THE CAREER CENTER, WHICH MAKES A TANGIBLE CONNECTION FOR US BETWEEN LEXI, WHICH COULD FOR STUDENTS BE A VERY ELUSIVE TERM EVASIVE TERM, UH, IT CONNECTS THAT TO WHAT THEY WANT TO BE WHEN THEY GROW UP.

IN ADDITION TO SEVERAL DIFFERENT COLLECTIONS, TO INCLUDE A WHOLE LOT OF INFORMATION AND TEST PREP INSIDE OF THE PLATFORM ALREADY INCLUDED FOR YOU.

AND THEN HERE ARE A FEW QUICK FACTS ABOUT WHAT WE ACTUALLY DID LAST YEAR WHEN WE ARE ON CAMPUSES.

I WANNA POINT OUT TO YOU THAT HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS OF LESSONS WERE COMPLETED LAST YEAR AND OF YOUR CAMPUSES.

47 OF THEM EXCEEDED EXPECTED LEXI GROWTH.

OVERALL, WE HAD, UH, LEXI GAINS OF 90.

AND WE'RE GONNA TALK ABOUT THAT A LITTLE BIT LATER WHEN WE DIG INTO THE DATA.

SO HOW DID WE DO THIS LAST YEAR IN PARTICULAR, WE ALIGNED OUR IMPLEMENTATION WITH YOUR ALREADY EXISTING STRATEGIC ALIGNMENT PLAN, SPECIFICALLY IN THE AREAS OF CORNERSTONES ONE, TWO AND FOUR.

AND SO WHERE STUDENT ACHIEVEMENT WAS CONCERNED, WE, UH, APPROACHED THE DISTRICTWIDE LITERACY APPROACH BY PROVIDING ALIGNMENTS TO SOCIAL STUDIES AND ENGLISH TEACHERS TO ASSIST THEM IN INTEGRATING VARIOUS SMOOTHLY, ACHIEVED 3000 INTO THEIR ALREADY EXISTING CURRICULUM.

THAT WAY IT DIDN'T FEEL LIKE SOMETHING ELSE THAT THEY HAD TO DO.

UH, SECONDARILY, UH, WITH OUR PARTNERSHIP, OUR COMMUNITY PARTNERSHIP WITH EDU INC.

UH, WE PROVIDED TO OVER 6,500 STUDENTS AT BOTH CAREER FAIRS, THE OPPORTUNITY TO APPLY TO 60 HBCUS FOR THE LOW, LOW PRICE OF $20.

AND THEN FINALLY, MOST OF THE MEAT OF THE WORK THAT WE DID LAST YEAR WAS ON CAMPUSES, NOT JUST TRAINING TEACHERS, NOT JUST TRAINING PRINCIPALS, NOT JUST HAVING LEADERSHIP MEETINGS, BUT SIDE BY SIDE WITH TEACHERS MODELING IN THE CLASSROOM FOR THEM.

HERE'S JUST A HIGH LEVEL LOOK AND OUR SMARTY SMARTYANTS PERFORMANCE DATA.

I WANNA DRAW YOUR ATTENTION TO OUR PRE-K STUDENTS.

I KNOW WE'VE BEEN TALKING A LOT ABOUT EARLY LITERACY, AND YOU'LL SEE HERE ON THIS PARTICULAR SLIDE THAT STUDENTS WHO ENTERED ON PRE-K LEVEL BY THE END OF THE ACADEMIC YEAR, 430, 1 OF THOSE STUDENTS MOVED TO KINDERGARTEN LEVEL.

I WANNA POINT OUT TO YOU THAT 23 OF THOSE STUDENTS MOVED TO FIRST GRADE LEVEL.

AND THEN WE HAD ONE STUDENT WHO ACTUALLY MOVED TO SECOND GRADE LEVEL FROM PRE-K.

A LOT OF OUR STUDENTS ALSO FINISHED THE SCOPE AND SEQUENCE WITHIN SMARTY ANTS AND THOSE STUDENTS WHO FINISHED THAT SECOND GRADE, WE MOVED THEM RIGHT INTO ACHIEVED 3000 LITERACY WITHOUT DELAY, UH, AND ALSO FOR TEACHERS AT THE DISCRETION OF TEACHERS AND PRINCIPALS ON CAMPUSES WHO THOUGHT THAT MAYBE SOME OF THEIR THIRD THROUGH FIFTH GRADE STUDENTS NEEDED MORE ASSISTANCE.

WE PROVIDED THAT THROUGH SMARTY ANSWER AS WELL.

AND SO I'M GONNA CALL UP MY COLLEAGUE HERE AND TAG IN ON SOME DATA.

GOOD EVENING.

SO HERE YOU SEE WHAT, WHAT WE DID WITH THE IMPLEMENTATION.

COURTNEY JUST TALKED ABOUT WHAT WAS THE IMPACT? SO, ONE THING ABOUT LITERACY IS WE LOOK AT NOT ONLY JUST HOW OFTEN ARE THE STUDENTS USING, HOW ARE THE STUDENTS ACTUALLY PERFORMING? WE DON'T WANT STUDENTS ON A PROGRAM WHEN THE QUALITY IS ACTUALLY LOW.

WE WANT YOU TO GO IN AND ACTUALLY BE SUCCESSFUL WHEN YOU SHOULD COMPLETE THE LESSONS.

SO OVERALL AS A DISTRICT ELEMENTARY TO HIGH SCHOOL, THE AVERAGE LEXI GROWTH FOR THE DISTRICT WAS 83 LEXI POINTS.

THAT WAS WHAT WE EXPECTED YOUR STUDENTS TO GROW.

YOU ACTUALLY GREW 90 LEXI POINTS.

SO AS A DISTRICT, YOU EXCEEDED THE LEXI GROWTH.

THEN WE LOOK AT DIFFERENT SUB POPS, JUST LOOKING AT USAGE FOR STUDENTS WHO LOGGED IN CONSISTENTLY ONE LESSON A WEEK, DIDN'T MATTER WHAT THE QUALITY WAS, DIDN'T MATTER, THEIR GRADE LEVEL, WHAT WAS THEIR LEXI GROWTH? THEY ACTUALLY GREW 116 LEXI POINTS.

AND TO PUT THAT IN PERSPECTIVE, UM, IN YOUR PACKAGE, YOU WILL HAVE A LEXI CHART.

AND WHEN YOU'RE LOOKING AT TRIPLE DIGIT LEXI GAINS, YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT GRADE LEVELS GROWTH.

SO WE HA GO AHEAD.

CAN YOU TELL RAY WHAT, WHAT LEXI IS? UH, LEX SAL IS THE READING MEASURE DEVELOPED BY METAMETRICS TO TRACK, UM, TO STANDARDIZE TRACKING LEXI READING GROWTH.

LESSON A WEEK AT 75% ARE HIGHER, 208 LEXIO POINT GAIN FOR THOSE STUDENTS.

SO, UH, WE HAD SEVERAL STUDENTS IN THE DISTRICT WHO ACTUALLY, WE HAVE SOME STUDENTS, IF WE'RE BEING HONEST, THAT ARE GRADE LEVELS BEHIND, WE'RE TALKING 4, 5, 6 GRADE LEVELS BEHIND.

SO WHEN YOU SEE STUDENTS MOVING THROUGH THIS PROGRAM, YOU'RE STARTING ON A SECOND GRADE LEVEL AND YOU'RE IN EIGHTH GRADE AND YOU'RE ENDING ON A SEVENTH GRADE LEVEL.

THAT IS TO BE CELEBRATED.

YOU'RE NOT WHERE YOU NEED TO BE, BUT YOU ARE CERTAINLY HEADED IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION.

AND SO WHEN WE LOOK AT STUDENTS WHO JUST, WHEN YOU GET ON, YOU MAY NOT BE GETTING ON CONSISTENTLY, BUT WHEN YOU GET ON, YOU'RE PERFORMING WITH QUALITY, MEANING 75% OR HIGHER ON YOUR FIRST TRI SCORE, THOSE STUDENTS GREW 153 LEXI STYLE POINTS.

LOOK BACK AT WHAT WE SET THE EXPECTED GROWTH SHOULD BE 83 LEXI STYLE POINTS.

YOU'VE GOT STUDENTS GROWING 153 LEXI STYLE POINTS.

AND THEN WHEN YOU PUT THE TWO TOGETHER, UH, USAGE AND PERFORMANCE, ONE

[00:55:01]

YOU HAD OVER 2000 STUDENTS DO THAT.

SO THAT'S TWO AND A HALF TIMES THE EXPECTED GROWTH.

AND THEN FOR YOUR STUDENTS WHO WERE GOT ON TWO LESSONS OR MORE A WEEK AT 75% OR HIGHER, THEIR LEXI GAINS WERE EVEN MORE, UM, OBVIOUSLY TWO ARE GONNA 45 FLEXILE POINTS.

AND SO THEN WE LOOK AT THAT'S JUST OVERALL AS A DISTRICT.

HOW DOES THAT LOOK, DEMOGRAPHICALLY AND ACADEMICALLY? SO THE GOAL OF ACHIEVE IS WE WANT STUDENTS TO BE READY FOR COLLEGE OR CAREER, WHATEVER YOU WANNA DO.

AND WE WANT THEM TO KNOW THAT REGARDLESS OF WHAT YOU DO, IT IS TIED TO A LEXI LEVEL.

YOU NEED TO KNOW HOW TO READ REGARDLESS OF WHAT YOU WANNA DO.

SO IF YOU LOOK AT, UH, THE FIRST GROUP OF STUDENTS AT CCR COLLEGE AND CAREER READ, AND AS STUDENTS WHO FELL FAR BELOW AND YOU LOOK AT HOW DID THEY GROW IF THEY AVERAGED ONE LESSON A WEEK WOULD QUALITY OF 65 TO 74% OR HIGHER, 182 LEXIO POINT GROWTH.

SO THOSE STUDENTS WHO WERE FAR BELOW, WE WANT YOU TO GROW THE MOST TO ACCELERATE YOUR GROWTH.

UM, AND THEN THERE STUDENTS WHO WERE APPROACHING GREW 81 LEXILE POINTS, AND THE STUDENTS WHO ARE MEETING YOU DO NOTICE THAT THERE IS NOTHING POPULATED FOR EXCEED CCR.

UH, WE DID NOT DO MAGNET LAST YEAR, BUT THAT IS SOMETHING COURTNEY'S GONNA TALK ABOUT AS A FOCUS FOR ACCELERATING STUDENTS WHO ARE ABOVE LEVEL, HOW TO PUSH THEM FURTHER, UH, UH, UM, ABOVE THAT.

AND THEN WE LOOKED AT, UH, FEMALE AND MALE USAGE WAS ACTUALLY EQUAL.

THEY EQUALLY LOGGED IN THE SAME FEMALES, UM, ACTUALLY PERFORM A LITTLE MORE ADVANCED IN QUALITY OVER THE MALES, AND THEN LOOKING AT THE DEMOGRAPHICS BY, UH, RACE, ETHNICITY, UM, HISPANICS AND AFRICAN AMERICANS HAD THE MOST GROWTH IN THE DISTRICT.

UM, AND THERE'S SOMETHING WE DID WANNA POINT OUT WAS WITH OUR LS.

THEY HAD THE LEAST GROWTH.

SO ONE THING WE WANNA TARGET THIS YEAR IS FOUR YEAR STUDENTS WHO ARE ENGLISH LANGUAGE LEARNERS, HOW WILL WE SUPPORT THEM? WHAT WILL WE DO TO DIG DEEPER AND NOT JUST IN THE PROGRAM? HOW CAN WE SUPPORT WHAT'S HAPPENING IN THE ENTIRE INSTRUCTIONAL DAY, COURTNEY, YOU WANNA COME CELEBRATE SOME HIGHLIGHTS? I LOVE CELEBRATIONS BEFORE WE GET TO THIS SLIDE, I HAVE TO SHOUT OUT, UH, GLEN OAKS HIGH SCHOOL.

I WAS THERE WITH THEM, SPEAKING OF GROWTH AND BIG, BIG GROWTH.

UH, THEY ACTUALLY GREW THE STUDENTS WHO ARE, WHO ARE HIGH FIDELITY, 5.9 TIMES LEXI GROWTH.

SO IF YOU ROUND THAT UP TO SIX, THAT'S TWO GRADE LEVELS FOR THOSE STUDENTS WHO ARE ACTUALLY THERE, UH, WORKING IN THE PLATFORM.

SO THESE ARE JUST SOME IMPLEMENTATION HIGHLIGHTS ACROSS THE DISTRICT.

WHAT I WANT YOU TO NOTE ABOUT THIS SLIDE IS EVERY REGION IS REPRESENTED AND IT'S NOT JUST ONE TYPE OF SCHOOL.

IT'S NOT JUST MAGNETS, NOT JUST TRADITIONAL, EVERYBODY WAS INCLUDED HERE.

AND THAT'S WHAT HAPPENS IN THE USAGE OF ACHIEVE 3000 LITERACY.

SO WHAT IS OUR IMPACT AT THIS POINT ON TEACHERS AND LEADERS? THIS JUST KIND OF HIGHLIGHTS SOME OF THE STUFF THAT IT'S VERY, VERY HARD TO TALK ABOUT.

EVERY LITTLE THING THAT WE DID, I ALREADY TALKED ABOUT THE ALIGNMENTS.

UH, I SPOKE ABOUT THE CAREER FAIR THAT WE WERE AT.

WE'VE BEEN AT ALL THE LITERACY NIGHTS.

IF CHECK SOME OF THE PICTURES WE WERE IN THEM WITH COACH AN AND THE STUDENTS.

UM, WE ENDED UP BEING OUR KEYNOTE KEYNOTE SPEAKER AT THE LITERACY COACHES, TEACHERS FAIR.

AND WE DID ALL OF THOSE THINGS IN ORDER TO ASSIST THE IMPLEMENTATION OF OUR PROGRAM.

WE DO SEVERAL DROP-INS.

WE CELEBRATE WHAT'S GOING ON ON CAMPUSES.

SO WHAT WE DECIDED GOING FORWARD IS TO SET SPECIFIC TARGETS FOR EACH SECTION OF OUR SCHOOL SYSTEM HERE.

SO ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS YOU'LL SEE, UH, MIDDLE SCHOOLS, HIGH SCHOOLS, EVERYWHERE THAT YOU SEE THE ACTUAL GROWTH FROM LAST YEAR, WE ARE ADDING ABOUT 20 LEXIO GROWTH POINTS TO THAT AS A TARGET.

NOW, MOST OF YOUR SCHOOLS ARE GOING TO EXCEED THAT BECAUSE THEY DID IT LAST YEAR AS WELL.

UH, IN ADDITION TO THAT, WE ARE ALSO TARGETING OUR EIGHTH GRADE BECAUSE WE KNOW THAT THOSE EIGHTH GRADERS ARE MOVING INTO PATHWAYS TO BRIGHT FUTURES, DUAL ENROLLMENT, INDUSTRY STANDARD, ALL OF THOSE KIND OF THINGS.

SO WE WANNA MAKE SURE THAT WE ARE PROVIDING SPECIFIC SUPPORTS TO THEM AS WELL.

THANK YOU SO MUCH.

UH, BOARD MEMBER DYSON.

IT NO RIGHT AHEAD.

SORRY, WORD TERM DOES, SORRY.

OH, THANK YOU SO MUCH.

I AM JUST THRILLED.

LITERACY HAS BEEN A FOCUS OF MINE FOR A, QUITE A LONG TIME, AND I'VE KNOWN THAT WE HAVE AN UNDER-IDENTIFIED POPULATION OF STUDENTS WITH READING CHALLENGES.

MM-HMM SO I AM SO PROUD OF THE LITERACY WORK THAT WE'RE DOING ACROSS THIS DISTRICT, EVERY SUBGROUP, AND THAT WE'RE EVEN GOING TO INCLUDE THOSE THAT ARE ON LEVEL TO REACH THEIR HIGHEST POTENTIAL.

UM, I AM, UH, I'M, I'M, I'M ESPECIALLY EXCITED ABOUT THIS SCHOOL YEAR BECAUSE I THINK WE CLEARED UP SOME THINGS ABOUT THE TIME SPENT ON THE ACHIEVE 3000 AND, AND THAT 90 MINUTES, UH, NOT BEING ABLE TO BE USED FOR

[01:00:01]

A GRADE.

AND NOW IT HAS BEEN APPROVED THAT THOSE, THE TEACHERS CAN USE THIS.

AND SO THE STUDENTS NOW KNOW THERE IS SOMETHING TO, UH, GAIN IMMEDIATELY WITH A GRADE.

AND SO THEY, I BELIEVE THIS YEAR WILL BE EVEN MORE FOCUSED ON DOING THE WORK.

AND SO I'M JUST THRILLED.

AND I CAN'T WAIT UNTIL THIS POINT, UH, WHEN YOU COULD COME BACK AND SHOW US SOME, UH, ACTIVITY THAT'S HAPPENING WITHIN THIS SCHOOL YEAR ALONG THE WAY, AND HOPEFULLY NOT WAIT A YEAR, BUT SEE IT ALONG THE WAY.

THANK YOU SO MUCH.

I APPRECIATE, APPRECIATE THIS PRESENTATION AND YOUR HARD WORK.

THANK YOU, MS. DIN, UH, MR. HOWARD, THANK YOU.

THANK YOU, PRESIDENT HAVING, UM, SO I THINK MY QUESTION IS, UH, THANK YOU GUYS FOR THE PRESENTATION FOR THE INFORMATION.

UM, I'VE HEARD SOME POSITIVE IS MY MICHAEL, CAN YOU HEAR ME OKAY.

UM, I'VE HEARD SOME POSITIVE FEEDBACK AS IT RELATES TO, UH, CHIEF OF 2000 AND THE PROGRAMMATIC PIECE.

I THINK MY QUESTION IS MORE SO FOR STAFF, UM, AND OUR ACADEMIC TEAM.

UH, ONE OF THE THINGS THAT YOU GUYS MENTIONED IN YOUR PRESENTATION WAS THAT YOU SAW BASED OFF OF USAGE THAT STUDENTS PERFORM WELL WHEN THEY USED IT MORE.

SO HOW DO WE PLAN AS AN ACADEMIC TEAM TO IMPLEMENT MORE USAGE, TO SEE MORE GROWTH FROM OUR STUDENTS? SO, UH, YEAH, BOARD MEMBER HOWARD, THANK YOU FOR THAT QUESTION.

ONE OF THE THINGS, UH, THAT WE HAVE BEEN DOING HAS BEEN WORKING WITH PRINCIPALS, UH, SINCE SUMMER LEADERSHIP AND PARTNERSHIP WITH ACHIEVE 3000, ALL THE PARTNERS THAT WE HAVE HAD TO CREATE ACTION PLANS AT SCHOOLS, WHERE THERE IS PROGRESS MONITORING THAT'S HAPPENING AND ALSO SUPPORT WITHIN COACHES AND COACHES WHO WORK WITH TEACHERS IN THE CLASSROOM ON, UH, MAKING SURE THAT ONE THERE'S BUY-IN INTO THE, TO THE WORK, BUT ALSO FOR THEM TO BE THINKING THROUGH ABOUT, UH, HOW THEY CAN SEE THE CONNECTION BETWEEN THIS AND GROWTH.

UH, I WANT TO CREDIT TEACHERS TOO, CUZ YOU CAN GET ANY PLATFORM YOU WANT, BUT TEACHERS, UH, BUY-IN MAKES A DIFFERENCE.

UM, BECAUSE THIS BOARD HAS BEEN CONSISTENT ON, UH, KEEPING, UH, SPECIFIC, UM, UH, ASSESSMENTS AND THOSE THINGS WE'VE GIVEN OUR TEACHERS NOW TIME TO GET BETTER WITH THE PLATFORMS. UH, AND THE BOTTOM HAS BEEN EVEN MORE.

I THINK WHAT I HOPE PEOPLE HAVE HEARD IS THAT KIDS ARE GROWING IN READING, WHICH HAS MADE A HUGE DIFFERENCE TO SHOW THAT WE HAVE, YOU KNOW, WE'RE NOT OUR, THE SCORES THAT YOU SAW IN OUR STATE ASSESSMENT ARE AS NOT BY LUCK, WE ARE DOING IT INTENTIONALLY.

UH, AND WE BELIEVE THAT THOSE SCORES WILL DO EVEN BETTER THIS YEAR BECAUSE OF THE CONSISTENCY.

AND SO THE, THE ACTION PLANS, PROGRESS MONITORING, AND ALSO, UH, GIVING TEACHERS MORE TIME TO KIND OF WORK AND FIGURE OUT, UH, HAVING MORE CONVERSATION AROUND PLATFORM AND CONTENT IS WHAT OUR WORK HAS BEEN.

AND SO, UH, THAT HAS BEEN THE WORK THAT WE'VE BEEN.

AND WE HAVE, I KNOW WE'VE GOTTEN EXCITED ABOUT THIS WORK.

WE STILL HAVE A LONG WAY TO GO.

I TELL FOLKS, YOU KNOW, IT'S, UH, WE'RE GOING INTO ANOTHER YEAR OF CONSISTENCY FOR TEACHERS.

AND SO THEY'LL GET BETTER OVER TIME AND WE EXPECT THESE SCORES TO GO UP AND WE WILL BE BRING BACK.

UM, WE WILL BE BRINGING BACK EACH OF THESE, UH, GROUPS TO SHOW THE ACTUAL DATA FOR PERFORMANCE RIGHT NOW, KIDS JUST TOOK THE DIAGNOSTIC, WHICH IS THE BASELINE.

SO WE CAN SEE HOW THEY DID OVER THE SUMMER.

UM, AS THIS BOARD APPROVED US TO DO SUMMER PROGRAMMING, WE HAD THOSE KIDS WHO DO THAT, BUT WE ALSO HAD KIDS WHO DID NOT ATTEND.

SO WE'RE TRYING TO MAKE SURE THAT WE DO THAT AND ALSO WORK WITH, UH, THOSE WHO, UH, KIDS.

WE ALSO HAD KIDS WHO HAVE NOT COME TO SCHOOL.

SO WE'RE WORKING WITH THEM TO TRY TO MAKE SURE THEY ARE ALSO CONNECTING.

AND LAST I WOULD SAY IS WE'RE ALSO, UH, ALLOWING DATED SHARED AGREEMENTS AROUND KIDS PERFORMANCE DATA WITH OUR AFTERSCHOOL PARTNERS.

SO THEY ACTUALLY HAVE THESE SAME DATA SETS.

SO WHEN THEY'RE PROVIDING TUTORING AND THOSE TYPE OF SUPPORT, THEY TOO CAN DO THAT.

UH, APPRECIATE THE BATON ROUGE AREA YOUTH NETWORK, UH, THE BRAIN, WHICH HAS ONE 90 PARTNERS THAT ARE PARTNERING IN DIFFERENT PARTS OF SCHOOLS.

SO IT'S A, IT'S A FULL WRAPAROUND APPROACH ON DOING THIS IS JUST NOT ONLY ON THE TEACHERS.

NO, I APPRECIATE THAT.

UH, I USED TO WORK FOR CITY OR BAND ROUGE AND SO WE USE, WE USE THE DATA SHARE AGREEMENT TO LOOK AT STUDENTS LIKE ACTUAL DATA.

SO WHEN WE HAD THEM AFTER SCHOOL OR IN OUTSIDE PROGRAMMING TO HELP THEM MOVE.

SO THAT REALLY, UM, HELPS.

UM, SO I WOULD ALSO JUST LOVE TO SEE, UM, COMPARATIVE THE NEXT TIME YOU GUYS PRESENT LIKE AN ACTUAL ACTION PLAN VERSUS LIKE HOW DO THEY INCREASE USAGE? HOW DO THEY DO WHATEVER? AND WHAT WERE THE OUTCOMES OF THAT? SO WE CAN THINK ABOUT, I THINK FROM AN ACADEMIC STANDPOINT, SOMETIME WE HAVE A LOT OF MISSED OPPORTUNITIES.

WE HAVE THINGS THAT ARE WORKING, BUT WE'RE NOT BEING REALLY INTENTIONAL ABOUT HOW WE ARE LIKE PLUGGING THEM IN ON A EVERYDAY BASIS.

SO JUST THANK YOU GUYS FOR THAT US.

UH, MR. HOWARD, DO YOU HAVE ANYBODY ELSE YOU'D LIKE TO CALL ON? NOPE.

THAT, THAT IS MY REPORT.

AND THANK YOU, PRESIDENT CHAPMAN.

NO.

IS THAT YOUR REPORT? YES, PRESIDENT.

THANK YOU ALL FOR BEING HERE YOU SO MUCH.

AND UH, THANK YOU FOR OUR PARTNERS AT DOE.

THANK YOU ALL FOR BEING HERE TO SEE.

AND IF WE COULD JUST GIVE OUR TEACHERS A HAND FOR DOING THIS WORK, THE OTHER ONES THAT REALLY THANK

[01:05:03]

F ONE REPORTS FROM BOARD OF APPOINTEES COMMITTEE AGENCIES, ANY, UH, MR. ODE.

NAIS, WE MOVE NOW

[E1. Public Notice: Intent to Call Election]

TO ITEM E ONE.

UH, PUBLIC NOTICE INTEND TO CALL AN ELECTION NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN THAT AT ITS MEETING TO BE HELD ON THURSDAY, OCTOBER 20TH, 2022 AT 5:00 PM AT ITS REGULAR MEETING PLACE, THE EAST BATON ROUGE PARISH SCHOOL BOARD OFFICE 10 50 SOUTH FOSTER DRIVE, BATON ROUGE, LOUISIANA, THE PARISH SCHOOL BOARD OF THE PARISH OF EAST BATON ROUGE, STATE OF LOUISIANA PLANS TO CONSIDER ADOPTING A RESOLUTION ORDERING AND CALLING AN ELECTION TO BE HELD IN CONSOLIDATED SCHOOL DISTRICT.

NUMBER ONE OF THE PARISH OF EAST BATON ROUGE, STATE OF LOUISIANA TO AUTHOR AUTHORIZE THE RENEWAL OF AD VALOREM TAXES THEREIN.

DO I HAVE A MOTION? OH, YOU DON'T NEED ONE? THAT'S UH, WELL, ALL RIGHT, WELL, NO MOTIONS.

HOW ABOUT THAT? OKAY, SO WE MOVE NOW TO ITEM

[F1. Board Appointees]

UH, THANK YOU, UH, PRESIDENT TAMAN.

I WOULD JUST LIKE TO ANNOUNCE THAT THE VOLUNTEERS AND PUBLIC SCHOOLS, UH, HAS A WONDERFUL WAY FOR EVERYONE IN THE PARISH TO PARTICIPATE IN THIS EFFORT, THEY WILL BE PARTNERING WITH CHICK-FIL-A FOR VI'S SPIRIT DAY.

SO ON THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 29TH, THIS COMING, UH, THIS COMING SEPTEMBER 29TH, BETWEEN NOON AND 10:00 PM.

EVERYTHING YOU BUY AT THE CHICK-FIL-A AT BURBANKS AND BEN, HER DRIVE 20% OF THE SALE WILL BE CONTRIBUTED TO OUR VIPS PROGRAM.

UH, SO, UH EVERYONE OUT THERE.

I KNOW EVERYONE LOVES CHICK-FIL-A.

SO IF YOU WANT TO GO BUY BEN HER AND, UM, BURBANK ON SEPTEMBER 29TH, UH, AND BY CHICK-FIL-A FOR YOU AND YOUR FAMILY, 20% OF THAT TAB WILL GO TO VIPS.

SO YOUR CONTRIBUTIONS WOULD BE GREATLY APPRECIATED.

THANK YOU, MR. GODDA.

AND IF YOU THOUGHT CHICK-FIL-A WAS CROWDED BEFORE, WAIT TILL NOW, HUH? THANK YOU.

I APPRECIATE THAT.

GO OUT AND SUPPORT VIPS PLEASE.

MR. HOWARD.

PRESIDENT'S HEADMAN.

UM, SO I, UH, AM THE ADVISORY BOARD MEMBER FOR ICARE, AND SO WE HAVE THREE PROGRAMMATIC THINGS THAT ARE COMING UP OVER THE NEXT COUPLE OF WEEKS.

UM, SO FIRST IS TOMORROW, SEPTEMBER THE 16TH FROM 10 TO TWO AT THE STATE FORUM ON 70 35, 0% HIGHWAY.

UM, THERE IS A CAR SEAT SAFETY CHECK.

SO IF YOU NEED TO GET CAR SEATS INSPECTED FOR STU UH, SCHOOL, UH, FOR STUDENTS WHO ARE RIDING IN CAR SEATS, WHO NEED TO GET 'EM PROFESSIONALLY INSTALLED, THAT'LL BE HAPPENING TOMORROW AT SEPTEMBER 16TH, 10 TO TWO.

ALL OF THESE GRAPHICS WILL BE AVAILABLE TO THE COMS FOLKS, SO YOU CAN SEE IT ON OUR WEBSITE.

THE SECOND PIECE IS A BIKE TO SCHOOL DAY.

UM, SO WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER THE FIFTH AT 7:30 AM AT WEB PARK, THERE WILL BE AN ACTUAL BIKE RIDE FROM BIKING FROM THE PARK TO SCHOOLS.

UM, AND THEN THE LAST BUT NOT LEAST IS ON OCTOBER THE 29TH FROM TWO TO FIVE AT THE U CITY, UH, LAB ON GOVERNMENT 43, 85 GOVERNMENT STREET IS WHERE WE'RE HOSTING OUR ANNUAL TRUNK OF TREAT.

SO, UM, ALL OF THIS INFORMATION WILL BE AVAILABLE TO YOU ON THE EBR SOCIAL MEDIA HANDBOOK.

THANK YOU, MR. HOWARD, MR. LANDIS.

THANK YOU, PRESIDENT TAMAN.

I JUST WANTED TO SHOUT OUT, UH, OUR FOUNDATION SYSTEM, UH, OF THE STAR, UH, FOUNDATION FOR OUR SYSTEM.

THEY'RE DOING SOME AMAZING WORK RIGHT NOW.

UH, RIGHT NOW IT WAS CURRENTLY STANDS.

WE WENT THROUGH THE STRATEGIC PLAN.

I GOT, I THINK THEY GOT A CHANCE TO SHOW IT TO EVERYONE.

WE MET AT THE MAIN LIBRARY AND WE JUST DEEP OUT DOVE INTO, UH, SEVERAL DIFFERENT AVENUES OF HOW WE CAN NOT ONLY CREATE MORE ENERGY AROUND OUR COMMUNITY TO GET MORE PEOPLE INVOLVED IN, UH, DONATING AND GIVING BACK TO OUR SCHOOL SYSTEM, BUT ALSO ABOUT HOW DO WE BUILD MORE, UH, SYNERGY AROUND OUR COMMUNITY, WORKING WITH OUR BUSINESSES, LOCAL, UH, PARTNERS AND ORGANIZATIONS.

SO I JUST WANTED TO SHOUT OUT THE TEAM, THEY'RE DOING SOME PHENOMENAL WORK AND, UH, I WANT TO SEE THEM TO CONTINUE TO MOVE THE NEEDLE.

NOW TO, UH, ITEM G ONE, UH, RESOLUTIONS, UH, MS. WE JACKSON, THANK YOU, MR. TAMAN.

THANK YOU, MR. MICHEL, LANDON.

UH, THANK YOU FOR INCLUDING US IN ON THOSE, UH, SMALL GROUP MEETINGS TO LEARN WHAT'S GOING ON WITH THE FOUNDATION.

WE MOVE

[G1. Resolution: Attendance Awareness]

AND I WILL READ THE RESOLUTION ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD RESOLUTION ENDORSING SEPTEMBER, 2022 AS ATTENDANCE AWARENESS MONTH.

WHEREAS THE EAST BATON ROUGE PARISH SCHOOL SYSTEM IS FOCUSED ON STUDENT ATTENDANCE AND ENGAGEMENT AND IS COMMITTED TO ENSURING ALL STUDENTS HAVE AN EQUITABLE OPPORTUNITY TO LEARN, GROW, AND THRIVE.

AND WHEREAS GOOD SCHOOL ATTENDANCE IS ESSENTIAL TO STUDENT ACHIEVEMENT AND GRADUATION.

WHEREAS STUDENTS ARE MORE LIKELY TO ATTEND WHEN THESE

[01:10:01]

FOUR CONDITIONS FOR LEARNING ARE PRESENT PHYSICAL AND EMOTIONAL HEALTH AND SAFETY, A SENSE OF BELONGING, CONNECTION AND SUPPORT, ACADEMIC CHALLENGE AND ENGAGEMENT AND ADULTS AND PEERS WITH SOCIAL EMOTIONAL COMPETENCY.

AND WHEREAS PARTNERING WITH STUDENTS, FAMILY SCHOOLS AND COMMUNITIES WILL ENABLE STRONGER SUPPORTS TO ENGAGE STUDENTS IN LEARNING WHETHER IN PERSON OR REMOTE AND WHEREAS UNDERSTANDING AND ADDRESSING BARRIERS TO ATTENDANCE REQUIRES BUILDING AND SUSTAINING CARING RELATIONSHIPS AND REGULAR COMMUNICATIONS IN THE HOME LANGUAGE, SPOKEN BY STUDENTS AND FAMILIES.

AND WHEREAS CHRONIC ABSENTEEISM DEFINED AS A STUDENT MISSING 10% OF THE SCHOOL YEAR IS ONE OF THE STRONGEST INDICATORS OF FUTURE DROPOUTS AND MORE LIKELY TO NEED ADDITIONAL SUPPORTS AND RESOURCES.

AND WHEREAS USING ATTENDANCE DATA CAN QUICKLY ALERT FAMILY SCHOOLS AND COMMUNITY PARTNERS OF HIGH LEVELS OF ABSENTEEISM AND MISSED OPPORTUNITIES TO LEARN.

SO EARLY INTERVENTIONS CAN BE IDENTIFIED AND WHEREAS STUDENTS ARE MORE LIKELY TO ATTEND SCHOOL WHEN POSITIVE CONDITIONS FOR LEARNING ARE IN PLACE.

AND WHEREAS SCHOOLS ARE PLACES WHERE STUDENTS BUILD ROUTINES AND DEVELOP TRUSTING RELATIONSHIPS WITH PEERS, TEACHERS, AND SCHOOL STAFF, AND WHEREAS IMPROVING ATTENDANCE REQUIRES IDENTIFYING AND ADDRESSING FACTORS THAT CONTRIBUTE TO STUDENTS MISSING SCHOOL, INCLUDING LACK OF DIGITAL ACCESS AND CONNECTIVITY, MENTAL AND PHYSICAL HEALTH SERVICES AND ACCESS TO BASIC ECONOMIC SUPPORTS SUCH AS FOOD AND HOUSING.

NOW, THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED THAT THE EAST BATON ROUGE PARISH SCHOOL BOARD HEREBY DECLARES THE MONTH OF SEPTEMBER, 2022 AS ATTENDANCE AWARENESS MONTH AND SUPPORTS ACTIVITIES TO INCREASE AWARENESS OF THE IMPORTANCE OF DAILY ATTENDANCE SIGN THIS DAY OF SEPTEMBER, 2022 BY OUR PRESIDENT AND SUPERINTENDENT.

AND I SO MOVE FOR ADOPTION MOVED BY MS. WE JACKSON.

MR. LANIS.

DID YOU WANNA SECOND THAT, IS THAT WHAT THAT'S FOR? YEAH.

AND YOU'RE ON THE BOARD ACCIDENTALLY.

OH, NO, I'M ALSO OKAY.

NO WORRIES.

OKAYS.

SEE MS. WEIR JACKSON, DO YOU WANTED, ARE YOU UP AGAIN OR DID YOU YEAH, JUST A QUESTION.

UH, LAST IS, UH, YOU KNOW, MAKING SURE THAT WE'RE PROVIDING, UM, SUPPORT MECHANISM SYSTEMS, WHETHER IT'S TO OUR COUNSELORS, SOCIAL WORKERS, AND ALSO, UH, GOVERNMENTAL AGENCIES TO HELP US, UH, WHETHER IT'S WITH EYECARE TO HELP US KIND OF PROBLEM SOLVE, TO SEE WHERE CHILDREN ARE NOT ONLY LOCATE THEM, BUT ALSO FIND OUT, UH, YOU KNOW, WHAT ARE DIFFERENT WAYS TO INCENTIVIZE THEM TO COME BACK.

MA'AM UH, THIS IS A WONDERFUL RESOLUTION AND, AND I'M WONDERING WHAT'S, UH, WHAT'S THE, THE PURPOSE, WHAT DO WE INTEND TO BE THE OUTCOME? I THINK FOR THAT QUESTION, UH, I ASK, WE HAVE, I EVEN SEE IN THE BACK, WE HAVE JUDGE GROVER IS ALSO HERE WITH US.

WE'RE SO EXCITED ABOUT THE PARTNERSHIP EDGE AS YOU KNOW, UM, UH, UH, STUDENTS WE CANNOT DO WELL IF STUDENTS ARE NOT ATTENDING SCHOOL.

UM, WE'VE HAD CHALLENGES, ESPECIALLY IN THE UPPER GRADES, UH, FOR, UM, STUDENTS, UH, ATTENDANCE IN PARTICULAR SCHOOLS.

AND WE'VE BEEN WORKING HARD, UH, MANY OF OUR DEPARTMENTS TO PARTNER TOGETHER, NOT ONLY ON THE SCHOOL SYSTEM SIDE, BUT ALL GOVERNMENTAL AGENCIES COORDINATING TOGETHER TO GO OUT TO SCHOOLS, UM, UH, GO OUT TO HOMES TO BE ABLE TO GET CHILDREN, TO COME BACK TO SCHOOLS AND ALSO PEEL THROUGH THE CHALLENGES OF ALL THE SOCIAL ELEMENTS IN THE COMMUNITIES THAT ARE HAPPENING.

AND SO, UM, OUR, UM, JUST AS WE WERE AT METRO COUNCIL YESTERDAY, UH, WITH THE PROCLAMATION, OUR GOAL HAS BEEN TO WORK AND COORDINATE AMONGST MULTIPLE AGENCIES TO GO OUT, TO, UH, BE ABLE TO GO OUT INTO SCHOOLS, UH, FROM OUR OFFICES WITH CWA AND OTHER PARTNERS THAT WE BRING CHILDREN BACK INTO THE SCHOOL.

YOU YOU'RE, UH, GOOD MISS WE, JACKSON.

UH, YEAH, I GUESS.

UM, SO ARE, IS THE DISTRICT DOING ANYTHING IN, IN SPECIFICALLY WITHIN THE DISTRICT TO HELP WITH ATTENDANCE OTHER THAN YEAH.

OUTREACH TO, YEAH, WE HAVE OUR, UH, CWA OFFICES, UH, WHERE WE HAVE, UM, VARIOUS OFFICERS GOING OUT INTO SCHOOLS AND VISITING, UH, TO, TO BE ABLE TO BRING PARENTS BACK.

UM, WE'VE ALSO ARE WORKING WITH SCHOOL LEADERS AROUND THEIR LISTS FOR STUDENTS THAT ARE NOT THERE.

SO, UM, UH, SO COUNSELORS CAN BE ABLE TO HELP SUPPORT TO BRING KIDS BACK AS, AS MANY OF, YOU KNOW, WE'VE MADE, UM, TREMENDOUS CHANGES IN OUR STAFFING APPROACH.

WE NOW HAVE, UH, ONE COUNSELOR TO EVERY 300 STUDENTS, UH, SO WE CAN BE ABLE TO, TO GROUP THERE.

WE USED TO BE ONE TO 600 STUDENTS IN THIS SCHOOL SYSTEM.

UM, SO WE'VE BEEN MAKING SHIFTS LIKE THAT.

AND,

[01:15:01]

AND SO THOSE, THERE'S A COMBINATION OF THINGS THAT, UH, WE'VE BEEN WORKING ON DOING, UH, TOGETHER.

MM-HMM .

YEAH, GREAT.

UM, A LOT OF OUTREACH, UH, TO PARENTS AND, UH, OUTSIDE GROUPS AND, UH, AND I WANNA THANK MR. GODDE FOR, UM, HE, HE MADE A, UM, A WONDERFUL, UM, OUTREACH TO PARENTS LAST NIGHT AT MCKINLEY WHEN WE ATTENDED THE, UH, OPEN HOUSE AND TALKED ABOUT ATTENDANCE AND ENCOURAGING PARENTS TO MAKE SURE THAT THEIR KIDS ARE IN THE SCHOOL.

SO THAT WAS A REALLY NICE TOUCH.

THANK YOU, MS. SWEAR, JACKSON, UM, THE BOARD IS CLEAR.

ARE THERE ANY COMMENTS FROM THE AUDIENCE ON THE RESOLUTION? I HAVE NO CARDS, UM, COMING BACK TO THE BOARD, UH, MR. GODDE, UH, YES.

AND THANK YOU, UH, MS. SWEAR JACKSON FOR THE KIND COMMENTS, UH, SUPERINTENDENT NARCS.

I WOULD LIKE SINCE, SINCE A STUDENT ATTENDANCE TO ME IS SUCH A BIG ISSUE.

YOU KNOW, IF I COULD, IF I COULD BE KING FOR A DAY AND, AND SOLVE TWO ISSUES, IT WOULD BE LITERACY AND ATTENDANCE.

UM, AND STUDENT ATTENDANCE IS A KEY METRIC ON OUR SCORECARD.

UH, I, I WOULD ASK THAT, UH, THAT PERHAPS AT LEAST QUARTERLY, IF NOT MONTHLY IN YOUR SUPERINTENDENT'S REPORT, THAT YOU GIVE US AN UPDATE, UH, AND PARTICULARLY PROVIDED BY SCHOOLS.

SO IF WE SEE ISSUES OCCURRING AT INDIVIDUAL SCHOOLS, THAT THAT THOSE CAN BE HIGHLIGHTED AND ADDRESSED.

UH, SO I, I WOULD JUST, I, I THINK WE JUST NEED TO KEEP THIS ON THE FOREFRONT BECAUSE THROUGH ALL THE VIRTUAL LEARNING, UH, NOT ATTENDING SCHOOL GOT TO BE A NORM, AND WE HAVE TO CHANGE THAT BACK BECAUSE WE HAVE WONDERFUL STAFF.

WE HAVE WONDERFUL TEACHERS WHO ARE TRYING TO DO WONDERFUL THINGS.

WE HAVE WONDERFUL PROGRAMS, BUT THE KIDS AREN'T IN THE SEATS, THEY DON'T GET ADVANTAGE OF THAT.

AND SO I, I, I WANT US TO HIGHLIGHT, ELEVATE OUR AWARENESS OF THAT.

AND IF YOU START INCLUDING THAT IN YOUR, UH, SUPERINTENDENT'S REPORT, IT WOULD BE GREATLY APPRECIATED.

THANK YOU, MR. GODDE.

MS. SWEAR, JACKSON, THANK YOU, MR. TAMAN.

UM, I WAS, YOU KNOW, IN LOOKING AT THIS, UM, RESOLUTION, THERE ARE WONDERFUL THINGS IN HERE, YOU KNOW, AROUND, UM, THE, UM, PARTNERSHIP WITH STUDENTS, FAMILY SCHOOLS, AND COMMUNITIES.

AND I THINK THAT, YOU KNOW, WE TALKED LAST TIME AT THE, UH, COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE, WE HAD A PRESENTATION AROUND THE COMMUNITY SCHOOLS MODEL, AND I BELIEVE ADOPTING THAT MODEL, ESPECIALLY IN OUR ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS WOULD REALLY HELP, UM, BRING THOSE PIECES TOGETHER.

AND, UH, AROUND THE, UM, THERE'S A PIECE IN HERE AROUND SOCIAL, EMOTIONAL COMPETENCY.

AND, UM, YOU KNOW, AS WE LOOK AT, WE, AS WE LOOK AT REACHING OUT TO PARENTS AND ASKING THEM WHAT THEY CAN DO, I'M HOPING THAT THE DISTRICT WILL LOOK AT SOME OF THE THINGS THAT, THAT WE CAN DO THAT WILL HELP US GET OUR KIDS WHERE WE MEET THEM TO BE.

AND I'M WONDERING IF, YOU KNOW, IF WE ASK KIDS WHY THEY'RE NOT, UH, ATTENDING, UM, IF WE COULD PROVIDE SOME OF THE THINGS THAT WOULD ACTUALLY SUPPORT KIDS IN ATTENDANCE, YOU KNOW, AND ASK THE QUESTION TO KIDS, WHY THEY'RE NOT COMING TO SCHOOL EVERY DAY, YOU KNOW, COULD IT BE THAT THEY DON'T LIKE SCHOOL? YOU KNOW, COULD IT BE PART OF THE REASON BECAUSE OF THAT THEY'RE BURNT, BURNT OUT.

UM, COULD WE CONSIDER THEIR BODY CLOCKS? CUZ WE KNOW RESEARCH TELLS US THAT THEY'RE NOT WIRED FOR SEVEN O'CLOCK START IN SCHOOLS YET WE TEND TO IGNORE THAT.

SO WHY DO WE DO THOSE THINGS? WHEN RESEARCH TELLS US THAT REALLY NO HUMAN BEING IS EFFECTIVE IN AN EIGHT HOUR WORKDAY WITHOUT ANY BREAKS, BUT WE IGNORE THAT AS WELL.

THOSE ARE SOME THINGS THAT THE DISTRICT CAN LOOK AT CHANGING.

UM, SO, BUT YOU KNOW, WITHOUT COMMITMENT BY THE BOARD AND THE ADMINISTRATION TO PROVIDE SOME OF THE THINGS THAT WE'VE DOCUMENTED IN THIS RESOLUTION THAT WE KNOW WOULD HELP, WE'RE JUST DOING, UH, LIP SERVICE WITH A, A RESOLUTION.

SO I'M HOPING THAT, UM, THAT WE WILL PUT

[01:20:01]

A LITTLE ACTION, A LITTLE MORE ACTION ON OUR END AND UM, AND I APPRECIATE ALL OF THE, THE DIFFERENT, UH, COMMUNITY PARTNERS THAT WILL HELP US IN, UH, SCHOOL ATTENDANCE, YOU KNOW, ALL OF THE OUTSIDE PARTNERS.

UH, BUT WE DO HAVE THE POWER RIGHT HERE TO MAKE THE SCHOOL DAY BETTER BY RESOLVING TO TAKE SOME REALLY COMMON SENSE MEASURES, UM, IN HOW WE TREAT OUR STUDENTS.

UM, CUZ IF WE TREAT THEM MORE LIKE HUMAN BEINGS WITH BASIC NEEDS, UM, INSTEAD OF ROBOTS THAT WE PROGRAM TO START AT FIVE O'CLOCK IN THE MORNING AND GO THROUGH THE WHOLE DAY IMPERFECTION WITHOUT A BREAK OR BEING ABLE TO TALK TO ANYBODY, UM, YOU KNOW, IT'S, IT'S KIND OF A, A MOOT POINT.

SO I ENCOURAGE, UH, THE BOARD, UH, LEADERSHIP AND THE SUPERINTENDENT BEFORE YOU SIGN THE RESOLUTION TO COMMIT TO DOING SOME OF THE THINGS THAT WE CAN DO, UH, OR AT LEAST MOVE IN THAT DIRECTION SO THAT OUR KIDS WILL REALLY ENJOY BEING AT SCHOOL AND NOT BE FIGHTING AGAINST THEIR, THEIR OWN BODY CLOCKS AND, AND LOOK AT THE, UM, THOSE PHYSICAL ASPECTS THAT MAY BE HINDERING SOME OF THIS, UH, BECAUSE PUTTING IT, ALL OF IT ON THE, THE PARENTS ARE, MOST OF IT ON THE PARENTS IS, UH, IS, IS REALLY HARD, YOU KNOW, TO, TO DRAG A KID OUTTA BED AT FIVE O'CLOCK IN THE MORNING AND EXPECT THEM TO DO THEIR BEST ALL DAY WITHOUT, UH, HAVING A BREAK IS, IS REALLY, REALLY TOUGH.

SO, UH, PLEASE, I IMPLORE YOU BEFORE YOU SIGN THE RESOLUTION COMMIT TO DOING THE SMALL THINGS THAT WE CAN DO AS A DISTRICT TO HELP THESE KIDS ATTEND SCHOOL EVERY DAY AND ACTUALLY ENJOY IT.

THANK YOU, MS. SWEAR, JACKSON, UH, THE BOARD IS CLEAR.

MADAM SECRETARY, PLEASE CONDUCT THE VOTE.

NOW TO UNFINISHED BUSINESS, UM, CONSIDERATION OF REQUESTS FOR THE APPROVAL OF A PROFESSIONAL SERVICES CONTRACT BETWEEN THE EAST BATON ROUGE POWER SCHOOL BOARD AND THE AINGER INSTITUTE AND THE AMOUNT OF $402,366 TO FACILITATE WORKSHOPS FOR PROGRESS MONITORING OF THE STRATEGIC PLAN AND PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT FOR SCHOOL LEADERS, STRATEGIC ALIGNMENT, STUDENT ACHIEVEMENT, EXEMPLARY CUSTOMER SERVICE, OPERATIONAL EXEC EXCELLENCE AND EMPLOYEE DEVELOPMENT FUNDING SOURCE SR TWO ACTION, TWO SR AND SR THREE.

THE MOTION CARRIES.

YEAH, IT MIS APPROVED.

THE RESOLUTION IS APPROVED.

WE, UH, MOVE

[H1. Professional Services Contracts: Arbinger Institute]

ACTION.

TWO.

DO I HAVE A MOTION MOVED BY, UH, MR. BELU SECONDED BY MR. LANIS.

I DON'T SEE ANY QUESTIONS OR COMMENTS FROM THE BOARD.

UH, A, UM, WE'LL GO TO THE AUDIENCE.

IS THAT ON THIS ONE? YEAH.

SORRY.

PICK A MOMENT.

UM, THAT'S THE ONLY ONE.

VICE PRESIDENT COLLINS IN THE BACKUP MATERIALS FROM LAST.

UM, DR.

JAMES FINNEY, THANK YOU.

I'M NOW PERSUADED THAT YOU GOT ANY VALUE FROM WHATEVER THE FOUNDATION OR OTHER UNKNOWN SOURCES SPENT ON ATURE YEAR OR TWO AGO.

AND I CERTAINLY DON'T THINK THAT'S THE BEST USE FOR SR MONEY.

THERE MUST BE SOMETHING YOU COULD MAKE BETTER USE OF THAT HALF MILLION DOLLARS TO DO RATHER THAN IRON THESE CONSULTANTS AT $5,000 AN HOUR OR WHATEVER THE RATE IS.

I DON'T SEE ANY OTHER CARDS.

UH, WE COME BACK TO THE BOARD,

[01:25:01]

AND THE, SO I, I DON'T, UH, FEEL CONFIDENT IN THE DETAILS OF THIS AS A SMALL EXAMPLE.

AND, AND SO I'LL BE VOTING.

NO, I WANT PEOPLE TO KNOW WHY I'M VOTING.

NO, I'M NOT TRYING TO MAKE A BIG SPLASH, BUT PEOPLE WANNA KNOW WHY I VOTE THE WAY I VOTE.

SO I'M GOING TO EXPLAIN REAL BRIEFLY AND THEN VOTE ACCORDINGLY.

SO FOR EXAMPLE, UM, THE LIVING WITH AN HOUR MINDSET, WHICH IS A BOOK, UH, A BOOK ACTUALLY THAT BOARD MEMBERS USED DURING THE RETREATS THAT WE DID DO, UH, FACILITATED BY AINGER, THAT'S A LINE ITEM OF $87,000.

THE PRICE OF THE BOOK IS LISTED AS $145 WHO AM OUT OF VALUE A BOOK.

UH, I DO THINK THAT'S A BIG STEEP AND TO SAY IT'S GOING TO 600 PARENTS, LIKE WHETHER THAT NUMBER EVEN COME FROM WHEN YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT MORE THAN 600 STUDENTS TO, TO BE IMPACTED, UH, BUT BASED ON THE NUMBER OF STUDENTS AT EACH SCHOOL.

SO AS A SMALL EXAMPLE, THAT'S WHY I WILL BE VOTING NO ON THIS.

UM, THERE'S, IT'S A HUGE CONTRACT.

AND SO, UM, I DON'T WANT PEOPLE TO THINK I'VE JUST VOTING AGAINST TEACHERS.

UM, THANK YOU.

VICE PRESIDENT COLLINS, MR. HOWARD, THANK YOU, PRESIDENT TIME.

UM, I JUST WANTED TO, UH, ASK A QUESTION OF THE SUPERINTENDENT.

UM, SO WE WENT THROUGH THE, THE AGER TRAINING AS A BOARD AND I THOUGHT IT WAS, UH, BENEFICIAL AND HELPFUL, UM, TO JUST BITE THE WAY WE THINK ABOUT AND APPROACH THE WORK AND THE MINDSET SHIFTS AND ALL THE THINGS THAT IT TAKE TO DO REALLY TOUGH WORK AND LIKE SIDE OF URBAN SCHOOL DISTRICTS.

MY QUESTION IS LIKE, THERE HAS BEEN A LOT OF CONVERSATIONS ABOUT THE AMOUNT OF MONEY THAT IT'S GONNA TAKE TO ELEVATE THIS AND, UH, SPREAD IT THROUGHOUT THE DISTRICT.

COULD YOU JUST PROVIDE US WITH SOME INSIGHT AS TO LIKE THE, THE OUTCOMES THAT YOU HOPE TO HAVE THE IMPACT THAT YOU HOPE TO HAVE AND HOW DO YOU BELIEVE THAT THIS IS THE BEST ACTION TO, TO GET US WHERE WE NEED TO BE? UH, THANK YOU, BOARD MEMBER HOWARD.

UH, ONE OF THE, UH, THINGS THAT ARE IMPORTANT TO US IS WE CANNOT DO PERFORMANCE IF WE DON'T IMPROVE OUR CULTURE.

UM, WE'VE BEEN A DISTRICT THAT HAVE TALKED ABOUT, WE WANT KIDS TO READ BETTER.

WE WANT SCHOOLS TO BE, UH, PEOPLE TO ENGAGE IN A, A VERY POSITIVE WAY, UH, THAT DOES, DOES NOT HAPPEN BY HAPPENSTANCE, UH, AND SIMILAR TO HOW THE BOARD WAS ABLE TO WORK THROUGH THAT PROCESS TO CREATE A STRATEGIC PLAN WITH KPIS.

IT IS THE SAME, UH, CONCEPT WE'D LIKE TO BRING DOWN INTO SCHOOLS.

UM, AS WE SHARED WITH EVERYONE TO BE ABLE TO CREATE THAT CULTURE, NOT ALL CULTURE IN OUR SCHOOLS ARE A ALWAYS IN A POSITIVE WAY.

AND, UH, AND A PART THAT WE WANT TO DO IS TO HELP SUPPORT SCHOOL LEADERS, TEACHERS, AND OTHERS, TO KNOW IF THEY WORK TOGETHER IN PARTICULAR WAYS THAN THEY, THAT PERFORMANCE CAN HAPPEN AT A MUCH HIGHER LEVEL.

UM, AND THAT GOES FOR ANY SCHOOL.

UH THAT'S THERE, UM, EVEN WHEN YOU ENGAGE WITH SCHOOL LEADERS IN THAT WAY.

SO WHAT WE ARE, OUR GOAL HAS BEEN TO PUSH THE SAME CONCEPTS AROUND HOW WE ARE WORKING TO CREATE CULTURE FOR PERFORMANCE.

UH, WE DID AT THE BOARD LEVEL DOWN INTO SCHOOLS, UH, THIS, THIS MODEL IS TO PILOT IN PARTICULAR SCHOOLS, UM, THIS CULTURE, AND THEN TO SPREAD IT ACROSS, UH, THE DISTRICT.

SO WE CAN HAVE A HIGHER PERFORMING, UH, CULTURE IN THAT WAY.

AND SO THAT, THAT HAS BEEN, UH, WHAT OUR GOAL HAS BEEN.

UM, THERE'S NO, IF YOU LOOK AT ANY ORGANIZATION OR A COMPANY, UH, CULTURE IS SOMETHING THAT IS IMPORTANT TO WORK ON, UH, FOR IMPROVEMENT, UH, ESPECIALLY WHEN YOU HAVE DIVERSE GROUPS OF FOLKS COMING TOGETHER, UH, AROUND A COMMON CAUSE.

AND SO THAT HAS BEEN, UH, THE STRATEGY OF THIS WORK.

UH, THE REASON, UH, AINGER HAS BEEN WORKING, UH, WE'RE NOT THE FIRST SCHOOL DISTRICT.

THEY HAVE WORKED WITH THIS CONCEPT.

THEY'VE WORKED WITH OTHER DISTRICTS, EVEN LARGER THAN US WITH THE SAME POPULATION, UH, TO ACHIEVE THOSE GOALS.

UH, AND I BELIEVE THAT AS WE GET OUR CULTURE BETTER, UH, AND, UH, WE ARE ABLE TO SUPPORT WHAT HAPPENS AND HOW PEOPLE WORK TOGETHER IN THE CLASSROOM, AS WELL AS HOW LEADER TO WORK WITH TEACHERS AND THOSE THINGS THAT WILL TRANSLATE INTO PERFORMANCE.

HOW DO WE LOOK BACK AT THIS CONTRACT AND SAY, THIS IS THE IMPACT THAT WE LOOK TO HAVE THROUGHOUT OUR CULTURE AND OUR SCHOOLS.

UM, SO I'M OPTIMISTIC ABOUT WHAT THIS COULD BRING.

UM, I GUESS MY FINAL QUESTION TO YOU OR OTHER MEMBERS OF YOUR STAFF AND YOUR TEAM IS HOW DO WE, SO WE, WE IMPLEMENT THIS CONTRACT AND IT DEPOSIT LASTS FOR A YEAR, OR WHATEVER THE TIMELINE,

[01:30:01]

AND IF WE LIKE, HOW DO WE COURSE CORRECT IF IT'S NOT, UM, AS IT RELATES TO PROVIDING THIS CONTRACT? UH, SO ONE OF THE THINGS THAT WE ARE IN CONVERSATIONS WITH THE AINGER GROUP IS THAT WE'D LIKE TO HAVE THIS BE A TURNKEY WITH HAVING, UH, OUR FACILITATORS AT SCHOOLS THAT CAN HELP CONTINUE TO WORK WITH, UM, WITH SCHOOLS.

UM, EVEN AS YOU LOOK AT, WE HAVE COACHES THAT WORK WITH TEACHERS, WE HAVE, UH, UM, FOLKS THAT ARE IN SCHOOLS THAT CAN LEARN ABOUT THIS FACILITATION SO WE CAN CREATE, UH, BETTER OPPORTUNITIES FOR, UM, UH, SCHOOLS TO CONTINUE THEIR PERFORMANCE AROUND CULTURE.

UH, WHEN YOU LOOK AT OUR CURRENT SCHOOLS, UM, SCHOOLS, UH, LOOK AT CONTENT OF WHAT TEACHERS ARE TEACHING.

THEY LOOK AT, UH, UM, HOW KIDS ARE DOING.

BUT, UH, ONE THING THAT WE DON'T ALWAYS DO VERY WELL IS WE DON'T WORK ON CULTURE.

AND AS YOU KNOW, SOME OF OUR SCHOOL CULTURE, UM, IS IT, IT IS VARIED ACROSS, UH, SCHOOL SYSTEMS. WHEN YOU LOOK AT SOME OF OUR, UH, FEW SCHOOLS THAT ARE HIGHER PERFORMING THEIR CULTURE IS A LITTLE BIT BETTER THAN OTHERS.

UH, BUT WE THINK THAT THIS IS, UH, THE APPROACH TO BETA DO THAT AND, UH, ARMING HAVE THAT TRACK RECORD.

SO THAT'S WHY I WANTED TO.

ALL RIGHT, THANK YOU.

THAT'S MY TIME.

THANK YOU, MR. HOWARD, MS. SWEAR, JACKSON, THANK YOU.

UM, YOU KNOW, WE'RE, WE'RE TALKING ABOUT ALMOST A HALF, A MILLION DOLLARS TO PROVIDE SOME WORKSHOPS AND, UH, AND WE'RE LOOKING AT WHETHER, YOU KNOW, I, I CAN'T SUPPORT THIS JUST BASED ON THE PRICE TAG OF IT AND LOOKING AT THE WORK THAT WE DID WITH THE, THE WORKSHOPS THAT WE DID AS A BOARD.

UH, I DON'T KNOW WHAT THAT COST WAS.

UM, I DON'T THINK IT WAS MORE THAN A HUNDRED THOUSAND.

IT MIGHT HAVE BEEN 80 SOMETHING I DON'T QUITE RECALL.

AND WE DID A SERIES OF WORKSHOPS THAT AROUND THE BOOK THAT WAS SUPPOSED TO, UH, BASICALLY IMPART IN US THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING OUTWARD RATHER THAN INWARD.

AND THEN, YOU KNOW, AS A BOARD, WE WOULD START HERE AT THE TOP AND MOVE THAT WHOLE LINE OF THOUGHT THROUGHOUT THE DISTRICT.

UM, BUT I DON'T THINK IT'S WORKED AT THE BOARD LEVEL.

UM, JUST BASED ON SOME OF THE ACTIONS THAT WE'VE DONE, LIKE IN THE WHILE WE WERE IN THE, THE TRAINING, WHICH I DON'T THINK WE EVER GOT TO THE END OF IT, WE WERE INTERRUPTED WITH A LOT OF THINGS THAT, THAT KIND OF TOOK PRIORITY OVER FINISHING UP THE WORKSHOPS.

WE ALL READ THE BOOK, BUT WE WERE GOING, MOVING TOWARDS THE END OF IT, THE END OF THE WORKSHOP SERIES.

UM, BUT WE WENT THROUGH ALL OF THE EXERCISES IN THE DIFFERENCES BETWEEN INWARD AND OUTWARD THINKING.

AND BECAUSE OF THE, I, I GUESS IT'S THE OUTWARD THINKING, UM, YOU KNOW, WE ARE IN LITIGATION OVER OUTWARD THINKING, YOU KNOW, THIS BOARD MADE DECISIONS BASED ON WHAT THEY THOUGHT WAS BEST FOR THEM OR BEST FOR THE GROUP OF THEM INSTEAD OF WHAT WAS THE RIGHT THING TO DO, UM, SAT SILENTLY AND DID THE WRONG THING.

UH, SO WE DEFINITELY DIDN'T PRACTICE WHAT WE PREACHED AND I SEE IT HAPPENING AGAIN.

AND AGAIN, I, I CANNOT JUSTIFY SPENDING ALMOST A HALF A MILLION DOLLARS TO DO WORKSHOPS AND REALLY THE, UH, I KNOW THAT THE RESPONSIBILITY OF, UM, THE STRATEGIC PLAN IS WITH THE SUPERINTENDENT AND, AND STAFF.

AND OF COURSE WE HAVE A, A PART IN THAT AS WELL, BUT, UM, A HALF A MILLION DOLLARS NEARLY OF ESSER FUNDS, WHICH I'M NOT SURE THIS EVEN TRACKS WITH WHAT FUNDS IS, IS SUPPOSED TO, UH, WORKED WITH, BUT I, I CANNOT, FROM THE EXPERIENCE THAT WE'VE HAD NOW, THE BOOK IS GREAT.

AND I BELIEVE THAT AGER DID A WONDERFUL JOB WITH THE WORKSHOPS AND, UM, YOU KNOW, THEY, THEY'LL PROBABLY, THEY WOULD PROBABLY DO, UH, A GOOD JOB IN WORKSHOPS THROUGH THE DISTRICT, UM, IN THOSE FEW SCHOOLS THAT THAT HALF A MILLION IS EARMARKED FOR.

UM, BUT I, I THINK THAT WITHOUT GOING BACK TO THE TABLE AND RENEGOTIATING DIFFERENT TERMS, I, I WOULD NOT BE ABLE TO, I CERTAINLY CAN'T JUSTIFY ALMOST A HALF A MILLION DOLLARS TO DO THIS.

I THINK IT'S, IT'S OVERPRICED, AND THERE'S NO WAY THAT I WOULD SPEND $150 NEARLY FOR A BOOK.

UM, SO I WOULD, I WOULD ASK YOU TO RECONSIDER THE TERMS AT LEAST BECAUSE I BELIEVE IT'S EXTREMELY OVERPRICED.

AND

[01:35:01]

ALTHOUGH THE VALUE THAT YOU'RE LOOKING FOR IS GOOD VALUE.

UM, I, I REALLY QUESTION THE, UM, I, I QUESTION PASSING THIS WITH, AT SUCH A, A HIGH PRICE AND, UM, LOOKING AT WHAT THE, WHAT THE BOARD HAS EXPERIENCED.

UH, I CERTAINLY CAN'T JUSTIFY VOTING YES FOR THIS.

THANK YOU, MS. SWEAR, JACKSON, MR. LANIS.

THANK YOU, PRESIDENT TAMAN.

AND, UH, I APPRECIATE ALL OF THE COMMENTS FROM MY, MY BOARD COLLEAGUE, BUT I WILL SAY THAT MY EXPERIENCE WAS, UH, TOTALLY THE OPPOSITE FOR AINGER.

UH, WHAT I COULD TELL YOU IS THIS, DO WE ALWAYS VOTE THE SAME? NO, WE DON'T.

UH, DO I AGREE WITH, UH, SOME OF THE VOTES THAT, UH, SOME OF MY BOARD COLLEAGUES HAVE? NO, AND I'M PRETTY SURE THEY DON'T AGREE WITH ALL OF THE VOTES THAT I MAKE ALSO, BUT I WILL TELL YOU THIS SINCE GOING THROUGH AINGER INSTITUTE, THE RELATIONSHIP AND SYNERGY ON THE BOARD HAS CHANGED.

I CAN HONESTLY SAY THAT IN TERMS OF COMMUNICATION, AMONGST EACH OTHER, REACHING OUT TO EACH OTHER, UH, DISCUSSING DIFFERENT POLICIES.

NOW THE PERSONAL INTERPERSONAL STUFF, THAT'S TOTALLY DIFFERENT, BUT IN TERMS OF, UH, ENERGY ON THE BOARD, I THINK THERE HAS BEEN A TOTAL SHIFT FROM WHERE WE WERE, AND I'LL ALSO COUPLED IT BY SAYING PRIOR TO US WORKING WITH AINGER, WE DIDN'T HAVE A STRATEGIC PLAN.

WE HADN'T HAD A STRATEGIC PLAN SINCE 2012, AND THEY WERE ABLE TO BRING US TOGETHER, CONVENE A MEETING, SEVERAL MEETINGS WITH THE COMMUNITY INVOLVED.

IT WAS FULLY TRANSPARENT, AND WE WALKED AWAY NOT ONLY WITH A, WITH A STRATEGIC PLAN, BUT ALSO WITH A FACILITIES PLAN.

THEY GAVE US SOMETHING TO WORK WITH.

SO WHILE I DO UNDERSTAND THE PRICE TAG, I WILL SAY THAT I DEFINITELY THINK THAT THERE IS A CULTURE SHIFT THAT WE NEED ACROSS OUR DISTRICT, UH, BECAUSE A LOT OF PEOPLE ARE WORN OUT.

A LOT OF PEOPLE DO NEED, UH, MOTIVATION, INTRINSICALLY AND EXTRINSICALLY.

AND I THINK THAT THIS IS SOMETHING THAT COULD POSSIBLY MOVE US IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION.

I WILL SAY THAT I WOULD LIKE TO SEE SOME, UH, TRACKING MEASURES AND MONITORS TO ENSURE THAT WE ARE, UH, COMPARING IT TO SOMETHING THAT WE EITHER DID DONE IN THE PAST, OR WE DIDN'T DO IN THE PAST SO WE CAN MAKE, UH, POSSIBLE PIVOTS IF, IF THAT'S NEEDED.

BUT I, AGAIN, I WILL HONESTLY SAY MY EXPERIENCE WITH AINGER, UH, IT WAS GOOD, AND I THINK THAT THEY ARE A GOOD COMPANY AND THEY HAVE BROUGHT SOMETHING TO THE BOARD THAT WE HAVEN'T SEEN BEFORE.

THANK YOU, MR. LS, MR. GODDE.

THANK YOU, PRESIDENT CHAPMAN.

UH, THE OTHER COMMENT I'D LIKE TO MAKE, YOU KNOW, WE'VE HEAR HEARD CONSTANTLY ABOUT TEACHER RETENTION AND THAT SORT OF THING.

AND, YOU KNOW, WE'VE ADDRESSED PART OF THAT BY COMMITTING OR GRANTING, UH, BONUSES AND THEN COMMITTING FOR SALARY INCREASES.

BUT EVERYTHING I READ SAY THAT MUCH OF THE, UH, ISSUE WITH TEACHER RETENTION COMES AROUND THE CULTURE AND THE ATMOSPHERE AT SCHOOLS AND THINGS LIKE THAT.

AND I THINK THIS IS EXACTLY THE KIND OF PROGRAM THAT HELPS ADDRESS THOSE KINDS OF ISSUES AND BRING IT, LETS PEOPLE WORK TOGETHER BETTER AND CHANGING THE CULTURE IS SOMETHING YOU DON'T DO OVERNIGHT.

IT TAKES TIME.

IT TAKES A PLAN.

IT TAKES WORK BY A LOT OF PEOPLE TO MAKE IT HAPPEN.

BUT I BELIEVE THIS IS ALSO ADDRESSING SOME OF THE ISSUES WE HAVE, UH, WITH OUR FACULTY AND STAFF AROUND, UH, THE FULFILLMENT THEY GET OUT OF THEIR JOBS AND HOW THEY FEEL ABOUT THEIR JOBS.

BECAUSE I THINK IF WE'RE SUCCESSFUL IN DOING SOME OF THESE THINGS, UH, WE'LL HAVE A MUCH DIFFERENT CHANGE IN ATTITUDE AND CULTURE.

SO I FULLY SUPPORT THIS EXPENDITURE.

THANK YOU, MR. ODE, THE BOARD IS CLEAR.

UH, MADAM SECRETARY, PLEASE CONDUCT THE VOTE.

TO H TWO CONSIDERATION OF REQUEST FOR THE APPROVAL OF PROFESSIONAL SERVICES CONTRACTS BETWEEN EAST BATON ROUGE PARISH SCHOOL BOARD, AND THE FOLLOWING A LET'S SERVE LLC IN THE AMOUNT OF $95,000 TO PROVIDE ON AN ONLINE PLATFORM FOR COMMUNITY SERVICE FUNDING SOURCE SSA THREE INCENTIVE B EMPOWER SCHOOLS IN THE AMOUNT OF $75,000 TO PROVIDE SUPPORT AND RESOURCES FOR INNOVATIVE PLANS, STRATEGIC ALIGNMENT, STUDENT ACHIEVEMENT FUNDING SOURCE SR THREE INCENTIVE BATON ROUGE CENTER FOR VISUAL AND PERFORMING ARTS C EMPOWER SCHOOLS IN THE AMOUNT OF $75,000 TO PROVIDE SUPPORT AND RESOURCE FOR INNOVATIVE PLAN, STRATEGIC ALIGNMENT, STUDENT ACHIEVEMENT, ACHIEVEMENT FUNDING

THE MOTION CARRIES ADAMS APPROVED.

WE MOVE NOW

[H2. Professional Services Contracts: Federal]

[01:40:01]

SOURCE S SO THREE INCENTIVE, BATON ROUGE, FOREIGN LANGUAGE, ACADEMIC IMMERSION MAGNET, UH, D EMPOWERS SCHOOLS IN THE AMOUNT OF $75,000 TO PROVIDE SUPPORT AND RESOURCES FOR INNOVATIVE PLAN, STRATEGIC ALIGNMENT, STUDENT ACHIEVEMENT FUNDING SOURCE S A THREE INCENTIVE HELIX E EMPOWER SCHOOLS IN THE AMOUNT OF $75,000 TO PROVIDE SUPPORT AND RESOURCES FOR INNOVATIVE PLAN, STRATEGIC ALIGNMENT, STUDENT ACHIEVEMENT FUNDING SOURCE SR THREE INCENTIVE CAPITAL HIGH F ALL HERE IN THE AMOUNT OF $99,268 AND 78 CENTS TO PROVIDE FAMILY SUPPORT PLATFORM, STRATEGIC ALIGNMENT, STUDENT ACHIEVEMENT, EXEMPLARY CUSTOMER SERVICE, AND OPERATIONAL EXCELLENCE FUNDING SOURCE ESS ESSER THREE ACTION, TWO G AMERICAN READING COMPANY IN THE AMOUNT OF $56,000 TO PROVIDE GUIDEBOOKS FOR PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT, STRATEGIC ALIGNMENT, STUDENT ACHIEVEMENT, FUNDING SOURCE REDESIGN H NOVIS INSIGHT IN THE AMOUNT OF $25,175 TO PROVIDE A CENTRALIZED ON DEMAND APPLICATION MANAGEMENT SYSTEM, STRATEGIC ALIGNMENT, EXEMPLARY CUSTOMER SERVICE FUNDING SOURCE, MSAP GRANT, AND MAGNET.

DO I HAVE A MOTION MOVED BY MS. BERNARD SECONDED BY MS. DIASON SEE NO COMMENTS FROM THE BOARD AT THE MOMENT, BUT I DO HAVE A CARD FROM DR.

JAMES FINNEY.

I'M PUZZLED AND BOTHERED BY THE FACT THAT ALL THESE EXPENDITURES ARE LUMPED TOGETHER.

REMEMBER THERE'S GONNA BECOME A TIME, NOT VERY LONG IN THE FUTURE.

WHEN THE SUPERINTENDENT HAS LEFT FOR GREENER PASTORS AND YOU WON'T HAVE ANY YES OR MONEY LEFT.

AND WHEN SOMEBODY ASKS, WHERE DID ALL THAT MONEY YOU GO, YOU WON'T BE ABLE TO ANSWER.

UM, BUT SINCE MY TIME IS SHORT, LET ME TALK ABOUT THE EMPOWER SCHOOLS.

THERE WAS AN INTERESTING, UM, PRESENTATION THAT NEEDS TO BE ON BOARD DOCS, BY THE WAY, IN THE SUPERINTENDENT REPORT THAT INDICATED THAT YOU HAVE A GRANT FROM THE STATE OF LOUISIANA TO EXPAND MIDDLE SCHOOLS, WHICH IS SOMETHING YOU HAVEN'T DECIDED AS A BOARD TO DO.

BUT WHAT REALLY PUZZLES ME ABOUT THE FOUR EMPOWER ITEMS, YOU KNOW, ON THIS AGENDA ITEM IS THAT YOU SUPPOSEDLY GOT A GRANT TO DO SOME PLANNING AND YOU SPENT THAT MONEY.

AND NOW SOME OF THE DELIVERABLES ON THIS NEW SPENDING OF MONEY THAT COMES FROM A DIFFERENT POT ESSER, AGAIN ARE THE SAME ONES THAT SUPPOSEDLY YOU ALREADY PAID A TOTAL OF $75,000 FOR.

AND I FRANKLY HAVE NO IDEA AT ALL.

AND WITH THE LIMITED TIME I SPEND IN TRYING TO FIGURE OUT EXACTLY WHAT YOU'RE DOING AS A BOARD AND WHAT THE ADMINISTRATION IS DOING, I HAVE NO IDEA WHY YOU'RE GONNA SPEND $75,000 OF EXTRA MONEY THAT COULD PAY ONE PERSON FOR A YEAR.

AND INSTEAD YOU'RE HELPING HELI DO SOMETHING.

YOU'RE GONNA SPEND $75,000 FOR CAPITAL HIGH.

WHAT, FOR A FOCUS CHOICE PROGRAM THAT THE BOARD HASN'T EVEN GIVEN ANY APPROVAL TO THERE, THE OTHER ITEMS, OTHER THAN THE EMPOWER QUESTIONABLE ENOUGH, BUT YOU NEED TO QUIT JUST LETTING THE SUPERINTENDENT SPEND MONEY ON WHATEVER HE WANTS TO SPEND MONEY.

YOU AS BOARD MEMBERS HAVE A FIDUCIARY RESPONSIBILITY, PLEASE EXERCISE THAT.

FINNEY.

DON'T SEE ANY OTHER CARDS ON THE ITEM? WE'RE BACK TO THE BOARD.

UM, MR. HOWARD.

AND SUSTAIN INNOVATIVE AND TRANSFORMATION, TRANSFORMATION, TRANSFORMATION PLANS.

SO JUST A COUPLE OF THINGS.

SO, UM, ON SOME OF THESE CONTRACTS, UM, I THINK WE ASKED FOR, UM, SOME TIME AGO, UM, FOR US TO JUST REALLY GIVE LIKE A, A FORECAST OF LIKE WHAT WE WERE DOING AND HOW WE WERE SPENDING AS A FUNDING, AS IT RELATES TO, UH, ALL OF THE DIFFERENT THINGS WE WERE SPENDING MONEY ON.

AS I LOOK THROUGH SOME OF THESE MEMOS AND I READ THROUGH LIKE THE GOALS OF WHAT THE PARTICULAR CONTRACT IS DOING, IT'S VERY BLAND AND AN EXPLANATION AS TO LIKE THE GOAL.

AND SO I THINK ONE OF THE THINGS THAT WE HAD REQUESTED AS A BOARD IS LIKE, IF WE WERE GOING TO EFFECTIVELY MONITOR THESE CONTRACTS, TO MAKE SURE THAT THEY ARE DOING WHAT THEY SAY THEY'RE DOING, LIKE WE HAVE TO BE CLEAR ON WHAT, WHAT THESE GOALS ARE.

AND SO, FOR EXAMPLE, IN ONE OF THE, UH, THE MEMOS, THE GOAL OF THE CONTRACT IS LITERALLY THE GOAL IS TO PROVIDE SUPPORT AND RESOURCES NEEDED TO LAUNCH

[01:45:01]

LIKE WHAT DOES THAT EVEN MEAN? IT'S SAYS TO POSSIBLY IMPACT STUDENTS.

LIKE THERE IS NO WAY FOR ME AS A BOARD MEMBER TO GO BACK AND SAY THAT WHATEVER WAS IMPLEMENTED WAS ACTUALLY SOMETHING THAT POSITIVELY IMPACTED STUDENTS WITHOUT TRUE METRICS OF WHAT, OF WHAT THAT LOOKS LIKE.

AND SO I WOULD ADVISE, UM, THE ADMINISTRATION, AS YOU GUYS THINK ABOUT LIKE THESE GOALS AND LIKE THE WAY YOU DEVELOP THEM, LIKE TO REALLY BE INTENTIONAL ABOUT HOW YOU DEVELOP THESE GOALS, BECAUSE FOR BOARDS TO COME.

UM, AND, AND FOR US IN, IN THE TIME THAT WE HAVE REMAINING ON THE BOARD, THERE IS NO WAY TO REALLY MEASURE THE IMPACT OF THIS.

AND SO I DON'T OFTEN AGREE WITH MR. PENNY, UM, DR.

PENNY, BUT, UM, HE'S RIGHT IN THE SAYING THAT, LIKE, IF WE'RE GOING TO TRULY BE FIVE YEARS FROM NOW AND BE ABLE TO SAY THAT WE'VE USED THIS MONEY IN A WAY THAT WAS IMPACTFUL TO STUDENTS, WE HAVE TO BE CLEAR INTERNALLY ABOUT WHAT WE ARE TRYING TO DO.

AND IF TWO PLUS TWO IS GONNA ALWAYS EQUAL FOUR, BUT WE HAVE A, A PROBLEM SET THAT SAYS TWO PLUS TWO EQUALS FIVE, THEN SOMEWHERE DOWN THE LINE, WE'RE MISSING THE MARK.

AND SO IS THE THINGS THAT WE'RE REALLY DRIVING TOWARDS, UH, PROBLEMS, ACTUALLY CREATING SOLUTIONS THAT WE CAN SAY POSITIVELY TO THE POINT OF THIS GOAL IMPACTED STUDENTS.

AND SO LIKE JUST MAKING SURE THAT AS WE DEVELOP THESE GOING FORWARD, LIKE THAT THAT'S ACTUALLY, UM, SOMETHING THAT WE DO.

AND THEN THE SECOND THING THAT I REMAIN, UM, THAT I WOULD SAY IS THAT HE'S ALSO COMPLETELY CORRECT IN SAYING FOR THIS PARTICULAR SR THREE INCENTIVE ABOUT CAPITAL HIGH SCHOOL TODAY, WE ARE VOTING ON, IF WE, AS A BOARD WILL RECEIVE CAPITAL HIGH SCHOOL BACK, BUT YET WE ALREADY HAVE AN S SO THREE AGENDA ITEM, THAT'S INCENTIVIZING SOMETHING SPECIFIC TO CAPITAL HIGH SCHOOL.

THAT MAKES NO SENSE.

AND SO WE, AGAIN, LIKE WE TALK A LOT ABOUT LIKE, YOU KNOW, VISION AND MINDSET SHIFTS, BUT LIKE SOME OF THESE THINGS ARE JUST, JUST GROSS ERRORS IN COMMUNICATION.

AND SO WE HAVE TO BE CLEAR AS A COLLECTIVE ADMINISTRATION, AS A BOARD ON HOW WE ARE COMMUNICATING THE THINGS THAT WE DO, BECAUSE IT DOESN'T PASS THE SMELL TEST.

AND SO I'M, I, I'M NEVER GONNA GET UP HERE AND, AND ACCUSE ANYONE OF DOING ANYTHING, UM, IRRATIONAL OR ILLEGAL, LIKE SOME PEOPLE WOULD DO, BUT IT DOES NOT MAKE SENSE.

AND SO, AS A, AS A COLLECTIVE AMOUNT OF RESPECT, UM, AMONGST OURSELVES WORKING TOGETHER, LIKE YOU GOTTA CLEAN THAT KIND OF STUFF UP, YOU CAN'T HAVE THOSE KIND OF ERRORS BECAUSE IT JUST LOOKS LIKE AS A DISTRICT THAT WE'RE NOT BEING RESPONSIBLE IN OUR ACTIONS.

AND I DON'T THINK THAT ANYONE IS JUST INTENTIONALLY BEING IRRESPONSIBLE, BUT THIS IS AN INSPO IRRESPONSIBLE WAY OF COMMUNICATING THINGS AND PLANS TO THE PEOPLE AS WE LOOK TO CHANGE AND POSITIVELY IMPACT STUDENTS.

SO JUST WANTED TO LIFT THAT UP.

THANK YOU, MR. HOWARD, MR. LANIS.

THANK YOU, MR. RIGHT.

OH, SORRY, MR. PRESIDENT.

, UH, I FEEL THE SAME EXACT SENTIMENTS, AND I MUST SAY SO MYSELF, UH, ME AND DR.

FEENEY, UH, WE MAY NOT AGREE ON A WHOLE LOT OF THINGS, BUT I CAN HONESTLY SAY, I DO AGREE THAT IN THIS INSTANCE, UH, THIS CAPITAL HIGH PIECE SHOULD NOT HAVE COME BEFORE, UH, A VOTE, A VOTE SHOULD HAVE NOT COME BEFORE US BE, UH, FOR A PROGRAM WITHOUT US ACTUALLY VOTING ON TO GET THE SCHOOL BACK.

I JUST THINK THAT SOME THINGS SHOULD BE A POINT OF ORDER.

AND, UH, THIS IS CERTAINLY ONE OF THEM I COULD DO ALSO AGREE.

I DON'T THINK THAT ANYBODY'S DOING ANYTHING, UM, UNDER THE, UNDER THE DOOR.

I MEAN, SO BEHIND CLOSED DOORS THAT MAKES IT SEEM LIKE SOME UNDERHANDED SITUATION IS TAKING PLACE, BUT, UH, THIS IS SOMETHING THAT'S EASILY AVOIDABLE.

AND GIVEN THAT WE ARE ON TRACK, WE'RE DOING SU SUCH GREAT THINGS RIGHT NOW.

THESE ARE THE TYPES OF MISHAPS THAT CAN BRING US RIGHT BACK TO WHERE WE STARTED OFF AT.

SO I JUST SAY, LET'S BE SMART STEWARDS.

LET'S BE GOOD STEWARDS.

AND, UH, EVEN WITH THE CONTRACTS AGAIN, LET'S CLEAN UP THAT TYPE OF INFORMATION.

THANK YOU, MR. LANS, MR. GOODDAY.

UH, YES.

THANK YOU, PRESIDENT CHAPMAN.

I I'M CONFUSED.

AND IF MS. SMITH COULD COME TO THE MIC, PLEASE, MA'AM, I, I, I AM CONFUSED ABOUT SOMETHING BECAUSE I HAVE A DIFFERENT UNDERSTANDING FOR WHAT MY COLLEAGUES HAVE.

MY UNDERSTANDING IS THAT FOR LET'S TAKE CAPITAL HIGH, FOR INSTANCE, THAT, UH, APPLICATION WAS DONE BY THE CURRENT CAPITAL HIGH SCHOOL.

AND WE ARE ONLY A CONDUIT FROM, UH, THE D E TO THAT GRANT AS REQUESTED BY THE EXISTING CAPITAL HIGH.

WE HAD NOTHING TO DO WITH MAKING THAT GRANT OR ANYTHING TO DO WITH, UH, SETTING THAT UP IN ACTION OR DOING ANYTHING.

AND THE SAME THING APPLIES TO HELIX THAT HELIX MADE THE APPLICATION FOR THAT, AND WE ARE SIMPLY A CONDUIT.

SO THE FACT THAT IT'S HERE AS CAPITAL HIGH, IT'S HERE AS CAPITAL HIGH AS CAPITAL HIGH EXISTS TODAY.

AND WE GOT NOTHING TO DO WITH IT, EXCEPT PAST THE CHECK WE GET FROM L D E TO THAT CAPITAL HIGH, UH, ENTITY.

IS THAT CORRECT? THAT'S CORRECT.

IT IS ON THE AGENDA.

UM, MR. GODDE, THANK YOU, MR. HOWARD, MR. LANDS FOR RAISING YOUR CONCERNS IT'S ON THE AGENDA BECAUSE THIS WAS MONEY THAT WAS AL ALREADY APPROVED AND GRANTED TO US BASED ON THE PREVIOUS, UM, OPERATORS OF APPLICATION FOR THE GRANT THAT WAS APPROVED BY THE STATE, HOWEVER,

[01:50:01]

YOU'RE CORRECT.

WE ARE LOOKING TO BRING CAPITAL BACK AND IF WE WANT TO MAINTAIN THOSE FUNDS, WE WOULD HAVE TO REAPPLY FOR THAT PORTION OF THE GRANT.

SO THE MONEY COULD BE ACTUALLY FILTERED TO US FOR OPERATION OF THAT PROGRAM THERE BASED ON WHATEVER OUR PROGRAMMATIC INNOVATIVE, UM, STANDARDS OR STRATEGIES WILL BE AS WE PROPOSE TO THE STATE.

SO, SO I JUST WANT EVERYONE THERE SAYING WE'RE NOT PUTTING THE CART FOR THE HORSE.

IT'S A DIFFERENT HORSE AND A DIFFERENT CART.

THAT'S CORRECT.

I KNOW IT'S CONFUSING AND IT'S VERY EASILY TO GET CONFUSED IN ALL OF THIS, BUT, UH, I JUST WANTED TO MAKE SURE EVERYONE UNDERSTOOD, UH, WHAT WAS GOING ON HERE.

THANK YOU VERY MUCH.

THANK YOU, MR. GOE.

THANK YOU, MR. GODDE VICE PRESIDENT COLLINS.

UH, I APPRECIATE THE CLARIFICATION, CUZ THAT DID COME UP LAST TIME ABOUT HELIX AND CAPITAL, BUT I, I THINK THAT THE OVERALL POINT THAT WAS MADE BY MY COLLEAGUES ARE VALID AND IN PARTICULAR, AS IT RELATES TO CAPITAL AND AS YOU'LL SEE, WHEN I VOTE, I AM FOR THE RETURN OF CAPITAL, BUT WE HAVE CONSISTENTLY, EXCUSE ME, WRONG WORD CHOICE.

WE HAVE REGULARLY PUT THE COURT BEFORE THE HORSE ON A LOT OF PROJECTS THAT WE HAVE BEEN WORKING ON.

AND IN PARTICULAR, AS IT RELATES TO CAPITAL, THE WHOLE RETURN HAS BECOME A COMPLICATED MATTER BECAUSE OF HOW DIFFERENT STEPS HAVE TAKEN PLA PLACE BEYOND THIS GRANT ALONG THE WAY.

SO I JUST WANTED TO LIFT UP THAT.

I AGREE THAT MY COLLEAGUES' CONCERNS ABOUT HOW WE MOVE FORWARD AND HOW WE CAN BE MORE STRATEGIC IN MOVING FORWARD IS EXCEPTIONALLY VALID AND THAT, AND HAS COME UP AND WE HAVE EXPRESSED THOSE CONCERNS, UM, SEVERAL TIMES.

SO THANK YOU.

VICE PRESIDENT COLLINS.

UH, MS. WE JACKSON, THANK YOU.

I, I AGREE WITH MY, UH, MY COLLEAGUES AROUND COMMUNICATION, UM, PROBLEMS AND MISCOMMUNICATIONS AND NO COMMUNICATIONS ON SOME MATTERS, UH, AND THE CONCEPT OF THE CART BEFORE THE HORSE, UM, THAT HAPPENS PRETTY OFTEN.

UM, BUT THERE'S ALSO FACTOR OF THE MATTER IS AROUND SOME OF THE THINGS THAT WE'RE MOVING FORWARD WITH WITH THIS GRANT, THE BOARD HAS NOT VOTED ON.

WE, WE TOOK THE TIME TO CONSIDER THE, UM, THE, WAS IT, I THINK IT WAS KENNELWORTH AND THEIR, THEIR CONFIGURATION, UH, BUT THE BOARD HASN'T ADDRESSED CHANGES WITH EITHER B R C B P A OR WITH FLAME.

AND ALTHOUGH THIS IS, THIS IS GREAT.

THIS IS A WONDERFUL OPPORTUNITY, BUT IT SEEMS LIKE WE COULD, WE COULD DO THAT.

IF WE AGREE TO DO THAT, THEN, THEN WE SHOULD HAVE SOME KIND OF BOARD VOTE.

IT JUST, IT SEEMS JUST A LITTLE BIT OUT OF ORDER.

SO IT'S, IT'S VERY UNCOMFORTABLE AND DIFFICULT TO VOTE FOR THINGS IN A PACKAGE LIKE THIS, WHERE SOMETHING SEEM TO BE, UM, OUT OF ORDER.

AND IF WE KEEP DOING THIS, IT'S, YOU KNOW, IT'S GONNA BE HABITUAL AND, UM, YOU KNOW, WE'VE DONE IT A NUMBER OF TIMES AND IT'S, YOU KNOW, IT'S, I, I JUST, I JUST CAN'T KEEP DOING THIS.

UM, YOU KNOW, AND IF I VOTE, VOTE, NO ON THIS, YOU KNOW, YOU'RE ACCUSED OF, UH, HOLDING UP PROGRESS OR SOMETHING, YOU KNOW, BUT, YOU KNOW, IF WE COULD JUST PUT THINGS IN THE RIGHT ORDER, UM, IT WOULD, IT WOULD BE A LOT MORE, UM, ACCEPTABLE AND, UH, AND SATISFYING TO, UH, THE GENERAL PUBLIC AS WELL.

SO, UH, I APPRECIATE THE WORK.

UH, HOWEVER, YOU KNOW, I WOULD HOPE THAT YOU WOULD BE A LITTLE BIT MORE CONSCIENTIOUS ABOUT HOW THESE THINGS ARE PLACED AND THE NUMBER OF CONTRACTS YOU PLACE IN ONE PACKAGE.

YOU KNOW, YOU COULD JEOPARDIZE SOMETHING IN HERE BY PLACING SO MANY THINGS IN THE SAME POT.

THAT'S IT? THANK YOU, MS. SWEAR, JACKSON, THE BOARD IS CLEAR.

MADAM SECRETARY, PLEASE CONDUCT THE VOTE.

THREE CONSIDERATION OF REQUEST TO AMEND THE SCHOOL SECURITY RESOURCE OFFICER HOURLY RATE FROM $35 TO $42 PER HOUR.

[01:55:11]

THE MOTION CARRIES.

THE ITEM IS APPROVED.

WE MOVE NOW TO ITEM, UH, H

[H3. School Security Resource Officer Rate]

STRATEGIC ALIGNMENT, OPERATIONAL EXCELLENCE, GEN UH, FUNDING SOURCE GENERAL FUND.

DO I HAVE A MOTION MOVED BY MS. DIASON SECONDED BY, UH, MR. BELU, UH, MR. SHALIN, I'LL JUMP IN FOR A SECOND.

I DO WANNA MAKE A RECOMMENDATION TO THE MOTION MAKER.

UM, I THINK DISCUSSION THE LAST MEETING WAS THAT THE ACTUAL TITLE IS PART-TIME DEPUTY, UM, NOT TECHNICALLY SRO.

SO THE MOTION MAY NEED TO READ, AMEND THE SALARY OF A PART-TIME DEPUTY AS IT APPEARED IN OUR ORIGINAL BUDGET.

SO IF YOU'RE OKAY WITH A FRIENDLY AMENDMENT, JUST TO MAKE SURE WE'RE SPECIFIC, THAT CONCERN WAS RAISED AT THE CO WE JUST WANNA MAKE SURE WE'RE VERY SPECIFIC ABOUT WHAT IT IS WE'RE APPROVAL.

SO IF YOU LOOK AND I, WE CAN ASK MS. LOPEZ TO COME UP IF SHE'S AVAILABLE, BUT IF YOU LOOK AT OUR ORIGINAL BUDGET, THE POSITION IS ACTUALLY I BELIEVE PART-TIME DEPUTY, IS THAT CORRECT? OKAY.

WELL, I WANNA MAKE SURE, BECAUSE THIS QUESTION WAS RAISED AT THE CO, UM, AND THAT IN OTHER WORDS, WE'RE LISTING AS AN SRO WHEN IT'S ACTUALLY A PART-TIME DEPUTY.

AND I AM, I, I DON'T KNOW IF I, IF I'M, IF I MISSED THAT, BUT I WANNA MAKE SURE THAT WE GET CLARITY AROUND IT BEFORE WE MAKE THE MOTION.

MS. LOPEZ, WILL YOU JOIN US? YEAH.

SURE.

IS THIS A SALARY? IT'S A RATE CONTRACT RATE.

IT'S A CONTRACT RATE.

SO CONTRACT RATE THAT THAT'S, I'M SORRY.

THAT'S CORRECT.

THEN WE CAN PLACE THEM AT SCHOOLS UNTIL WE COMPLETE OUR CONTRACT NEGOTIATIONS, UH, WITH THE SHERIFF AND THE POLICE DEPARTMENT, THIS WILL ACTUALLY HELP TO ACTUALLY ATTRACT, UM, EITHER THE POLI, UH, B R P D OR THE SHERIFF'S OFFICE AT THIS TIME, JUST SO WE CAN START PUTTING THEM AT SCHOOLS, AND THEN WE CAN PAY THEM EIGHT HOURS AT THAT SCHOOL, WHICH WOULD COVER THEM FOR THAT DAY UNTIL WE COMPLETE THE NEGOTIATION OF THE ACTUAL CONTRACT.

THANK YOU, MR. GODDE.

MS. LOPEZ.

YES, THEY ARE.

PART-TIME IT IS NOT QUITE A CONTRACT.

THEY ARE GONNA BE PART-TIME EMPLOYEES.

AND AS YOU LOOK IN THE BACK OF YOUR BUDGET BOOKS IN THE SALARY SCHEDULE, THERE IS AN HOURLY RATE FOR PART-TIME SHERIFFS DEPUTIES.

AND THAT WOULD BE THE RATE THAT WE'RE ADJUSTING.

THEY ARE NOT ELIGIBLE FOR TSL BECAUSE THEY WILL NOT BE WORKING ENOUGH HOURS THAT WE LIMITED THE NUMBER OF HOURS THEY CAN HAVE FOR BOTH TSL AND ACA.

UM, BUT WE WILL, THEY WILL OBVIOUSLY HAVE, WE WILL PAY THEM FROM THE PAYROLL DEPARTMENT.

THEY WILL PAY THE HOURLY RATE WITH THEIR NORMAL DEDUCTIONS TAKEN OUT.

THANK YOU, MS. LOPEZ.

SO TO GET THE MOTION STRAIGHT, MS. UH, DIASON YOU WERE THE MAKER OF THE MOTION.

YES, BUT I NEED SOME CLARITY FIRST.

UM, SO I WANNA KNOW THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE PART-TIME AND THE FULL TIME THAT WE ARE ENGAGING TO BE AT EVERY SCHOOL, MIDDLE AND HIGH FULLTIME, THE SAME PERSON EVERY DAY FULL-TIME HOURS.

AND WHAT IS THIS IN COMPARISON? SO THE, AS I UNDERSTAND IT WITH THE CONTRACT THAT WE ARE WORKING WITH BATON ROUGE POLICE DEPARTMENT AND THE SHERIFF'S OFFICE, THAT IS THE GOAL THAT WE ARE WORKING ON IS TO GET EMPLOYEES THROUGH CONTRACTUALLY WITH BOTH DEPARTMENTS.

AND WE WOULD PAY THEM $42 AN HOUR OR, OR WHATEVER THE END CONTRACT IS.

AND THEY WOULD BE EIGHT HOURS A DAY.

BUT FOR RIGHT NOW, SINCE WE ARE WORKING THROUGH THIS CONTRACT PROCESSES, I KNOW MR. SHALIN AND MS. SCOTT SPADING CAN SPEAK TO MUCH MORE DETAIL THAN I CAN ON THAT.

UM, WE ARE SIMPLY TRYING TO INCREASE THE, OF OUR PART-TIME OFFICERS THAT ARE IN THE SCHOOLS.

AND SO WHAT YOU ARE VOTING ON IS A CHANGE FROM $35 AN HOUR TO $42 AN HOUR FOR A PART-TIME SHERIFF'S DEPUTY, OUR CITY PD I'M.

UH, OKAY.

SO I UNDERSTOOD THAT WE ARE WORKING THROUGH A CONTRACT AS A STOP GAP MEASURE UNTIL WE CAN, UM, BUILD OUR OWN AND TRAIN AND THEY'RE TRAINED AND ALL OF THAT.

SO IS THIS PART OF THE STA STOP GAP MEASURE THAT WE'RE UTILIZING CURRENTLY IMMEDIATELY TO THEN BUILD OUR OWN CAPACITY, UH, BOARD MEMBER DYSON? UH, YES.

SO THIS IS A STOP GAP MEASURE, BUT THE, WE WANT TO MAKE SURE THAT WE CLARIFY, UH, AS WE ARE IN THE PROCESS OF NEGOTIATING A CONTRACT WITH BATON ROUGE POLICE DEPARTMENT AND THE SHERIFF'S OFFICE, UM, UH, WHAT WE'RE DOING RIGHT NOW IS TO RAISE THE HOURLY RATE SO WE CAN BE ABLE TO GET WHETHER IT'S THE POLICE OFFICER OR THE SHERIFF OFFICER TO WORK HOURLY, UH, THAT TIME.

AND

[02:00:01]

IS THAT CORRECT? MR. SHANNON? YES, SIR.

THAT IS CORRECT.

SO I KNOW THAT HOW BUSY WE ALL ARE, BUT, UM, I KNOW WE MET WITH, Y'ALL HAD THE, THE MEETING TO DISCUSS THOSE CONTRACTS AND WHAT WE NEEDED AS FAR AS THE ACCOUNTABILITY MEASURES AND THOSE THINGS THAT WE WERE PUTTING IN PLACE.

AND THAT'S BEEN A FEW WEEKS BACK AND I'M WONDERING, CAN WE GET SOME, UH, SPECIFICS ON WHEN WE ARE GETTING THAT AGREEMENT TO PUSH ON THROUGH? SO I'M GONNA GO AHEAD AND BECAUSE WHAT WE ARE ON IS AN ITEM THAT HAS SPECIFICALLY TO DO WITH THAT'S A SEPARATE ITEM.

I WAS IN THAT MEETING.

WE CAN HAVE A CONVERSATION AND A PRESIDENT.

THEY COULDN'T PROVIDE THOSE OFFICERS TODAY.

IF WE TRIED, IT'S NOT JUST AN ISSUE OF NOT NEGOTIATING A CONTRACT IT'S, IT'S ABOUT THE AVAILABILITY.

SO WHAT WOULD I NEED TO KNOW FROM YOU, CUZ WE DO HAVE A MOTION AND A SECOND ON THE FLOOR.

IS, DO YOU WANT AMEND THE MOTION AS SUGGESTED BY COUNSEL? OR DO YOU WANNA STICK WITH YOUR ORIGINAL MOTION? NO, THAT'S FINE.

I JUST HOPE WE CAN WORK THIS PART.

I THINK WE CAN AND I THINK THEY'RE WORKING DILIGENTLY, BUT WE HAVE SOME REAL CHALLENGES IN LAW ENFORCEMENT RIGHT NOW.

MR. BELU.

ARE YOU OKAY WITH THAT AMENDED, UH, MOTION? YES.

UM, LET'S SEE, UH, MR. HOWARD, THANK YOU PRESIDENT TIME.

SO I HAVE TWO, UH, TWO QUESTIONS RELATED TO THIS, UH, THIS PARTICULAR ASK.

MY FIRST QUESTION IS CAN SOMEONE GIVE VOICE TO THE NEED OF THE INCREASE FROM $35 TO 42 HOURS? AND THEN THE SECOND PIECE IT SAYS IN THE KEY PERFORMANCE INDICATOR AND THE COMMITMENT IS THAT WE WILL ENHANCE SECURITY SERVICES TO IMPROVE SCHOOL CLIMATE AND CULTURAL SURVEYS AND REDUCE INCIDENTS BY IN SCHOOLS BY 20%.

HOW ARE WE CURRENTLY TRACKING THAT? AND LIKE, HOW DO WE BELIEVE THAT THIS PARTICULAR OPERATION WILL ENHANCE SCHOOL CULTURE AND, AND, AND REDUCE THESE PARTICULAR INCIDENTS? SO IF ANYBODY COULD JUST GIVE A LITTLE VOICE TO THAT.

UM, I WOULD APPRECIATE IT.

UH, IF WE CAN GET OUR CHIEF OPERATION OFFICERS, MS. SCOTT SPALDING, COULD YOU PLEASE COME TO ANSWER THAT QUESTION? OKAY.

SO I DON'T KNOW THAT I HEARD THE FULL QUESTION, BUT I, AS I UNDERSTAND IT, IT'S RELATED TO THE SROS AND UNDERSTANDING HOW THEY CAN ENHANCE THE CULTURE OF THE SCHOOL.

IS THAT CORRECT? SO I'LL, I'LL BREAK IT DOWN INTO TWO.

TO WORK RIGHT NOW SHOULD BE 35,000 AN HOUR.

SO THE FIRST THING I WOULD LIKE FOR YOU TO GIVE VOICE TO IS SOMEONE TO GIVE VOICE TO IS WHERE DO WE IDENTIFY THE NEED TO INCREASE THE HOURLY RATE FROM $35 TO $42 AN HOUR? AND THEN I'LL ASK MY SECOND QUESTION.

SO WE HAD A CONVERSATION WITH SHERIFF, SID GORO AND CHIEF MURPHY PAUL, ALONG WITH SUPERINTENDENT RCS AND MR. SHALIN.

AND THERE WAS A DISCUSSION ABOUT THE NEED TO BE ABLE TO RAISE, INCREASE THE AMOUNT, TO BE ABLE TO SECURE MORE OFFICERS.

THERE ARE A SET OF OFFICERS THAT HAVE AGREED TO WORK FOR THE 35, BUT THERE ARE MORE OFFICERS THAT WILL COME TO THE TABLE TO SUPPORT OUR SCHOOLS WITH THE HIGHER COST.

NOW, WHEN OFFICERS WORK IN THE COMMUNITY, THEY MAKE 55 TO $60 AN HOUR ON DETAIL THAT COVER BROADER AREAS, BUT IT'S MUCH LESS INTENSIVE IN WHAT THEY DO.

THEY'RE NOT WORKING WITH KIDS.

OFTENTIMES THEY'RE ABLE TO SIT IN THEIR VEHICLES, RIGHT? AND SO IT'S A MUCH EASIER TASK.

WE HAVE SHARED THAT OBVIOUSLY THE SCHOOL SYSTEM CANNOT AFFORD TO PAY THAT AMOUNT.

WE DISCUSS THE AMOUNT OF $50 AND THEN WE WERE ABLE TO NEGOTIATE IT DOWN TO 42.

AND WITH THAT, THE B R P D HAS I THINK EIGHT OFFICERS THAT ARE READY THAT ARE IN THE QUEUE.

AND THEN THE PROCESS TO COME ON BOARD AND THE SHERIFF'S OFFICE HAS A STRONG NUMBER AS WELL.

SO OBVIOUSLY THE INCREASE IN PAY IS WHEN THE OFFICERS CAME ON BOARD, THEY'RE LITERALLY WAITING TO SEE WHAT THE BOARD DOES TONIGHT, TO BE ABLE TO DETERMINE IF THEY'RE GONNA COME AND SUPPORT THE SCHOOLS.

WE HAVE SCHOOL INCIDENT REPORTS THAT HAPPEN DAILY, RIGHT? WE HAVE SCHOOLS THAT ARE UNCOVERED ON A DAILY BASIS.

WE NEED OFFICERS TO COME IN TO SUPPORT US AND THE NEGOTIATED RATE WILL ACCOMPLISH, ACCOMPLISH THAT.

I UNDERSTAND THAT, AND I DON'T WANT TO TAKE FOOD OFF ANYONE'S TABLE, BUT THIS GOES BACK TO MY PREVIOUS POINT OF THIS HORSE BEFORE THE WAGON AND ALL OF THE, THE THINGS LIKE IF WE HAVE A SET RATE AT THE MOMENT RIGHT NOW OF $35 A HOUR, THAT SHOULD BE THE NEGOTIATING TOOL UNTIL WE, AS A BOARD HAVE APPROVED TO DO A NEW RATE.

AND SO AGAIN, HOW WE COMMUNICATE THESE THINGS AND HOW WE OPERATE IN THESE THINGS, IT MATTERS.

AND IT JUST CONTINUOUSLY TO ME SEEMS LIKE A SLAP IN THE FACE BECAUSE WE HAVE POLICY ON BOARD.

SO YOUR BUDGET

[02:05:01]

AND YOU SHOULD BE GOING TO TALK AND HAVE CONVERSATIONS, BUT TO HAVE A, A GROUP OF PEOPLE ALREADY SET TO COME AT A NEW RATE THAT WE HAVEN'T EVEN APPROVED, IT JUST LOOKS BAD.

I'M NOT SAYING IT'S NOT, I'M NOT SAYING I'M NOT QUESTIONING YOU AS AN INDIVIDUAL, BUT I'M SAYING THAT WE JUST, AS A COLLECTIVE, HAVE TO FIGURE OUT A BETTER WAY TO COMMUNICATE WHEN YOU HAVE TO BRING THINGS FOR BOARD APPROVAL, THERE IS LIMITS TO HOW THAT OPERATES, BUT I WON'T EVEN GO BACK DOWN THERE RABBIT HOLE.

THE SECOND QUESTION I HAD IS THAT THE COMMITMENT OF THIS PARTICULAR INCREASE IN THE STRATEGIC PLAN.

CORNERSTONE IS OPERATIONAL EXCELLENCE.

IT'S TO ENHANCE SECURITY SERVICES, TO IMPROVE SCHOOL CLIMATE AND CULTURAL SURVEYS AND TO REDUCE INCIDENTS IN SCHOOL BY 20%, HOW ARE WE CURRENTLY EVEN TRACKING INCIDENTS IN SCHOOLS? AND HOW DO WE KNOW THAT THIS PARTICULAR METHOD IS AN ANSWER TO DO THAT? SO CRITICAL INCIDENT REPORTS ARE HOW WE TRACK INCIDENTS IN SCHOOLS, THE NEW MEASURE WITH BRINGING THE SROS ON HAVING THEIR JOB DESCRIPTIONS, HAVING THEIR STANDARD OPERATING PROCEDURES, THEIR GUIDANCE, TO BE ABLE TO MONITOR THE SCHOOLS, WALK THROUGH Q2 HOURS, MAKING SURE THEY'RE CHECKING ON SPACES AND PLACES, MAKING SURE THEY CHECK IN ON STAFF, MAKING SURE THEY'RE ENGAGING WITH THE STUDENTS.

ALL OF THAT WILL BE TRACKED BY REDUCED INCIDENT REPORTS AND INCREASE SAFETY IN THE SCHOOLS AND THEIR PRESENCE WILL MAKE OUR TEACHERS AND OUR STAFF FEEL MORE SECURE IN THE SPACE.

CAN WE DO WE HONESTLY BELIEVE THAT THAT'S HAPPENING RIGHT NOW INSIDE OF SCHOOLS, BELIEVE WHAT IS HAPPENING, ALL THE THINGS YOU JUST SAID.

WE ARE WORKING TO WARRANT THAT LITERALLY OUR TWO DIRECTORS OF SECURITY TODAY WERE IN SCHOOLS, WALKING THROUGH MAKING SURE THAT SROS ARE PERFORMING AS WE EXPECT.

UM, SO THANK YOU.

UM, MS. MALDEN.

UM, SO AGAIN, UM, WHEN I, WHEN I THINK ABOUT THE THINGS THAT WE'VE ASKED FOR IN THESE CONTRACTS TO, TO GIVE US MORE, UH, VISION ON HOW WE'RE MEASURING OUR IMPACT AND EFFECTIVENESS, LIKE A BLANKET STATEMENT OF REDUCING INCIDENTS BY SCHOOLS BY 20% IS JUST NOT THE WAY TO DELIVER.

OH, I'M OVER MY TIME.

SORRY.

I WAS TRYING TO LET YOU CLOSE YOUR LITTLE THOUGHT, YOUR THOUGHT.

I, UM, THANK YOU.

UH, BOY COLLEAGUE BOARD COLLEAGUE GO DAY.

MADAM VICE PRESIDENT.

UM, I WANTED TO ASK IF THE AMENDED MOTION INCLUDES THE B R P D SINCE WE'RE USING, UH, BOTH OF THEM.

WE'RE WORDING.

THANK YOU, MS. WE JACKSON, WE'RE WORDING IT.

PART-TIME DEPUTY, WHICH WILL ALLOW US TO INCLUDE BOTH DEPARTMENTS.

THANK YOU FOR THAT QUESTION.

MM-HMM AND THEN ANOTHER PART OF, UH, MY QUESTION IS AROUND, UM, A TIMELINE.

DO WE, DO WE HAVE, UH, A PROJECTED TIMELINE WHEN WE'LL BE ABLE TO INCLUDE, UM, ALL OF THE SCHOOLS? UM, CUZ I'M, I'M FEELING LIKE, YOU KNOW, I KNOW THAT THIS IS SOMETHING THAT'S BEEN IN CONVERSATIONS ON AND OFF, YOU KNOW, OVER, OVER TIME.

BUT THE CONVERSATION REALLY INCREASED AFTER THAT HORRIFIC INCIDENT AT AN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL.

AND IT WAS NOT A COINCIDENCE THAT RIGHT AFTER THAT THIS CAME BEFORE THE BOARD, BUT THE ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS ARE NOT INCLUDED.

AND UM, YOU KNOW, I HAD, UM, A CONVERSATION WITH A MOM WHOSE CHILD IS IN THE ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS AND YOU KNOW, THESE CHILDREN HAVE ROLES WHEN, WHEN THERE IS, UM, THEY, THEY HAVE DRILLS AND WHEN, YOU KNOW, LIKE THIS LITTLE BOYS, UM, HIS JOB IS TO CLOSE THE BLINDS, YOU KNOW? SO THE, THE CHILDREN ARE, ARE ACTIVE IN THEIR RESPONSIBILITY DURING THESE, UM, DURING THE DRILLS AND UM, YOU KNOW, THIS ALMOST BROUGHT THE MOM TO TEARS.

WHEN HER SON SAID TO HER MOM, IT IS IT JUST US, JUST US AND THE TEACHERS, YOU KNOW, JUST VERY AWARE THAT IT'S JUST THEM AND THE TEACHERS AND THEY DON'T HAVE, UH, SECURITY LIKE, LIKE THE OTHERS DO.

AND IN THAT SCHOOL THEY HAD A VOLUNTEER WHO WAS BASICALLY, YOU KNOW, TAKEN, TAKEN OUT, TAKEN OFF THE, UH, OFF THE JOB.

BUT AT ANY RATE, UM, I WOULD LIKE TO KNOW A KIND A TIMELINE OF WHEN WE EXPECT, IF WE'RE GOING TO INCREASE THIS, IF WE'RE GONNA DO THIS.

AND, AND I HAVE MY RESERVATIONS AROUND DOING THIS, LIKE I SAID BEFORE, YOU KNOW, I'M STILL HESITANT AROUND THIS BECAUSE OF STORY, HISTORICALLY, THINGS HAVE HAPPENED WITH, UM, PARTICULARLY YOUNG MEN, YOUNG AFRICAN AMERICAN MEN WITH THE POLICE.

AND I DON'T WANNA SEE OUR REGULAR, UM, PROCEDURES AROUND

[02:10:01]

THINGS THAT KIDS DO.

YOU KNOW, I DON'T WANNA SEE A KID END UP WITH A POLICE RECORD FOR SOMETHING THAT KIDS DO, YOU KNOW, HISTORICALLY KIDS GET INTO FIGHTS.

RIGHT.

AND, BUT I DON'T WANNA SEE SOMETHING.

I DON'T WANNA SEE US GO OVER THE TOP.

YOU KNOW, I KNOW THIS IS SUPPOSED TO BE TO, UM, HELP BRING SECURITY AND MAKE, YOU KNOW, MAKE PEOPLE FEEL, FEEL BETTER AND, YOU KNOW, AND ALL OF THE OTHER, THE OTHER, UH, REASONS THAT, THAT WE'RE DOING THIS, BUT, UH, DR.

NACYS YOU, YOU KNOW, WHAT, WHAT MY CONCERNS ARE, I'VE, I'VE VOICED THEM BEFORE.

UM, BUT YES, I WOULD LIKE TO SEE A TIMELINE ON THAT.

AND, AND, UH, AND I WOULD ALSO LIKE TO SEE WHEN WE'RE GOING TO HAVE, UM, JUST A SECURITY REPORT AROUND SOME OF THE THINGS THAT WE'RE DOING NOW, YOU KNOW, I, I KNOW THAT, YOU KNOW, SOME SCHOOLS NEED FENCES AND CAMERAS AND YOU KNOW, UM, I'VE HEARD OF A, OF A MEASURE WHERE YOU CAN, YOU CAN LOCK A DOOR FROM THE INSIDE, WITH YOUR FOOT, WITH A, A CERTAIN KIND OF, OF, UM, PRODUCT THAT WE MAY BE ABLE TO USE.

SO I WOULD LIKE TO SEE US HAVE A, UM, A REPORT ON, UM, ON SOME OF THE MEASURES THAT WE'RE TAKING, THE PRACTICAL THINGS THAT, THAT WE CAN DO RIGHT NOW, UH, IN ADDITION TO, YOU KNOW, HAVING SOMEONE WALK THE SCHOOLS, CUZ CUZ YOU KNOW, IN THAT INCIDENT, THE, UH, SRO TOOK OFF, YOU KNOW, AND LEFT THOSE KIDS.

SO WE'RE NOT GUARANTEED ANYTHING.

SO LET'S SEE WHAT, WHAT WE CAN DO TO, UH, SAFEGUARD, YOU KNOW.

OKAY, THANKS.

UH, THANK YOU BOY COLLEAGUE, WE JACKSON, UM, THIS HAS BEEN, UH, PRETTY CONVOLUTED FROM THE BEGINNING.

FIRST WE WERE SAYING LET'S JUST GET ON STAFF.

WE HAVE BEEN CONTRACTING WITH, UH, THE SHERIFF AND THE, UH, PD, UH, B R P D UH, FOR MANY YEARS, BUT LET'S GET OUR OWN STAFF.

THEN, UH, WHAT WE WERE GONNA DO WITH THAT IN AND OF ITSELF GOT CONVOLUTED.

THEN WE TURNED AROUND AND WE SAYING CONTRACT STAFF, THEN WE TURN AROUND AND SAYING NO PART-TIME STAFF.

AND I JUST, UM, AND TO, TO, TO REAL QUICKLY, AS I CONTINUE POINT OUT, I HOST EVENTS THAT REQUIRE SECURITY AND I HAVE PERSONALLY PAID $35 A HOUR.

NOW THAT WAS ABOUT THREE, FOUR YEARS AGO.

IT WAS THE LAST TIME I DID IT, BUT IT'S NOT UNHEARD OF.

OR WHAT HAVE YOU, UM, SCHOOL CLIMATE REDUCTION TO REDUCE THE INCIDENT RATES BY 20% AS MY COLLEAGUE JUST MENTIONED, I ALREADY HAVE MIXED FEELINGS FROM, WITH THIS OUTSIDE OF IT BEING, UH, HANDLED IN A VERY CONVOLUTED BACK AND FORTH, UP AND DOWN MANNER ON HOW TO EVEN APPROACH THIS.

UM, I DIDN'T DEAL WITH WHAT I HAVE RAISED MANY TIMES.

WELL, SEVERAL PRIOR TO THIS MOMENT, OVER THE YEARS, IT IS PROVEN BY RESEARCH THAT A LAW ENFORCEMENT PRESENCE ON CAMPUSES CONTRIBUTES SIGNIFICANTLY TO THE SCHOOL TO PRISON PIPELINE.

AND SO THEN BEING KNOWLEDGEABLE OF THAT WHILE STILL TRYING TO, OKAY, CHILDREN NEED TO BE PROTECTED AND SAFE ON CAMPUSES FROM OUTSIDE FORCES.

FOR EXAMPLE, I, MY UNDERSTANDING IS IN REPEATS PARISH, THEY, THEY HAVE SOMETHING IN PLACE, WHEREAS YES, IT IS A LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICER.

SO THEN MAYBE YES, LET'S HAVE OUR RESOURCE OFFICERS FOR THEIR SAFETY FROM OUTSIDE FORCES.

BUT WHEN YOU TIE IN THIS REDUCTION OF INCIDENTS BY 20%, THEN YOU PUTTING IT RIGHT BACK INTO THE GREATER CONCERN OF THE IMPACT TO THE SCHOOL, TO PRISON PIPELINE BECAUSE YOU ARE TYING, UH, MEASURES AND YES, WE DO NEED TO HAVE MEASURES, BUT THESE PARTICULAR MEASURES, JUST SO HAVING TO CORRELATE TO HOW PRISON POPULATION RATES ARE IMPACTED.

UM, SO IT, IT, IT MAKES ME EVEN MORE UNEASY ABOUT THIS WHOLE MANNER.

NOW, THE WAY SOME OTHER PLACES APPROACH USING SCHOOL RESOURCE OFFICERS THAT HAPPEN TO BE LAW ENFORCEMENT, THEY HAVE A VERY THOUGHT OUT STRATEGIC APPROACH.

[02:15:01]

NO, THAT'S NOT THE BEST CHOICE, BUT THEY ARE VERY DELIBERATE ABOUT MITIGATING THOSE CONTRIBUTORS TO THE SCHOOL OF SCHOOL OF PRISON PIPELINE.

SO THE, MY CONCERN IS THAT BY PUTTING THE REDUC, BY PUTTING THAT MEASURE OF REDUCING INCIDENTS BY 20%, YOU TYING THE LEOS TO THE WHOLE DISCIPLINARY FUNCTION.

AND I'VE EXPRESSED BEFORE THAT, UH, ON SEVERAL OCCASIONS THAT WHEN YOU DO THAT, AND IT'S NOT EVEN ABOUT THE LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICER THEMSELVES, SOMETIMES YOU MIGHT HAVE A AMAZING LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICER ON THE CAMPUS.

EXCUSE ME, I'M ALL TONGUE TIED.

SOMETIMES YOU MIGHT HAVE AN AMAZING LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICER ON THE CAMPUS, BUT IF THAT PRINCIPAL HAPPENS TO BE WEAK IN DISCIPLINED, NOW, AGAIN, YOU CONTRIBUTING TO THIS SCHOOL OF PRISON PIPELINE.

UM, LAST THING I NEED TO ASK IS BECAUSE OF THE BACK AND FORTH, MY QUESTION IS THIS, DOES THIS MOTION CHANGE THE RATE FROM $35 A HOUR TO $42 A HOUR FOR FUTURE EMPLOYEES WORKING FULL TIME AS SROS? OR IS THIS JUST TO CONTRACT WITH, UH, SHERIFF'S DEPARTMENT AND, UH, THE BATON ROUGE PD, UH, BOARD MEMBER WORK BOARD MEMBER COLLINS.

UM, IT IS JUST FOR PART-TIME DEPUTIES HIRED THROUGH THOSE TWO DEPARTMENTS.

AND THEN, UM, UH, AS MY COLLEAGUE MENTIONED, I DO HAVE CONCERN AROUND AGAIN, THE WAY IN WHICH THIS HAPPENED, BECAUSE IT'S LIKE YOU HOLDING OUR CHILDREN'S SAFETY HOSTAGE.

CAUSE YOU SHOULD HAVE NEGOTIATED THIS BEFORE IT CAME TO US IN THE FIRST PLACE.

UH, SEEING NO OTHER, UM, REQUEST TO SPEAK FROM THE BOARD.

DID WE ALREADY GO TO THE PUBLIC? OKAY.

AND THIS IS ITEM THREE OH H THREE.

THIS THE CORON, CARLY, MY APOLOGIES.

I WAS HANDING OFF THE CHILD, SO I DIDN'T BRING HIM IN HERE, BUT MAYBE I PROBABLY SHOULD HAVE BROUGHT HIM IN HERE AND I'M GONNA SPEAK LOUDER CUZ I KNOW I'M A LITTLE HORSE.

UM, AS IT RELATE TO THE SCHOOL RESOURCE OFFICERS, MY SENTIMENTS I ECHO ARE THE SAME AS VICE PRESIDENT COLLINS, MS. WE JACKSON BOARD MEMBER HOWARD LANIS I THINK EVERYBODY, UM, SHOULD BE AFRAID OF THIS.

IF WE HAD AN INCIDENT IN SCHOOL RIGHT NOW AND YOU SUB AND YOUR SUBCONTRACTING, EVERY SINGLE POLICE ENTITY DO, Y'ALL NOT THINK THAT A CONFLICT OF INTEREST WOULD ARISE AS IT RELATES TO INVESTIGATING.

YOU KNOW, IF A PARENT DECIDED TO BRING THAT TO COURT, WHAT IS THAT GONNA LOOK LIKE? CUZ IF THE SRO DID SOMETHING THAT HURT A CHILD SUCH AS MINE, YOU KNOW, WHO GETS SUED EBR, I CAN SPEAK ABOUT CASES OF CHILDREN WITH DISABILITIES, WHERE SROS IN EBR SCHOOL SYSTEM ACTUALLY TOOK THE CHILDREN TO JUVENILE DETENTION AND THEY TOLD THEM BEFORE THEY PUT THEM IN HANDCUFFS THAT THEY WERE GONNA LEARN TODAY.

WHAT LESSON WERE THEY TRYING TO TEACH THOSE BLACK AND BROWN KIDS? I DON'T KNOW, BUT IT DAMN SURE WASN'T PRETTY BECAUSE WATCH MS. THOSE KIDS WERE IN ORANGE JUMPSUITS AND HAD SHACKLES ON THEIR ANKLES AND THEIR WRISTS LOOK LIKE SOMETHING FROM AMAD, 12 YEARS OF SLAVE AND THE LIST CAN GO ON AND ON SCHOOL TO PRISON.

PIPELINE IS ALSO ANOTHER CIRCUMSTANCE OF SLAVERY.

WE CANNOT ACT LIKE THAT'S NOT WHAT IT IS.

THAT'S EXACTLY WHAT IT IS.

AND CHILDREN LIKE MINE CAN'T ACTUALLY TELL US EXACTLY

[02:20:01]

WHAT HAPPENED.

SO THEN WE HAVE TO RELY ON THAT OFFICER OR THAT WEAK PRINCIPAL OR THAT WEAK TEACHER THAT DON'T KNOW HOW TO JUST SIMPLY SAY, HEY, I NEED THE SUPPORT CUZ RIGHT NOW MY CHILD DON'T HAVE A SPECIAL ED TEACHER OR A REGULAR ED TEACHER.

SO IF THE PARAPROFESSIONAL NEED THE SUPPORT, ARE THEY SUPPOSED TO CALL THE SRO? I LOVE OUR CONSTABLES AND I LOVE OUR SHERIFFS.

I AM VERY LEERY OF OUR CITY POLICE DEPARTMENT THAT HAVE HAD LETTERS WRITTEN FROM MANY, MANY AGENCIES AROUND THIS COUNTRY.

WHEN THEY CAME HERE, WE ACTUALLY LOOK ON THE NEWS AND I, AND WE CAN SEE THEY ARE ALWAYS IN A SCANDALOUS SITUATION.

SO WHEN I SAY WE NEED TO LOOK AT NOT HAVING THEM IN A CLASSROOM.

ABSOLUTELY.

BUT MAYBE THIS IS AN OPPORTUNITY FOR US TO PUT CAMERAS IN EVERY CLASSROOM AND IN EVERY HALLWAY SO THAT WE CAN ACTUALLY PROTECT OURSELVES AS A BODY, PROTECTING EVERY STUDENT EVERY DAY, ALONG WITH THE STAFF.

UH, MR. JAMES FINNEY.

OH, WELL I'LL SLOUCH.

I WOULD ENCOURAGE YOU STRONGLY ENCOURAGE YOU TO DEFER THIS ITEM.

HOLD, PAUSE THIS TIME.

AND UH, THANK YOU.

WE ENCOURAGE, UH, PARENTS TO BE INVOLVED IN SCHOOL BOARD MEETINGS AND SOME OF THAT INVOLVES CHILDREN ACTUALLY BEING PRESENT.

SO GO AHEAD WITH THIS TIME.

I ENCOURAGE YOU TO DEFER THIS ITEM BECAUSE IT'S IMPORTANT THAT THE ADMINISTRATION SAY WHAT THEY MEAN AND MEAN WHAT THEY SAY.

I HAD THE ASSUMPTION UNTIL I GOT HERE AND HEARD PART OF MR. SHAMAN'S EXPLANATION.

I WOULD'VE HEARD MORE OF IT EXCEPT THERE ISN'T REALLY ENOUGH SEATING IN THIS BOARDROOM FOR THE AUDIENCE TO BE COMFORTABLY SPACED.

BUT I ASSUMED THIS WAS ALL ABOUT, UM, THE TERMS UNDER WHICH HE WOULD BE CONTRACTING WITH THE OUTSIDE AGENCIES ONLY TO FIND OUT TONIGHT THAT IT IS ABOUT THE HOURLY RATE THAT THIS GENTLEMAN AND THE CONSTABLE IN THE LOBBY, ALL THEIR COLLEAGUES THROUGHOUT THE SCHOOL DISTRICT WILL BE MAKING.

IT WOULD NOT BE HARD FOR THE ADMINISTRATION TO HAVE MADE THAT ABUNDANTLY CLEAR A WEEK AGO.

YOU KEEP TOLERATING THIS LEVEL OF OBFUSCATION INCOMPETENCE VAGUENESS FROM YOUR ADMINISTRATION AND THE COMMUNITY'S SICK OF IT.

OR AT LEAST SOME OF US ARE, THERE'S A TERM IN HERE, SCHOOL SECURITY RESOURCE OFFICER.

IT DOESN'T SAY PART-TIME IN THE AGENDA ITEM.

THAT IS A PROBLEM.

THIS LOOKS LIKE YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT AN HOURLY RATE FOR SOMEBODY THAT LOOKS FULL TIME FROM THE WAY IT'S WRITTEN.

I HAVE NO IDEA WHAT THE HOURLY RATE OF A FULL-TIME SCHOOL SECURITY RESOURCE OFFICER, CUZ IT'S PROBABLY NOT ON THE SALARY SCHEDULE.

SO THIS IS A 20% RAISE, YOU KNOW, GOOD FOR THEM.

IF THEY COULD GET IT, YOU CAN GIVE 20% RAISES TO THE TEACHERS.

THE ONLY WAY A TEACHER GETS A 20% RAISE OF THE QUIT TEACHING AND WE DON'T WANT TEACHERS TO QUIT TEACHING.

WE HAVE TOO MANY OF THAT DOING ADMINISTRATION.

THE WAY IT IS.

FURTHERMORE IS PUTTING COPS AT HIGH SCHOOLS AND MIDDLE SCHOOLS ABOUT SECURITY AND SAFETY, OR IS ABOUT CONTROL.

WHEN IF EVER WILL THIS ADMINISTRATION BE PROPOSING WAYS TO MAKE THESE SCHOOL FACILITIES SECURE.

HAVE YOU SEEN A PROPOSAL YET TO PUT FENCES AROUND SCHOOLS THAT ARE TOO OPEN? HAVE YOU SEEN AN ITEM TO ADDRESS THE WAY PEOPLE ENTER AND EXIT CONTROLLING LOCKS, CONTROLLING CLASSROOM DOORS? NO.

WILL YOU EVER, WILL YOU DEMAND IT? YOU'RE JUST GONNA KEEP, KEEP LETTING THIS SLIDE APPROVING EVERY SPENDING ITEM THAT COMES BY AND THEN SUDDENLY THERE'S NO MONEY LEFT.

AND BY THE WAY, ARE YOU GONNA DO ANYTHING TO ADDRESS SECURITY IN ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS OR IS THE ONLY PEOPLE IN ANY DANGER OF ANYTHING SIXTH GRADE AND ABOVE ASK THE PEOPLE OF VIVALDI.

TALKING ABOUT THEM HANDLING DISCIPLINARY PROBLEMS TO MAKE THE SCHOOL SAFER.

FINNEY.

UM, REVEREND FLOWERS.

GOOD EVENING, EVERYONE.

UM, I DON'T HAVE A PROBLEM WITH THE RATE, WHATEVER THE RATE IS IS WHAT THE RATE IS.

UM, MY ISSUE IS THESE OFFICERS BEING ON CAMPUS.

MY ISSUE IS ARE THEY THERE FOR EXTERNAL THREATS? BECAUSE THAT IS WHAT THIS WAS ABOUT.

MY UNDERSTANDING FROM ALDI.

NOW WE'RE

[02:25:01]

WHEN IT COMES TO OUR KIDS, KIDS ARE GONNA BE KIDS.

WHEN I WAS IN HIGH SCHOOL, I GOT SUSPENDED MORE THAN ONCE FOR FIGHTING.

I GOT SUSPENDED, UH, AND HANDLED IN OTHER, OTHER WAYS FOR FIGHTING.

WASN'T A BAD KID, DR.

LANDIS, I JUST KIDS KEPT MESSING WITH ME, SO HAD TO DO WHAT I HAD TO DO, BUT THE POLICE WERE NOT INVOLVED.

I DIDN'T GET A CRIMINAL RECORD.

UH, WE SHOULDN'T BE SENDING THESE KIDS TO JUDGE GROVER'S OFFICE OR JUDGE JOHNSON'S OFFICE.

IT SHOULD BE HANDLED ON THE SCHOOL CAMPUS.

UM, MRS. WHERE AND I HAVE SPOKE ABOUT THIS, MAKE SURE THAT IT'S ABOUT EXTERNAL THREATS, THAT THEY'RE NOT GOING TO HANDLE OUR KIDS, WHO SOME KID REFUSED TO LEAVE A CLASSROOM AND THE POLICE ARE CALLED HE'S BLED OUT IN HANDCUFFS.

DON'T DO THAT.

AND WHAT I'M ASKING, I'M GONNA ASK IN, RIGHT? I'M GONNA SEND YOU GUYS AN EMAIL TO PUT, HAVE ME GET, GIVE IT TO ME IN WRITING, UH, WHAT THE JOB DESCRIPTION IS EXACTLY WHAT THESE GUYS ARE GONNA BE DOING TO MAKE SURE THAT IT IS IN WRITING SOMEWHERE, THAT THEY ARE NOT GONNA HANDLE INTERNAL DISCIPLINARY PROBLEMS, CUZ THEY SHOULDN'T BE DOING THAT.

UM, YOU GUYS SAID SOMETIME AGO THAT YOU WOULDN'T HAVE THESE MARATHON MEETINGS, IT LOOKS LIKE YOU'RE ABOUT TO HAVE ANOTHER ONE TONIGHT.

SO LET ME SLIP IN RIGHT NOW AND I'M ALL FOR CAPITAL HIGH SCHOOL, UH, RETURN INTO THE SYSTEM.

ALL RIGHT, WE'RE GONNA HAVE TO MOVE YOU AS PRESIDENT OF ALUMNI ASSOCIATION, UH, CAPITAL SHOULD BE BACK.

FIRST CONVERSATION THAT I HAD WITH DR.

NAIS BRING CAPITAL HIGH SCHOOL BACK TO THE ASSOCIATION, HAD THIS CONVERSATION, UH, WITH OUR BOARD MEMBER HOWARD BRING CAPITAL TO HIGH SCHOOL BACK TO THE EAST BATON ROUGE PARA SCHOOL SYSTEM.

ADD A TRADITIONAL HIGH SCHOOL.

THANK I GOTTA GO.

YOU GUYS ARE GONNA BE ALL NIGHT.

BRING CAPITAL BACK.

THANK YOU, ROBERT TO OUR SYSTEM.

APPRECIATE YOU.

UM, UM, MS. FARLEY JACKSON, MS. FARLEY JACKSON.

THANK YOU FAIRLY JACKSON.

UM, I I'D LIKE TO AGREE WITH MR OR PASTOR FLOWERS.

UM, WE HEAR A LOT ABOUT SCHOOL SAFETY, BUT REALLY THE ONLY PUBLIC COMMENTS WE'VE BEEN AWARDED IS AROUND SALARIES FOR PEOPLE AND UM, JOB DESCRIPTIONS.

SO, UM, I'LL TALK ABOUT A JOB DESCRIPTION.

ACTUALLY.

EVELYN DESCRIBED MY SON'S JOB DESCRIPTION.

MY SON'S JOB DESCRIPTION IS TO CLOSE THE BLINDS DURING AN ACTIVE SHOOTER EXPERIENCE.

SHE'S TALKING ABOUT MY SON.

UM, WHAT WE DIDN'T TALK ABOUT IS ON FEBRUARY 22ND, THERE WAS AN ACTUAL ACTIVE SHOOTER ISSUE AT HIS SCHOOL.

SO HE HIT UNDER HIS DESK.

HE PUT HIS HANDS OVER HIS LIPS.

HE LOOKED AT HIS COLLEAGUES, HIS CLASSMATES, HE REACHED HIS HAND OUT KNOWING HE COULDN'T MOVE AND TRIED TO HOLD THEIR HAND.

HE'S IN AN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL, HE'S IN WHAT I CALL A BREEZEWAY SCHOOL, OPEN ACCESS.

WE'RE TALKING ALL ABOUT SALARIES.

WE'RE TALKING ABOUT JOB DESCRIPTIONS AND WE'RE, WE'RE NOT TALKING ABOUT WHO'S VULNERABLE AND HOW TO ACTUALLY SECURE OUR SITES.

MR. GO DAY.

YOU SAID THE BIGGEST THREAT IS FROM RIGHT? WELL, THERE ARE STATISTICS THAT SAY 21 TO 22 MOST SCHOOL SHOOTINGS HAPPEN AT ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS.

I DON'T WANNA SEE GUYS WITH GUNS ON HIPS.

I DON'T WANNA SEE THIS PRISON TO PIPELINE.

I MEAN THIS, UH, SCHOOL TO PIPELINE.

I MEAN, I'M SORRY, SCHOOL TO PRISON PIPELINE.

I, I DON'T, I DON'T WANT THAT, BUT LET'S START WITH THE BASICS.

WE'RE TALKING ABOUT SALARIES AND HOURLY RATES.

WHERE ARE THE FENCES? WHERE ARE THE WINDOW WRAPS? WHERE ARE THE VERY BASIC THINGS THAT WE KNOW THAT S OR THREE AND EVEN S OR TWO WOULD'VE FUNDED.

WE KNEW THIS, THE ALDI SHOOTER.

DO YOU KNOW WHERE HE STARTED? HE SHOT IN THE WINDOWS.

MY SON'S JOB IS TO CLOSE THE BLINDS.

UM, JUDGE JOHNSON.

OH, NO, I'M SORRY.

PAMELA TAYLOR JOHNSON.

YOU SEE, I GOT AHEAD OF MYSELF THERE, JUDGE.

BUT IF YOU WANT TO, IF YOU WANNA SPEAK, WE'LL LET YOU SPEAK TO .

THERE'S A LOT OF JUDGE JOHNSON'S IN THE ROOM.

I'M PAMELA TAYLOR JOHNSON.

COMMON NAME, YOU KNOW, GOOD AFTERNOON.

GOOD AFTERNOON.

I'M A RETIRED JUDGE OF THE JUVENILE COURT HERE IN EAST BAT ROUGE PARISH.

AND I STAND BEFORE YOU TODAY TO SPEAK ON THE ISSUE, NOT FOR SALARIES, BUT MY CONCERN IS JUST HAVING ADDITIONAL OFFICERS INSIDE THE SCHOOL.

NOW I'VE SEEN THIS, I'VE SEEN IT ON LOTS OF OCCASION RESOURCE OFFICERS INSIDE THE SCHOOLS AND THEN

[02:30:01]

CARE END UP IN THE JUVENILE COURT, PROBABLY INAPPROPRIATELY.

ONCE I'VE LOOKED AT THE WHOLE SITUATION, I AM ALL IN FAVOR OF HAVING OFFICERS FOR EXTERNAL SECURITY, BUT TO HAVE KIDS IN SCHOOL, UM, WITH POLICE OFFICERS, WITH GUNS ON HIP THINKING ABOUT TRAUMA THAT THEY HAVE ALREADY ENGAGED IN, IN THE NEIGHBORHOODS AND COMING TO SCHOOL AND ALL THAT.

AND THEN YOU HAVE AN ADDITIONAL TRAUMA IN THE CLASSROOMS AND YOU'RE NOT GONNA HAVE AN OFFICER CUZ THAT'S PART OF THEIR RESPONSIBILITY.

IF THERE IS SOME CONDUCT THAT'S INAPPROPRIATE, THAT COULD BE, YOU KNOW, WE CRIMINALIZE TOO MUCH.

WE CRIMINALIZE TOO MANY THINGS THAT KIDS ACTIVITY.

IT IS A CRIME TO HIT SOMEONE WITHOUT THEIR PERMISSION.

IT'S CALLED A BATTERY, BUT THAT'S WHAT KIDS DO SOMETIMES.

SO THAT WOULD BE A CONDUCT THAT AN OFFICER MAY FEEL COMPELLED TO RESPOND TO WHEN IT COULD VERY WELL BE HANDLED BY AN EXPERIENCED EDUCATOR.

WHO'S SAYING, JOHNNY, KEEP YOUR HANDS TO YOURSELF.

SUSIE DON'T DO THIS.

SO WHEN YOU PUT LAW ENFORCEMENT WHO ARE TRAINED TO RECOGNIZE VIOLATIONS OF THE LAW, THEN YOU CAN HAVE SOME OUTCOMES THAT WE REALLY DON'T WANT FOR OUR CHILDREN.

MY WHOLE THING IS LET'S START RESTORING OUR SCHOOL SYSTEMS TO MAKE THEM SCHOOL SYSTEMS. LET'S KEEP THEM SAFE.

YOU WANNA HAVE OFFICERS ALL AROUND FOR EXTERNAL FORCES, FINE ON THOSE UNUSUAL CASES WHERE YOU MAY HAVE TO CALL LAW ENFORCEMENT IN BE ABLE TO DO THAT, BUT IT OUGHT NOT BE OFFICER FRIENDLY.

MY RESOURCE OFFICER, IT SHOULD BE AN EXTERNAL SOURCE.

THANK YOU VERY MUCH FOR YOUR TIME.

THANK YOU, JUDGE.

PAMELA TAYLOR JOHNSON.

SO THE CARDS I HAVE, UM, WE, UH, FROM THE AUDIENCE, WE COME BACK TO THE BOARD, UH, MR. LANDIS.

I'LL JUST BE REAL QUICK.

UH, I THINK THIS COMES BACK AND IT'S ALMOST LIKE BEATING A DEAD HORSE AND AGREEING WITH MY POOR COLLEAGUE, UH, MR. HOWARD, UH, THESE ARE THE TYPES OF THINGS THAT WE CAN EASILY AVOID.

A LOT OF THE THINGS WE'RE TALKING ABOUT ARE EASILY AVOIDABLE.

ONE OF WHICH AS WE'RE GOING, YOU GONNA HEAR OVER AND OVER AGAIN IS THE HOURLY SCHEDULE OF HOW WE SHOULD HAVE CAME BEFORE THE BOARD.

ANOTHER, WHICH IS, UH, THE LANGUAGE OF WHICH, HOW WE'RE GONNA USE OUR, UH, RESOURCE OFFICES.

IS THERE A NEED? ABSOLUTELY.

AND I THINK IN ORDER FOR PEOPLE TO UNDERSTAND WHY THERE IS A NEED, I WOULD, UH, I GUESS PROP UP OUR, UH, CHIEF OF SECURITY.

SOMETIMES PEOPLE NEED TO HIT A RAW DATA.

SO WHENEVER A CHILD BRINGS A GUN TO SCHOOL, LET THE COMMUNITY KNOW HOW MANY, UH, HOW MANY GUNS ARE BEING BROUGHT TO SCHOOL ON A REGULAR BASIS.

SO DO YOU UNDERSTAND THE NEED OF WHY SOME OF THESE THINGS LIKE THIS HAS TO HAPPEN NOW? I'M NOT SAYING THAT WE PUSH OFFERS INSIDE OF CLASSROOMS ARE NOT BY ANY MAJOR SAYING THAT, BUT I AM SAYING THAT THERE HAS TO BE A PRESENCE THERE.

SO THAT ONE SAFETY IS A TOP PRIORITY IN THIS DISTRICT, AS IT STANDS, IT HAS NOT BEEN FOR MANY YEARS, IT REALLY DID THE, UH, RISK ASSESSMENT.

AND HE WENT AROUND THE SCHOOLS.

CLEARLY THERE WERE SEVERAL THINGS THAT SHOULD HAVE BEEN FIXED A LONG TIME AGO, BUT THEY WERE NOT, THERE WAS A TRUE NEED TO INCREASE SAFETY PRESENCE AT OUR SCHOOLS.

I DO NOT WANT OUR COMMUNITIES TO, TO GLANCE OVER THAT.

IT STILL BOTHERS ME TO KNOW THAT ON A SUNDAY AT A HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL GAME, FIVE AUTOMATIC GUNS WERE BROUGHT ON THAT CAMPUS.

AND THAT WAS WITH OFFICERS ON THE CAMPUS.

THEY DIDN'T HAVE ENOUGH TO MAN THAT EVENT AND BECAUSE OF IT, SEVERAL PEOPLE COULD HAVE LOST THEIR LIVES.

I ONLY SAID THAT TO SAY THAT WE HAVE TO CAUTION OURSELVES TO ALSO PUT THE KIDS FIRST.

WE'VE LOST TOO MANY ALREADY, AND WE'RE STILL LOSING THEM AS WE ARE DISCUSSING THIS TOPIC.

CONVERSATIONS WAS, YOU KNOW, J BASED AROUND MAKING SURE THAT THE PERIMETER WAS SECURE PEOPLE, WALKING, MAKING SURE EVERYTHING, THINGS WERE LOCKED UP AND, UH, THAT THE CAMPUS WAS, UH, SAFE.

THANK YOU, MR. LANIS.

MS. WE JACKSON, THANK YOU PRESIDENT.

TAMAN, YOU KNOW, WE'VE, WE'VE HEARD A LOT THIS EVENING AROUND THE, UH, WHAT THE, THE MOTIVE IS, YOU KNOW, AND I, I CAN'T HELP, BUT JUST LOOK AT AT THE BACKUP, YOU KNOW, AND IT DOESN'T REALLY MATCH IF WE'RE JUST TALKING ABOUT THE DOLLAR AMOUNT OF WHAT WE'RE, YOU KNOW, WHAT WE WANNA PAY, UH, THESE OFFICERS, YOU KNOW, UH, AND I, YOU KNOW, I CAN'T HELP BEING LIKE THIS.

IT'S GOTTA AT LEAST TO MATCH IF WE'RE LOOKING TO ENHANCE SECURITY SERVICES TO IMPROVE SCHOOL CLIMATE AND CULTURAL SURVEYS.

AND THE KEY PERFORMANCE INDICATOR IS TO REDUCE INCIDENTS IN SCHOOLS BY 20%.

YOU KNOW, I HAVE TO AGREE THAT IT, IT, IT DOESN'T QUITE MATCH WITH WHAT OUR ORIGINAL INTENTION WAS.

AT LEAST FROM WHAT I RECOLLECT IN OUR EARLY

[02:35:01]

UM, IT SEEMS LIKE WE'RE GETTING CLOUDIER, CLOUDIER AND CLOUDIER, AND, UM, YOU KNOW, IT'S, IT'S, IT'S DIFFICULT WHEN YOUR INFORMATION THAT, THAT YOU'RE RECEIVING, ISN'T QUITE MATCHING UP WITH, WITH THE, YOU KNOW, IT CAUSES A LITTLE CONFUSION HERE, MAKES IT HARD TO KEEP TRACK OF WHAT THE REAL INTENTION IS.

AND IT, AS YOU CAN TELL, IT BRINGS UP A LOT OF CONCERN WITHIN THE PUBLIC AS TO WHAT THE, WHAT THE INTENTION IS, WHETHER IT, WHEN IT, IT DOESN'T MATCH UP WITH, UH, ON PAPER AROUND SECURITY.

SO THIS IS, THIS IS DIFFICULT TO, UH, TO JUST VOTE ON OUR, ON THE HOURLY RATE.

AND WE'RE NOT SURE WHAT THE OFFICER WHO WILL BE PAID AT THIS HOURLY RATE'S DUTY REALLY IS.

SO I JUST WANNA MAKE THAT CLEAR TO YOU IF IT'S, IF IT'S NOT EVIDENT FROM WHAT PEOPLE HAVE SAID, YOU KNOW, SO, UH, I WOULD JUST ENCOURAGE YOU TO, TO, UM, JUST MAKE IT, MAKE IT MATCH, YOU KNOW, SO EVERYBODY REALLY UNDERSTANDS CUZ EVEN THROUGH, THROUGH ALL OF THIS TIME, YOU KNOW, IT IT'S SEEMS TO HAVE CAUSED MORE AND MORE CONFUSION AS TO WHAT OUR REAL INTENTION IS.

AND YOU KNOW, LIKE WE NEED TO GO BACK AND MAKE SURE THAT WE'RE NOT, UH, INTENDING TO INTERRUPT OUR REGULAR, UH, OUR USUAL PROCEDURE WHEN IT COMES TO DISCIPLINE IN OUR SCHOOLS.

THE STRATEGIC ALIGNMENT IS EMPLOYEE DEVELOPMENT.

THANK YOU VERY MUCH.

THANK YOU, MS. WE JACKSON, UH, THE BOARD IS CLEAR.

MADAM SECRETARY, PLEASE CONDUCT A VOTE.

PLEASE VOTE THE MOTION CARRIES THE ITEMS PROVED WE NOW MOVE TO

[I. Consent Agenda]

THE CONSENT AGENDA.

MR. HOWARD, THANK YOU, PRESIDENT TAMAN CONSENT AGENDA.

THE FOLLOWING ITEMS ARE TO BE APPROVED AS PART OF THE CONSENT AGENDA AND ARE CONSIDERED TO BE ROUTINE AND WILL BE ACTED ENACTED WITH ONE MOTION.

THERE WILL BE NO SEPARATE DISCUSSION OF ITEMS UNLESS A BOARD MEMBER.

SO REQUESTS IN WHICH EVENT, THE ITEM WILL BE REMOVED FROM THE CONSENT AGENDA AND CONSIDERED AS AN ITEM ON THE REGULAR AGENDA FOR SEPARATE VOTE PROCEEDING.

THE LAST ITEM ON THE REGULAR AGENDA AGENDA, PROFESSIONAL SERVICE CON CONTRACTS, I D E CONSIDERATION OF REQUESTS FOR THE APPROVAL OF THE PROFESSIONAL SERVICE AGREEMENTS BETWEEN THE EAST BAY ROUGE PARISH SCHOOL BOARD AND THE FOLLOWING BOARD OF SUPERVISORS OF LOUISIANA STATE UNIVERSITY AND AGRICULTURE AND MECHANICAL COLLEGE ON BEHALF OF THE LOUISIANA STATE UNIVERSITY HEALTH SCIENCE CENTER IN THE AMOUNT OF $52,000 TO PROVIDE PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT AND SPECIALIZED SUPPORT SERVICES FOR AUTISM SERVICES, STRATEGIC ALIGNMENT, STUDENT ACHIEVEMENT, THE FUNDING SOURCES, IDA SIX 11 B BORDER SUPERVISORS OF LOUISIANA STATE UNIVERSITY AND AGRICULTURE AND MECHANICAL COLLEGE ON BEHALF OF ITS LOUISIANA STATE UNIVERSITY HEALTH SCIENCE CENTER IN THE AMOUNT OF $65,000 TO PROVIDE HIGH QUALITY PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT AND SPECIALIZED SUPPORT FOR THE EXCEPTIONAL STUDENT SERVICES TO EMPLOY INSTRUCTIONAL STRATEGIES TO STRESS, TO ADDRESS, EXCUSE ME, THE STUDENTS WITH DISABILITIES SUBGROUP, STRATEGIC ALIGNMENT, STUDENT ACHIEVEMENT FUNDING SOURCE ID I D E A SIX 11 PROFESSIONAL SERVICE THREE PROFESSIONAL SERVICE CONTRACTS, GENERAL FUND CONSIDERATION OF A REQUEST FOR THE APPROVAL OF THE PROFESSIONAL SERVICES CONTRACTS BETWEEN THE EAST BAY ROUGE PARISH SCHOOL BOARD AND THE FOLLOWING HANDOVER RESEARCH AND THE AMOUNT OF $125,000 TO PROVIDE A STRATEGY MEMBERSHIP PROGRAM EVALUATION AND RESEARCH SERVICES.

THEY SHOULD TREAT YOU GOOD ALIGNMENT.

UM, AS EMPLOYEE SLASH EMPLOYEE DEVELOPMENTS, THE FUNDING SOURCES TO GENERAL FUND PROPOSITION, NUMBER ONE, BE CORE IMPRESSED IN THE AMOUNT OF $22,000 TO PROVIDE PROFESSIONAL LEARNING, LEARNING SESSIONS.

S STRATEGIC ALIGNMENT IS STUDENT ACHIEVEMENT AND EMPLOYEE DEVELOPMENT.

THE FUNDING SOURCES TO GENERAL FUND GIFTED AND TALENTED C LOUISIANA BUSINESSES INCORPORATED DBA THE LEADERSHIP ACADEMY AND THE AMOUNT OF 146, 140 $7,680 TO PROVIDE PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT.

[02:40:01]

THE FUNDING SOURCES OF GENERAL FUND, THE JUNIOR ACHIEVEMENT AND THE AMOUNT OF 57,200 TO PROVIDE SUPPORT SERVICES FOR STUDENTS.

THE STRATEGIC ALIGNMENT IS STUDENT ACHIEVEMENT SOURCE GENERAL FUND FOR GRANT 21ST CENTURY CONSIDERATION OF A REQUEST FOR THE APPROVAL OF THE FOLLOWING L D L E 21ST CENTURY COMMUNITY LEARNING CENTER GRANT AWARD, AND THE AMOUNT OF $3,720,000 BE PROFESSIONAL SERVICE CONTRACT WITH SIMPSON EDUCATIONAL CONSULTING, LLC IN THE AMOUNT OF $132,000 TO RIDE TO SERVE AS THE PROJECT DIRECTOR, ED LIAISON, THE STRATEGIC ALIGNMENT, THE STUDENT ACHIEVEMENT, THE FUNDING SOURCES, THE 21ST CENTURY GRANT FIVE ELIMINATED JOB DESCRIPTIONS CONSIDERATION OF REQUESTS FOR THE APPROVAL TO ELIMINATE THE OBSOLETE JOB DESCRIPTIONS AS REFERENCE IN THE DOCUMENT, ELIMINATED JOB DESCRIPTIONS, STRATEGIC ALIGNMENT, OPERATIONAL EXCELLENCE, SIX REQUESTS FOR PROPOSALS, INTERNET, UM, CONSIDERATION OF REQUEST TO AUTHORIZE STAFF, TO ISSUE A REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS, RFP FOR THE INTERNET AND ONE CIRCUIT SERVICES.

THE STRATEGIC ALIGNMENT IS OPERATIONAL EXCELLENCE.

THE FUNDING SOURCES OF GENERAL FUND, AND E-RATE SEVEN MEMORANDUM OF UNDERSTANDING BETWEEN LOUISIANA STATE UNIVERSITY COLLEGE OF HUMAN HUMAN SCIENCES AND EDUCATION SCHOOL OF EDUCATION.

IT IS A CONSIDERATION OF REQUEST FOR THE APPROVAL OF THE FOLLOWING MEMORANDUMS OF UNDER MEMORANDUMS OF UNDERSTANDING BETWEEN THE EAST BAT ROUGE PARISH SCHOOL BOARD AND THE LOUISIANA STATE UNIVERSITY COLLEGE OF HUMAN HUMAN SCIENCES AND EDUCATION SCHOOL OF EDUCATIONS TO PROVIDE THE FOLLOWING MENTOR TEACHERS AND STUDENT TEACHERS EIGHT AGRICULTURAL SELECTION, BROWNSVILLE ELEMENTARY CONSIDERATION OF REQUEST FOR THE POOL OF THE AGRICULTURAL SELECTIONS COMMITTEE, RECOMMENDATION OF DOMAINS, ARCHITECTURE, APAC TO PROVIDE ARCHITECTURAL DESIGN CONSULTING SERVICES FOR THE BROWNSVILLE ELEMENTARY PROJECT FUNDING FOR TAX PLAN NINE REQUESTS FOR THE QUALIFICATIONS BROWNSFIELD ELEMENTARY CONSIDERATION OF REQUESTS FOR THE AUTHORIZATION FOR STAFF TO ISSUE A REQUEST FOR QUALIFICATIONS TO SEEK PROPOSALS, TO PROVIDE CONSTRUCTION MANAGEMENT ADVERSE SERVICES FOR THE BROWNSVILLE ELEMENTARY TAX PLAN PROJECT.

THE STRATEGIC ALIGNMENT IS OPERATIONAL EXCELLENCE.

THE FUNDING SOURCES TO TAX PLAN 10, BE IT BARMA MIDDLE SCHOOL SITE ABATEMENT CONSIDERATION OF REQUESTS FOR THE AUTHORIZATION TO ADVERTISE EXCEPT AN AWARD THE CONTRACT FOR ABATEMENT SERVICES TO THE LOWEST BID MEETING THE PROJECT SPECIFICATIONS FOR BROADWELL MIDDLE SITE RENOVATIONS AS PER THE, A PLAN TO IMPROVE FACILITIES, TECHNOLOGY, DISCIPLINE, AND COMPENSATION IN THE EAST BAT ROUGE PARISH SCHOOL SYSTEM.

THE PLAN AS REVISED THROUGH FEBRUARY 22ND, 2018 BIDS CAN BE REJECTED FOR THE STATUE FOR JUST CAUSE IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE LOUISIANA PUBLIC BIG LAW, LOUISIANA REVISED STATUTE, TITLE 38, CHAPTER 10.

THIS IS THE END OF THE CONSENT AGENDA IN ISO B.

I HAVE A SECOND, UM, SECONDED BY MS. BERNARD, WHICH DOES ANY MEMBER WISH TO PULL AN ITEM HEARING NONE.

WE ARE NOW ON THE CONSENT AGENDA AND THE BOARD IS CLEAR.

SO I NEED TO PULL ALL CONSENT AGENDA CARDS CI THROUGH JEN.

NO, UH, KARADA CORLEY.

WELL AS THE MEDICAL STAFF TO TRY TO COME FROM ACROSS THE STREET, GET BUZZED INTO OUR BUILDING, GET THE KEYS FROM THE SECRETARY, THEN GO UNLOCK THE N THE CLINIC THEN ACTUALLY UNLOCK THE CABINET WHERE THE MEDICATION IS KEPT BEFORE THEY CAN ACTUALLY GET TO MY CHILD IN THAT MINISTRY.

SO I DIDN'T HEAR Y'ALL PULL ANY OF THEM.

SO I'M GONNA SPEAK ABOUT NUMBER TWO, THE IDA, UM, CONTRACT THAT'S SUPPOSED TO BE UP UNDER IDA REDESIGN AS WE WERE INFORMED LAST WEEK, BUT IS STILL NOT REFLECTING THAT ON BOARD DOCS, BUT EVERY CHILD THAT NEEDS MEDICAL SHOULD BE AFFORDED THAT I DON'T HAVE A PROBLEM WITH A CONTRACT FOR ONE CHILD, BUT I DO HAVE A PROBLEM WITH AN OBLIGATION THAT HAS YET TO BE FULFILLED BY PROVIDING ALL OUR CHILDREN WITH MEDICAL AT THE SCHOOL RIGHT NOW, NORTHEAST ELEMENTARY HAS NO MEDICAL.

I SEND AN EMAIL EVERY SINGLE DAY, SOMETIMES AT 12 IN THE MORNING, SOMETIMES AT THREE IN THE MORNING, IT'S JUST WHENEVER I'M UP.

AND I ACTUALLY HAD AN OPPORTUNITY TO SEND AN EMAIL.

SO YOU'LL BE GETTING THE ONE FOR ME TODAY BECAUSE WE DID A STATE FACILITATED IEP AND WE STILL DON'T HAVE MEDICAL.

WE DON'T HAVE TEACHERS NEITHER.

IT'S, IT'S RATHER UNFORTUNATE THAT I'M SITTING IN A PARKING LOT OF MY CHILD'S SCHOOL BECAUSE I'M AFRAID THAT HE MAY HAVE A SEIZURE AT SCHOOL OR THAT MILK.

AND SO MAY BE SPLASHED UPON HIM.

AND WE HAVE TO WAIT ON 9 1, 1 TO COME MORE THAN TWO HOURS TO OUR SCHOOL, AS

[02:45:01]

THAT'S CALLED DEATH, ESPECIALLY IF HE'S HAVING A SEIZURE, BUT IF HE'S HAVING, IF HE'S EXPOSED TO MILK AND SOY, IT'S ALSO CAUSED DEATH BECAUSE HE HAVE AN ANAPHYLAXIS REACTION.

SO WHAT I'M ASKING IS THAT WE DO LIKE THE SUPERINTENDENT STATED BEFORE PROVIDE MEDICAL AT EACH SCHOOL.

IF WE CAN DO A PRIVATE CONTRACT FOR SOME STUDENTS TO HAVE ONE TO ONE, WE CAN DO A CONTRACT FOR OTHER ENTITIES TO PROVIDE MEDICAL CARE AT OUR SCHOOL.

I'M NOT ASKING FOR 50 MILLION NURSES AT NORTHEAST ELEMENTARY, I'M ASKING FOR ONE EIGHT HOURS A DAY, FIVE DAYS A WEEK FOR THE 180 DAYS THAT OUR KIDS ARE THERE FOR THE MEMORANDUM OF UNDERSTANDING.

I'M ASKING THAT WE CONSIDER THE OTHER UNIVERSITIES HERE IN OUR STATE TOO, TO FULFILL THIS OBLIGATION BECAUSE THERE ARE A LOT OF UNIVERSITIES HERE THAT ARE NEVER GETTING THE OPPORTUNITY FOR THEIR STUDENTS THAT ARE TRYING TO MATRICULATE TO GET THEIR BS DEGREE, TO ACTUALLY BE EXPOSED TO GREAT OPPORTUNITIES SUCH AS OUR STUDENTS IN OUR SCHOOL SYSTEM.

SO I JUST ASK THAT WE LOOK AT THAT AND LAST, BUT DEFINITELY NOT LEAST THE, UH, SELECTION FOR THE ARCHITECTS, MAKING SURE THAT WE CHOOSE SOMEONE THAT IS GONNA MAKE SURE THAT THEY BUILD BROWNSVILLE ELEMENTARY IN AMERICAN DISABILITIES AT COMPLIANCE.

BECAUSE AS WE KNOW, MOST OF THOSE BUILDINGS HAVE NOT BEEN BUILT LIKE THAT.

THANK YOU, MS. CORLEY.

UM, DR.

FINNEY, THANK YOU.

I'M SPEAKING AGAINST TWO PARTS AND ACTUALLY IN SUPPORT OF ONE, YOU'RE ALL SITTING DOWN, RIGHT? UM, ITEM I THREE, A $125,000 TO HAND OVER RESEARCH.

THERE'S A LOT OF, THERE ARE MANY WORDS IN THE BACKUP AND NO INFORMATION.

I HAVE NO IDEA WHAT IN THE WORLD, WE'RE PAYING THESE PEOPLE $125,000 TO STUDY, AND THAT'S A LOT OF MONEY THAT WOULD PAY TWO TEACHERS AND SOME BENEFITS FOR A YEAR.

SO IF IT'S MONEY WELL SPENT GREAT, BUT YOU CAN'T TELL IT FROM THE BACKUP 147 OR SO, A THOUSAND DOLLARS TO THE BUSINESS REPORT.

THIS IS A COMPANY THAT WAS FOUNDED BY SOMEBODY WHO'S MADE IT HIS MISSION AS A POLITICIAN AND SUPPORTER OF POLITICIANS TO DESTROY PUBLIC EDUCATION.

EVEN THOUGH IT'S NOT HIS COMPANY ANYMORE, IT STILL HAS HIS IMPRINT.

AND I DON'T THINK WE SHOULD BE SENDING PUBLIC MONEY TO THE BUSINESS REPORT, BUT I WILL ENTHUSIASTICALLY, UM, ENCOURAGE YOU TO VOTE FOR THE CONSENT GENUM BASED ON ITEM I FIVE, THE MORE OF THESE EXTRA JOB DESCRIPTIONS GET ELIMINATED.

THE BETTER THE CHANCE IS THAT I WILL FINALLY GET THE COMPLETE LIST OF THE JOB DESCRIPTIONS THAT STILL EXIST.

PENNY.

THAT'S ALL THE PUBLIC COMMENT CARDS I HAVE FOR THE CONSENT AGENDA.

SO WE'RE BACK TO THE BOARD, UH, MR. LANDIS.

I'M ONLY GONNA SPEAK TO ONE ITEM ON THE CONSENT AGENDA, CAUSE I THINK IT NEEDS TO BE, UH, HIGHLIGHTED, UM, MISS NICOLA.

I KNOW YOU WOULDN'T EXPECTING IT, BUT I ALWAYS LIKE TO USE THESE MOMENTS TO BRING LIGHT AND GIVE INSIGHT BECAUSE OFTEN SORT OF LAST, I WOULD SAY SOLID YEAR.

THIS IS BEFORE YOU GOT HERE, WE CONTINUE TO HEAR AS A BOARD THAT WE ARE CREATING JOBS, WE'RE CREATING JOBS, WE'RE CREATING JOBS, WE'RE CREATING JOBS.

AND THAT WAS THE MESSAGE.

BUT NOW THAT WE ARE ELIMINATING JOB DESCRIPTIONS, SOMETHING THAT HAPPENED, OR THAT WAS IN EXISTENCE PRIOR TO YOU COMING HERE, WE DON'T HEAR THAT SAME LEVEL OF ENTHUSIASM THAT THANK YOU.

THANK YOU, MR. FEENEY OR DR.

FEENEY RATHER, I'M SORRY, UH, FOR SHOUTING THAT OUT, BUT I JUST THINK THAT THAT NEEDS TO BE ENCOURAGED BECAUSE I KNOW HOW HARD THAT JOB HAS BEEN SINCE YOU'VE BEEN HERE AND TRYING TO CORRECT A LOT OF THE THINGS THAT WERE PREVIOUSLY EXISTING BEFORE YOU GOT HERE.

AND I JUST WANT TO SAY PERSONALLY, AS A BOARD MEMBER, I APPRECIATE YOU AND YOUR ENTIRE HR TEAM FOR THE WORK THAT YOU DO.

THANK YOU, MR. LANDON.

THANK YOU FOR THOSE COMMENTS.

UM, THE BOARD IS CLEAR, UH, MADAM SECRETARY, UH, PLEASE CONDUCT THE VOTE.

TO ITEM J ONE DISCUSSION CONSIDERATION OF THE RETURN OF CAPITAL HIGH SCHOOL TO THE EAST BATON ROUGE POWER SCHOOL BOARD BY THE RECOVERY SCHOOL DISTRICT SUBJECT TO THE STIPULATIONS AND CONDITIONS IS PROPOSED BY THE LOUISIANA DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION.

THE MOTION CARRIES

[02:50:02]

SENT AGENDA IS APPROVED.

WE MOVE NOW

[J1. Capitol High Return]

DO I HAVE A MOTION MOVED BY MR. HOWARD, SECONDED BY MR. LANIS.

UM, AND MR. LAIS YOU'RE ON THE BOARD OR WAS THAT FOR A MOTION ON THE BOARD? YEAH, THIS HAS BEEN A LONG TIME COMING TRULY.

NOW WE CAN FINALLY HAVE THIS CONVERSATION THAT WE HAVE BEEN WAITING TO HAVE FOR FAR TOO LONG.

FOR YEARS, SINCE WE LOST CAPITAL HIGH SCHOOL, THE SECOND OLDEST AFRICAN AMERICAN HIGH SCHOOL IN BATON ROUGE, SUCH A LEGACY.

AND I SEE SO MANY LINES IN THE HOUSE.

IN FACT, THE LION BLOOD RUNS THROUGH ME INDIRECTLY BECAUSE MY MOTHER, MY ENTIRE FAMILY ON MY MOTHER'S SIDE ARE ALL LIONS.

UH, SO THIS IS JUST A REALLY BIG MOMENT.

I WANT TO SAY MY HAT GOES OFF TO THE ENTIRE CAPITAL HIGH SCHOOL, ALUMNI COUNSELING, UH, CLEVE DONE.

I KNOW YOU HAVE BEEN WORKING TIRELESSLY ON THE GROUND INSIDE OF THOSE GRUELING MEETINGS.

I HAVE BEEN THERE WITH YOU AT THOSE BESTIE MEETINGS WHERE WE'RE CONSTANTLY GETTING PUSHED DOWN DOWN FURTHER, FURTHER FOR SIX HOURS BEFORE WE CAN ACTUALLY GO AND TALK AND YOU SHOW SUPPORT, BUT I CAN SPECIFICALLY REMEMBER YOU BRINGING 5,000 SIGNATURES FROM PEOPLE ALL ACROSS THE COMMUNITY, IN THE EATING PARK AREA, EASY TOWN AREA THAT ARE NOT ONLY RESIDENTS, BUT THAT, THAT GOLD AND RED TRULY RUNS THROUGH THEIR VEINS TRULY RUNS THROUGH THAT BLOOD.

AND I JUST WANNA SAY TO YOU ALL, THANK YOU FOR NOT GIVING UP ON YOUR FIGHT.

YOU COULD HAVE GAVE UP A LONG TIME AGO, A LONG TIME AGO, BUT YOU DIDN'T.

AND BECAUSE YOU DIDN'T, YOU NOW STAND IN THIS ROOM TONIGHT WHERE WE CAN FINALLY MAKE A VOTE TO BRING YOU BACK HOME.

SO I'LL TELL YOU FROM MY END, WELCOME BACK.

WELL, THANK YOU, MR. LANIS AND UP NEXT IS MR. HOWARD.

YEAH, I JUST WANNA, UH, PLUS ONE, MY, UH, COLLEAGUE SENTIMENTS, UM, WHEN WE, WHEN WE CAMPAIGNED, UH, WHEN WE RAN FOR ELECTION FOUR YEARS AGO, THIS WAS AT THE TOPIC OF CONCERN AROUND LIKE, WHAT DO WE THINK FROM, UM, ABOUT BRINGING CAPITAL BACK TO EBR? AND WE WERE IN A MEETING AND A CAPITAL ALUMNI ASSOCIATION MEETING, MANY OF US WHO WERE, UH, RUNNING FOR ELECTION AT THE TIME.

AND THAT WAS THE QUESTION, LIKE, WHAT DO YOU FEEL ABOUT CAPITAL AND WOULD YOU VOTE TO BRING IT BACK, UM, TO THE DISTRICT? AND SO TONIGHT WE HAVE THAT OPPORTUNITY TONIGHT.

WE HAVE AN OPPORTUNITY TO PRESERVE THE LEGACY OF A HISTORIC INSTITUTION IN OUR COMMUNITY.

AND TONIGHT AS A BOARD, WE HAVE THE OPPORTUNITY TO, AGAIN, PUT STUDENTS FIRST, CUZ I HAVE LONG ARGUED THAT WE HAVE, WE SHOULD HAVE BEEN TAKING ALL OF OUR SCHOOLS BACK THERE.

WE WERE PART OF THE RECOVERY SCHOOL DISTRICT.

MANY TIMES WHEN WE HAD THIS CONVERSATION, IT WAS ABOUT OBSOLETE NUMBERS OF LIKE, OH, IF WE TAKE ALL OF THESE SCHOOLS BACK OUR SCHOOL, OUR DISTRICT PERFORMANCE SCORE WOULD GO DOWN AND X, Y, AND Z.

BUT IF WE'RE IN THE BUSINESS OF DOING WHAT'S BEST FOR KIDS, WE SHOULD BE ABLE TO BE IN THE BUSINESS OF BEING INTENTIONAL ABOUT HOW WE PROVIDE RESOURCES TO PROVIDE THE BEST EDUCATIONAL OUTCOMES FOR THOSE KIDS.

AND SO TONIGHT WE HAVE AN OPPORTUNITY TO DO ALL THE THINGS THAT WE SAY WE'RE GONNA DO AND PUT ACTION BEHIND OUR WORDS.

SO IT EARLY ON CONGRATULATIONS TO, UH, THE INSTITUTION AND CONGRATULATIONS TO THIS HISTORICAL LEGACY.

UM, THAT'S A PART OF OUR COMMUNITY.

THANK YOU MR. HOWARD.

UH, MS. WEIR, JACKSON, ALL I CAN SAY, IT'S BEEN A LONG TIME SINCE THE LIONS GOT TO ROAR IN THIS HOUSE AND I'M READY TO HEAR IT.

GO LION.

SO I ACTUALLY HAVE A LION IN MY LIVING ROOM.

YOU PROBABLY SAW THAT PICTURE.

HUH? SO I AM TRULY, I MANY OF Y'ALL HAVE A LION IN YOUR LIVING ROOM.

I I'M IN, I'M A LIONS MAN.

I'M A LION MAN.

UH, UH, LET'S SEE THE BOARD, UH, MISS, MISS, UH, VICE PRESIDENT COLLINS.

I JUST ALSO TOO WANTED TO EXPRESS, UH, UH, MY SENTIMENTS AND, UH, LOOK FORWARD TO PRAYERFULLY, UH, UH, AS A VOTE HADN'T HAPPENED YET, BUT THAT THIS PASSES, UH, I REMEMBER WHEN, UH, CAPITAL HIGH HAS GONE THROUGH A LOT OF DIFFERENT CHANGES OVER THE YEARS AND I LOOK FORWARD TO EBR SCHOOL SYSTEM, UH, WORKING FOR SOMETHING ON A HIGHER LEVEL FOR, UH, FOR ALLIANCE.

SO THANKS FOR COMING OUT AND THANKS FOR WORKING ON THIS.

THANK YOU, VICE PRESIDENT COLLINS.

UH, THE BOARD IS, UH, CLEAR FOR NOW.

UH, WE GO TO THE AUDIENCE DR.

FINNEY, THANK YOU.

THE FASTER CAPITAL HIGH SCHOOL GETS OUT OF THE RSD PURGATORY, THE BETTER.

HOWEVER, THAT DOES NOT MEAN THAT I AM CONVINCED

[02:55:01]

THAT DR.

NAIS IS ANYWHERE CLOSE TO BEING ABLE TO MAKE A CASE.

THE BESSIE WILL ACCEPT THE BACKUP MATERIAL LOOKS IDENTICAL TO WHAT WAS PRESENTED AT THE BESSIE MEETING.

SEVERAL WEEKS LATER, THERE WAS WAY TOO MUCH SAID AT THE BESSIE MEETING ABOUT THIS FOCUS, CHOICE PLAN, WHATEVER THAT IS, WHICH IS A PLAN TO TURN OVER MANAGEMENT OF CAPITAL HIGH SCHOOL TO A BUNCH OF PRIVATE UNELECTED PEOPLE MEETING IN SECRET AS APPEARS TO BE HAPPENING AT PARK AND AT EVA LAGAR.

SO BE VERY CLEAR ON WHAT YOU'RE VOTING ON.

IF YOU'RE VOTING TO ASK BESSY TO GET THEIR GRUBBY PAUSE OFF A LOCAL SCHOOL.

ABSOLUTELY.

IF YOU'RE GONNA GIVE THIS ADMINISTRATION EVEN AN INCH TOWARD APPROVAL OF YET ANOTHER POORLY CONCEIVED FOCUSED CHOICE FALLACY, YOU NEED TO TELL HIM NO.

FURTHERMORE, BE SURE YOU ASK THE FOLKS THAT ARE ACTIVELY INVOLVED IN THE, THE CURRENT MANAGEMENT OF CAPITAL HIGH, WHAT THEIR IMPRESSION OF THE STATE OF THE FACILITY IS BECAUSE TODAY WAS THE FIRST TIME THAT I HAD HEARD THAT THEY'VE INVESTED A MILLION AND A HALF DOLLARS AND ARE ABOUT TO INVEST MORE IN IMPROVING THE PHYSICAL PLANT.

AND APPARENTLY IT'S NOT AS BAD AS WE'VE BEEN LED TO BELIEVE AND WHATEVER 20 OR 30 MILLION THAT SOMEBODY IS, UM, ALLEGEDLY WILLING TO DONATE TO DRIVE A BULLDOZER THROUGH THE SCHOOL AND BUILD SOMETHING WONDERFUL.

MAKE SURE YOU HAVE YOUR BS DETECTORS GO IN IF HE MENTIONS THAT PRIVATE CONTRIBUTION, CUZ THAT SOUNDS A LOT LIKE A LEASE FIVE ACT.

SO I HOPE THE PEOPLE IN BEHIND ME WILL BE ABLE TO ENTHUSIASTICALLY SUPPORT THE RETURN OF THIS, BUT MAKE SURE THAT YOU DON'T GIVE THIS ADMINISTRATION AN INCH AND HAVE HIM TRY TO STEAL A MILE, GET THE SCHOOL BACK AND AT LEAST CONSIDER THE POSSIBILITY.

AND I CAN'T BELIEVE I'M SAYING THIS, BUT CONSIDER THE POSSIBILITY OF INVITING THE CURRENT OPERATING BOARD TO SUBMIT A TYPE ONE CHARTER BECAUSE I DON'T THINK THIS ADMINISTRATION HAS A CLUE HOW TO ORGANIZE A SCHOOL THAT WILL EVEN MAINTAIN THE CURRENT STUDENT BODY MUCH LESS INCREASE IT.

PENNY.

UH, MR. UH, REVEREND FLOWERS.

HE LEFT.

GOOD.

THAT HELPS US CUZ WE THAT WAY JACK.

YEAH, GO CAPITAL.

WE GOT, WE GOT TILL NINE O'CLOCK SO WE DON'T WANNA HURT OURSELVES.

RIGHT? UH, MR. JACK HAR HELLO BOARD.

MY NAME IS JACK HAR AND I'M A 1981 GRADUATE OF CAPITAL SENIOR HIGH SCHOOL.

I'M ALSO A MEMBER OF THE ALUMNI ASSOCIATION AND I FULLY SUPPORT THE RETURN OF CAPITAL HIGH TO THE EAST BATON ROUGE PARISH SYSTEM.

IT WAS FEBRUARY, 2020 FIRST, FEBRUARY 21ST, 2008 WHEN BESSY VOTED 11 TO ZERO TO REMOVE CAPITAL FROM THE EAST BATON ROUGE PARISH SYSTEM.

SINCE THAT TIME WE'VE BASICALLY BEEN A GETTY PIG, UH, IN, IN THE WHOLE, UH, SYSTEM, YOU KNOW, ALL WE'VE WE'VE HAD ABOUT THREE DIFFERENT CHARTER OPERATORS AND NOBODY REALLY GOT IT.

RIGHT.

YOU KNOW, OUR APPLAUD THE GROUP THAT'S THERE.

NOW, THE CEO THEY'VE DONE A, A GOOD JOB.

AS A MATTER OF FACT, THERE ARE SOME GOOD ASPECTS THAT THEY HAVE THAT WE CAN CARRY INTO THIS FOCUS PROGRAM.

AND AS FAR AS THE FOCUS GROUP, UNLIKE THE PREVIOUS SPEAKER, I'M ACTUALLY, I'M ACTUALLY EXCITED ABOUT IT.

YOU KNOW, I THINK ONE OF THE THINGS THAT CAPITAL WAS MISSING OVER THE LAST COUPLE OF YEARS IS THAT WE NEVER HAD ANY TYPE OF ANY, ANY TYPE OF, OF PROGRAM TO ATTRACT, UH, QUALITY, YOU KNOW, OTHER KIDS TO THE SCHOOL.

WELL, I'M 100% IN FAVOR OF IT.

AND ONE OF THE THINGS I LIKE ABOUT IT IS THE FEEDER PROGRAM.

I LIKE THE FACT THAT WE WOULD BE PAIRED WITH PARK ELEMENTARY BECAUSE I BELIEVE IN ANY HIGH SCHOOL IS ONLY AS STRONG AS ITS INPUT.

SO IF WE CAN GET THE PARK ELEMENTARY SYSTEM, RIGHT, WE PAIRED WITH CAPITAL AND A SURROUNDING SCHOOLS LIKE CAPITAL ELEMENTARY AND, AND ANY OTHER SCHOOL, THEN EVERYTHING WOULD, UH, WORK OUT.

SO I'M 100% IN FAVOR OF IT.

AND, UH, I'M GLAD TO BE.

I, WHEN I GRADUATED, WE WERE EBR, YOU KNOW, SO I'M HAPPY TO BE BACK AFTER THE VOTE.

UM, MS. VALENCIA JOHNSON.

THANK YOU, MR. HAROLD.

[03:00:01]

GOOD EVENING.

UH, PRESIDENT TAMAN, VICE PRESIDENT COLLINS AND THE BOARD DR.

NAIS.

UM, I AM IN FULL SUPPORT OF, UH, RETURNING CAPITAL, UH, HIGH, UH, INTO, UH, BACK INTO EAST BAT ROUGE PARISH, UM, AS ONE OF OUR SCHOOLS.

AND I WOULD HOPE THAT THE BOARD SIT, UM, USES THAT PRESENTATION THAT WE HAD LAST WEEK AND INCORPORATE THAT MODEL OF COMMUNITY SUSTAINABLE COMMUNITY SCHOOLS WITHIN THAT SCHOOL.

THANK YOU, MS. JOHNSON.

UH, MR. HARRIS, I COULDN'T READ YOUR FIRST NAME, SO I'M SORRY.

SORRY ABOUT THAT.

THAT'S ALRIGHT.

LITTLE BIT OF CHICKEN SCRATCH.

HEY, GOOD EVENING EVERYBODY.

UH, JASON HARRIS, UH, UNITED FAITH LEADERS.

I JUST WANNA SAY THAT WE ARE, ARE LIKE EVERYBODY ELSE HERE.

MOST FOLKS HERE WE ARE SUPPORT OF CAPITAL HIGH RETURN BACK TO EAST BAT ROUGE, PARIS SCHOOLS.

THAT'S THAT'S THAT'S IT.

WE'RE JUST SUPPORT IT.

THANK YOU, MR. HARRIS.

UM, DR.

LA FONDA HERD, WISHING IS GLORY.

GOD, HOW Y'ALL DOING? HEY, HOW ARE YOU? I ALWAYS THOUGHT EVERYTHING OFF A GLORY TO GOD.

Y'ALL IT'S JUST THE LIFE OF A PREACHER.

COME ON.

MY NAME IS DR.

LA FONDA HERD.

I'M THE UNITED FAITH LEADER AND ALSO THE FOUNDER OF ON THE MOVE FOR CHRIST, FAITH BASED COUNSELING.

AND I JUST STOPPED IN HERE TONIGHT TO TELL YOU THAT I AM IN FAVOR OF CAPITAL HIGH RETURNING TO THE DISTRICT.

LET ME TELL YOU WHY I'M PASSIONATE ABOUT THESE BECAUSE I TOO CAME FROM A HIGH SCHOOL THAT WAS TAKEN AWAY WHEN I GRADUATED.

SO I DON'T HAVE A HOMECOMING WHEN PEOPLE GET READY TO GO.

AND THEY TALKING ABOUT HOMECOMING, LIKE HOMECOMING, GET READY TO COME UP FOR BASH HIGH SCHOOL.

IF ANY OF Y'ALL KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT NORTH LOUISIANA BASH HIGH SCHOOL, ABOUT TO HAVE HOMECOMING, BUT DELTA HIGH SCHOOL DOESN'T HAVE ONE.

SO THEY'RE SAYING THAT HIGH AND DELTA ARE GONNA HAVE A HOMECOMING TOGETHER.

WE WILL RIVAL SCHOOLS.

HOW DO WE HAVE A HOMECOMING TOGETHER? IT DOESN'T WORK LIKE THAT.

SO OF COURSE I'M NOT GOING HOME FOR HOMECOMING.

, IT'S ALL GOOD THOUGH.

I'M NOT GOING HOME FOR HOMECOMING, BUT I THINK THAT IF WE BROUGHT CAPITAL BACK, IT WOULD BOOST THEM MORALE.

CUZ I KNOW IF THEY BROUGHT DELTA BACK, OH, I'LL BE IN BASH AND MA ROUGE LIKE YEAH, TURN UP.

I'M JUST SAYING I'M JUST SAYING.

AND I WOULD GO HOME MORE OFTEN CUZ I DO A LOT IN THE COMMUNITY FOR BATON ROUGE, BUT I DON'T DO A LOT IN THE COMMUNITY AT HOME THAT'S BECAUSE I ALSO GRADUATED FROM SOUTHERN UNIVERSITY.

SO I DO HAVE A HOMECOMING, JUST NOT A HIGH SCHOOL HOMECOMING.

SO I JUST WANNA LET Y'ALL KNOW I'M IN FAVOR.

I THINK IT'LL BRING THE MORALE BACK.

IT'LL JOIN THE COMMUNITIES BACK TOGETHER.

I THINK IT'LL BRIDGE THE GAP THAT WE HAVE IN OUR COMMUNITIES.

IF WE WOULD JUST GIVE THEM THE OPPORTUNITY TO BE ABLE TO COME HOME TO SOMETHING THAT'S ALL I'M SAYING.

UH, IS IT EILEEN WALKER? MS. WALKER.

THERE YOU GO.

THAT'S ME.

I'M STRUGGLING WITH MY NAMES TODAY.

IT'S GETTING LATE.

THAT'S QUITE ALL RIGHT.

FIRST.

ALL I WANNA SAY IT'S ALL ABOUT THAT.

READY AND GO.

WELL, I JUST, I, I AM IN SUPPORT OF, UM, BRINGING CAPITAL BACK TO THE COMMUNITY.

I AM AN ALUM ALUMNI, 1978 GOLD CAPITAL.

AND UM, I JUST THOUGHT IT WOULD, UH, BE A GOOD IDEA TO BRING IT BACK FOR THE NEIGHBORHOOD.

AND SOME PEOPLE SAY IT'S ANY GOOD THING COME OUT OF, UH, CAPITAL HIGH.

YEAH, I CAME FROM THERE.

THERE YOU GO.

A LOT OF PREACHERS HAVE COME FROM THERE.

UH, WE HAVE COUNCIL WOMEN, UH, IT'S JUST SO MUCH MORE AND I DO BELIEVE WE WOULD BE AN ASSET TO THE COMMUNITY TO BRING CAPITAL BACK.

THANK YOU SO MUCH.

THANK YOU, MS. WALKER.

I APPRECIATE YOU BEING HERE.

UH, MS. KORANDA COLEY.

REASONING WITH FOCUS, CHOICE PROGRAMS. WHAT HAPPENED IF IT DOESN'T WORK? I REMEMBER AT BESSY, OUR SUPERINTENDENT STATED MS. CORLEY, WE JUST ON SUBJECT, ALL WE'RE DOING IS VOTING TO TAKE IT BACK IN THE STIPULATIONS.

SO I AM ALL IN APPROVAL FOR CAPITAL HIGH SCHOOL RETURNING BACK UNDER EDR.

WHAT I AM NOT IN APPROVAL OF IS FOCUS CHOICE PROGRAMS. SO LET ME EXPLAIN THE

[03:05:01]

IT WOULD BE, WE WOULD HAVE TO VOTE FOR THAT.

WAIT, HOLD ON.

HE, HE TOOK A COUPLE OF MY SECONDS, BUT YEAH, SORRY.

I JUST WANTED TO MAKE SURE BOTH.

YEAH, THIS IS JUST SIMPLY WORKING WITH BESSY TO TRY TO GET THE SCHOOL BACK.

THAT'S RIGHT.

AND I WANT MISS APRIL, YOU STILL LET MY TIME GO.

IT'S OKAY.

I JUST WANTED TO MAKE IT BE KNOWN THOUGH THAT I KNOW THAT WE TOLD BESSY THAT IT WAS GONNA BE A FOCUS CHOICE PROGRAM.

AND THEN LAST WEEK WE ALSO TALKED ABOUT A LANGUAGE IMMERSION THAT WAS GONNA COME TO THE SCHOOL AS WELL.

AND THAT'S NOT REFLECTED IN THIS POWERPOINT.

IN ADDITION TO THAT AT BETSY, IT WAS STATED BY OUR SUPERINTENDENT THAT IT WAS GONNA BE A 2.8 GPA IN ORDER TO GET INTO FOCUS CHOICE PROGRAMS, WHICH IS MUCH HIGHER THAN WHAT WE HAVE FOR THE STUDENTS AT BATON ROUGE HIGH OR AT LEHIGH.

SO I JUST WANTED TO MAKE SURE THAT WHEN WE SAY WHEN WE INFORM THE PUBLIC ABOUT IT, THAT EVERYBODY CAN GO BACK AND LOOK AT THEIR BASKETBALL MEETING AND SEE DR.

K BLIN, UH, BOARD BE BOARD MEMBERS, RONNIE MARS, AS WELL AS, UH, DR.

BELINDA DAVIS ASKED A LOT OF QUESTIONS REGARDING HOW, WHAT THE IMPACT WAS GOING BE REGARDING THE NEIGHBORHOOD KIDS BEING ABLE TO BE IN THE SCHOOL.

IF THAT GPA WAS 2.8, HE ALSO, THEY ALSO ASKED QUESTIONS BECAUSE THE SUPERINTENDENT STATED HE WANTED TO GIVE THE SCHOOL A NEW BUILDING, A NEW SCHOOL BUILDING.

THEY ASKED WHERE WE WAS ON OUR TAX PLAN.

SO I JUST WANNA MAKE SURE THAT WHEN WE SAY THAT WE'RE BRINGING BACK CAPITAL HIGH, THAT WE NOT TALKING ABOUT ALL THIS OTHER FOOLISHNESS ABOUT FOCUS, CHOICE PROGRAMS, DON'T MAKE THAT A FOCUS CHOICE JUST MAKE IT PROGRAMS THAT CHILDREN CAN ACTUALLY ENROLL AND NOT HAVE TO MEET A CERTAIN GPA TO GET IN.

BECAUSE THEN IT'S EXCLUSION.

I'M TALKING ABOUT HALF STUFF THAT'S INCLUSIVE.

SO WE TALK ABOUT PARENT CHOICE, MAKE IT PARENTAL CHOICE, BUT LET CAPITAL HIGH SCHOOL RETURN BACK TO BEING THE GREAT MIGHTY LIONS THAT IT WAS THAT ALLOWED CHILDREN TO BE ABLE TO GO ACROSS THE STREET TO THE DEPARTMENT OF LABOR, TO WORK.

THAT'S THE KIND OF PROGRAMS WE WANT.

SO I'M ALL FOR CAPITAL HIGH RETURNING, BUT I'M NOT FOR THAT FOCUSED CHOICE STUFF.

THANK YOU, MS. CORLEY, MR. JAMIE ROBINSON.

HELLO EVERYONE.

I STAND TODAY IN SUPPORT OF CAPITAL HIGH SCHOOL, RETURNING BACK HOME, UM, TO THESE BANDAGE PARISH SCHOOL SYSTEM.

CAPITAL HIGH DEFINITELY HAS A RICH HISTORY.

UM, FOR ME, IT'S MORE THAN JUST SEEING THE DOCTORS AND LAWYERS AND LEGISLATORS AND COMMUNITY LEADERS THAT CAME OUT OF CAPITAL HIGH SCHOOL, BUT MYSELF BEING A GRADUATE OF CAPITAL HIGH SCHOOL, MY FAMILY, MY GRANDMOTHER, MY FATHER, MY UNCLE, MY GRANDFATHER, MY COUSINS, SEEING US ALL GO THROUGH CAPITAL HIGH SCHOOL.

IT IT'S A LEGACY THING.

WE LOOK FORWARD TO GOING TO HOMECOMING GAMES.

WE LOOK FORWARD TO, UM, CELEBRATING AT THE END OF THE GAME, SINGING OUR, UM, ARMOR MATER.

WHAT THIS WILL DO WILL OFFER A LEVEL OF STABILITY, WHICH WILL BRING US A LEVEL OF COMFORT THAT WE DON'T CURRENTLY HAVE.

I CAN REMEMBER REMEMBER BEING A STUDENT OF CAPITAL HIGH SCHOOL, STANDING AT THIS PODIUM WORLD, THE ONE BEFORE THE RENOVATION, UM, BEGGING THE SCHOOL SYSTEM TO DO SOMETHING, TO FIX OUR SCHOOL WHILE WE WERE STILL A CHARTER, BECAUSE IT WAS STILL AN EBR FACILITY.

AND BECAUSE OF ALL THE RED TAPE, YOU GUYS WERE NOT ABLE TO DO THAT.

SO I LOOK FORWARD TO A FUTURE WHERE WE'RE ABLE TO SEE CAPITAL HIGH SCHOOL BACK AT HOME, RIGHT WHERE IT BELONGS, WHERE WE CAN CONTINUE TO, TO LEAD OUR RED AND GOLD AND HAVE THE FACILITY THAT WE DESERVE.

THANK YOU, MR. ROBINSON.

I HAVE A COUPLE OF CARDS THAT DO NOT WISH TO SPEAK WITH B, BUT I WILL READ IN BRENDA, BRENDA, CHRISTOPHER, AS A MEMBER OF THE CLASS OF 83, I'M IN FAVOR, UH, OF BRINGING CAPITAL HIGH BACK TO EBR.

UH, DR.

NICK DANGERFIELD, UH, IS, UH, HERE IN SUPPORT OF, UH, RETURNING CAPITAL HIGH ALEXIS COCKERHAM, UH, SUPPORTS THE RECOMMENDATION DOES NOT WISH TO SPEAK YOLANDA BRAXTON.

UH, HAVING A HIGH SCHOOL, UH, IS VITAL TO THIS COMMUNITY.

SO BRING CAPITAL HIGH BACK TO EBR.

AND, UH, TAMMY CHRISTIE, UH, IS IN SUPPORT, UH, CAPITAL HIGH ALUMNUS AND, UH, DOES NOT WISH TO SPEAK.

AND THAT IS ALL OF THE PUBLIC COMMENT AND COURAGE THAT I HAVE.

AND WE ARE NOW BACK TO THE BOARD.

WERE YOU ON THE BOARD BEFORE OR CUZ I LOOK LIKE I MIGHT HAVE YOU GOOD.

SO MADAME SECRETARY, PLEASE CON UH, PLEASE CONDUCT THE VOTE.

WELL NOT SURPRISINGLY.

THE BOARD IS CLEAR.

UM,

[03:10:01]

THE MOTION CARRIES MOTION CARRIES.

UH, DR.

NAIS.

I JUST WANT TO, UM, I JUST WANTED TO FIRST COMMEND THIS BOARD, UM, ON PUTTING CHILDREN FIRST.

UM, ONE OF THE PROMISES THAT WE'VE MADE WAS TO, UH, MAKE SURE THAT WE DO RIGHT BY THIS COMMUNITY, UH, AND TO GO THROUGH, UH, THIS PROCESS, UH, IT WAS A LENGTHY ONE AND, UH, I KNOW SOMETIMES, UH, THE BOARD, THERE'S ALWAYS DIFFERENT FOLKS THAT HAVE DIFFERENT OPINIONS ABOUT US, AROUND ISSUES, BUT, UH, THIS BOARD, UM, I BELIEVE IT'S DONE THE RIGHT THING FOR US TO BRING CAPITAL BACK TO EBR.

AND, UH, THE COMMITMENT THAT WE HAVE IS NOT ONLY TO BRING CAPITAL BACK, BUT TO ENSURE THAT THIS COMMUNITY AND THIS SCHOOL IS SUCCESSFUL.

UH, THAT IS THE GOAL, UM, THAT HAS BEEN FROM THE DAY SINCE WE SET ON THIS MISSION.

UH, I APPRECIATE ALSO, UM, ALL THE, UH, UH, ALL THE GOVERNMENT AGENCIES AND FOLKS THAT HAVE HELPED.

I SEE, UM, COUNCILMAN CLEVE DONE HERE APPRECIATE HIS SUPPORT, THE ALUMNI AND OTHERS THAT ARE HERE, UH, THAT HAVE DONE THAT.

UH, AND I ALSO APPRECIATE, UH, L D E FOR WORKING WITH US THROUGH THE PROCESS FOR DOING THAT.

UM, UH, IT'S STILL NOT A FULL, UH, GIVEN BACK YET.

UM, I DON'T KNOW, MAX, UH, MAX DAY FROM DS HERE.

WOULD YOU MIND COMING UP MAX, MAYBE TELLING NOW THAT THE BOARD HAS VOTED NINE OH.

TO BRING BACK THE SCHOOL? UH, WE, I BELIEVE THERE IS ONE MORE FINAL STEP FROM THE BETSY BOARD.

UH, WHAT WE VOTED TONIGHT WAS TO BRING THE SCHOOL BACK IN AGREEMENT WITH THE FIVE CONDITIONS, UH, THAT HAVE BEEN SET BY BETSY.

UH, SO, UH, I THINK THERE'S, UH, ONE MORE VOTE.

IS THAT CORRECT? UH, OKAY.

SO THERE ARE TWO OTHER STEPS IN THE GAP.

MM-HMM AT THE OCTOBER, WE'RE INVEST MEETING YOUR HEARING THE COMMENT WE'LL CLOSE THE PUBLIC HEARING.

UM, AND THEN AFTER THAT THERE'LL BE A VOTE TO RETURN.

SO THERE'S ONE MORE VOTE LEFT IS WHAT I HEARD.

JUST ONE MORE.

SO, UH, THAT, THAT THE DATE ON THAT IS BELIEVE IT'S OCTOBER 11TH, OCTOBER 11TH.

AND SO I, I, UH, ONCE THAT HAPPENS, THEN THE SCHOOL WILL BE BACK TO EBR FULLY.

AND OUR GOAL IS TO, UM, UH, CONTINUE, UM, TO DO EXACTLY WHAT WE SAID WE'RE GOING TO DO.

AND IT'S NOT ONLY JUST BRINGING THE SCHOOL BACK, BUT AS WE EVEN SPOKE WITH BETSY AND OTHER FOLKS IS TO MAKE SURE THAT THE SCHOOL IS SUCCESSFUL WITH THE COMMUNITY.

AND THAT IS THE PROMISE THAT WE GIVE IN THIS COMMUNITY AS THAT'S WHAT WE SAID WE'RE GOING TO DO, AND THAT'S WHAT WE ARE GOING TO DO.

AND SO I JUST WANTED TO, UH, UH, AGAIN, THANK LDO FOR WORKING WITH US, THANK THE ALUMNI AND PARTNERS.

AND I LOOK FORWARD TO OCTOBER 11TH AND BETSY, WE DO THEIR FINAL VOTE SO WE CAN REALLY CELEBRATE AND HELP THIS SCHOOL BE SUCCESSFUL.

THANK YOU VERY MUCH FOR BEING HERE.

UH, UM, ALMOST SAID, DR.

LANIS AGAIN, MR. LANIS.

TAMAN.

UH, I JUST WANTED TO USE A POINT OF PRIVILEGE, UH, BUT BEFORE I SAY THAT, I'LL SAY THIS I'M GONNA SPEAK INTO EXISTENCE NOW.

BEST IS GONNA VOTE IN FAVOR OF CAPITAL AND Y'ALL WILL BE COMING BACK.

MY MAN FROM L D E FOR ALL THE WORK YOU'VE BEEN DOING, MY POINT OF P UH, UH, PERSONAL PRIVILEGE IS I WANTED TO, IF WE HAVE ANY CAPITAL HIGH SCHOOL ALUMNI SUPPORTERS IN THE BUILDING, I WOULD LOVE FOR THEM TO COME UP FRONT WITH OUR BOARD OR ANY BOARD MEMBERS THAT WOULD LIKE TO TAKE PICTURES WITH HIM.

MORE SPECIFICALLY, UH, BOARD MEMBER HOWARD, UH, GIVEN ALL OF THE WORK THAT HE HAS PUT INTO THIS ALSO OVER THE COURSE OF THE LAST FOUR YEARS, WE JUST WANT TO CALL YOU ALL DOWN AND JUST BE ABLE TO SAY THAT FROM OUR END, WE DID OUR PART, AND WE WANT TO CALL YOU ALL DOWN FOR A PICTURE IF THAT'S OKAY.

MR. P ABSOLUTELY.

ONE, UH, DISCUSSION OF ACTIONS REQUIRED TO BRING EB EAST SPREAD ROUGE, POWER SCHOOL SYSTEM STAFF INTO COMPLIANCE WITH LOUISIANA REVISED STATUTE 42 31.

YOU GOT FIVE MINUTES? NO, I'M JUST KIDDING.

IT'S JOKING

[03:15:06]

WORD MEMBER.

WE'RE GONNA HAVE Y'ALL READY.

ALL KNOW IT'S GONNA BE A BUNCH OF YA.

SO YOU PAGE 1, 2, 3, 1, 2, 3, RIGHT.

ONE.

IT WOULD HELP.

I'M SO EXCITED.

I FORGOT TO TURN ITEM K

[K1. Louisiana Revised Statute]

I, I DON'T, I DON'T HAVE ANYTHING MR. COUNCIL, UH, WAIT.

MS. WE JACKSON, THANK YOU, PRESIDENT CHAPMAN.

UH, THIS LITTLE ISSUE HAS COME UP FOR A NUMBER OF MONTHS QUESTIONS AROUND THIS, THE STATUTE AND WHETHER, UH, OUR DISTRICT IS IN COMPLIANCE.

AND I KNOW YOU SENT ME AN AN OR I DON'T KNOW IF IT JUST ME, BUT I SAW AN, AN EMAIL, YOU KNOW, THAT KIND OF SPOKE TO THAT.

UM, BUT IT KEEPS RECURRING.

SO, YOU KNOW, IN ORDER TO, UM, JUST BE RESPONSIBLE AROUND IT, I WANTED TO GET, UM, GENERAL COUNSEL'S OPINION ON THIS SO THAT WE CAN MAKE THIS CLEAR, OR IF WE ARE OUT OF COMPLIANCE, WHAT'S WHAT WE NEED TO DO TO BE IN COMPLIANCE.

UH, YOU KNOW, I HAVE A BIT OF CONCERN AROUND, UH, OUR BOARD AND DISTRICT WHEN IT COMES TO BEING WITHIN, UH, WITHIN THE LAW AND MAKING SURE THAT THAT WE'RE ABIDING BY, UH, BY OUR STATUTES.

I WAS, I WAS, I THOUGHT THAT THE STATUTE WOULD ACTUALLY BE IN THE BACKUP OR THE, THE PIECE THAT REFERS TO US OR DOES NOT REFER TO US, WOULD BE IN THE BACKUP SO THAT THE PUBLIC CAN SEE THIS AS, UH, AS YOU, UH, SPEAK TO THIS.

SO, UM, WOULD YOU SPEAK TO THIS PLEASE? AND IF YOU COULD QUOTE IN THE STATUTE WHERE WE EITHER ARE, OR ARE NOT IN COMPLIANCE AND, AND WHAT WE MIGHT NEED TO DO, UH, MOVING FORWARD.

UM, I WILL SAY THAT AS A, AS A, UH, I GUESS TO ERR ON THE SIDE OF CAUTION, UM, UNTIL WE CAN GET A FINDING, WE ASKED HR TO LOOK INTO ACTUAL, UH, NUMBERS OF EMPLOYEES OUTTA COMPLIANCE.

MA'AM AND I CAN ACTUALLY ADD A SUPPORTING MEMO LATER.

UH, THE REASON I DON'T HAVE BACKUP IS I'M WORKING WITH EXTERNAL COUNSEL TO LOOK INTO THIS A LITTLE DEEPER.

UM, AS YOU KNOW, I SENT AN EMAIL TO THE BOARD, I THINK SEVERAL DAYS AGO, UM, OF SOME, SOME RESEARCH I SOLICITED BACK IN MAY OF THIS YEAR, THIS QUESTION CAME UP SOMETIME BACK AND, UH, I GOT SOME INFORMATION FROM EXTERNAL COUNSEL.

UM, THEIR INITIAL OPINION WAS THEY, THEY DID NOT BELIEVE THIS STATUTE APPLIED TO US AND I'M GONNA BASICALLY STATE THE TERMS OF STATUTE.

SO THE PUBLIC KNOWS WHAT WE'RE TALKING ABOUT.

UH, 42 31 REQUIRES, UM, ANY PERSON HIRED OR EMPLOYED IN AN UNCLASSIFIED POSITION AS DEFINED BY THE STATE CIVIL SERVICE COMMISSION AND WHO'S ANNUAL SALARY OR RATE THE COMPENSATION IS EQUAL TO, OR EXCEEDS OF $100,000 ANNUALLY SHALL WITHIN 30 DAYS OF BEING HIRED OR EMPLOYED, UH, PROVIDE PROOF OF PUBLIC EMPLOYEE THAT HE'S BEEN ISSUED, A LOUISIANA DRIVER'S LICENSE, AND THAT ALL VEHICLES REGISTERED IN HIS NAME ARE REGISTERED IN THE STATE OF LOUISIANA.

AND SO, UM, IN MY INITIAL CONVERSATIONS WITH EXTERNAL COUNSEL, THE BELIEF WAS THAT DID NOT APPLY TO US.

UM, THERE ARE STATE CIVIL SERVICE RULES THAT HAVE BEEN CITED SINCE THEN THAT THEY'RE REVIEWING, UH, WHERE PARISH SCHOOL BOARDS MAY BE LISTED, UH, UNDER REGARDS OF STATE CONSTITUTION.

BUT I NEED AN OPINION FROM EXTERNAL COUNSEL BEFORE WE TAKE ANY ACTION.

[03:20:01]

AND I BELIEVE THERE ARE ONLY THREE AT THIS POINT, UH, IN THE ENTIRE DISTRICT.

SO THEY ARE WORKING TO GET IN COMPLIANCE.

IF THE STATUTE APPLIES TO US, WHAT I WOULD PROPOSE I DO IS ONCE I GET A FINAL OPINION ON THAT, THAT I SEND THAT TO THE BOARD AND ALSO I CAN POST IT HERE FOR THE PUBLIC TO SEE MM-HMM .

DOES IT SAY IT, IT SAYS UNDER, WOULD YOU READ THAT AGAIN ABOUT, IT WOULD BE HELPFUL IF I COULD SEE THAT MYSELF, BUT MM-HMM YOU SAID UNDER THE GUIDELINES OF THE STATE CIVIL SERVICE.

SO, SO UNCLASSIFIED, UNCLASSIFIED, UH PERSONS AS DEFINED IN THE STATE CIVIL SERVICE RULES.

IT DOES NOT MENTION PARISH SCHOOL BOARDS IN THE STATUTE.

AND SO THAT'S KIND OF WHERE THE CONFUSION CAME IN.

OUR EXTERNAL COUNSEL, UM, ARE LOOKING INTO WHETHER THEY BELIEVE THAT ACTUALLY APPLIES TO US AS A PARISH SCHOOL BOARD.

I NEED THEIR OPINION ON THAT BEFORE I RENDER AN OPINION TO THIS BOARD.

MM-HMM BUT AS LEGAL COUNSEL FOR THIS BOARD AND FOR THE STAFF, MY ADVICE WAS LET'S GO AHEAD AND CHECK TO MAKE SURE THAT, UH, WE ARE, IF NEEDED B WILL BE IN COMPLIANCE, NO MATTER WHAT THAT OPINION MAY BE.

SO, AS I SAID EARLIER, I CAN MAKE SURE WE GET THAT OPINION TO THE BOARD AND I CAN ALSO POST IT HERE IF THAT'S THE LEISURE, IF THAT'S THE PLEASURE OF THE BOARD, UH, ONCE THAT COMES THROUGH.

CUZ A LITTLE EARLIER IN THE, IN THE VERBIAGE, IT MENTIONS SCHOOL BOARDS.

UH, BUT IT, IT DOESN'T LOOK LIKE IT LIKE THE, THE SCHOOL BOARDS NEED TO BE ATTACHED TO THE CIVIL SERVICE.

SO THAT'S WHERE THE CONFUSION IS.

THAT CONFUSION.

AND ACTUALLY SCHOOL BOARDS ARE NOT MENTIONED IN THE STATE STATUTE.

MM-HMM RIGHT.

AND THAT, I THINK THAT IS THE, THAT WAS WHY THE INITIAL OPINION OF OUR COUNCIL WAS THEY DIDN'T BELIEVE THIS WAS SOMETHING WE NEED TO BE CONCERNED ABOUT.

BUT AGAIN, ATTORNEYS ALWAYS THERE ON THE SIDE OF CAUTION.

SO, UM, WE ARE, THE SCHOOL BOARDS ARE MENTIONED IN THAT, NOT IN THE STATE STATUTE.

NO, MA'AM UM, THEY MAY BE MENTIONED IN THE CIVIL SERVICE RULES, BUT THE LOUISIANA STATES, UM, THE LOUISIANA STATE LAW DOES NOT MENTION PARIS SCHOOL BOARDS.

MM-HMM WANNA MAKE SURE THAT'S CLEAR.

LET'S LET'S LET'S MAKE SURE YES.

MA'AM THAT'S CLEAR.

SO WE CAN, WE CAN, UH, SHOULD, SHOULD WE GET, UH, ANY INFORMATION OR ANY RULING FROM, UH, THE ATTORNEY GENERAL ON THIS? I DON'T BELIEVE THAT'S NECESSARY FALL INTO THAT CATEGORY.

I DON'T BELIEVE THAT'S NECESSARY.

MS. WE, UM, MS. WE JACKSON, UM, I BELIEVE ONCE I GET AN OPINION FROM EXTERNAL COUNSEL, I CAN LOOK AT THAT AND DETERMINE AND MAKE A DETERMINATION AND I HAVE CONFIDENCE IN THEIR ABILITY TO RESEARCH JUST FOR US FULLY.

UM, AND SO I THINK THAT SHOULD BE MORE THAN ENOUGH FOR US TO PROCEED.

YEAH, THAT'S GOOD.

MA'AM, THAT'D BE GREAT.

YOU WANT AIR ON THE SIDE OF CAUTION? THANK YOU.

UH, MS. WE JACKSON VICE PRESIDENT COLLINS, UM, REALLY THAT WAS GOING THE AG, WHETHER OR NOT IT WAS, UH, WOULD HELP TO GET A AG PEN, BUT YOU SPOKE ON IT.

UM, I KNOW THIS HAS BEEN DRAGGING OFF.

THE QUESTION HAS BEEN DRAGGING OFF FOR A COUPLE OF MONTHS AND, UH, IT WOULD'VE BEEN HOPED THAT THE PEOPLE WHO ALREADY KNEW THE QUESTION WAS OUT THERE WOULD'VE TOOK CARE OF IT.

AND THIS COULD HAVE BEEN A MOOT POINT AND I COULD HAVE TOLD ONE OF MY CONSTITUENTS IS WHAT'S THE POINT.

UH, SO HOPEFULLY, UH, WE'LL GET EVERYTHING STRAIGHTENED OUT.

TO ITEM K TWO BOARD APPROVED SALARY SCHEDULED DISCUSSION OF ACTIONS REQUIRED TO ELIMINATE THOSE SITUATIONS IN WHICH FULL-TIME EAST BATTEN ROUGE POWER SCHOOL SYSTEM EMPLOYEES ARE COMPENSATED WITH SALARIES, NOT AVAILABLE ON THE BO BOARD APPROVED SALARY SCHEDULE.

VICE PRESIDENT COLLINS.

THE BOARD IS CLEAR.

UM, WE MOVE NOW

[K2. Board Approved Salary Schedule]

OH, AGAIN, MS. WE JACKSON CLOSING THE MIC.

DO THAT AT THE COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE.

UH, PRESIDENT TAMAN AGAIN, YOU KNOW, THIS WAS SOMETHING THAT WAS BROUGHT UP.

ACTUALLY I HAD, I HAD ASKED, UH, I, I DIDN'T, UH, ASK FOR, FOR THIS TO BE PLACED ON THIS AGENDA, BUT TO LOOK, I WAS ASKING THAT THE SUPERINTENDENT AND HR LOOK AT THAT AND SEE, UM, SEE ABOUT ANY OF THOSE CONTRACTS OR ANYTHING THAT WAS QUESTIONABLE.

AND THEN CUZ THERE WAS QUESTIONS AROUND WHETHER, UM, SOME OF THIS NEEDED TO BE BOARD APPROVED AND IF SO, THEN WE WOULD BRING IT BACK TO THE COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE FOR APPROVAL.

THAT WAS THE, UM, WHAT I MENTIONED IN, IN THE, UH, IN THE COMMUNICATION.

SO WHEN, WHEN I SAW THIS WAS, WAS ON THE AGENDA, YOU KNOW, IT WAS TOO LATE THEN, BUT, BUT AT ANY RATE, THE INTENTION WAS TO HAVE THE, UM, WAS TO ASK THE SUPERINTENDENT AND HR TO LOOK AT THIS AND KIND OF VET THROUGH IT.

AND THEN IF IT NEEDS TO BE BROUGHT TO US FOR APPROVAL, WE COULD

[03:25:01]

SO DR.

NAIS, WHAT DO YOU SAY? I'M SORRY, BOARD MEMBER JACKSON.

I WAS LOOKING AT THE LITTLE ONE RUNNING AROUND THE PLACE, SO I WAS HOPEFUL THAT THEY DIDN'T, THAT HE DIDN'T GET HURT.

SO, UM, UH, IF WE COULD JUST, UH, REPEAT THAT ONE MORE TIME, YOUR, YOUR QUESTION, UH, JUST TO LOOK AT THOSE, UH, THE QUESTIONS AROUND THOSE, MAYBE SOME CONTRACTS OR SOME, UM, SOME SALARIES THAT, UH, SHOULD HAVE BEEN BOARD APPROVED.

AND IF SO, WE CAN BRING THAT BACK TO THE COMMITTEE AS A WHOLE.

THAT WAS, THAT WAS THE QUESTION MM-HMM THE CONCERN.

AND YOU KNOW, I DON'T KNOW WHETHER YOU'VE LOOKED AT THAT TO SEE THAT ALREADY OR, OR WHAT, BUT CUZ LIKE I SAID, I DIDN'T EXPECT THIS TO, TO BE ON THE AGENDA, UH, UNLESS IT NEEDED TO BE AT THE COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE FOR, FOR BOARD APPROVAL ON ANYTHING THAT NEEDED TO BE APPROVED BY THE BOARD.

UM, YEAH, WE CAN LOOK INTO THIS, UH, AS YOU KNOW, UM, WE HAVE MADE, UH, YOU KNOW, THE BOARD COMMISSIONED US TO DO A COMPENSATION STUDY TO FIX ALL THE SALARIES AS WE LOOK INTO, UM, SALARIES INTO NEXT YEAR AND RAISING THOSE THINGS.

AND SO, UH, IT'S SOMETHING WE CAN GO IN AND TAKE A LOOK AT MM-HMM UM, YEAH, I, I THINK THE QUE SOME OF THE QUESTION WAS AROUND, UH, MAYBE SOME, SOME CONTRACTS THAT MAY HAVE BEEN CHANGED THAT MAYBE SHOULD LOOK AT, I THINK YOU WERE, YOU WERE IN THAT EMAIL, RIGHT? NOT SURE.

HUH? I AM NOT SURE WORD ME JACKSON, BUT I CAN LOOK AT SPECIFICALLY, I KNOW I WAS COPIED ON IT, SO YOU KNOW, IT WASN'T TO ME, YOU KNOW? YEAH.

I COULD TAKE A LOOK AT THAT.

UM, BUT WE CAN LOOK INTO THAT MM-HMM AND THEN IF, IF WE NEED TO APPROVE THEM, THEN SURELY THEY COULD COME BACK TO THE COMMITTEE AS A WHOLE, NOT, NOT THIS BOARD MEETING.

WE CAN LOOK INTO THAT.

MS. WE JACKSON, I'LL GIVE YOU A CALL TOMORROW TO MAKE SURE WE GET THE SPECIFICS OF, OF THAT EMAIL.

UH, AND I WORK WITH DR.

NOY.

WELL, THE EMAIL WASN'T FROM ME, SO I WOULD, YOU KNOW, IT WAS FORWARDED TO ME, BUT IT, IT WAS TO YOU ALL.

LET, LET'S TAKE A, WE'LL LOOK INTO THAT BOARD MEMBER JACKSON, AND IF THERE'S ANY, UH, THING WHERE, UH, WE'LL DO SOME RESEARCH ON OUR RN, IF THERE'S ANYTHING THAT, UH, NEEDS TO BE BOARD APPROVAL, WE DO, AS WE DO EVERYTHING TO MAKE SURE THAT, UH, ALL OF THE BOARD ACTIONS IS THE BOARD ACTION.

RIGHT, RIGHT.

AND THAT'S WHAT I WAS ASKING.

TO BRING IT LATER IF IT NEEDED TO BE.

ITEM L UPDATES, REDISTRICTING UPDATE.

THANK YOU, MS. SQUARE JACKSON, THE BOARD IS CLEAR.

UH, WE MOVE NOW TO

[L1. Redistricting Update]

DO YOU HAVE ANY UPDATES COUNSEL? I HAVE NO UPDATES AT THIS POINT.

UM, AS YOU KNOW, WE'RE IN A HOLDING PATTERN, THE, UH, MATTERS CURRENTLY IN THE FIFTH CIRCUIT COURT OF APPEALS, UH, FOLLOWING A DECISION BY THE DISTRICT COURT.

WE ARE CURRENTLY IN A SITUATION WHERE WE WILL STAY, UH, FROM USING ONE PLAN AND ALSO PREVENTED FROM USING THE OTHER.

SO WE ARE CURRENTLY USING THE NON-MEMBER PLAN ADOPTED IN 2014, BY THIS BOARD, THE COURT OF APPEALS HAS NOT RENDERED A DECISION.

THEY'VE NOT GIVEN US A TIMELINE AS TO WHEN THEY EXPECT TO RENDER DECISION.

AS SOON AS I HAVE ANY INFORMATION ON THAT, I'LL PROVIDE IT TO THE BOARD IN WRITING.

THANK YOU, MR. SHALIN, MS. WE JACKSON, UH, MR. SHALIN, I WAS HOPING YOU WOULD JUST READ THE REPORT SO WE MAKE SURE WE GOT ALL OF THAT INFORMATION IN THERE.

WOULD YOU MIND, UH, YES.

MA'AM.

I WILL PER, UM, PURPOSE OF THE MEMOS TO SERVE AS A RESPONSE TO A REQUEST FOR AN UPDATE ON THE EAST BRANCH PARISH SCHOOL BOARD'S REDISTRICTING PROCESS REGARDING THE STATUS OF LITIGATION HAS COMMUNICATED RECENTLY IN THE FIFTH CIRCUIT COURT OF APPEALS IS GRANTED IN PART AND DENIED IN PART THE SCHOOL BOARD'S REQUEST FOR A STAY OF THE TRIAL.

COURT'S JUNE 17TH JUDGMENT, SPECIFICALLY THE CIRCUIT STATE, THE PORTION OF THE TRIAL COURT'S JUDGMENT THAT REQUIRED THE IMPLEMENTATION OF WHERE COLLINS PLAN ONE 11 FIRST CIRCUIT COURT.

HOWEVER, DID NOT STATE A PORTION OF THE JUDGMENT IN JOINING THE IMPLEMENTATION OF PLAN 22 AS COUNCIL, INCLUDING COUNSEL FOR LOUISIANA STATE SECRETARY STATE INTERPRETED THE RULING MEANS THAT NEITHER PLAN CAN BE IMPLEMENTED UNTIL FURTHER DETERMINATION.

UM, COURT APPEALS GRANTED THE BOARD'S MOTION FOR EXPEDITED REVIEW AND SAID ORAL ARGUMENTS ON AUGUST 10TH, 2022.

UM, THOSE ORAL ARGUMENTS WERE MADE.

HOWEVER, THE COURT HAS NOT RENDERED AN OPINION.

A MOTION TO DISMISS THE MATTER WAS OFFERED BY OPPOSING COUNSEL AND A RESPONSE FILED BY THE BOARD COUNSEL.

THE FIFTH CIRCUIT HAS NOT RENDERED AN OPINION ON ANY OF THOSE PENDING ISSUES AS FOR NOW WILL APPEAR THAT WE MUST CONTINUE UNDER THE CURRENT NINE MEMBER PLAN UNTIL WE RECEIVE A RULING FROM THE COURT.

EXCELLENCE BY HAVING THESE REPORTS TO KEEP PEOPLE, UH, UPDATED ON WHERE WE ARE IN THAT.

I APPRECIATE YOU, UH, READING THAT.

UM, LET SEE IF I CAN, AND I KNOW WE ALWAYS TIE EVERYTHING WE DO TO THE STRATEGIC PLAN, UH, AND I CERTAINLY AGREE THE CORNERSTONE UNDER OPERATIONAL

[03:30:01]

AND, UM, YOU KNOW, OUR COMMITMENT AND THIS IS TO BE RESPONSIBLE STEWARDS OF COMMUNITY RESOURCES FOR THE ACHIEVEMENT OF DISTRICT PRIORITIES.

UH, THAT'S A LITTLE BIT SKEWED AS FAR AS, UM, BEING STEWARDS, GOOD STEWARDS TO OUR RESOURCES, YOU KNOW, CUZ WE ARE SPENDING A LOT OF MONEY, UH, OVER 125,000, UH, TO, TO, UM, PRODUCE A REDISTRICTING PLAN, WHICH WE BASICALLY FAIL TO DO NOW THAT WE ARE IN THE MIDDLE OF A, A LAWSUIT, UM, WITH AN ACCELERATION OF, OF MONEY SPENT TO DO SOMETHING THAT WE FAILED TO DO WHAT WE COULD HAVE DONE FOR LESS THAN 25,000, UM, AND OUR KEY PERFORMANCE INDICATORS OR STREAMLINED DISTRICT SERVICES AND OPERATIONS TO IMPROVE DISTRICT INTERACTIONS AND EXPERIENCES AND INCREASE CLEAR AND CONSISTENT INTERNAL AND EXTERNAL COMMUNICATIONS THROUGH ALL DISTRICT CHANNELS.

UM, I THINK BY HAVING THESE REPORTS, IT DOES IN INDEED, UH, INCREASE THE COMMUNICATIONS.

SO I, I DO APPRECIATE THAT.

UM, IT'S UNFORTUNATE THAT WE HAVE TO SPEND SO MUCH MONEY ON SOMETHING WE FAIL TO DO, AND IT'S DEFINITELY NOT IN THE BEST INTEREST OF, UH, OUR DISTRICT, BUT I APPRECIATE THE, UH, REPORT.

SO THANK YOU VERY MUCH.

AND I WOULD APPRECIATE SEEING THIS ON SEEING A, AN ONGOING REPORT, UH, AND EACH OF OUR, UM, EACH OF OUR REGULAR SCHOOL BOARD MEETINGS, JUST TO KEEP EVERYBODY ABREAST OF WITH WHAT'S GOING ON.

THANK YOU, SIR.

THANK YOU, MS. WEIR JACKSON, WE NOW MOVE TO ORGANIZATIONAL

[M1. Announcement of Meetings]

ITEMS, MS. DYSON.

ANNOUNCEMENT OF MEETINGS.

THE DUROCK SCHOOL COMMUNITY FORUM IS TO BE HELD ON SEPTEMBER 21ST, 2022 FROM FOUR 30 TO 6:00 PM AT THE DUROCK SCHOOL.

SOME OR ALL BOARD MEMBERS MAY ATTEND COMMUNITY FORUM IS TO BE HELD ON SEPTEMBER 22ND, 2022 FROM FIVE TO 6:30 PM AT THE BLUE BONNET LIBRARY.

SOME ARE ALL BOARD MEMBERS MAY ATTEND OVERSIGHT COMMITTEE MEETING IS TO BE HELD ON OCTOBER 3RD, 2022 AT 5:00 PM AT THE CENTRAL OFFICE CONFERENCE ROOM.

A SOME OR ALL BOARD MEMBERS MAY ATTEND COMMUNITY OF THE WHOLE IS TO BE HELD ON OCTOBER 6TH, 2022 AT 5:00 PM AT THE CENTRAL OFFICE BOARDROOM AND OUR REGULAR BOARD MEETING IS TO BE HELD ON OCTOBER 20TH, 2022 AT 5:00 PM AT THE CENTRAL OFFICE BOARDROOM.

AND I'D LIKE TO ADD THAT THE EBR FALL FLING RECRUITMENT EVENT IS SCHEDULED FOR SEPTEMBER 24TH TO BE HELD FROM 9:00 AM TO 12:00 PM AT SHERWOOD MIDDLE ACADEMIC MAGNET SCHOOL, 10 20 MALL BROOK DRIVE.

AND I MOVE TO ADJOURN BEFORE YOU DO.

I JUST WANT TO, I JUST WANT, UM, TAKE A MOMENT TO THANK OUR STAFF, UH, DR.

NAIS AND OUR STAFF FOR BEING HERE AND THE WORK THAT YOU PUT IN.

I WANNA THANK OUR BOARD MEMBERS FOR HANGING THROUGH A LONG MEETING AND I WANNA THANK LAW ENFORCEMENT, UH, FOR THE WORK THAT YOU DO WITH US ALL THE TIME.

AND MS. DYSON, I ALSO WANNA, I'M SORRY, UH, MR. KAMAN, I, I REALLY DO MAKE NEED TO MAKE A COMMENT ABOUT THE DUROCK MEETING, CUZ THERE'S BEEN SOME CONFUSION AND, AND THERE'S BEEN A, A LOT OF, UH, THERE'S THERE'S PARENTS THAT ARE, THAT SENT EMAILS LIKE A MONTH OR SO AGO ASKING FOR A LATER TIME.

AND, UH, THIS MEETING IS STILL ON THE SCHEDULE AT A TIME WHEN THERE'S EARLY DISMISSAL AND UH, PARENTS JUST CAN'T BE THERE.

SO I UNDERSTAND FROM DR.

NAIS THAT THERE WILL BE OPPORTUNITIES FOR ANOTHER MEETING LATER BECAUSE I BELIEVE IF YOU KEEP IT AT THIS THE 21ST AT THAT TIME, WHEN THEY ARE OBJECTING TO, UH, YOU WON'T HAVE THE, THE, UH, IMPACT THAT, OR EVEN THE, THE, UH, THE VALUE OR INTENT OF THE MEETING.

SO, BUT THERE ARE WONDERFUL PARENTS WHO ARE HOPING TO PULL MORE COMMUNITY MEMBERS INTO THIS CONVERSATION TO REALLY MAKE DUROCK, UH, THE SCHOOL THAT, UH, THAT WE ACTUALLY WANT IT TO BE.

IT'S A WONDERFUL NEIGHBORHOOD SCHOOL WITH A WONDERFUL SPECIAL COMPONENT THERE, AND WE WANT TO INCREASE THAT AND, UM, AND BRING IN THE COMMUNITY.

SO I APPRECIATE THAT.

UM, AND WE CAN FIGURE OUT WHEN THAT LATER MEETING WILL BE.

I KNOW THEY'RE ASKING FOR SOME TIME EARLY OCTOBER, SO THEY HAVE MORE TIME TO, TO PLAN FOR THIS.