[00:00:02]
GOOD AFTERNOON AGAIN, EVERYONE.
WE ARE NOW MOVING FROM OUR FALL SPORTS CHAMPIONS TO OUR STUDENT OF THE YEAR.
UM, MR. JAFFAN, GOOD AFTERNOON BOARD MEMBERS, SUPERINTENDENT NARCISS.
AT THIS TIME, WE WOULD LIKE TO HIGHLIGHT THE STUDENTS OF THE YEAR FOR 20 23, 20 24 SCHOOL YEAR.
TONIGHT, WE GATHER TO CELEBRATE, TO CELEBRATE, SORRY, THE OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENTS AND EXCELLENCE OF OUR YOUNG SCHOLARS IN GRADES FIFTH, EIGHTH, AND 12TH.
THE SELECTION PROCESS FOR THESE REMARKABLE STUDENTS IS BOTH THOROUGH AND METICULOUS FROM EACH PUBLIC AND DISTRICT CHARTER SCHOOL.
A STANDOUT STUDENT IS CHOSEN AS THE SCHOOL STUDENT OF THE YEAR.
THESE CHOSEN INDIVIDUALS THEN SUBMIT PORTFOLIOS THAT UNDERGO RIGOROUS EVALUATIONS, METICULOUSLY JUDGED AGAINST THE GUIDELINES SET BY THE LOUISIANA DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION.
FROM THIS, WE PICK ALL THE WINNERS FROM EACH SCHOOL, BUT WE ONLY PICK THREE THAT WILL REPRESENT THE DISTRICT ON THE STATE LEVEL.
SO WE WILL FIRST START WITH OUR PUBLIC CHARTER SCHOOL WINNERS, AND I AM WAITING FOR IT TO COME ON THE SCREEN.
YOU READY FOR THE FIRST YOU? THAT'S WHAT I WAS ASKING.
STUDENTS OF THE YEAR FOR, WELL, WE WILL START WITH OUR DISTRICT WINNERS.
OUR ELEMENTARY STUDENT OF THE YEAR FOR THE DISTRICT IS BRENNAN SMITH FROM WESTDALE HEIGHTS ELEMENTARY.
OUR MIDDLE SCHOOL DISTRICT WINNER IS MADELINE WHITMORE FROM WESTDALE MIDDLE.
SO I MUST TELL YOU ALL BEFORE I MOVE ON.
MADELINE DID HER INTERVIEW TODAY, AND SHE HAS WON THE REGIONAL STUDENT OF THE YEAR, AND SHE WILL BE A STATE NOMINATED STUDENT OF THE YEAR.
THAT'S SOME GREAT NEWS FOR CHRISTMAS, RIGHT?
AND I'M STILL LOOKING FOR MY DISTRICT.
I'M SORRY, MY CHARTER? NO, IT'S JUST, OH, IT IS.
OUR ELEMENTARY DISTRICT CHARTER STUDENT OF THE YEAR IS CARSON HATCH FROM C SAL ELEMENTARY.
AND OUR MIDDLE SCHOOL DISTRICT WINNER IS FROM INSPIRE CHARTER ACADEMY.
LET'S CONGRATULATE THESE STUDENTS ONE MORE TIME.
AND MR. RENA, IF YOU DON'T MIND, I'LL BE REAL QUICK.
I JUST WANT EVERYONE TO SEE THIS AMAZING DISPLAY OF CHILDREN OR STUDENTS.
OFTENTIMES, YOU ALWAYS HEAR THAT EITHER THEY ATTEND A DIRECT RUN SCHOOL, A MAGNET SCHOOL, OR A CHARTER SCHOOL.
BUT I WANT EVERYBODY TO SEE TODAY THAT THESE ARE ALL OF OUR STUDENTS.
THEY'RE ALL SHINY, THEY'RE ALL THRIVING AND MAKING OUR SYSTEM BETTER.
[00:05:01]
SO PLEASE GIVE 'EM ANOTHER ROUND OF APPLAUSE.THIS IS FOR THE, UH, CHRISTMAS CARD.
HE IS, WHERE IS HE? HE'S RIGHT HERE.
JUST FOR THE, JUST FOR MENTIONING, BECAUSE THIS IS TRULY AN HONOR TO, UH, FOR US TO HAVE, AND HE'S MAKING HISTORY IN OUR DISTRICT TONIGHT.
WE HAVE A RENAISSANCE STUDENT AWARD THAT WE GAVE THIS YEAR.
WE HAVE SO MANY EXCEPTIONAL STUDENTS THAT WE REALLY, THEY REALLY ALL STAND OUT, BUT IT'S ALWAYS ONE THAT REALLY, TRULY STANDS OUT AMONGST ALL OF THE KIDS A LITTLE BIT MORE THAN OTHERS.
AND THIS STUDENT, JUST TO GIVE YOU A BACKGROUND OF HIM, THE RENAISSANCE AWARD IS CALLED THAT BECAUSE THEY ARE BRINGING NEW, EXCITING CHANGES TO THEIR COMMUNITIES AND THEIR SCHOOLS.
AND THIS YEAR'S WINNER ATTENDS BEL AIR HIGH SCHOOL.
AND HE IS ONE WHO CAME TO OUR DISTRICT AS A NON-SPEAKING ENGLISH STUDENT, WHO HAS BEEN A STRAIGHT A STUDENT SINCE HE HAS BEEN IN OUR DISTRICT OR ON HONOR ROLL TO THE POINT WHERE HE SAW PROGRAMMING AT HIS SCHOOL THAT WAS LACKING.
AND HE TOOK IT UP UPON HIMSELF TO START THINGS LIKE BRINGING BACK THE SCHOOL'S YEARBOOK AND ACTUALLY HAVING A CLUB AND FINDING THE TEACHER SPONSORS THAT HE NEEDED TO MAKE SURE THAT HAPPENED.
HE ALSO SAW THE NEED FOR THE HERITAGE CLUB NEEDED AT HIS SCHOOL TO SUPPORT AND SHOW PRIDE IN HIS HERITAGE.
AND HE STARTED THAT CLUB AT HIS SCHOOL AS WELL, TO THE POINT, THEY ACTUALLY HAVE A ACTUAL PROGRAM AND THEY SPEND THE ENTIRE DAY CELEBRATING THE CULTURE.
SO HE HAS DONE BIG THINGS AT HIS SCHOOL.
AND WHAT I'VE UNDERSTOOD IS THAT HE REALLY WANTS TO GO TO COLLEGE, BECOME A COUNSELOR, AND WORK IN EAST BATON ROUGE PARISH SCHOOLS.
SO PLEASE, LET'S GIVE A WARM ROUND OF APPLAUSE TO JUAN HERNANDEZ FOR THE RENAISSANCE STUDENT AWARD.
AND ONE MS. HALL SAYS, WHEN YOU GET THAT DEGREE, COME SEE HER.
NOW WE WILL GO TO CHRISTMAS CARD WINNERS AND OUR VISUAL ARTS SPECIALIST, MS. KATIE HARLAN, WILL DO THE HONOR.
ON BEHALF OF THE FINE ARTS DEPARTMENT, WE WOULD LIKE TO CONGRATULATE THE WINNERS OF OUR ANNUAL, UM, UH, GREETING CARD CONTEST.
STUDENTS FROM ACROSS THE DISTRICT WERE ASKED TO DESIGN A GREETING CARD, UM, SURROUND, UM, BASED ON THE HOLIDAY SPIRIT.
AND ABOUT 60, UM, SUBMISSIONS WERE RECEIVED BY OUR DEPARTMENT.
AND WE WOULD LIKE TO HONOR THE WINNERS.
TODAY, THE WINNERS WILL BE GETTING THEIR OWN SET OF CARDS TO DISTRIBUTE, HOWEVER THEY PLEASE.
UM, AND I WOULD LIKE TO CALL UP MS. FIAN HOPKINS.
FOURTH, FOURTH GRADE FROM RYAN ELEMENTARY AND MS. AND HER TEACHER, MS. FANNIE BROWN.
THE CARDS ARE NOW VISIBLE ON THE SCREEN.
[00:10:01]
FOR THE MIDDLE SCHOOL CATEGORY.EIGHTH GRADER FROM MCKINLEY, MIDDLE ACADEMIC MAGNET TEACHER, MR. CHET AND THE HIGH SCHOOL WINNER.
SOPHIA LOCKRIDGE, 11TH GRADER FROM BATON ROUGE MAGNET HIGH SCHOOL TEACHER, MS. AZITA ARISTA.
SO MY NAME IS CHARNA BANKS AND, UM, I'M ACTUALLY A NATIVE OF SCOTLANDVILLE.
UM, BOTH SETS OF MY GRANDPARENTS, UH, REARED THEIR CHILDREN IN THE COMMUNITY OF SCOTLANDVILLE.
UM, MY MOM GREW UP ON PROGRESS ROAD.
ANYBODY KNOW WHERE PROGRESS ROAD IS? OKAY, MY DAD GREW UP ON CARDINAL STREET.
WHO KNOWS WHERE CARDINAL STREET IS? ALL RIGHT.
AND I, UM, BOTH MY PARENTS WERE THE OLDEST OF THEIR SIBLINGS.
UH, SHE WAS IN THE FIRST GRADUATING CLASS OF SCOTLANDVILLE HIGH SCHOOL IN 1956.
UM, MY DAD GRADUATED FROM, UH, SOUTHERN UNIVERSITY LABORATORY SCHOOL PROBABLY IN 1956 OR 57.
AND SO WHEN, WHAT WE KNOW IS THAT THERE ARE TWO HIGH SCHOOLS OVER TIME THAT HAVE SERVED THE FAMILIES OF THE SCOTLANDVILLE COMMUNITY.
AND THAT IS SCOTLANDVILLE AND SOUTHERN LAB.
SO YOU'LL FIND THAT THERE'S ALWAYS A MIXTURE OF FAMILIES THAT SOME WENT TO SOUTHERN LAB, SOME WENT TO SCOTLANDVILLE.
UM, I WENT TO SOUTHERN, I'M THE OLDEST AS WELL IN MY FAMILY.
I HAVE FOUR SIBLINGS, THREE SIBLINGS.
I GRADUATED FROM SOUTHERN LAB.
UH, HOWEVER, MY SON GRADUATED FROM SCOTLANDVILLE MAGNET HIGH SCHOOL IN 2007 WHEN HE STARTED RIGHT WHERE YOU ALL AS NINTH GRADERS.
IT WAS STILL THE BLUE AND THE GRAY EAGLES.
DID Y'ALL KNOW ABOUT THAT CHANGE WHEN THEY TOOK THE SCHOOL? OKAY, SO THE COLORS CHANGED.
THE, THE MASCOT AND ALL THE HISTORY OF SCOTLANDVILLE HIGH SCHOOL WAS LOST.
AND THEN IN, UM, BY THE TIME HE GOT TO 11TH GRADE, THEN THAT'S WHEN WE CAME BACK TO BEING BLACK AND GOLD AND BEING THE HORNETS.
UM, I'M ACTUALLY ONE OF THE FIRST PERSONS TO START A BOOSTER CLUB AND GET THE ATHLETIC PARENTS TOGETHER WHEN SCOTLANDVILLE, UM, STARTED BACK BEING BLACK AND GOLD.
JUST TO TELL YOU A LITTLE BIT ABOUT MYSELF, MY PARENTS ARE THE FIRST COLLEGE GRADUATES IN THEIR FAMILY.
THEY'RE THE FIRST HIGH SCHOOL GRADUATES IN THEIR FAMILIES.
UM, MY GRANDPARENTS, OF COURSE, DID NOT HAVE A HIGH SCHOOL EDUCATION, BUT THEY WANTED THEIR CHILDREN TO, ON MY MOM'S SIDE, MY, UM, MY GRANDFATHER WENT BACK AND GOT HIS GED AFTER HE, UH, WAS AN ADULT JUST 'CAUSE HE WANTED TO.
AND MY GRANDFATHER HAD TO GET HIS GED TO BE ABLE TO VOTE AND WORK FOR STANDARD ALL.
SO BOTH OF THEM, THAT IS THE ONLY, THAT IS, THOSE ARE THE ONLY REASONS THEY WENT BACK.
HOWEVER, EDUCATION WAS SO IMPORTANT TO THEM THAT THEY MADE SURE THEIR CHILDREN GOT AN EDUCATION.
IF ONE PERSON IN THE FAMILY, IT COULD BE
[00:15:01]
ALL OF YOU SIZE, I'M GONNA GET A HIGH SCHOOL EDUCATION.I AM GOING TO EITHER GO TO COLLEGE, GO TO THE MILITARY, GO TO A TRADE SCHOOL AND WORK.
IF YOU ARE THE FIRST IN YOUR FAMILY TO DO THAT, THERE'S GONNA BE A WHOLE LOT OF FOLKS BEHIND YOU.
YOU BECOME A CHANGE AGENT IN YOUR FAMILY BECAUSE YOU BEGIN TO SET A MODEL AND A STANDARD FOR YOUR FAMILY.
SO THAT'S WHAT HAPPENED WITH MY MOM AND MY DAD.
SO ALL 11 OF MY MOM'S SIBLINGS GRADUATED FROM HIGH SCHOOL, GRADUATED FROM COLLEGE, AND HAVE GOOD SUCCESSES.
HE ONLY HAD TWO SISTERS, BUT BECAUSE MY DAD DID THOSE THINGS, SO DID HIS SIBLINGS.
ALL OF MY FIRST COUSINS ALL WENT TO COLLEGE BECAUSE OF THAT STANDARD.
NOW, YOU DON'T HAVE TO GO TO COLLEGE, BUT I'M JUST SAYING THEY MADE A PATHWAY BECAUSE THEY SAW CHANGE IN THEIR FAMILIES.
SO WHEN I, UM, STARTED GOING TO SCHOOL AT SOUTHERN LAB, I DIDN'T KNOW THAT ANYBODY ELSE DID ANYTHING BUT GO TO COLLEGE.
BUT I WENT TO A COLLEGE PREP SCHOOL, BUT STILL, I GOT NO PREPARATION FOR COLLEGE.
BUT BECAUSE SOUTHERN LAB WAS ON SOUTHERN CAMPUS, I JUST THOUGHT THAT'S WHAT EVERYBODY DOES.
EVERYBODY GRADUATE FROM SOUTHERN LAB AND YOU GO STRAIGHT TO CAMPUS.
RIGHT? HOWEVER, I DIDN'T HAVE A TRAINING TO DO THAT.
I DIDN'T KNOW WHAT I WANTED TO BE.
I THINK I GRADUATED WITH A 2.8, UM, GPA DURING THAT TIME IT WAS PUBLIC INFORMATION WHERE YOU RANKED.
SO THEY WOULD HAVE WHOEVER HAD A 4.0 ALL THE WAY DOWN TO A 1.0.
AND THAT INFORMATION WAS PUBLIC.
EACH ONE OF US HAD WHERE WE RANKED IN OUR CLASS, I NEVER WAS HIGHER THAN A 2.8.
AND MY MOTHER TAUGHT AT THE SCHOOL.
I ALWAYS, IN MY MIND, SAW MYSELF AS AVERAGE.
AND I WOULD TELL MY MOM, YOU ARE SMART.
DADDY KNOWS HOW TO DO STUFF, BUT I'M JUST AVERAGE.
SO WHETHER I KNEW IT OR NOT, WHAT I FELT ABOUT MYSELF IS WHAT, HOW IT WORKED OUT IN MY PAPERWORK.
IT SHOWED UP IN MY GPA, RIGHT? SO FROM ME BEING THE OLDEST, THEN I HAD A BROTHER.
HE DIDN'T, HE DIDN'T, MY BROTHER HAD A MORE TROUBLED, UH, LIFESTYLE.
UM, MY BROTHER WAS VERY TIMID AND MY DAD WAS A MAN'S MAN.
SO MY BROTHER HAD A DIFFICULT TIME TRYING TO NAVIGATE LIFE IN GENERAL.
AND SO HE GRADUATED FROM CENTRAL HIGH SCHOOL.
MY MOM ACTUALLY REGISTERED HIM AT, HE WAS AT SOUTHERN LAB.
MY MOM REGISTERED HIM AT SCOTLANDVILLE 'CAUSE HE WASN'T DOING WELL AT SOUTHERN LAB.
AND HE REGISTERED HIMSELF IN CENTRAL.
TO MAKE A LONG STORY SHORT, UM, MY BROTHER AS AN ADULT, UM, WAS PART OF A CREDIT CARD RING.
AND HE TOOK THE FALL FOR EVERYBODY ELSE THAT WAS PART OF THIS CREDIT CARD RING.
AND HE ACTUALLY ENDED UP SERVING TIME AT DIXIE CORRECTIONAL CENTER.
I HAD A GREAT BROTHER, GREAT BROTHER.
MY BROTHER GOT OUT OF JAIL ALL THE TIME.
I'M STILL, YOU KNOW, DOING WELL AS FAR AS WELL COULD BE, BUT STILL A LOSS.
'CAUSE REMEMBER, I HAVE NO FOUNDATION AS TO WHAT I SUPPOSED TO BE.
WHEN MY BROTHER GOT OUTTA JAIL, HE BECAME A, HE GOT HIS, UM, HIS RECORDS CLEARED.
HE'S THE FIRST PERSON I KNOW TO HAVE A CAR PHONE.
HE, AND BY THEN IT WAS LIKE IN BAGS.
AND THERE, LIKE WHERE WE GOT NOW, HE'S THE FIRST PERSON I KNOW TO HAVE A LEXUS.
HE DID REALLY, REALLY WELL FOR HIMSELF, BUT HE WAS ALSO STILL VERY OPEN TO EVERYBODY.
AND SO WHEN MY BROTHER WAS 23 OR 24, A 16-YEAR-OLD KILLED HIM IN HIS HOME, HAD NEVER SEEN HIM.
BUT, BUT THE, THE LAWN, THE GUY WHO CUT HIS YARD WOULD TELL HIM HOW MUCH MY BROTHER HAD, HOW NICE HIS HOUSE WAS, HOW HOUSE HIS CAR WAS.
SO WHEN THE, THE, THE GUY WHO CUT, WHO UH, CUT GRASS WOULD COME, CAME TO THE DOOR WITH THIS 16-YEAR-OLD, MY BROTHER JUST LET 'EM IN.
AND THEN THE, THE, THE PERSON CAME, HE SHOT MY BROTHER IN THE CHEST.
MY BROTHER FELL DOWN ON THE SOFA ON, HE SHOT HIM IN HIS LEG.
AND THEN HE STOOD OVER HIM AND SHOT HIM IN HIS CHEST.
THAT IS THE FIRST DEATH THAT I A MURDER EVER HAPPENED IN MY FAMILY.
EVEN TO THIS DAY, ON BOTH SIDES.
UM, AGAIN, THAT WAS SHATTERING FOR MY FAMILY.
[00:20:01]
UM, I HAVE TWO YOUNGER SIBLINGS.I WAS 15 AND 17 WHEN THEY WERE BORN.
SO IT'S ALMOST LIKE I'M THE THIRD PARENT.
THE LIFE THEY LIVED WITH MY PARENTS, MUCH DIFFERENT FROM THE LIFE THAT I LIVED.
'CAUSE MY PARENTS ALWAYS SAW THEM AS THE BABY.
MY PARENTS WERE 38 AND UM, 40 WHEN THEY STARTED OVER HAVING THE CHILDREN.
BUT IN THE MEANTIME, I'M STILL MATRICULATING STILL.
LITERALLY, Y'ALL NOW IN MY THIRTIES DON'T KNOW WHAT I SUPPOSED TO BE.
AND THE ONE OF THE REASONS I DON'T KNOW WHAT I I WAS SUPPOSED TO BE IS BECAUSE, AGAIN, WHAT YOU SEE IS WHAT YOU THINK YOU SHOULD BE, RIGHT? SO I SEE BOTH MY PARENTS AS TEACHERS.
SO I THINK, I MEAN, THEY LOOK LIKE THEY DOING WELL.
YOU KNOW, WE HAVE WHAT WE NEED.
SO I DECIDED I WANTED TO BE A TEACHER.
MY MOM TOLD ME I COULD NOT BE A TEACHER.
FROM THAT POINT, I HAD NO PLAN.
'CAUSE I WANTED TO BE A TEACHER.
AND THE LESSON IN THAT, Y'ALL, IS WHATEVER YOU WANT TO BE, DON'T LET ANYBODY TALK YOU OUT OF IT.
DON'T TELL 'EM YOU CAN'T MAKE MONEY.
YOU KNOW, YOU KNOW, THEY'LL TELL YOU CAN'T MAKE MONEY.
'CAUSE MY MOM'S REASON WAS SHE FELT THAT I WASN'T GONNA MAKE ENOUGH MONEY.
BUT BY THE SAME TOKEN, SHE NOT TRY, NOT DELIBERATELY, SHE DIVERTED MY WHOLE PATH AND CAUSED ME TO BE IN A WILDERNESS ON WHAT I SUPPOSED TO HAVE BEEN.
SO DURING THE TIME THAT I GRADUATED FROM HIGH SCHOOL, WHICH WAS 1979, THAT'S WHEN COMPUTERS WERE JUST COMING ON BOARD.
AND THEY WERE BEING ACCOUNTING.
ALL OF THOSE TAKE WHAT'S WHAT, WHAT CLASS YOU TAKE RIGHT NOW.
IF YOU ARE GONNA BE GOOD IN IT, IF YOU'RE GONNA BE GOOD IN, UH, IN ACCOUNTING, COMPUTER SCIENCE OR ENGINEERING.
WHAT SUBJECT MATTER? WHAT DO YOU HAVE TO BE GOOD IN? ANYBODY? SCIENCE.
AND WHAT ELSE? GUESS WHAT? MY WORST SUBJECTS WERE MATH, SCIENCE, AND MATH.
SO HERE I AM TRYING TO NAVIGATE AND GETTING WHERE THE TREND IS.
AND RIGHT NOW YOU HEAR A LOT ABOUT WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT AND TREND.
WHAT ARE THE JOBS THAT ARE AVAILABLE RIGHT NOW? SO THAT'S WHAT WAS GOING ON ALL OVER THE WORLD, BUT NOT IN LOUISIANA.
SO WHEN KIDS WERE GOING TO COLLEGE, THEY WOULD GO M**K AND LEADERSHIP
[A. Meeting Opening]
BOWL FOR FORCE FOUR YEARS.HE HOLDS THE RANK OF FIRST LIEUTENANT WITH THE CUMULATIVE GPA OF 4.08.
JUAN HERNANDEZ IS A MEMBER OF THE BETA CLUB AND NATIONAL HONOR SOCIETY.
UPON GRADUATING, HE PLANS TO ATTEND LOUISIANA STATE UNIVERSITY, MAJORING IN PSYCHOLOGY.
HIS DREAMS IS TO MAJOR IN PSYCHOLOGY AND THEN GET A MASTER AND BECOME A SCHOOL COUNSELOR.
HE ALSO WANTS TO SET UP HIS PHOTOGRAPHY AND CUSTOM CLOTHING DESIGN BUSINESS.
CADET HERNANDEZ IS THE SON OF ANDY PADRES AND CARLOS HERNANDEZ.
LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, HERE TO LEAD US IN THE PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE.
I PRESENT TO YOU CADET ONE, LIEUTENANT JUAN HERNANDEZ, PO PRAS OF BELAIRE MAGNET HIGH SCHOOL.
I PLEDGE ALLEGIANCE TO THE FLAG AND TO UNITED STATES OF AMERICA AND TO REPUBLIC FOR WHICH IT STANDS, ONE NATION UNDER GOD, INDIVISIBLE, WITH LIBERTY AND JUSTICE FOR ALL.
WE APPRECIATE YOU IN EVERYTHING THAT YOU DO.
CONTINUE THE GREAT WORK ACROSS OUR COMMUNITY AND ANYWHERE THAT LIFE TAKES YOU.
MADAM SECRETARY, DISTRICT TWO.
DISTRICT THREE, VICE PRESIDENT POWELL LEWIS.
[B. Minutes]
FIRST WE HAVE THE APPROVAL OF THE MINUTES.THIS IS APPROVAL OF THE SCHOOL BOARD, MINUTES OF NOVEMBER, OF THE NOVEMBER 16TH, 2023, REGULAR MEETING.
DECEMBER 7TH, 2023, SPECIAL MEETING.
AND THE DECEMBER 7TH, 2023 COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE MEETING AS PUBLISHED IN THE OFFICIAL JOURNAL.
CAN I GET A MOTION MOVED BY SCHOOL BOARD MEMBER MARTIN, SECONDED BY SCHOOL BOARD MEMBER STEWART.
[00:25:01]
THIS TIME NOW I'LL GO TO THE QUEUE TO SEE IF THERE'S ANY BOARD MEMBERS THAT WANNA SPEAK ON THIS PARTICULAR ITEM.SOON AT THIS TIME, I WILL NOW TURN TO OUR PUBLIC COMMENT BOX.
AS I GO TO OUR PUBLIC COMMENT BOX, I ASK ANYONE WHO HAS A, WHO WOULD LIKE TO MAKE A PUBLIC COMMENT ON ANY ITEM TONIGHT, PLEASE MAKE YOUR WAY OUT TO THE ATRIUM.
GRAB A COMMENT CARD, FILL OUT YOUR NAME, GIVE IT TO MADAM SECRETARY AND SHOULD BE SURE TO GET IT TO ME.
AND I WILL CALL ON YOU WHEN THE ITEM COMES UP.
SEEING NONE AT THIS TIME ON THIS PARTICULAR ITEM, I'LL GO BACK TO OUR BOARD SEEING NO NAMES IN THE QUEUE.
MADAM SECRETARY, PLEASE CALL FOR THE VOTE, PLEASE VOTE.
YOU DO A ROLL CALL? YES MA'AM.
DISTRICT THREE, VICE PRESIDENT POWELL LEWIS.
[C. Information Only]
ALONG.FIRST WE HAVE A MONTHLY REPORT.
IS THERE A MONTHLY REPORT TO BE GIVEN TODAY? FINANCE.
ACTUALLY, NO, YOU DON'T HAVE TO DO IT RIGHT NOW.
WE'RE GONNA KEEP IT MOVING ALONG SO THAT WE STAY, UH, ON COURSE WITH OUR AGENDA.
NEXT WE HAVE PERSONNEL CHANGES.
ARE THERE ANY REPORTS FOR PERSONNEL CHANGES? ALRIGHT, SEEING NO ONE IN THE ROOM RIGHT AT THIS TIME TO SPEAK ON THAT NOW, MS. LOPEZ.
AND THESE AUDIT RESULTS ARE REPORTS, UH, FOR THE EASTBOUND ROUGE PARISH SCHOOL SYSTEM FOR THE FISCAL YEAR ENDING JUNE 30TH, 2023.
BOARD PRESIDENT, UH, SUPERINTENDENT NARCISS AND BOARD MEMBERS.
I'M HAPPY TO INTRODUCE OUR AUDITORS, EISEN AMPER, WHO WILL PRESENT OUR AUDIT FINDINGS FOR 22 AND 23.
I'M A PARTNER WITH EISNER AMPER.
UM, AS MANY OF Y'ALL PROBABLY RECOGNIZE MY FACE.
WE, UM, EISNER, WE JOINED EISNER AMPER BACK IN MAY.
WE WERE FORMALLY POST AWAY IN NETTERVILLE, BUT STILL THE SAME TEAM, SAME FACES.
I'M JOINED TONIGHT WITH MY COLLEAGUE FREDDY SMITH.
UM, HE ALSO WORKS IN OUR GOVERNMENTAL PRACTICE.
SO, AS KELLY MENTIONED, WE ARE HERE TO PRESENT THE RESULTS OF THE 2023 AUDIT.
UM, IN FRONT OF YOU, YOU SHOULD HAVE A HANDOUT WITH THE SLIDES.
I WANTED TO GIVE KIND OF A HIGH LEVEL OVERVIEW OF WHAT THE AUDIT INCLUDES.
UM, SO WE ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR GIVING AN OPINION ON THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS.
UM, WE ALSO LOOK AT THE FEDERAL PROGRAMS THAT YOU HAVE, AND THOSE FALL UNDER UNIFORM GUIDANCE AND FEDERAL PROGRAM COMPLIANCE STANDARDS.
THEN YOU ALSO HAVE STATEWIDE A AND THE BESSIE A UP.
SO THERE'S A LOT OF INFORMATION THAT'S REQUIRED TO BE GATHERED THAT WE'RE RESPONSIBLE FOR, UM, ASSISTING Y'ALL WITH, AND THEN ULTIMATELY ISSUING OUR REPORTS.
WE ARE SUBSTANTIALLY COMPLETE WITH THE AUDITS, AND WE WILL BE FINISHED IN TIME TO FILE BY THE 1231 DEADLINE.
UM, WE'RE PLEASED TO REPORT THAT THERE'S GONNA BE AN UNMODIFIED OPINION ON THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS, WHICH IS THE HIGHEST LEVEL OF ASSURANCE YOU CAN RECEIVE.
SO THAT'S A CLEAN AUDIT OPINION.
UM, WE DO LOOK AT THE DESIGN OF INTERNAL CONTROLS, BUT WE DO NOT GIVE AN OPINION ON INTERNAL CONTROLS.
SO WE DO WALKTHROUGHS OF KEY AREAS TO MAKE SURE THAT, YOU KNOW, THERE'S PROCESSES IN PLACE AND CHECKS AND BALANCES OVER THOSE AREAS TO ENSURE STRONG FINANCIAL REPORTING FOR UNIFORM GUIDANCE.
WE LOOK AT THE DESIGN OF INTERNAL CONTROLS AND ALSO COMPLIANCE.
SO THAT'S A BIG PART OF THE AUDIT.
AND WE'RE GONNA SEE WHICH PROGRAMS WERE TESTED THIS YEAR AS PART OF OUR ROTATION.
THE OTHER THING TO POINT OUT ABOUT THE AGREED UPON PROCEDURES, THOSE ARE DIFFERENT.
THAT IS, UM, IT'S VERY YES OR NO.
YOU HAVE TWO SETS OF AGREED UPON PROCEDURES THAT ARE REQUIRED.
ONE SET SET IS A STATEWIDE AGREED UPON PROCEDURES, WHICH ARE REQUIRED BY THE LEGISLATIVE AUDITOR THAT COVER, UM, 13 DIFFERENT AREAS FOR A DEEPER DIVE INTO RECORDS.
AND THAT'S BEEN GOING ON FOR SEVERAL YEARS.
AND THEN YOU ALSO HAVE THE AGREED UPON PROCEDURES THAT ARE REQUIRED BY THE DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION.
SO THE MAJOR PROGRAMS THAT WE TESTED THIS YEAR, UM, Y'ALL HAD OVER $193 MILLION IN FEDERAL DOLLARS FOR FISCAL YEAR 2023.
YOU SAW A REALLY LARGE INFLUX OF ESSER DOLLARS AND OTHER
[00:30:01]
GRANTS THAT WERE COMING IN AS WE'RE STILL TRYING TO COPE FROM THE COVID FALLOUT AND IMPACT AND TRYING TO GET STUDENTS BACK WHERE THEY NEED TO BE.SO THIS YEAR WE, UM, AUDITED SIX FEDERAL PROGRAMS. THE FIRST ONE WAS THE EDUCATION STABILIZATION FUND, WHICH WE'VE AUDITED IN THE PAST, BUT THIS WAS CONSIDERED HIGH RISK BY THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT AND APPROXIMATELY $45 MILLION SPENT FOR THAT PROGRAM.
WE ALSO AUDITED THE I-I-D-E-A CLUSTER OF APPROXIMATELY 11 MILLION.
THE EMERGENCY CONNECTIVITY FUND PROGRAM FOR 7 MILLION.
TITLE ONE FOR 26 MILLION, IMPROVING TEACHER QUALITY STATE GRANTS OF 3 MILLION.
AND THEN THE CHILDCARE AND DEVELOPMENT BLOCK GRANT OF 3.9 MILLION.
SO USUALLY WE HAVE ABOUT THREE PROGRAMS THAT MEET THE CRITERIA FOR SELECTION.
ARE WE SUPPOSED TO BE FOLLOWING ALONG? 'CAUSE I'M LOST.
I MEAN, I, I HAVE IT, BUT I MEAN, PAGE THREE.
CAN THEY PUT IT ON THE SCREEN? I MEAN, THEY HAD IT UP THERE.
IS THAT BETTER? THE PRE YEAH, THAT'S WHAT I WANTED.
SO THERE IS A SIGNIFICANT AMOUNT OF FEDERAL FUNDING THIS YEAR.
UH, WE'RE PLEASED TO REPORT THAT THERE WERE NO MATERIAL FINDINGS RELATED TO THE FEDERAL PROGRAMS. AS I MENTIONED EARLIER, WE LOOK A LOT AT THE COMPLIANCE WITH THE, WITH THE GRANT TERMS, AND AS WELL AS THE DESIGN OF INTERNAL CONTROLS.
SO, AS I MENTIONED, UM, THERE ARE NO MATERIAL WEAKNESSES NOTED FOR THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS OR THE FEDERAL GRANTS.
AND THEN AS WE REVIEW THE STATEWIDE AGREED UPON PROCEDURES, THESE, THESE ARE THE AREAS THAT ARE COVERED IN THOSE STATEWIDE AGREED UPON PROCEDURES.
UM, AND SO, AS I MENTIONED EARLIER, THERE'S SOMETIMES THERE CAN BE EXCEPTIONS BECAUSE THERE IS NO AUDITOR JUDGMENT OR MATERIALITY.
THERE WERE ONLY A FEW MINOR ITEMS THAT WE NOTED.
UM, WE DO HAVE TO EVALUATE IF THOSE WOULD RESULT IN FINDINGS AND THEY DID NOT.
SO THOSE WERE REALLY RATHER SMALL, UM, ITEMS OVER SOME DOCUMENTATION, OVER SOME TRAINING, THINGS LIKE THAT.
SO NOTHING REALLY SIGNIFICANT THERE THAT WE WOULD NEED TO BRING TO YOUR ATTENTION.
I DO WANNA COVER A FEW OF THE NUMBERS TONIGHT.
SO THIS IS, NEXT SLIDE IS THE GENERAL FUND ONLY.
SO, UM, JUST WANNA KIND OF POINT THAT OUT.
SO LOOKING AT THE HIGHLIGHTS OF THE GENERAL FUND.
SO YOUR TOTAL REVENUES FOR 2023 WERE APPROXIMATELY $539 MILLION.
YOUR TOTAL EXPENDITURES WERE $512 MILLION FOR AN EXCESS OF REVENUES OVER EXPENDITURES OF $27 MILLION.
AND THEN YOU HAVE TRANSFERS IN.
SO THAT'S, THAT'S THE INDIRECT COSTS THAT ARE COMING FROM THE FEDERAL PROGRAMS. YOU SEE THAT NUMBER AS APPROXIMATELY $22 MILLION.
THAT WAS, THE MAJORITY OF THAT IS RELATED TO THE SSR FUNDING.
THAT WAS SUCH A SIGNIFICANT FUNDING SOURCE, AND IT HAD A LARGE INDIRECT COST RATE.
SO THAT BROUGHT YOUR NET SURPLUS TO APPROXIMATELY $49 MILLION FOR THIS YEAR.
UM, Y'ALL ARE ABLE TO SEE A, AN INCREASE IN YOUR, UM, TAX REVENUES DURING THE YEAR, UM, AS WELL AS YOUR FEDERAL DOLLARS AND YOUR MFP DOLLARS.
BUT THEN THERE THAT WAS OFFSET BY SOME INCREASES FOR, YOU KNOW, GENERAL COSTS SUCH AS TRANSPORTATION AND AN INCREASE TO CHARTER SCHOOLS.
AND IT SHOULD BE NOTED THAT NEXT YEAR THE ESSER FUNDING WILL BE WINDING DOWN.
SO THAT WAS, YOU KNOW, A LARGE AMOUNT FOR 2022 AND 2023.
THE NEXT SLIDE SHOWS THE GENERAL FUND OPERATING RESERVES.
SO THE YELLOW SHOWS THE GENERAL FUND OPERATING EXPENDITURES, WHICH I MENTIONED WAS APPROXIMATELY $512 MILLION COMPARED TO THE GENERAL FUND FUND BALANCE OF 141 MILLION.
IT'S IMPORTANT TO NOTE THAT THE, THE FUND BALANCE YOU SEE FROM 2019 TO 2023 IS CONTINUING TO RISE THERE.
I KNOW THERE'S BEEN A LOT OF FOCUS ON BUDGETS, UM, MAKING TOUGH DECISIONS, STRATEGIC DECISIONS, TRYING TO ENSURE THE STABILITY OF THE SCHOOL BOARD GOING FORWARD.
UM, Y'ALL ALSO DO HAVE AN INTERNAL POLICY OF MAINTAINING APPROXIMATELY 15% OF YOUR TOTAL REVENUES AND A FUND BALANCE.
THAT'S, THAT'S AN INTERNAL POLICY THAT Y'ALL HAVE SET IN PAST YEARS.
AND SO, UM, THAT IS ROUGHLY $80 MILLION AND YOU CAN SEE YOU'RE AT $141 MILLION.
THE NEXT SLIDE SHOWS FUND BALANCES FOR ALL THE FUNDS.
SO NOT ONLY DO YOU HAVE THE GENERAL FUND, YOU HAVE THE CHILD NUTRITION FUND, OTHER FEDERAL GRANT FUNDING, PROPS, ONE, TWO, AND THREE, AND THEN OTHER STATE GRANTS AS WELL AS THE INTERNAL SERVICE FUNDS.
SO IF YOU LOOK, YOU CAN SEE, YOU KNOW, SIGNIFICANT GROWTH OVERALL IN THE FUND BALANCES FOR THE MAJORITY OF THE BUCKETS.
SO THE PINK BUCKET IS NONS SPENDABLE OF APPROXIMATELY 2.5 MILLION THAT'S RELATED TO INVENTORY BALANCES.
SO FROM AN ACCOUNTING PERSPECTIVE THAT KIND OF GETS SET ASIDE.
THE GREEN BUCKET IS MAINLY RELATED TO THE TAX PROPOSITIONS AND YOUR STUDENT ACTIVITY ACCOUNTS.
UM, UH, IN PREVIOUS YEARS WE HAD TO TAKE THE STUDENT ACTIVITY ACCOUNTS.
THAT'S THE MONEY THAT'S HELD AT THE SCHOOLS FOR BAND AND DIFFERENT ACTIVITIES.
AND THAT HAD TO BE RECORDED IN THESE NUMBERS.
AND SO FOR 2023, THAT WAS APPROXIMATELY $7 MILLION.
THE YELLOW CATEGORY IS ASSIGNED, AND THESE ARE CATEGORIES ASSIGNED BY THE BOARD TO SET ASIDE CERTAIN FUNDING FOR FUTURE USE, UM, SUCH AS TRANSPORTATION, UM, COMPENSATION, JUST DIFFERENT THINGS LIKE THAT.
THERE'S SOME, SOME SELECTIONS MADE THERE EACH YEAR.
[00:35:01]
AND YOU CAN SEE A LARGE GROWTH AGAIN IN THE GENERAL FUND.UM, THE GENERAL USE, WHICH IS UNASSIGNED.
SO THAT'S FOR, YOU KNOW, UNASSIGNED PURPOSES GOING FORWARD FOR GENERAL OPERATIONS.
SO THAT WAS 105 MILLION OF THE 371 MILLION.
THE PURPLE IS RELATED TO YOUR INTERNAL SERVICE FUNDS, WHICH IS RELATED TO YOUR MEDICAL, YOUR RISK MANAGEMENT, YOUR WORKERS' COMP FUNDS.
THAT'S APPROXIMATELY $43 MILLION.
THAT'S THE ONLY ONE THAT WENT DOWN SLIGHTLY, BUT THAT'S BEEN STRATEGIC OVER THE PAST SEVERAL YEARS AS Y'ALL ARE MONITORING THOSE BALANCES IN THE VARIOUS ACCOUNTS FOR COMPLIANCE.
AND SO THAT IS, UM, THAT WAS EXPECTED AND PLANNED, BUT IT STILL REMAINS A, YOU KNOW, A SIGNIFICANT BALANCE FOR, TO COVER THOSE COSTS GOING FORWARD.
THE NEXT SLIDE IS THE NET POSITION.
SO WE'VE TALKED A LOT ABOUT FUNDS AND THAT'S HOW THINGS ARE ACCOUNTED FOR AT THE SCHOOL BOARD ON A DAILY BASIS.
YOU TRACK OPERATIONS THAT ARE GONNA OCCUR EACH YEAR, YOU KNOW, THE REVENUE END EXPENSES, THINGS LIKE THAT.
FROM AN ACCOUNTING PERSPECTIVE, WHEN YOU COMPLETE YOUR ANNUAL COMPREHENSIVE FINANCIAL REPORT, YOU HAVE TO DO, UM, WHAT'S CALLED GOVERNMENT WIDE REPORTING.
AND THAT'S WHERE YOU'RE PUTTING ON LONG-TERM ASSETS AND LONG-TERM LIABILITIES.
SO YOUR LONG-TERM ASSETS WOULD BE FIXED ASSETS.
SO ALL THE SCHOOLS THAT, THINGS LIKE THAT.
AND SO THAT'S APPROXIMATELY $460 MILLION OF ASSETS THAT GETS RECORDED ON THE GOVERNMENT WIDE AT YEAR END.
THE OTHER AREA IS APPROXIMATELY $800 MILLION RELATED TO BONDS OUTSTANDING, THE NET PENSION LIABILITY AND OTHER POST-EMPLOYMENT BENEFITS.
SO THOSE WERE SIGNIFICANT STANDARDS THAT CAME OUT YEARS AGO THAT BASICALLY JUST SAID YOU NEED TO FORECAST WHAT THOSE COSTS ARE GONNA BE FOR THOSE EMPLOYEES THROUGH THEIR RETIREMENT AGE.
SO THERE'S SIGNIFICANT ESTIMATES THAT ARE INVOLVED IN THAT.
YOU DO USE AN ACTUARY, WE SPEND A LOT OF TIME LOOKING AT THE INPUTS AND LOOKING AT THE PAYROLL NUMBERS THAT ARE USED TO CALCULATE THOSE LIABILITIES.
BUT WHENEVER YOU HAVE SUCH LARGE LIABILITIES AND YOU PUT THOSE ON THE BOOKS, IT CREATES THIS LARGE DEFICIT IN THE YELLOW, WHICH IS ABOUT 554 MILLION.
THAT IS NOT SOMETHING THAT, UM, YOU'RE ABLE TO CONTROL.
THERE'S NO WAY TO FULLY FUND THOSE PROGRAMS, UM, WITHOUT SIGNIFICANT INVESTMENTS.
AND SO YOU CAN SEE THERE HAS BEEN SOME IMPROVEMENT YEAR OVER YEAR, AND A LOT OF THAT HAS TO DO WITH SOME OF THE CHANGES IN THE RATES, UM, CHANGES IN SOME OF THE PROGRAM OPTIONS THAT Y'ALL ARE OFFERING.
BUT AGAIN, THAT'S NOT REALLY GONNA BE EXPECTED TO FLIP BACK A POSITIVE, UM, GOING FORWARD.
I DO WANNA POINT OUT THE, THE BLUE, WHICH IS APPROXIMATELY 8 180 $5 MILLION.
THE MAJORITY OF THAT'S RELATED TO THE PROPS OF 121 MILLION AND ABOUT $9 MILLION IN GRANTS.
SO JUST TO CONCLUDE, UM, WE, AS I SAID, WE'VE SPENT A SIGNIFICANT AMOUNT OF TIME LOOKING AT THE NUMBERS, LOOKING AT THE FEDERAL PROGRAMS AND WORKING THROUGH THE AGREED UPON PROCEDURES.
UH, WE RECEIVED FULL COOPERATION AND DOCUMENTATION THAT WE NEEDED THROUGHOUT THE AUDIT.
UM, AS I MENTIONED EARLIER, THERE ARE SIGNIFICANT ESTIMATES THAT, YOU KNOW, HAVE TO BE EVALUATED EACH YEAR AND LOOKED AT, AND WE ARE COMFORTABLE WITH THOSE ESTIMATES.
UM, AND WE'RE NOT AWARE OF ANY OTHER PRIOR DISCUSSIONS WITH OTHER AUDITORS OR ANY OTHER DISAGREEMENTS THAT WE WOULD NEED TO REPORT.
UM, ONE THING THAT WE DO POINT OUT IS WE DO WILL REQUEST A REPRESENTATION LETTER FROM MANAGEMENT, AND THAT JUST STATES THAT THEY PROVIDED US WITH ALL OF THE INFORMATION.
UM, THERE'S A LOT OF ACTIVITY THAT OCCURS OUTSIDE OF TRULY JUST THE FINANCE DEPARTMENT, WHETHER IT'S CO COOPERATIVE ENDEAVOR AGREEMENTS, LEASES, OTHER THINGS THAT POTENTIALLY WOULD HAVE AN IMPACT TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS.
SO WE WILL REQUEST THAT AND OBTAIN THAT BEFORE WE ISSUE OUR FINAL REPORT.
AND THEN WE DO POINT OUT SOME OF OUR NON-AUDIT SERVICES ARE ASSISTING WITH FINANCIAL STATEMENTS AND THE DATA COLLECTION FORM.
THOSE ARE SOME FORMALITIES JUST TO MAKE SURE THAT YOU AS A BOARD ARE AWARE THAT WE, UM, ARE INDEPENDENT, UM, BOTH PERSONALLY AND AS A FIRM RELATED TO THE ORGANIZATION.
SO THAT KIND OF CONCLUDES MY RESULTS.
UM, AGAIN, WE WE REALLY DO APPRECIATE THE OPPORTUNITY TO SERVE THE BOARD AND WE APPRECIATE EVERYONE'S HELP.
IT TAKES A LOT OF DIFFERENT DEPARTMENTS AND A LOT OF DIFFERENT PEOPLE TO HELP US GET HERE AND READY FOR THIS MEETING TONIGHT TO HELP Y'ALL COMPLY WITH YOUR REPORTING.
SO, UM, ANY QUESTIONS? I'M SORRY, ONE SECOND.
UH, THANK YOU VERY MUCH FOR YOUR REPORT AND THANK ALL OF THE EMPLOYEES FOR THE DISTRICT THAT WENT THROUGH AND, UH, WORKED ON ALL OF THIS.
I DO HAVE A COUPLE OF QUICK QUESTIONS.
SO, UH, ONE QUESTIONS AND REQUESTS.
UH, AS YOU KNOW, WE WILL BE TOTALLY REVISING ALL OF OUR FINANCIAL SYSTEM YES.
AND ALL OF THE HR SYSTEM AND HOW, AND ALL THE PROCUREMENT SYSTEM AND HOW THOSE THINGS FINALLY WILL BE INTERACTING TOGETHER.
[00:40:01]
HOPEFULLY WE'LL GET AWAY FROM A LOT OF PAPERWORK AND GET TO A LOT MORE ELECTRONIC THINGS AND MOVE INTO THE 21ST CENTURY.BUT WITH ALL OF THAT, WHAT ROLE HAS, HAS YOUR ORGANIZATION, IF ANY, HAS PLAYED IN REVIEWING, UH, HOW THAT NEW SYSTEM IS GOING TO BE IMPLEMENTED AND THE INTERNAL CONTROLS AND EVERYTHING IN THAT SYSTEM? UM, YES.
WE, UM, DO LOOK AT IT CONTROLS.
SO WE DID LOOK AT YOUR PREVIOUS SYSTEM AS FAR AS ACCESS CONTROLS AND UM, AS WELL AS, YOU KNOW, IS IT PROPERLY DESIGNED? HOW IS IT KIND OF FUNCTIONING? ARE THE PROPER PARAMETERS SET UP FOR THINGS SUCH AS LIMITS ON CHECKS OR BUDGETS? AND WHO HAS ACCESS? SO WE'VE HAD, GOOD MORNING.
I'M COUNCILMAN CLEVE DUNN JUNIOR COUNCIL PERSON FROM METRO COUNCIL DISTRICT SIX HERE IN EAST BATON ROUGE PARISH.
WE'RE HERE AT COLLEGIATE ACADEMY ON THE CONE OF LIVE DAY FLORIDA FOR OUR ANNUAL THANKSGIVING TURKEY GIVEAWAY, PARTNERING WITH COLLEGIATE.
I'M HERE WITH MS. HAMILTON, GLAD TO BE A PARTNER AND GLAD TO WORK WITH THEM ON THIS EVENT EVERY YEAR.
I'M AN INSTRUCTIONAL COACH IN GRADE LEVEL LEAGUE HERE AT COLLEGIATE BATON ROUGE HIGH SCHOOL.
WE'VE BEEN PARTNERING WITH, UH, COUNCILMAN CLE DUNN, UM, IN DISTRICT SIX FOR THE PAST COUPLE OF YEARS.
AND THIS WILL BE OUR SECOND, UM, ANNUAL THANKSGIVING TURKEY GIVEAWAY.
WE ARE SO GRATEFUL, UM, FOR ALL THE THINGS THAT HE DOES FOR US, BUT PARTICULARLY TODAY BECAUSE WE GET TO HELP, UM, HUNDREDS OF FAMILIES, UM, THAT DO NOT HAVE TURKEYS.
UM, WE'RE ABLE TO GIVE THEM TURKEYS.
WE'RE BRINGING THEM ALL THE JOY, UM, ALL THE LOVE AND ALL THE SMILES.
AND WE LOOK FORWARD TO SEEING YOU GUYS ON TODAY.
THEY GOT 580 PEOPLE WITH 'EM, RIGHT? ONE TURKEY PER CAR.
THEY'RE SPREADING JOY, UM, SMILING AND HEY, LISTEN, ONCE YOU GET YOUR PARTNER GETTING THEM SIDE BY SIDE, SO Y'ALL COME OVER HERE BECAUSE WHAT'S GOING, LISTEN.
SO WHAT'S GOING TO HAPPEN IS THEY'RE GOING TO OPEN THIS UP.
THE FIRST PAIR GETS THE FIRST PAIR IN THE BACKSEAT.
[00:45:04]
UM, I DON'T REALLY KNOW, BUT I FEEL LIKE IT, IT, IT'S A GREAT WAY CITY, EVERYBODY COME.HOW IS IT OPTIMISM? IS IT COMMUNITY? IS IT RESPONSIBILITY? IS IT, IT'S FOR EVERYBODY NO MATTER WHAT YOUR INCOME BRACKET IS.
SO WE JUST WANTED TO BE A PART OF THE SOLUTION AND IMPACT A FAMILY.
THIS IS ONE LESS BURDEN THEY HAVE TO HAVE.
UH, WE GETTING THE TURKEY THIS YEAR.
EVERYBODY SHOULD GET ONE THANKSGIVING.
I, HEY, HOW YOU HAPPY THANKSGIVING.
WE HAVE VALUE AND OUR VALUE THAT WE'RE PRACTICING TODAY IS COMMUNITY AND RESPONSIBILITY BECAUSE WE ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR THIS COMMUNITY AND WE ARE SPREADING ALL THE JOY AND LOVE DURING THE THANKSGIVING HOT.
SO, UH, SANFORD CHILDREN LOUISIANA IS VERY EXCITED THIS YEAR TO BE A SPONSOR OF THE TURKEY GIVEAWAY.
UM, NOT ONLY IS IT ABOUT BEING ABLE TO SPONSOR THE EVENT, BUT GETTING TO BE HERE AND SEE FAMILIES, UH, IN THE COMMUNITY IS JUST, UH, SO MUCH MORE THAN, UH, YOU KNOW, WE COULD HAVE IMAGINED FOR TODAY.
YEAH, THE TURNOUT IS ABSOLUTELY INCREDIBLE.
WHEN WE WERE PULLING UP, UH, THE LOT IS DOWN THE ROAD AND AROUND THE CORNER.
AND SO I THINK IT'S JUST REALLY, UH, AN AMAZING OPPORTUNITY IN THE SPIRIT OF THANKSGIVING AND THE SPIRIT OF COMMUNITY TO BE ABLE TO BE HERE AND BE WITH SO MANY FOLKS WHO ARE COMING THROUGH.
AND, YOU KNOW, AS WE ENTER A LONG, YOU KNOW, HOLIDAY SEASON, UH, IT JUST FEELS SO GOOD TO BE A PART OF GIVING BACK TO THE COMMUNITY AND DOING OUR PART.
HOW LONG HAVE Y'ALL BEEN SPONSORING? YEAH, SO THIS IS OUR FIRST YEAR AS, UM, A SPONSOR.
AND SO, UH, WE'VE KNOWN THAT IT'S HAPPENED IN THE PAST AND THEN THIS YEAR WE THANK YOU.
[F.1. Professional Services Contract]
THANK YOU.NOW WE HAVE A MOTION ON THE FLOOR WITH A SECOND.
WE WILL NOW COME TO OUR BOARD FOR ANY PUBLIC COMMENT.
[00:50:01]
COMMENT.COACH LEWIS, YOU ARE NOW IN THE QUEUE.
NOW, WE'LL NOW TURN TO THE PUBLIC.
SEE NO OTHER NAMES FOR PUBLIC COMMENT ON THIS PARTICULAR ITEM.
THIS TIME WE, WE COME BACK TO OUR BOARD SCENE ON THE, OH, COACH, YOU'RE IN THE QUEUE THIS TIME.
I JUST DO NOT WANT US TO SIT HERE AND BE IN THE SAME PLACE WE WERE THIS TIME LAST YEAR.
WE'RE STARING DOWN THE BARREL OF JANUARY.
WE ALL KNOW HOW THAT TURNED OUT LAST YEAR.
SO LET'S, YOU KNOW, LET'S BE MINDFUL OF WHAT WE'RE DOING HERE.
AND I ALSO SECOND THAT, SO THANK YOU.
SEEING ALL THE NAMES OF THE QUEUE AT THIS TIME.
SECRETARY, PLEASE CALL FOR THE VOTE TO MAKE SURE I HAVE IT RIGHT.
IT WAS TO DEFER TO A DATE, NOT CERTAIN, CORRECT? YES.
DO WE NEED TO VOTE BEFORE MR. SHAMAN SPEAKS? THE NEXT ONE? OH, OKAY.
[F.2. Cooperative Endeavor Agreement: YWCA]
MOVING ALONG.NEXT ITEM WE HAVE IS F TWO CONSIDERATION OF AN, UH, ENDEAVOR OF, SORRY, COOPERATIVE ENDEAVOR AGREEMENT YWCA.
THIS IS A CO, UH, CONSIDERATION OF A REQUEST FOR THE APPROVAL OF A COOPERATIVE ENDEAVOR AGREEMENT BETWEEN THE EAST BATON ROUGE PARISH SCHOOL BOARD AND THE YWCA UPGRADED BATON ROUGE IN THE AMOUNT OF $1,500,000 TO PROVIDE SERVICES FOR STUDENTS.
CAN I GET A MOTION? I SEE WE HAVE SCHOOL BOARD MEMBER CALLER POWELL LEWIS IN THE QUEUE.
UH, GOOD EVENING AGAIN, EVERYONE.
UM, WOULD JUST LIKE TO ASK THAT WE, UH, UM, THAT I MAKE A MOTION THAT WE WILL DEFER THIS PARTICULAR ITEM TO A DATE UNCERTAIN AS WELL, JUST TO GIVE US SOME MORE TIME TO CONTINUE TO DEVELOP THE DETAILS OF THIS PROGRAM.
THAT IS SECONDED BY SCHOOL BOARD MEMBER MARK BALLOU.
OKAY, THIS TIME NOW I'LL TURN TO THE QUEUE TO SEE IF WE HAVE ANY COMMENTS.
ALRIGHT, I SEE YOU ATTORNEY CHALIN, YOU'RE IN THE QUEUE OR YOU PASS.
ALRIGHT, MS. CARLA POWELL LEWIS, WOULD YOU LIKE TO SPEAK OR PASS? ALRIGHT, COACH LEWIS, WOULD YOU LIKE TO SPEAK OR PASS? SPEAK? OKAY.
THIS IS WHAT THE THIRD TIME? MM-HMM.
THE SERVICES, ALL THOSE THINGS THAT ARE, THAT ARE ATTACHED TO THIS $1.5 MILLION GIVEAWAY SHOULD BE HASHED OUT BY NOW.
A LOT OF THE SERVICES THAT THEY'RE TALKING ABOUT THAT WE'VE SEEN IN THIS ARE SERVICES THAT ARE ALREADY BEING OFFERED THROUGHOUT THE DISTRICT.
WE HAVE TRUANCY PROGRAM, WE HAVE COUNSELORS IN SCHOOLS.
YOU KNOW, I JUST SEE A LOT OF DUPLICATION OF SERVICES THAT COULD POSSIBLY TAKE PLACE WITH THIS.
UM, BECAUSE OF MY TIME IN THE SCHOOLS, I REACHED OUT TO NUMEROUS COUNSELORS AND SOCIAL WORKERS AND THEY ALL STATED THE FACT THAT A LOT OF IT LOOKS LIKE DUPLICATION OF SERVICES.
SO I JUST THINK WE REALLY NEED TO TREAD LIGHTLY WHEN WE'RE TALKING ABOUT GIVING AWAY $1.5 MILLION THAT'LL MAKE 3 MILLION WE'VE GIVEN AWAY THIS YEAR.
NOT SAYING IT'S A GOOD, NOT A GOOD CAUSE, BUT I JUST THINK IF, IF, IF, IF THOSE SERVICES ARE AVAILABLE, THEN WE NEED TO MAKE SURE THAT OUR KIDS ARE, ARE EXPOSED TO THOSE SERVICES YES.
I SEE WE HAVE, UH, MS. DIANE PEYTON INSIDE OF THE BUILDING.
WOULD YOU LIKE TO COME TO THE MIC AND SPEAK TO US THIS ITEM? OR YOU DON'T HAVE TO.
UM, DO I HAVE TO SAY THANK YOU VERY MUCH MR. LEWIS FOR YOUR COMMENTS? UH, DULY NOTED.
UH, ALSO WE ARE TRYING TO PULL TOGETHER THE DETAILS.
WE WANNA MAKE SURE THAT ALL OF OUR PARTNERS HAVE A CHANCE TO INFLUENCE THE BUDGET.
[00:55:01]
WE KNOW IT'S ACCOUNTABLE.WE KNOW THAT ALL THE DETAILS ARE THERE, AND IT'S SOMETHING THAT YOU CAN BE CONFIDENT IN VOTING FOR.
I DISAGREE WITH THE DUPLICATION OF SERVICES, BUT I DO RESPECT YOUR OPINION, MR. LEWIS.
UM, BUT OUTSIDE OF THAT, I HAVE NOTHING FURTHER TO SHARE AT THIS TIME.
THANK YOU, MR. BUT THANK YOU FOR YOUR CONSIDERATION.
WE APPRECIATE YOU MS. SHALAN, YOU'RE NINE SIDE OF THE QUEUE.
UM, I JUST HAVE TO SHARE THAT, YOU KNOW, IF THIS IS SOMETHING THAT HAS BEEN PLANNED FOR A YEAR, I'M, I'M PRETTY DISAPPOINTED THAT THE QUESTIONS I'VE ASKED HAVEN'T BEEN ANSWERED.
UM, WHICH IS REALLY JUST SIMPLY WHAT'S THE BUDGET? UM, AND I'M ONLY SAYING THIS PUBLICLY BECAUSE I'VE BEEN VERY PATIENT AND I HAVEN'T ASKED MORE.
AND I'M, I'M CONFUSED ON WHY IT KEEPS GETTING PUSHED.
BECAUSE IN MY MIND, DOES THAT JUST MEAN WE'RE MAKING KIDS WAIT LONGER TO NOT RECEIVE WHAT LOOKED LIKE A PRETTY GREAT, UM, PROPOSAL? SO, UM, THAT'S GREAT THAT, YOU KNOW, YOU WANT MORE TIME, BUT WHEN I APPLY FOR GRANTS AND THINGS, IF I, I MEAN, MY DUCKS ARE IN A ROW AND I'M, I'M STRUGGLING TO UNDERSTAND WHY THEY AREN'T IN THIS MATTER.
ESPECIALLY WHEN I ASKED HOW LONG HAS THIS BEEN WORKED ON? AND I WAS TOLD ABOUT A YEAR AGO, UM, AGAIN, I THINK YWC IS A WONDERFUL ORGANIZATION DOING INCREDIBLE THINGS IN THIS COMMUNITY.
AND I'M, I'M WORRIED THAT WE ARE PUTTING OUR KIDS ON PAUSE TO TACKLE WHAT, TO ME IS A CRISIS WITH TRUANCY AND SCHOOL SAFETY.
AND WE'VE NOW JUST GONE MONTHS OF JUST SAYING, WELL, WE'LL GET TO IT.
I, UM, UM, THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THOSE COMMENTS.
WHAT WE'VE SPENT TIME DOING, AN EXAMPLE IS WITH THE DISTRICT ATTORNEY'S OFFICE, WE WERE LOOKING TO MAKE SURE THAT WE'RE HELPING TO EXPAND THE WORK THAT IS, THAT IS GOING ON.
UM, THERE'S ADDITIONAL SCHOOLS THAT THEY WANTED TO CONSIDER, UM, THAT ALSO INFLUENCES THE BUDGET.
AND SO WE'RE HAVING THOROUGH CONVERSA CONVERSATIONS TO MAKE SURE THAT WE HAVE OUR SCHOOLS ALIGNED CORRECTLY, THE NUMBER OF SCHOOLS THAT WE'RE LOOKING TO IMPACT, THE NUMBER OF HOURS THAT WE'RE LOOKING TO BE THERE.
SO WE'RE TRYING TO BE COMPREHENSIVE IS WHY IT'S TAKEN A LITTLE ADDITIONAL TIME.
BUT I DO RESPECT YOUR COMMENTS AND I APPRECIATE THEM WHOLEHEARTEDLY.
THAT IS YOUR QUESTIONS, MS. ADELINE.
I WILL NOW ENTER THE QUEUE AND I'LL TRY TO BE AS FAST OR AS BRIEF AS POSSIBLE.
SO WHEN IT WAS FIRST ESTABLISHED, IT WAS AROUND NOVEMBER LAST YEAR.
THE REASON WHY IT WAS BEING PUT OFF AGAIN, WE TALKED A LOT LAST WEEK ABOUT POLITICS.
THE REASON WHY IT WAS PUT OFF WAS BECAUSE SOME BOARD MEMBERS DID NOT WANT TO PARTNER WITH THEN THE MAYOR'S OFFICE.
SO RESPECTFULLY, WE TOOK IT OFF.
AND AS YOU SAID, MS. SHA LANE, THE LONGER WE WAIT, KIDS ARE IN THE BALANCE AND THEY'RE THE ONES THAT ARE LOSING.
THE NEXT ORGANIZATION THAT WE TRIED TO REPLACE IT WITH WAS ALSO PUT INSIDE OF A POLITICAL ENTHRALL, AND WE HAD TO TAKE IT OFF AGAIN.
SO WE HAD TO FIND AN ORGANIZATION WHO COULD NOT ONLY HELP US MOVE THE WORK, BUT ALSO WHO HAD THE WHEREWITHAL AND THE, UH, AND THE PROFESSIONAL SETTING OF SERVICES THAT HAVE, THEY HAVE EITHER DONE IT BEFORE OR SOMEONE WHO COULD CONNECT TO OUR DISTRICT WHO DOES AMAZING WORK, WHICH THAT WAS THE YWCA, UH, IN THAT TIME, WHAT I CAN TELL YOU IS THAT IT IS NOT THE SAME POPULATION OF STUDENTS.
WE ARE TALKING ABOUT STUDENTS WHO HAVE HISTORICALLY NOT BEEN INSIDE OF OUR SCHOOLS, OR HAVE HISTORICALLY BEEN PLACED INSIDE OF ALTERNATIVE SCHOOL SETTING.
THERE IS NO PROGRESS MONITORING.
WE'RE TALKING ABOUT STUDENTS WHO ARE IN SCHOOLS OR HAVING FIGHTS ON A REGULAR BASIS, AND THEY HAVE NO, NO WAY OF EITHER BEING MONITORED OR HAVING SOMETHING THAT IS GOING TO BUILD IN INTERVENTION BASED WORK FOR THEM.
UH, WE DON'T PAY TEACHERS TO BREAK UP FIGHTS.
WE DON'T PRAY OUR SSR UH, OUR SROS INSIDE OF OUR SCHOOLS TO BREAK UP FIGHTS.
IN FACT, THAT WAS ONE OF THE THINGS THAT CAME UP, UH, WHEN WE SAW THE TWO, 200 STUDENT BRAWL THAT TOOK PLACE AT BROOKSTOWN ELEMENTARY, BECAUSE THEY ARE NOT IN A POSITION TO DO SO.
THIS PARTICULAR PLAN PUTS TOGETHER, UH, ENOUGH RESOURCES.
SO WE PUT PEOPLE INSIDE OF SCHOOLS WHO HAVE THE WHEREWITHAL AND THE PROFESSIONALISM TO DO THAT.
I JUST WANT TO BE VERY CLEAR ABOUT THAT.
AND ALSO, THIS IS BUDGET NEUTRAL.
THIS IS NOT COMING OUT OF THE FUND BALANCE.
WHEN WE WENT THROUGH THE BUDGET OVER THE COURSE OF THE SUMMER, IT WAS NOT COMING OUT OF THE FUND BALANCE, AND IT DID NOT COME OUT OF OUR GENERAL FUND.
IT CAME OUT OF ESSER, OUR TITLE FUNDING, MEANING THAT IT WAS COMPLETELY, UH, AGAIN, UH, BUDGET NEUTRAL.
AND AGAIN, WE ARE TALKING ABOUT A POPULATION OF STUDENTS WHO HISTORICALLY HAVE NEVER RECEIVED ANY DIRECT SERVICES TO GET THEM CAUGHT BACK UP TO SPEED.
SO I JUST SAY, I'LL LET TO SAY, UH, THAT IS THE CONTEXTUAL HISTORY OF IT IN A NUTSHELL.
THIS IS SOMETHING THAT WE SHOULD NOT KEEP KICKING DOWN THE DOWN THE, DOWN THE, UH, DOWN THE, UH, STREET OR DOWN THE, UH, HOLE.
BECAUSE THE LONGER WE DO THIS, WE'RE GONNA CONTINUE TO GO THROUGH THE SAME SITUATION.
UH, AS YOU KNOW, LAST MONTH WE JUST WENT THROUGH A HEARING WHERE A GUN WAS BROUGHT ON CAMPUS BY A STUDENT.
THESE ARE THE TYPES OF CASES THAT WE'RE TRYING TO REDUCE, BUT WE HAVE TO GET IN FRONT OF IT.
[01:00:01]
FOR YOUR COMMENTS.I SEE WE HAVE SCHOOL MEMBER MICHAEL GOER IN THE QUEUE.
UH, YOU KNOW, WHEN I LOOK AT THE SCHOOL SYSTEM, I THINK THE, IF I HAD TO RANK THE THREE BIGGEST AREAS OF MY FOCUS, IT WOULD BE EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION.
IT WOULD BE THE PROGRESS IN HIGH SCHOOL, UH, PARTICULARLY IN NINTH GRADE AND GETTING KIDS TO GRADUATE AND THE DUAL ENROLLMENT AND THOSE SORTS OF THINGS.
AND THEN THE LAST WOULD BE TRUANCY AND, AND ATTENDANCE.
BECAUSE IF THE KID, IF THE STUDENTS, I HATE TO CALL 'EM KIDS, SO THEY'RE NOT GOATS.
IF THE STUDENTS, UM, ARE IN CLASS, THEY HAVE A CHANCE TO LEARN.
IF THEY'RE NOT IN CLASS, THEY DON'T.
SO I DON'T PARTICULARLY HAVE, YOU KNOW, I DON'T, I'M GLAD TO SEE THAT WE'RE FOCUSING ON THIS.
AND I THINK THE PIECE THAT IS NOT CONNECTING FOR ME, AND IT MIGHT BE, UH, A WAY FOR THE YWCA AND STUFF TO WORK ON THIS.
I THINK I NEED A PRESENTATION THAT SAYS, OKAY, HERE IS WHAT WE'RE DOING FOR THE WHOLE, HERE'S HOW THE WHOLE SYSTEM WORKS FOR TRUANCY, FOR HOW THE, HOW DO ALL THESE PIECES FIT TOGETHER? AND THEN WHAT'S MISSING? AND THEN HOW DOES THIS FIT INTO THAT PIECE? BECAUSE I THINK WHAT WE'RE GETTING IS A DESCRIPTION OF THAT ONE PIECE.
AND WE'RE CLUELESS ON WHAT IS OUR ENTIRE TRUANCY PROGRAM LOOK LIKE? WHERE HAVE WE BEEN SUCCESSFUL WITH IT? WHERE HAVE WE HAVEN'T? AND HOW IS THIS GONNA HELP US INCREASE OUR SUCCESS BY ADDRESSING THE AREAS WE'RE DEFICIENT IN? SO I DON'T THINK THAT WE ARE GETTING A BROAD ENOUGH PICTURE.
YOU KNOW, IT'S KIND OF LIKE TELLING US THIS IS A GREAT TIRE, BUT IF WE DON'T KNOW WHAT A CAR LOOKS LIKE OR WHAT THE CAR NEEDS, WE CAN'T TELL YOU IF THAT'S A GOOD TIRE OR NOT, OR IF I WANNA BUY IT.
SO MY REQUEST WOULD BE TO, WE REALLY NEED A COMPREHENSIVE OVERVIEW OF THE WHOLE TRUANCY, UH, COUNSELING ARENA AND THEN PLUG INTO, OKAY, THIS IS HOW THE BIG PICTURE LOOKS.
THIS IS WHERE THIS PART FITS IN.
AND THAT'S WHY IT MAKES SENSE.
AND, AND I, I GET THE SENSE FROM SOME OF MY FELLOW BOARD MEMBERS, THAT'S, THAT'S ALSO WHAT THEY'RE MISSING.
I THINK IT'S, IT MIGHT BE THE BEST PROGRAM IN THE WORLD.
I'M NOT SAYING ANYTHING AT ALL ABOUT THE PROGRAM.
I, I APPLAUD THE ORGANIZATION FOR STEPPING FORWARD.
I'D LOVE TO SEE US DO IT IF IT WORKS.
BUT I JUST GOTTA HAVE CONTEXT.
AND I DON'T THINK ANYBODY'S BASHING THE PROGRAM.
I THINK EVERYBODY ON THIS BOARD, UH, AT THIS DIOCESE RATHER CAN SAY THAT YWCA DOES AMAZING WORK AND I JUST NEED MORE INFORMATION.
SO THAT'S COMPLETELY UNDERSTOOD.
NOW I GO BACK TO THE QUEUE, HAVE SCHOOL BOARD MEMBER PATRICK MARTIN IN THE QUEUE.
I WANTED TO SECOND, UH, MY COLLEAGUE MR. GODES.
I THINK THAT THERE, THAT THIS IS, THIS APPEARS AIMED AT ADDRESSING ONE PARTICULAR PIECE OF THE TRUANCY ISSUE.
I AGREE THAT TRUANCY IS ONE OF THE MOST MAJOR ISSUES THAT WE'RE FACING.
WE HAVE TO, TO GET THE KIDS IN SCHOOL.
'CAUSE IF THEY'RE NOT IN IN SCHOOL, THEY'RE NOT GONNA LEARN.
UM, UM, I THINK YOU'RE ABSOLUTELY RIGHT, PRESIDENT LANTIS.
THAT, THAT, THAT, THAT THERE ARE KIDS WHO ARE AFRAID TO GO TO SCHOOL THAT ARE NOT GONNA SCHOOL BECAUSE OF SAFETY CONCERNS.
PARENTS WHO ARE AFRAID TO SEND THEIR KIDS TO SCHOOL.
AND, AND SADLY THEY'RE JUSTIFIABLE FEARS.
SO, I THINK, BUT I THINK THERE ARE ALSO KIDS WHO ARE TRUANT BECAUSE THEY CAN'T GET TRANSPORTATION OR BECAUSE THEY, UM, MOM, YOU KNOW, MOM OR DAD DOESN'T JUST CAN'T GET 'EM THERE, CAN'T GET 'EM UP IN THE MORNING.
THERE ARE A LOT OF REASONS THAT, THAT, THAT KIDS DON'T GO TO SCHOOL.
AND THIS DOES APPEAR TO ADDRESS ONE PIECE, BUT NOT ALL OF 'EM.
AND THEN WE, WE SHOULDN'T, WE SHOULDN'T NOT ADDRESS ONE PIECE OF IT BECAUSE WE CAN'T ADDRESS ALL OF IT AT ONCE.
BUT I DO THINK IT, IT, IT, IT'S IMPORTANT IN THIS ISSUE THAT WE HAVE SOME CONTEXTUAL UNDERSTANDING.
YOU KNOW, MAYBE WE CAN THINK ABOUT AT SOME POINT IN THE NEAR FUTURE, CREATING A TASK FORCE, UM, OR SOMETHING LIKE THAT WITH ONE OR TWO BOARD MEMBERS ON IT, TEACHERS MEMBERS OF THE COMMUNITY TO, TO REALLY, YOU KNOW, LOOK AT THIS ISSUE, LOOK AT WHAT THE DISTRICT UNDERSTAND WHAT THE DISTRICT IS ALREADY DOING, AND, AND THINK ABOUT WHAT THE DISTRICT CAN DO.
BOTH, BOTH SPENDING MONEY AND THINGS THAT MAYBE WE CAN DO THAT DON'T REQUIRE SPENDING A LOT OF MONEY IN ORDER TO MOVE FORWARD ON THIS ISSUE.
THOSE ARE ALL GREAT POINTS BY THE WAY.
THANK YOU SCUBA MEMBER MARTIN.
SEEING NO OTHER NAMES IN THIS QUEUE AT THIS TIME, I'LL NOW TURN TO PUBLIC COMMENT.
UM, SOME COMMENTS ARE THE ONE PARTICULAR COMMENT I HAVE TO READ OFFLINE, UH, FOR, UH, CONFIDENTIAL MATTERS.
UH, THE FIRST COMMENT IS GONNA COME FROM MS. STORM MATTHEWS.
SHE SAYS, I SUPPORT THIS ITEM.
UH, NEXT WE HAVE DR. JAMES FINNEY.
[01:05:03]
THANK YOU.UM, I WOULD PREFER THAT INSTEAD OF DEFERRING THIS TO A DATE UNCERTAIN AND HAVING THIS DISCUSSION LOOM OVER ALL YOUR FUTURE DISCUSSIONS UNTIL IT FINALLY WEARS YOU DOWN AND YOU PASS IT JUST TO BE DONE WITH IT, I WOULD SUGGEST DEFERRING IT UNTIL YOU ADOPT NEXT YEAR'S BUDGETS.
YOU'RE PROPOSING TO SPEND A MILLION AND A HALF DOLLARS OF FEDERAL MONEY WITHOUT HAVING DONE AN RFQ.
MY UNDERSTANDING IS THAT YOU CAN'T DO THAT.
CALLING THIS A COOPERATIVE AGREEMENT DOESN'T GET AROUND THE FACT THAT YOU'RE BUYING PROFESSIONAL SERVICES AND YOU DIDN'T GIVE ANYBODY ELSE A SHOT AT GIVING A PRO A PROPOSAL.
FURTHERMORE, THEY'VE HAD A YEAR TO NEGOTIATE THIS AND IT HASN'T WORKED YET.
SO I THINK YOU ALL HAVE BETTER THINGS TO DO THAN TO GET DRUG THROUGH THIS MONTH, AFTER MONTH OR TWICE A MONTH.
SO, IF THERE IS AN ISSUE WITH TRUANCY OR WITH FIGHTS AT SCHOOL, AND I DON'T DOUBT THAT THERE ARE, THE FIRST STEP IS TO DEFINE THE PROBLEM.
LET'S HAVE SOME DATA DISCUSS THE DATA, LET THE COMMUNITY BRAINSTORM SOME IDEAS, DECIDE WHETHER IT MAKES MORE SENSE TO HIRE A MILLION AND A HALF DOLLARS A YEAR OF MORE PEOPLE TO PUT IN THE SCHOOLS OR IN THE COMMUNITIES, AND THEN DECIDE HOW TO PAY FOR THAT.
AND ONLY IF, GOD FORBID, YOU DECIDE THE BEST WAY TO DO THIS IS TO PRIVATIZE THESE SERVICES, THEN AT LEAST FOLLOW THE LAW AND DO AN RFQ INSTEAD OF PICKING ONE PROVIDER OR A GROUP OF PROVIDERS AND FINDING SOME SHELL ORGANIZATION THAT'S WILLING TO FUNNEL THE MONEY THROUGH TO THEM, WHICH HAS BEEN ALLEGED IS THE PLAN HERE.
JUST EITHER DEFER THIS WAY DOWN THE ROAD OR KILL IT TONIGHT, BE DONE WITH IT, AND THEN GO BACK AND DEFINE AND SOLVE THE PROBLEM.
SEEING NO OTHER COMMENT CARDS ON THIS ITEM, WE COME BACK TO OUR BOARD, SEE NO NAMES INSIDE OF THE QUEUE.
MADAM SECRETARY, PLEASE CALL FOR THE VOTE.
[F.3. Professional Services Contract: Lexia Learning Systems LLC]
TO ITEM FC.THIS IS PROFESSIONAL SERVICE CONTRACTS, LESS ALEXIA LEARNING SYSTEMS. LL I'M SORRY, IM F THREE.
I'M SORRY, WHAT I SAY, WHAT DID I SAY? FFC FC I I APOLOGIZE.
THIS IS A CONSIDERATION OF A REQUEST FOR THE APPROVAL OF PROFESSIONAL SERVICE CONTRACTS BETWEEN THE EASTBOUND ROUGE PARISH SCHOOL BOARD AND THE FOLLOWING.
A ALEXIA LEARNING SYSTEMS LLC IN THE AMOUNT OF ONE HUNDRED THOUSAND ONE HUNDRED THIRTY EIGHT THOUSAND SIX HUNDRED SIX $97 TO PROVIDE SERVICES TO IMPROVE LITERACY DEVELOPMENT, FUNDING SOURCE EDUCATIONAL EXCELLENCE FUND LEXIE, UH, UM, B LEXIE LEARNING SYSTEMS, LLC AND THE AMOUNT OF 100 THOU $160,000 TO PROVIDE SERVICES TO IMPROVE LITERACY DEVELOPMENT, FUNDING SOURCE COMPREHENSIVE LITERACY, STATE DEVELOPMENT, K FIVE AND C, LEXIA LEARNING SYSTEMS LLC IN THE AMOUNT OF $52,323 TO PROVIDE SERVICES TO IMPROVE LITERACY DEVELOPMENT, FUNDING SOURCE COMPREHENSIVE LITERACY, STATE DEVELOPMENT, UINK FIVE.
CAN I GET A MOTION MOVED BY SCHOOL BOARD MEMBER MARK BALLOU, SECONDED BY SCHOOL BOARD MEMBER LEWIS.
OKAY, THIS TIME NOW GO TO THE QUEUE, GIVE, UH, SCHOOL BOARD MEMBERS APPLE TIME TO ENTRANCE OF THE QUEUE BEFORE WE MOVE ALONG TO OUR BOARD COMMENTS.
SEEING ON IN THE QUEUE AT THIS TIME.
NOW, MR. LAN, YOU HAVE ONE COMMENT IN EMAIL FROM THAT? YES, SIR.
I WAS, I WAS GETTING READY TO GET TO IT.
THIS COMMENT COMES FROM MS. STORM MATTHEWS.
TEACHERS OVERWHELMINGLY APPROVE, AND I THINK THAT ALEXIA IS A GOOD SUPPLEMENT TO THE TEACHER'S WORK IN THE CLASSROOM.
THE ONE THING THEY SAID WAS, PLEASE STOP WITH ALL OF THE ALL WITH ALL OF THE MANDATES.
THE ACTUAL ITEM IS ON THE LETR TRAINING, WHICH WAS AT, AT FIRST A LITTLE CONFUSING.
THIS IS A STATE MANDATE AS A NEW ADDITION TO WHAT WAS ADDED FOR CERTIFICATION.
[01:10:01]
NOT BEEN HAPPY ABOUT THAT PART, BUT IT IS WHAT IT IS.NEXT WE HAVE DR. JAMES FEENEY.
I APPRECIATE THAT YOU'RE READING THOSE COMMENTS FROM THE PEOPLE THAT WEREN'T ABLE TO BE HERE.
UM, THIS IS $350,000 OF FEDERAL MONEY GOING TO ONE VENDOR WITH NOTHING, NO EVIDENCE OF A, UM, STATE APPROVED CONTRACT OR AN RFQ OR ANYTHING ELSE.
MY UNDERSTANDING IS THE LIMIT IS 250,000.
EVENTUALLY, IF YOU KEEP BREAKING, UM, PROCUREMENT RULES USING FEDERAL MONEY, THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT MIGHT INSIST YOU GIVE SOME OF THAT MONEY BACK.
JUST I WOULD BE CAUTIOUS MY UNDERSTANDING.
SEEING NO OTHER Q CARDS FOR THIS ITEM AT THIS TIME.
AND NOW I'LL GO BACK TO OUR BOARD FIRST IN THE QUEUE.
WE HAVE SCHOOL MEMBER PATRICK MARTIN, YOU HAVE THE FLOOR.
I'D LIKE TO ASK, UM, UM, OUR ATTORNEY, MR. SHAMBLIN, TO, TO COMMENT ON THAT LAST POINT.
MY UNDERSTANDING IS, I THINK, AND AND ANYBODY CAN CORRECT ME, IS THAT, IS THAT MS. MATTHEW'S COMMENT IS CORRECT, THAT THIS IS REALLY FOR THE TEACHER TRAINING OR SOMETHING LIKE THAT.
AND IT IS A STATE MANDATE THAT WE HAVE NO CHOICE BUT TO, BUT TO DO THIS.
IS IS THE STATE MANDATE FOR THIS PARTICULAR SOFTWARE PROGRAM? YES.
UM, AND, AND WE COULD HAVE SOMEONE COME UP FROM STAFF TO DESCRIBE IN MORE DETAIL, BUT WE ARE MANDATED TO PUT THIS INTO PLACE AND THESE ARE PRE-APPROVED, SO WE DON'T HAVE TO GO THROUGH THAT PROCESS.
NEXT IN THE QUEUE WE HAVE SCHOOL MEMBER LEWIS, YOU ANSWERED MY QUESTION AS WELL.
UH, SEE NO OTHER NAMES IN THE QUEUE AT THIS TIME MATTER.
SECRETARY, POLICE CALL FOR THE VOTE, PLEASE VOTE.
[F.4. Professional Services Contract: Line4Line]
UP FOR CONSIDERATION IS GONNA BE PROFESSIONAL SERVICE CONTRACT LINE FOR LINE.THIS IS A CONSIDERATION OF A REQUEST FOR THE APPROVAL OF A PROFESSIONAL SERVICE CONTRACT BETWEEN THE EASTBOUND ROUGE PARISH SCHOOL BOARD AND LINE FOR LINE IN THE AMOUNT OF $16,000 TO SUPPORT 21ST CENTURY GRANT AFTER SCHOOL PROGRAM INITIATIVE.
STRATEGIC ALIGNMENT, STUDENT ACHIEVEMENT FUNDING SOURCE 21ST CENTURY GRANT.
CAN I GET A MOTION? MOVED BY SCHOOL MEMBER LEWIS? SECONDED BY SCHOOL BOARD MEMBER CHAT LANE.
WE'LL COME TO OUR BOARD FOR PUBLIC COMMENT.
I'LL GIVE EVERY BOARD MEMBER A SECOND IN CASE THEY WANNA ENTER THE QUEUE.
SEEING NO PUBLIC, I MEAN SEEING NO BOARD COMMENTS AT THIS TIME.
WE'LL NOW GO TO THE PUBLIC FOR ANY PUBLIC COMMENTS.
SEEING NO PUBLIC COMMENT CARD ON THIS ITEM, I'LL NOW COME BACK TO THE BOARD SEEING NO NAMES INSIDE OF THE QUEUE MATTER.
SECRETARY, PLEASE CALL FOR THE VOTE, PLEASE VOTE.
[F.5. Contract Renewal: City of Baton Rouge (Adult Education-EBR Prison)]
FOR CONSIDERATION IS A CONTRACT RENEWAL WITH THE CITY OF BATON ROUGE ADULT EDUCATION.THIS IS A CONSIDERATION OF A REQUEST FOR THE APPROVAL OF TO RENEW A CONTRACT BETWEEN THE EAST BATON ROUGE PARISH SCHOOL BOARD AND THE CITY OF BATON ROUGE IN THE AMOUNT OF 134,100 HUNDRED DOLLARS.
$110 TO ALLOW THE EASTBOUND ROUGE PARISH SCHOOL SYSTEM.
DEPARTMENT OF EDU OF, OF ADULT AND CONTINUING EDUCATION TO CONTINUE PROVIDING EDUCATION, ADULT EDUCATION CLASSES, AND HIGH SET TESTING FOR INMATES AT THE EASTBOUND ROUGE PARISH PRISON FROM JANUARY 1ST, 2024 THROUGH DECEMBER 31ST, 2024.
FUNDING SOURCE EAST BATON ROUGE PARISH GRANT.
CAN I GET A MOTION MOVED BY SCHOOL BOARD MEMBER MARTIN? SECONDED BY SCHOOL BOARD MEMBER STEWART AT THIS TIME NOW I'LL TURN TO THE QUEUE TO SEE IF WE HAVE ANYBODY WHO WANTS TO SPEAK.
MARTIN, YOU HAVE THE FLOOR, SO MAKE SURE I'M UNDERSTANDING CORRECTLY.
THE PUBLIC UNDERSTANDS THIS IS NOT US PAYING 134,000.
THIS THE CITY PAYING US $134,000 TO DELIVER EDUCATIONAL SERVICES TO YOUNG, YOUNG ADULTS OR,
[01:15:01]
OR OLD TEENAGERS WHO ARE CURRENTLY HOUSED IN THE PARISH PRISON.UH, AND CORRECT ME IF I'M WRONG, ATTORNEY SHAMBLIN? THAT IS CORRECT.
IN THE NEXT IN QUEUE WE HAVE SCHOOL MEMBER MICHAEL GODDE.
I WAS JUST CURIOUS TO HOW THE, UH, FIGURE, THE COST FIGURE WAS DETERMINED.
I I WOULD HAVE TO HAVE STAFF SPEAK TO THAT SPECIFICALLY.
IT'S BASED ON SERVICES AND HOW WE DELIVER SERVICES AND I DON'T WANNA SPEAK FOR OUR DO PROGRAM.
UH, SO IF SOMEONE HEARS FROM A DOAC CAN COME UP AND GIVE US SOME SPECIFICS, THAT'D BE GOOD.
YOU KNOW, WE CAN GET THAT INFORMATION FOR YOU MR. GOE, BUT I DON'T HAVE THAT IN FRONT OF ME.
THAT'S SOMETHING JUST IF YOU, THE DEPARTMENT WOULD'VE TO GIVE TO US.
IF YOU COULD JUST GET IT TO ME.
'CAUSE I WOULD ALL I WOULD JUST LIKE TO KNOW, YOU KNOW, IF WE'RE INCREASING THAT NUMBER OF PEOPLE AND YES.
IF THE SERVICES ARE GREATLY NEEDED, BUT WE HAVE TO BE COMPENSATED FOR WHAT WE PROVIDE.
THAT'S, THAT'S THE ONLY THING I'M ASKING.
AND I'M NEXT INSIDE OF THE Q AND I.
AGAIN, I'LL TRY TO BE REAL BRIEF, UH, WITHOUT SPEAKING TOWARDS AN ITEM THAT WE ALREADY HAVE SPOKE ON AND, AND MOVED IT ALONG, UH, MOVED IT ALONG TO A DATE.
I WOULD JUST SAY THAT THESE ARE THE TYPES OF PARTNERSHIPS THAT WE SHOULD BE IN AGREEMENT WITH, UH, WORKING ALONGSIDE CITY PARTNERS WHO DIRECTLY WORK INSIDE OF PRISONS WITH POPULATIONS THAT MUCH MIMIC SOME OF THE STUDENTS THAT ARE ACTUALLY INTENDING INSIDE OF OUR SCHOOLS.
WHAT I WOULD UH, SAY TO THIS IS THAT WE SHOULD ALSO BE PUTTING UP AN INVESTMENT TO GO TOWARDS, UH, THAT SAME POPULATION ACROSS OUR CITY BECAUSE THESE, UH, THIS IS A DIRECT TESTAMENT AS TO WHAT HAPPENS WHEN WE DON'T INVEST IN TO, UH, THE LIVES OF THOSE WHO NEEDS IT THE MOST.
UH, AND BY DOING THIS, I THINK IT NOT ONLY MAKES OUR SCHOOL SYSTEM BETTER, BUT IT MAKES OUR CITY BETTER FOR ALL OF THE PEOPLE WHO LIVE IN IT.
SO I JUST STOPPED THERE SEEING NO, WE GOT SCHOOL MEMBER MEMBER CLIFF LEWIS, YOU ARE IN THE QUEUE.
AND, UH, THIS QUESTION MAY BE KIND OF REDUNDANT, BUT
SO WE CAN KIND OF MEASURE WHETHER GUYS WHERE THEY ARE, HE OR SHE MAY BE AND WHERE THEY END UP AT THE END OF THE GRANT AT THE SERVICES THAT, OH, I THINK THAT'S KIND OF LIKE WHAT, UM, ATTORNEY SHALIN WAS SAYING.
I DON'T THINK ANYBODY'S HERE THAT'S KIND OF LIKE, WOULD BE THE PERSON THAT, UH, COLLEAGUE GODDE WAS.
SO SO NOBODY IS FROM ADULT ED HERE.
YEAH, BUT OH, WELL WE HAVE MR. BRICKHOUSE WHO COULD SPEAK TOWARDS IT.
SO WE HAVE TO, UM, THERE IS A, A PRE-TESTING THAT'S DONE.
UM, 'CAUSE THEY HAVE TO FIND OUT WHERE THE STUDENTS ARE AND THEY ARE GIVEN THE ASSESSMENT TO DETERMINE WHETHER OR NOT THEY ARE ACTUALLY, UH, ABLE TO, UH, PASS.
AND SO WE, WE TRY TO, UH, SUPPORT THE STUDENTS', UM, INSTRUCTION.
'CAUSE AT THE END OF THE DAY WE WANT TO, UM, HAVE THEM BE PREPARED SO THEY CAN GO BACK INTO THE WORKFORCE AND IMPROVE THEIR, UH, INSTRUCTION.
UH, PRETTY MUCH INCREASING THEIR READING AND MATH, UH, SKILLS.
AND SO THAT'S PART OF WHAT WE TRY TO DO TO SUPPORT THEM.
'CAUSE IF WE CAN TRACK THAT, THEN WE CAN MAYBE FIND HOLES IN THE PROGRAM.
YOU KNOW, MAYBE WE NEED TO DO A LITTLE BIT MORE OF THIS OR A LITTLE BIT LESS OF THAT TO MAKE SURE THAT THESE GUYS ARE ACTUALLY HE OR SHE ACTUALLY GETTING EXACTLY WHAT THEY NEED.
WE DO IT CAN OVERALL ASSESSMENT, SO CAN FIND OUT WHAT THEIR STRENGTH AND WEAKNESSES AND I, WHEN WE DO THAT, WHEN THIS, WHEN THIS PROGRAM'S OVER, I'D LIKE TO SEE THE RESULTS OKAY.
OF WHERE THEY STARTED AND WHERE THEY FINISHED.
UM, OKAY, MS. MCMILLAN, YOU'RE SPEAKING ON THIS ITEM.
I HAVE A CHILD HERE IN EAST BATON ROUGE PARISH SCHOOL SYSTEM.
AND I JUST WANNA SAY THAT WE HAVE PROGRAMS THAT ARE EXPECTED TO BE IN PLACE IN EAST BATON ROUGE PARISH SCHOOLS THAT WOULD PREVENT US FROM NEEDING THESE PROGRAMS IN THE FUTURE.
WE HAVE PROGRAMS. THE ISSUE IS THAT NO ONE IS HOLDING ANYONE ACCOUNTABLE FOR IMPLEMENTING THE PROGRAMS. OUR SUPERINTENDENT HAS SET THE EXPECTATION THAT CERTAIN THINGS ARE DONE IN OUR SCHOOL THAT WOULD PREVENT THE NEED FOR THESE SERVICES.
NO ONE IS HOLDING ANYONE ACCOUNTABLE FOR ACTUALLY IMPLEMENTING THE PROGRAMS. MY CHILD'S SCHOOL ALONE.
PBIS IS A MULTI-TIERED SYSTEM.
IT WOULD HELP YOU TO IDENTIFY WHO NEEDS COUNSELING, WHO NEEDS ONE-ON-ONE WHO NEEDS EXTRA HELP.
[01:20:01]
NOT BEING USED FOR TWO YEARS UNDER OUR NEW ADMINISTRATION.MANY OF CHILDREN WHO HAD ISSUES BEFORE ARE NOW THRIVING BECAUSE THAT PROGRAM IS ACTUALLY BEING IMPLEMENTED.
WE HAD A DISCUSSION BEFORE ABOUT THE KIDS AT THE CONTINUATION SCHOOL AND WHAT WAS GONNA BE DONE TO SUPPORT THEM.
OUR SUPERINTENDENT HAS PUT TOGETHER SOME GREAT PROGRAMS. HE HAS SET THE EXPECTATION THAT SOME GREAT PROGRAMS BE USED.
NO ONE IS HOLDING ANYONE ACCOUNTABLE FOR NOT USING THEM.
THAT COULD SAVE US FROM NEEDING THIS.
AGAIN, WE NEED TO BE PROACTIVE, NOT REACTIVE.
SO PRESIDENT LANE, AS I AGREE, WE NEED TO, WE NEED TO INVEST MORE AND TO KEEPING OUR KIDS OUT OF THE NEED FOR THESE PROGRAMS. THE MONEY IS THERE, THE PROGRAMS ARE THERE.
THE EXPECTATION IS SET AND NOBODY IS BEING HELD ACCOUNTABLE.
SEEING NO OTHER QUEUE CALLS ON THIS ITEM AT THIS TIME.
NOW WE'LL COME BACK TO THE BOARD.
SEEING NO NAMES INSIDE OF THE QUEUE MATTER.
SECRETARY, PLEASE CALL FOR THE VOTE, PLEASE VOTE.
[F.6. Land Sale]
OF FOR CONSIDERATION IS ITEM F SIX, LAND SALE.CONSIDERATION OF A REQUEST TO ACCEPT THE PROPOSAL OF PARCEL 7 2 3 1 AND THREE ONE C ONE AS IDENTIFIED IN THE APPRAISAL REPORT FORM C CITY PARISH, PROJECT NUMBER 12 DASH C DASH HC DASH 0 0 6 0.
AND TO AUTHORIZE THE BOARD PRESIDENT AND GENERAL COUNSEL TO EXECUTE ALL DOCUMENTS RELATED TO THE FINAL SALE OF THE IDENTIFIED PARCELS.
STRATEGIC ALIGNMENT, EXEMPLARY CUSTOMER SERVICES.
CAN I GET A MOTION MOVED BY SCHOOL BOARD MEMBER MIKE GDAY.
SECONDED BY SCHOOL BOARD MEMBER PATRICK MARTIN.
A SCHOOL MEMBER, UH, MICHAEL GODDA, YOU'RE IN THE QUEUE.
UH, MR. SHAMBLIN, UH, THIS HAS BEEN TALKED ABOUT IN THE PAST.
COULD YOU JUST WALK US THROUGH AGAIN, WHAT THIS IS ABOUT AND WHAT IT REFERS TO AND HOW WE KIND OF HAVE TO DO THIS? COULD YOU JUST GIVE US A TWO MINUTE SUMMARY OF THIS? I CAN DO 30 SECONDS.
CITY PARISH IS, UH, SEEKING TO EXPAND JONES CREEK.
THEY, THEY, THEY'RE SEEKING TO PURCHASE A STRIP OF LAND THAT RUNS ADJACENT OR, OR ALONG THE WOODLAWN MIDDLE PROPERTY.
UM, UH, IN ESSENCE, THEY CAN TAKE THE PROPERTY IF, IF WE DIDN'T SELL IT TO THEM.
SO THEY'VE SUBMITTED APPRAISALS.
THE BOARD WILL BE APPROVING THE APPRAISALS TONIGHT AND AUTHORIZING US TO EXECUTE THE SALE.
AND IT'S FOR FAIR MARKET VALUE.
AT THIS TIME NOW WE HAVE SCHOOL MEMBER NATHAN, THE REST IN THE QUEUE, THE OTHER THE FLOOR.
THIS BOARD MEMBERSHIP, OR EXCUSE ME, ATTORNEY SHALIN
YOU MAY BE ABLE TO ANSWER THIS.
UH, MY ONLY QUESTION REGARDING THE THE SALE OF THE LAND IS HOW, BECAUSE I I, I LOOK THROUGH THIS THING BACKWARDS AND FORWARDS AND I'M NOT A, I'M NOT AN ARCHITECT NOR A SURVEYOR.
HOW DOES IT IMPACT THE WALKING TRAIL THAT, UM, IS PART OF THAT PROPERTY THAT THEY'RE LOOKING TO SUBDIVIDE? YEAH.
I WISH I COULD ANSWER THAT DEFINITIVELY, MR. RUSS.
AND MR. MORALES IS KIND OF OVERSEEING THIS PROJECT FOR US.
MY UNDERSTANDING IS IT WILL NOT, IT WILL NOT, HE'S NOT HERE TONIGHT, BUT IT WILL NOT IMPACT THE WALKING TRAIL TO MY UNDERSTANDING.
THAT IS SOMETHING WE CAN GET YOU FURTHER, FURTHER INFORMATION ON THAT.
YEAH, JUST MORE OUT OF CURIOSITY AND KNOWING SURE.
YOU KNOW, THAT IS PART OF THE SCHOOL'S LAND AND, AND THEN A COOPERATIVE AGREEMENT WITH BRECK.
AND THEY'RE GONNA LOSE THE SIGN SO BREX CAN GET PAID FOR THE SIGN.
I JUST DIDN'T KNOW IF, UH, IT WAS GONNA GET TOO CLOSE TO THE ACTUAL TRAIL ITSELF OR NOT.
IT'S KIND OF SOMETHING WE GOTTA DO.
AND I'LL, I'LL GET YOU, I CAN GET THE BOARD THAT INFORMATION PRETTY QUICKLY.
SO I KNOW THE NAME INSIDE OF THE QUEUE AT THIS TIME.
NOW WE WILL GO TO PUBLIC COMMENT.
THIS PARTICULAR, UH, SALE SEEMS HARMLESS, BUT IT REMINDS ME THAT YOU WOULD BE HARD PRESSED TO GET FROM THE ADMINISTRATION A LIST OF THE LEGAL DESCRIPTIONS OF THE PROPERTY, REAL ESTATE PARCELS THAT THIS SYSTEM OWNS.
[01:25:01]
PROMISED A FACILITY MASTER PLAN FOR THIS ENTIRE ADMINISTRATION AND THAT HAS NOT BEEN DELIVERED.SEE NO OTHER NAMES, UH, TO SPEAK FROM THE PUBLIC AT THIS TIME.
NOW WE WILL NOW GO BACK TO THE BOARD, SEEING NO NAMES INSIDE OF THE QUEUE.
MADAM SECRETARY, PLEASE CALL FOR THE VOTE, PLEASE VOTE.
[F.7. Memorandum of Understanding]
ITEM FOR CONSIDERATION IS ITEM F SEVEN.THIS IS A CONSIDERATION OF A REQUEST FOR THE APPROVAL OF THE MEMORANDUM OF UNDERSTANDING BETWEEN THE EAST BATON ROUGE PARISH SCHOOL BOARD AND JUNIOR ACHIEVEMENT OF GREATER BATON ROUGE IN THE AMOUNT OF $90,500.
TO PROVIDE SERVICES FOR TO PROVIDE SUPPORT SERVICES FOR STUDENTS.
STRATEGIC ALIGNMENT, STUDENT ACHIEVEMENT FUNDING SOURCE GENERAL FUND.
CAN I GET A MOTION? OOH, BY A SCHOOL MEMBER MEMBER NATHAN RUS.
OKAY, THIS TIME NOW I'LL TURN TO THE QUEUE FOR ANY BOARD COMMENT.
SEEING NO NAMES IN THE QUEUE AT THIS TIME.
COMMENT, UH, I SEE WE HAVE MS. PAULA DAWSON, WHO IS WITH JUNIOR ACHIEVEMENT.
YOU HAVE THE FLOOR IF YOU WANNA MAKE ANY COMMENTS.
JUST WANNA THANK YOU ALL, UM, TO OUR BOARD MEMBERS, UM, WITH YOU ALL.
WE HAVE CREATED A VERY GOOD PARTNERSHIP WITH JUNIOR ACHIEVEMENT.
UM, MOST OF YOU ARE AWARE OF WHAT WE'VE, WHAT WE'VE BEEN DOING IN THE SCHOOL SYSTEMS, UM, OFFERING SEQUENTIAL EDUCATION AROUND FINANCIAL LITERACY, WORK READINESS AND ENTREPRENEURSHIP.
SO WE'VE BEEN DOING SOME REALLY GREAT THINGS TOGETHER, WORKING IN THAT K THROUGH FIVE SPACE WITH OUR JA IN A DAYS OUR LEADING LADIES AND MENTORING MEN, UM, MENTORING PROGRAMS, HALF DAY WITH THEM.
AND THEN OUR FINANCE PARK WHERE THE STUDENTS BECOME AN ADULT FOR THE DAY, FOR OUR MIDDLE TO HIGH SCHOOL AGE.
UM, WE'VE BASICALLY BEEN THE IMPLEMENTERS AND YOU'VE ALL ALLOWED US TO DO SO, SO WE ASK FOR THAT SUPPORT AND APPRECIATE ALL YOU'VE DONE.
SEEING NO OTHER, UH, I'M SORRY.
WE HAVE TWO NAMES INSIDE THE QUEUE THIS TIME.
PRESIDENT LANIS, IN THE VERY LONG AGO DAYS WHEN I WAS AN EAST BATON ROUGE PUBLIC SCHOOL STUDENT, I PARTICIPATED IN JUNIOR ACHIEVEMENT AND THE ENTREPRENEURIAL SPIRIT THAT THEY INCULCATE IN IN OUR STUDENTS AND THE, UH, FINANCIAL LITERACY THAT THEY PROMOTE ARE ABSOLUTELY INVALUABLE SKILLS IN TODAY'S ECONOMY MORE THAN MORE THAN EVER BEFORE, TRULY.
SO, UH, THEY'RE A GREAT PROGRAM AND, AND I'M EXCITED TO SUPPORT THIS AND CONTINUE THIS PARTNERSHIP WITH THEM.
NEXT HAVE KUBER AND NATHAN REST IN THE QUEUE.
MR. MARTIN, I JUST WANT TO, UM, THANK YOU JUNIOR ACHIEVEMENT FOR THEIR CONTINUED PARTNERSHIP WITH THE DISTRICT.
UM, I'VE HAD THE OPPORTUNITY FOR, I DON'T KNOW, I DON'T KNOW HOW MANY YEARS NOW, UM, TO GO AND VOLUNTEER TO ADMINISTER THIS PROGRAM AT MY KIDS' SCHOOL.
AND, UM, THE KIDS, THEY, THEY ENJOY THIS SO MUCH.
NOT ONLY BECAUSE THEY DON'T HAVE TO DO ALL THEIR REGULAR COURSEWORK FOR HALF A DAY, UM, BUT THE, THE PROGRAMMING IS REALLY STRONG.
IT ENGAGES THE KIDS AND I'VE DONE IT FROM FIRST GRADE ALL THE WAY UP TO FIFTH.
AND AT EVERY LEVEL IT'S APPROPRIATE.
UM, THE KIDS REALLY LOVE WHAT THEY'RE LEARNING AND, AND I ENJOY AS AN ENTREPRENEUR BEING ABLE TO SEE KIDS BUILD FINANCIAL LITER LITERACY SKILLS, WHICH IS SO VERY IMPORTANT FOR KIDS IN OUR, IN OUR STATE TO DO SO.
I JUST WANNA CONTINUE TO THANK YOU FOR YOUR PARTNERSHIP IN THIS AND, UH, COMMEND THE DISTRICT ON ITS WORK WITH THIS PROGRAM.
THE QUEUE, MADAM VICE PRESIDENT PAUL LEWIS.
OF COURSE, MY COLLEAGUES HAVE SHARED MY SENTIMENTS AS WELL.
UM, I'VE HAD THE OPPORTUNITY TO PARTICIPATE IN THE FINANCE PARK AS A TEACHER OF BRINGING MY STUDENTS, UH, FROM SCOTLANDVILLE IN THE PAST, BACK IN THE DAY.
AND THE STUDENTS GAINED SO MUCH VALUABLE KNOWLEDGE AS FAR AS BEING ABLE TO MANAGE THEIR OWN BUDGETS.
SO THE FACT THAT WE WILL BE ABLE TO EXPAND THIS PROGRAMMING TO MORE SCHOOLS IN THE NORTH BATON ROUGE AREA MAKES ME EXCITED.
NEXT IN THE QUEUE WE HAVE SCHOOL MEMBER CLIFF LEWIS.
NOW SEND OUR NAMES IN THE QUEUE.
I'LL JUST SAY VERY QUICKLY, WELL, YOU KNOW WHY I STAND.
I LOVE EVERYTHING THAT JUNIOR ACHIEVEMENT DOES.
I WAS A STUDENT AT, ALSO PARTICIPATED IN JUNIOR ACHIEVEMENT, UH, WHEN I WAS IN SCHOOL.
IT'S ONLY GOTTEN BETTER ACTUALLY.
[01:30:01]
I LOOK FORWARD TO THE, UH, FUTURE PARTNERSHIP THAT SHOULD BE COMING NEXT SEMESTER, UH, WHEN WE CROSS THAT LINE.BUT THANK YOU ALL AGAIN FOR ALL THE AMAZING WORK YOU DO WITH OUR STUDENTS AND ALSO INSIDE OF OUR SCHOOLS.
MADAM SECRETARY, PLEASE CALL FOR THE VOTE, PLEASE VOTE.
OUR NEXT ITEM FOR CONSIDERATION IS ITEM.
[F.8. Stipend]
ITEM FOR CONSIDERATION IS ITEM F EIGHT STIPEND.THIS IS A CONSIDERATION OF A REQUEST TO ACCEPT THE LOUISIANA DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION D DIFFERENTIATED COMPENSATION ALLOCATION AND APPROVE THE ONE-TIME NON-REOCCURRING TEACHER STIPEND, STRATEGIC ALIGNMENT, OPERATIONAL EXCELLENCE.
CAN I GET A MOTION MOVED BY SCHOOL BOARD MEMBER PATRICK MARTIN, SECONDED BY SCHOOL BOARD MEMBER LEWIS.
SO, UH, PRESIDENT LANIS AND THE BOARD, I'D LIKE TO FOR US TO DEFER THIS TO THE NEXT MEETING.
WE MET WITH TEACHER UNIONS AND OTHER PARTNERS, UH, UH, THIS WEEK AND JUST WANTED TO DISCUSS A MORE, UH, THOROUGH WAY TO GET THIS DISTRIBUTED, EVEN THOUGH THE STATE PROVIDES REGULATIONS AROUND THAT, THAT WE THINK WOULD BE A LITTLE BIT MORE FAIR ACROSS THE BOARD.
SO WE JUST ASK FOR, UH, THE BOARD TO ALLOW US TO MOVE THIS TO THE NEXT AGENDA ITEM.
IN THE QUEUE WE HAVE SCHOOL OF MAYOR CALLER POWELL LEWIS.
NARCISS, IF YOU COULD JUST SHARE, WILL THIS CHANGE ANY FORM OF THE TIMELINE OF WHEN OUR TEACHERS WOULD RECEIVE, UH, THE STIPEND, UH, MS. HALL? I DON'T THINK SO, BUT MS. HALL, I JUST WANNA CONFIRM WITH YOU.
I'M SORRY, I, UH, NO, IT WILL NOT.
SO WITH THAT IN MIND, UM, IF I CAN OFFER UP A SUBSTITUTE MOTION THAT WE WILL DEFER THIS ITEM UNTIL THE JANUARY, THE JANUARY, UH, FULL BOARD MEETING.
SO WE HAVE A SUBSTITUTE MOTION ON THE FLOOR TO DEFER THIS ITEM TO THE JANUARY REGULAR BOARD MEETING 2024.
THAT WAS MOVED BY VICE PRESIDENT PAUL LEWIS, SECONDED BY SCUBA MEMBER SHOSHONE STEWART.
UH, WE CAN NOW COME BACK TO THE BOARD FOR ANY PUBLIC COMMENT ON THE SUBSTITUTE MOTION.
SEEING NO NAMES IN THE QUEUE AT THIS TIME.
NOW, UH, DR. JAMES FINNEY, PUBLIC COMMENT.
BEFORE I START, DO YOU HAVE ANY ONLINE COMMENTS TO CATCH FOR THIS ONE? YES, SIR.
I WAS GONNA READ IT AFTER YOU, UH, WENT.
UM, I THINK, UH, DEFERRING THIS SOUNDS LIKE A GREAT IDEA 'CAUSE THERE ARE A FEW LITTLE TWEAKS THAT I THINK COULD MAKE THE PRESENTATION CLEARER.
SO I SUPPORT THE SUBSTITUTE MOTION AND THANK YOU.
NOW I'LL TURN TO, UH, ONLINE COMMENT FOR MS. STORM MATTHEWS.
AND WHO SAYS, I LOVE THAT THIS IS STATE FUNDED.
ONE, UM, ARE THE SIGN-ON BONUSES FOR CERTIFIED TEACHERS ONLY? I AM CONCERNED ABOUT PEOPLE HIRING THEIR FRIENDS THAT WILL BE, THAT WILL GET A BONUS AND NOT STAY BECAUSE THEY ARE NOT ACTUALLY TEACHERS.
NUMBER TWO, CAN A HIGHLY EFFECTIVE TEACHER IN NORTH BATON ROUGE AT AN ALTERNATIVE SCHOOL SITE THAT TEACHES SPED GET THE STIPEND TIMES FOUR AND NUMBER THREE, IF, IF NOT MAKE IT HAPPEN, IF WE HAVE PEOPLE MAKING, I'M SORRY, MARKING ALL FOUR BOXES, GIVE IT TO THEM SINCE THEY, SINCE YET, SINCE YET AGAIN, THE SIGN ON FOR NEW PEOPLE IS MORE.
THAT CONCLUDES OUR ONLINE COMMENT.
SEEING OTHER CUE CARDS AT THIS TIME FOR THIS ITEM.
COME BACK TO THE BOARD FOR BOARD COMMENT.
OH, SCHOOL BOARD MEMBER PATRICK MARTIN.
I DID, I DID JUST ASK, I WANT TO ASK, UM, THE SUPERINTENDENT OR OR MR. UM, SHALIN, UH, IF, IF THEY COULD ADDRESS MS. MATTHEWS, UM, QUESTIONS, WHICH WAS ESSENTIALLY THERE ARE FOUR CRITERIA.
YOU KNOW, IF YOU MEET ONE OF THOSE FOUR CRITERIA, YOU GET THE, THE STIPEND.
I THINK HER QUESTION IS WHAT IF YOU MEET ALL FOUR CRITERIA? CAN YOU, DO YOU GET IT ALL? AND I I JUST WANT TO, I'M, I'M ALL IN FAVOR OF GETTING AS MUCH MONEY AS THE STATE WILL, WILL, WILL LET US GIVE TO THE TEACHERS.
BUT I, I WOULD LIKE TO KNOW THE ANSWER TO THAT QUESTION.
UH, SOME BOARD MEMBER MARTIN, I'D LOVE TO ANSWER THAT QUESTION, BUT IF YOU JUST GIVE US TIME TO WORK THROUGH AT THE NEXT MEETING, UM, THERE'S A FEW THINGS THAT WE HAVE TO ADJUST.
WE MET WITH SOME TEACHERS AS STAFF AND ALSO WITH UNION FOLKS.
SO WE, UM, I DON'T WANT TO GIVE AN ANSWER BECAUSE WE HAVE TO SURE.
[01:35:01]
BUT, UH, BUT MS. MATTHEWS WILL, WE WILL BE ABLE TO ANSWER ALL HER QUESTIONS AT THE NEXT MEETING AS, AS LONG AS WE'RE ANSWERED, WHEN WE'RE ACTUALLY CONSIDERATE.SEND ALL THE NAMES IN THE QUEUE AT THIS TIME.
MADAM SECRETARY, PLEASE CALL FOR THE VOTE.
[F.9. Resolution]
WELL, WHAT DO YOU KNOW? THE HOUR IS NOW 6 21 AND WE ARE DOWN TO OUR LAST VULNERABLE ITEM OF THE NIGHT, WHICH IS ITEM F NINE RESOLUTION.THIS IS A CONSIDERATION OF A REQUEST FOR THE APPROVAL OF A RE OF A RESOLUTION REGARDING THE RETENTION OF THE QUEER CLARK AND ADAMS LLP AS SPECIAL COUNSEL FOR THE EACH BARR PARISH SCHOOL BOARD AND RELATED MATTERS.
THIS IS BROUGHT FORTH BY ATTORNEY GWEN CHAMBLIN.
UH, CAN I GET A MOTION MOVED BY SCHOOL BOARD MEMBER LEWIS? SECONDED BY SCHOOL BOARD MEMBER MARTIN, THIS TIME NOW I'LL TURN TO THE QUEUE FOR ANY BOARD COMMENTS.
NOW I WILL TURN TO PUBLIC COMMENT CARDS.
UH, WE HAVE A DR. JAMES FINNEY, YOU HAVE THE FLOOR.
IF THE SUPERINTENDENT'S INTERESTS IN THIS LEGAL MATTER DIVERGE FROM THE BOARD'S INTERESTS, I THINK THE SUPERINTENDENT SHOULD HIRE HIS OWN COUNSEL.
AND IF IT TURNS OUT THAT HE ACTED LAWFULLY, THEN LATER YOU COULD REIMBURSE HIM FOR THAT.
UM, BUT EVEN ASSUMING THAT THAT'S NOT THAT I'M READING THE MEMO INCORRECTLY, I DON'T THINK YOU SHOULD APPROVE THIS RESOLUTION BECAUSE FIRST IT SAYS, WHEREAS THE EFFECTIVE DECEMBER 1ST, WELL, EVEN BEFORE THAT, THE ADOPTION DATE AT THE BEGINNING IS REGULAR BOARD MEETING NOVEMBER, 2023.
ON THE NEXT PAGE, IT HAS AN EFFECTIVE DATE OF DECEMBER 1ST, 2023.
LATER IN SECTION TWO, IT HAS AN EFFECTIVE DATE OF JANUARY 1ST, 2023.
UM, WITH THE SAME LANGUAGE FOLLOWING.
AND THEN ON SECTION SEVEN IT SAYS THE RETENTION SHALL BE FOR THE TERM DECEMBER 1ST, 2023, WHICH WAS A COUPLE WEEKS AGO.
SO HAVE THEY ALREADY INCURRED BILLABLE HOURS? IT'S GONNA TAKE TIME.
EVEN IF YOU APPROVE WHATEVER IT IS THAT THIS IS SUPPOSED TO SAY, IT STILL HAS TO BE APPROVED BY THE ATTORNEY GENERAL.
I DON'T THINK IT'S GOOD TO ASK THE ATTORNEY GENERAL FOR FORGIVENESS WHEN YOU'RE LEGALLY OBLIGATED TO ASK HIM FOR PERMISSION TO HIRE OUTSIDE COUNSEL, WHICH BY THE WAY, YOU HAVE YET TO HAVE APPROVED FOR HAMMOND AND SILLS.
BUT ASSUMING THAT IT'S LEGITIMATE TO HIRE A SEPARATE OUTSIDE COUNSEL FOR THE SUPERINTENDENT, AND ASSUMING NOTHING IS BILLED BEFORE THE ATTORNEY GENERAL APPROVES THIS, WOULD YOU REALLY WANNA HIRE ATTORNEYS THAT WON'T EVEN PROOFREAD THEIR, THEIR, UH, RESOLUTION? EXCUSE ME.
I ALMOST PULLED A MARTIN MOMENT THERE.
I WOULD ENCOURAGE YOU TO DEFER THIS UNTIL A DATE.
UM, C OF THE PUBLIC COMMENT CARDS AT THIS TIME, WE'LL NOW GO BACK TO OUR BOARD.
MADAM VICE PRESIDENT PAUL LEWIS, YOU HAVE THE FLOOR.
I JUST WANTED TO ASK MR. SHALIN, COULD YOU STRAIGHTEN OUT SOME OF THAT PLEASE FOR US? THANK YOU.
YEAH, SO, SO PART OF THE PROBLEM IS THIS WAS BROUGHT IN NOVEMBER WITH THE INTENTION OF APPROVAL IN DECEMBER.
THERE ARE, THERE IS AN ERROR IN THE, UM, DOCUMENT AS TO AN EFFECTIVE DATE.
SO IF THE BOARD COULD JUST AMEND THIS MOTION TO ALLOW ME TO MAKE THAT CORRECTION, I'D APPRECIATE, I WOULD ALSO LIKE TO, TO CLARIFY, WE HAVE A POLICY THAT REQUIRES US TO INDEMNIFY AND DEFEND OUR EMPLOYEES, INCLUDING THE SUPERINTENDENT, UM, THROUGH ANY MATTER, EVEN A MATTER WHERE THE EMPLOYEE MAY BE IN CONFLICT WITH THE BOARD.
SO THE ISSUE HERE, AND I CAN'T SPEAK TOO MUCH DETAIL BECAUSE SOME OF THIS IS LEGAL STRATEGY.
UH, I HAVE TWO FIRMS CURRENTLY EMPLOYED BY US.
ONE CONDUCTED AN INVESTIGATION, THE OTHER ONE'S HANDLING THE DEFENSE.
AND BECAUSE OF THAT, ONE OF THEM NEITHER CAN REPRESENT CONFLICT, UH, EMPLOYEES OF POTENTIAL CONFLICT IN THIS MATTER.
SO WE NEED A THIRD FIRM FOR THIS PARTICULAR MATTER.
SO I DIDN'T WANNA PUT ALL THAT IN THE MEMO.
I'M, I'M TRYING TO KEEP INFORMATION TO A MINIMUM BECAUSE THIS IS A PENDING LITIGATION MATTER.
AND NORMALLY THIS IS DISCUSSED IN EXECUTIVE SESSION, NOT IN OPEN, BUT I DON'T THINK THIS IS GONNA DAMAGE US IN ANY WAY.
I JUST WANTED TO MAKE SURE YOU GUYS UNDERSTOOD THAT IS THE ISSUE.
SO I WOULD REQUEST A FRIENDLY, MAYBE A FRIENDLY AMENDMENT.
I'M NOT A BOARD MEMBER, SO I CAN'T DO THAT.
BUT AN AMENDMENT TO ALLOW ME TO CORRECT THOSE DATES
[01:40:01]
TO THE CORRECT DATES SO WE CAN PROCEED.MR. MARTIN, YOU'RE IN THE QUEUE.
YEAH, I WAS GONNA SUGGEST A FRIENDLY AMENDMENT TO CORRECT ANY OF THE RELEVANT DATES IN HERE.
'CAUSE THEY'RE, YOU KNOW, A COUPLE, WELL, FORTUNATELY YOU CAN'T MAKE IT SECOND.
AND AS THE MOVER OR SECONDER, I'M HAPPY WITH THAT.
SO MR. TO CORRECT ALL THE AVAILABLE, ALL THE ACCURATE, RELEVANT, MR. STEWART WAS IN THE QUEUE AND SHE SAID SHE WAS GONNA MAKE IT.
YOU GOOD WITH THAT, MR. I'M, I'M GOOD WITH THAT.
UH, MS. STEWART, YOU'RE IN THE QUEUE.
I WOULD JUST LIKE TO MAKE, MAKE A FRIENDLY, UM, SUBSTITUTE MOTION TO DEFER WHAT? TO GENUINE IT DON'T MATTER.
I'M SORRY TO CORRECT THE LANGUAGE OR CHANGE THE DATE.
TO ALLOW TO AUTHORIZE GENERAL COUNSEL TO AUTHORIZE GENERAL COUNSEL.
THIS IS A FRIENDLY AMENDMENT TO ALLOW GENERAL COUNSEL TO CORRECT THE DATES AS NEEDED.
SO I'LL TURN TO THE MAKER OF THE MOTION, WHICH WAS COACH YOU AGREE WITH THE FRIENDLY MAKE YOU, YOU YEAH.
YOU WOULD, YOU WOULD THE MAKER ON THIS? YEAH.
YOU WOULD YOU RAISE YOUR HAND THE SAME TIME I DID.
SO YOU'RE GOOD WITH THE, WITH THE FRIENDLY.
ALRIGHT, SCOOP AND MARTIN, YOU'RE GOOD WITH THE FRIENDLY? I'M GOOD WITH THE FRIENDLY, YES SIR.
SO THE FRIENDLY HAS BEEN ACCEPTED.
MADAM SECRETARY, PLEASE CALL FOR THE VOTE.
OKAY, OUR LAST ITEMS OF THE NIGHT ARE GONNA BE OUR ORGANIZATIONAL MEETINGS.
BUT BEFORE WE GET INTO 'EM, I'LL JUST BE REAL QUICK.
OVER THE COURSE OF THIS YEAR, OUR BOARD HAS HAD SOME, UH, BIG ISSUES TO ADDRESS.
AND WHAT I CAN SAY IS THAT, UH, I PROUDLY SERVED AS THE PRESIDENT OF THIS BOARD.
AND WHILE WE MAY NOT ALWAYS AGREE ON EVERYTHING, I THINK THAT EVERYTHING THAT IS DONE INSIDE OF THIS BOARDROOM AND IN FRONT OF THIS DAAS IN FRONT OF THIS HORSESHOE IS FOR THE GREATER, THE GREATER GOOD OF OUR COMMUNITY AND THE GREATER GOOD OF OUR KIDS NO MATTER WHERE WE STAND.
AND I JUST WANT US TO WALK AWAY AND KNOWING THAT IN OUR COMMUNITY, TO KNOW THAT EVERY DECISION THAT WE MAKE IS ALWAYS GONNA BE TO PUT KIDS FIRST AND PUT OUR SCHOOL FIRST AS WELL AS OUR EMPLOYEES.
SO WE THANK YOU AND WE ASK THAT YOU ALL HAVE A VERY LOVELY FESTIVE AND BLESSED CHRISTMAS AND NEW YEAR HOLIDAY.
[G.1. Announcement of Meetings]
ITEMS FOR THE NIGHT ARE GONNA BE OUR ORGANIZATIONAL ITEMS. THESE ARE ANNOUNCEMENTS OF MEETINGS.THERE'S GONNA BE A SPECIAL MEETING HELD, HELD TO BE HELD ON JANUARY 11TH, 2024 AT 5:00 PM IN THE CENTRAL OFFICE.
I THINK I MUST BE SCHOOL BOARD MEMBER.
THAT'LL BE FOR THE ELECTION AND LEADERSHIP COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE TO BE HELD ON JANUARY 11TH, 2024.
IMMEDIATELY FOLLOWING THE SPECIAL MEETING IN THE CENTRAL OFFICE.
BOARDROOM, REGULAR MEETING TO BE HELD ON JANUARY 25TH, 2024 AT 5:00 PM IN THE CENTRAL OFFICE.
SCHOOL MEMBER, GODA, YOU HAD THE FLOOR.
I WOULD LIKE IN THE SPIRIT OF CHRISTMAS GIVING TO ALLOW COACH LEWIS TO MAKE MOTION A
BEFORE YOU SAY TAKE YOUR TIME.
WE ADJOURN UNTIL YOU NEXT WEEK.