PROCEEDINGS OF THE SCHOOL BOARD OF THE
PARISH OF CATAHOULA, STATE OF LOUISIANA,
TAKEN AT THE REGULAR MEETING HELD ON
TUESDAY, MAY 7, 2024.
The Catahoula Parish School Board, State of Louisiana, met at the Catahoula Parish School Board Meeting Room, Harrisonburg, Louisiana on May 7, 2024 at 6:00 P.M.
There were present: John Allbritton, Peggy Beard, J.M. Blaney, Toshiro Fisher, Tillman Jolly, Tonya Pardue, and Dorothy Watson
There were absent: Cynthia Brown and Dewey Stockman
The meeting was opened with prayer by John Allbritton and Eric Chauvin led the Pledge of Allegiance to the flag.
On a motion by Tillman Jolly, seconded by Tonya Pardue, and passed unanimously, the Board approved minutes from the regular meeting on April 2, 2024.
On a motion by John Allbritton, seconded by Toshiro Fisher, and passed unanimously, the Board approved the following policies:
File: BCBK-Executive Sessions
File: CN-Administrative Records
File: DC—Annual Operating Budget
FILE: DID—Audits
FILE: DFK—Gifts and Donations
File: EBBC—Emergency/Crisis Management
File: EBBH—Use of Automated External Defibrillator and
Cardiac Care Plan
File: EBBI—Public Health Emergency
File: EBCB—Video/Audio Monitoring of School Board Property
File: ED—Student Transportation Management
File: GBG—Probation
File: GBRIC—Maternity and Adoptive Leave
File: IHAD—Parent Conferences
File: JGC—Student Health Services
On a motion by John Allbritton , seconded by Toshiro Fisher and passed unanimously, the Board approved an out-of-state trip for Kaden Sanson, a Harrisonburg High School, to the National FBLA Convention in Orlando, Florida on June 29-July 2, 2024 and a payment of $650 from District Funds for registration fees;
On a motion by John Allbritton, seconded by Tillman Jolly and passed unanimously, the Board adopted a plan to distribute Differentiated Compensation funds to qualifying teachers;
On a motion by John Allbritton, seconded by J.M. Blaney and passed unanimously, the Board amended the 2023-2024 Catahoula Parish Salary Schedule to include the adopted plan for Differentiated Compensation;
On a motion by J.M. Blaney, seconded by Tonya Pardue, and passed unanimously, the board recognized May 6-10, 2024 as Teacher Appreciation week;
On a motion by Tonya Pardue, seconded by Peggy Beard, and passed unanimously, the board approved the Catahoula News Booster as the Official Journal for the Catahoula Parish School Board for the term of June 1, 2024-May 31, 2025;
On a motion by John Allbritton, seconded by John Tillman Jolly and passed unanimously, the board approved the following recommendations from the Executive Committee of Finance:
a. Approve a payment in excess of 5,000 to PSST in the amount of $5,385 to be paid from 2023-2024 General Fund. This is a company that produces some required payroll reports.
b. Approve the payout of the estimated sales tax fund balances as of June 30, 2024, with the acknowledgement that if the fund balances decrease in future years, the 13 th check will decrease accordingly and make any necessary budget adjustment for these payments.
c. Approve the latest budget amendment for the Super App.
d. Approve a payment in excess of $5,000 to SHI in the amount of $33,656 paid from 2023-2024 General Fund was approved. This is for Microsoft Software licensing maintenance from 05/01/2024- 04/30/2025.
e. Approve a three-year lease with Pitney Bowes from May 2024- April 2027 for the Central Office postage machine to be paid from General Funds in the amount of $239.48 per month.
On a motion by John Allbritton, seconded by Tillman Jolly and passed unanimously, the Board accepted the 2022-2023 Audit and Agreed Upon Procedures;
On a motion by Peggy Beard, seconded by Tonya Pardue and passed unanimously, the Board approved an out-of-state Family Engagement and Curriculum conference for Early Childhood Supervisor Dr. Barbara Mosely and Facilitators to be paid out of the Believe! ECE Grant (family engagement portion).
On a motion by John Allbritton, seconded by Tillman Jolly and passed unanimously, the Board approved advertising for bids on hunting land inthe Enterprise area S16T11NRE;
On a motion by T.I. Jolly, seconded by Toshiro Fisher, the board considered a proposal from Geographic Planning and Demographic Services to develop one or more plans that accommodate the district’s need for cost cutting measures and take any action needed. Motion passed with 4 Yays, 3 Nays and 2 Absent, A roll call vote was taken:
Dorothy Watson N
J.M. Blaney N
John Allbrttion N
Dewey Stockman A
Cynthia Brown A
Tillman Jolly Y
Toshiro Fisher Y
Peggy Beard Y
Tonya Pardue Y
On a motion by John Allbritton, seconded by, J.M. Blaney, and unanimously passed, the Board approved an updated list of Hearing Officers:
Doug Lawrence (attorney in Monroe)
Reggie Abrahams (attorney in Shreveport)
David Doughty (attorney in Rayville)
Jay Mitchell (attorney in Monroe)
Mark Boyer (attorney in Baton Rouge)
Honorable Glenn Strong (retired judge in Oak Grove)
Wendy Giovingo (attorney in Monroe)
On a motion by Toshiro Fisher, seconded by J.M. Blaney and passed unanimously, the Board entered Executive Session for the Evaluation of the Superintendent;
On a motion by Toshiro Fisher, seconded by J.M. Blaney and passed unanimously, the exited Executive Session for the Evaluation of the Superintendent;
Catahoula Parish School Board
Personnel Report
May 7, 2024
Resignation:
Marilyn Turner, Principal, Block High School, effective
June 28, 2024
Superintendent’s Notes
Our annual Sr. Scholarship Banquet was last Monday, April 29. We had a great event where every qualifying Senior received $2,000 in scholarships. Thank you to Suzie Paulk for heading up this event, and all the other central office staff that helped, and a special thanks to the businesses and individuals who contributed to the event.
Last Friday, May 3 was School Lunch Hero Day. This week is Teacher Appreciation Week. We certainly want all of our School Lunch Heroes and our teachers to know how much we appreciate them. We also appreciate all the other staff members who
help keep our school running. In appreciation of all staff at our schools, a cake will be delivered to each school tomorrow as a way to say “THANK YOU”.
LEAP testing is still going on for grades 4-8 until
Friday, May 10
Graduations:
CHS Friday, May 10
HHS Tuesday, May 14
BHS Thursday, May 16
SIH Friday, May 17
Mother’s Day is Sunday, May 12
The last day for students is Wednesday, May 22. The following day is teacher work day, and report cards will be distributed Friday, May 24.
Memorial Day is Monday, May 27.
Our next board meeting will be Tuesday, June 4.
Camp Fast Forward will offer 16 of our Catahoula Parish current 7th & 8th graders the opportunity to attend a 4-day Health Care Summer Exploration and Simulation Camp. Students will get hands-on activities that include CPR certification, Healthcare Simulations, Lab Skills and Experiments, Vital Signs, and Blood Typing.
On a motion by Cynthia Brown, seconded by John Allbritton, and passed unanimously, the Board adjourned.
Johnnie Adams, Secretary
Dewey Stockman, President