001May 11th, 2026. Ms. Laws, I'm sorry. Mr. Touye. Here. Ms. Roy. Here. Ms. Holmes. We need to elect a chairperson. I nominate Devin. I'll accept. All in favor? Aye. All right. Our community committee meetings are broadcasting live to access to live stream. There is a video icon located online meeting agenda and also there is a link located on our district website, Facebook and ex formerly Twitter. First item up, discuss and approve property general liability, auto liability, auto physical damage, workers' compensation, and supplemental insurance policies with Brown and Brown Insurance for July 1, 2026 through July 1, 2027 as presented. Do I have a motion? Motion. Motion by Ms. Jelani Holmes, second by Ms. Roy. Ms. Chris Mitchell? Good afternoon. So we have Ms. Barbara Baric here with our insurance company. And then we have Mr.
002Josh Coxfield. He's our TPA, which is LOCA, our third party administrator. Here, if we have any questions. Insurance premiums have been very successful. I'm sorry. My mic's not on? Okay, I'm sorry. So our insurance premium increases are influenced by a combination of things as far as our operational growth, our assets, which would be our property, as far as our... TIV, which is our total insured value, and then in the new constructions in the athletic complexes that we have, and then also our claim history, our loss history. So that affects our premiums. This year we have a total of $356,988.60 we have saved on our insurance premium this year. which is huge for us. And we continue to, the market has softened for property. Our claims has been really, really low. Our claims handling has been
003in-house. So we handle things in-house before we transfer it over to our third party administrator. And so we've been very successful for this year. Any questions you may have for me? Did the coverages change any with that premium decrease or it stayed the same? It stayed the same. Perfect. Any? Dr. B? I do want to point out that between renew last year and renew this year, over that two-year renew cycle, your premium has gone down over a half a million dollars. Wow. Do I have any other questions from the board? Questions from the audience? Let's vote. All in favor? Aye. Passes unanimously. Next item up, we have discussed and approved student accident insurance renewal for August 1, 2026 through August 1, 2027 with Brown and Brown Insurance as presented. Do I have a motion? Motion
004by Ms. Roy. Second by Ms. Holmes. Ms. Mitchell. Our premiums stayed the same. We didn't have an increase, but we didn't have a decrease. So we stayed the same in that area. All right. Anything to say on that, Dr. V? I'll just reiterate how wonderful it is that you all as a board purchase this policy every year. This policy covers when we've gotten accidents and injuries on athletic fields as well as on school grounds. It's a policy that not very many places have and it covers us blanketly for field trips and other events as well. If parents have their personal insurance, it's going to work with that. But if they have nothing, then this is one that also includes a catastrophic coverage as well. So I commend this board because that's not something that happens
005in all places around our state. All right. Any other questions from the board? Questions from the audience? All in favor? Aye. Aye. Passes unanimously. Can I get a motion to adjourn? Motion by Ms. Holmes, second by Ms. Roy. We adjourn. Thank you. Thank you. Finance Committee Meeting, May 11, 2026. Ms. George? Here. Ms. Higdon? Here. Ms. Williams? Here. Our committee meetings are broadcasting live. To access the live stream, there is a video icon located in the online meeting agenda, and also there is a link located on our district website, Facebook, and X. Okay, our first agenda item. Discuss and approve the Iberville Parish School Board monthly financial statements, including the income statement and the revenue. expense summary by fund through April 26. The reports include a comparison of budget to actual for each fund including
006a percent to go per budgeted account within the funds. May I have a motion please? Motion by Ms. George, second by Ms. Williams. Mr. Stewart. Greetings everyone. So when we think about our budget and where we are at this current moment, through period 10, we've received to date $135 million. That's a little bit more than what we have in the sheet provided because some funds were added as we went through the end of the month. We have also received over $100 million in a combined sales and use in Abilorum. And we've only expensed so far through period 10, 126.6 million. So we're doing really well. We're in a good place. We just have to remember to remain conservative and, you know, kind of keep going the way we've been going. Thank you. Any comments? Yes,
007Ms. George. Just a curiosity. Why is it through April 26th and not the 30th? April, okay. So it should be April 30th, 2026. Okay, gotcha. It kind of threw me off like why it wasn't a whole month. I'm sorry, my mic wasn't on, but it's April 2026. Okay. Oh, so we need to correct that. We need to put, because it just says April 26th. So we need to put April 2026. Okay, all right. Any other questions? All right. All in favor? Opposed? Passes unanimously. The next item is not an action item. Update in relation to progress related to audit findings according to the management's corrective action plan. Mr. Stewart? All right. As a leadership team, we've all been actively working toward rectifying our audit findings. We are currently reconciling the month of April. We are
008actively ironing out budget. Some funds have already been completed. We may be done with budget by June, but more than likely July. A lot of the items have already been remedied, as we discussed previously. And that's a small update. All right. Any questions, comments? Okay. Item number three. Discuss and approve the selection continuation of the fiscal agent for the Iberville Parish School Board fiscal year 2026 through 2027. May I have a motion, please? Motion by Ms. Williams, second by Ms. George. Mr. Stewart? Yes, ma'am. So this is something that we do yearly. This year, because of legislation, we were able to put it up to be approved instead of going through the official bid due to our population. Iberville's population is roughly 30,000, way less than that quote of 100,000 or so. And so you're
009able to approve this without going through that formal process. And I put attachments on that you could have reviewed if you had questions. Okay. Any comments? Okay. All right. Okay. Does that mean we just choose one instead of having to go out for quotes or bids? Okay. And so how do you decide which one, like is it somebody that we're already using? Yeah, it's a continuation that we've, it's what we've had since our, for decades. It's the... I don't want to say it improperly, but it's the same banks and the insurance. Okay, so they were already in place. Yes. You're just continuing. Yes. Okay, thank you. Any other comments, questions? All right. Item number, all in favor? Aye. Okay. Passes unanimously. Item number four, discuss and approve seeking bids for the duplicating paper for fiscal
010year 2026 through 2027. May I have a motion, please? Motion by Ms. George, second by Ms. Williams. Mr. Stewart? All right. So, again, this is something we do every year. We put out for our duplicating paper to ensure that we have the papers for the different schools and for the district as a whole. We have reduced it slightly due to an excess of duplicating paper, as we noticed in previous years. And we're seeking bid for duplicating paper. Okay. Any comments, questions? Okay. All in favor? Aye. Opposed? Okay. Passes unanimously. Item number five. Reject all bids for bid number SFS2627001 milk due to a technical error in the bid packet upload and authorize re-advertisement. Mr. Stewart? Yes, ma'am. So the data in relationship to the bid disappeared, specifically the check boxes, the process of data, during
011the process of data uploading, both operations, our Eisner Amper audit team and myself met, and it was determined that we would have to reject or we would have an audit finding. And so we'll go back out for bid and we have enough time to do so before the next fiscal year. But if we would not have done so without that data, our bids would have, been technically off or wrong. Okay. Does this usually occur? No. I don't remember ever seeing this prior to. No, it's just the data disappeared during upload. So without that, we don't have everything we need in order to have a full bid packet. Okay. Any questions? All right. All in favor? Aye. Okay. Passes unanimously. All righty. Item number... 6. Reject all bids for bid number SFS2627002 bread due to a
012technical error in the bid packet upload and authorize re-advertisement. May I have a motion, please? Motion by Ms. George, second by Ms. Williams. Mr. Stewart, you were there. Yes, ma'am. It was a part of that same data upload. And again, when we met, the auditor said, just reject and go back out. And hopefully by next month, we'll be putting it back up for approval. Okay. Ms. Laws? So, Mr. Stewart, the upload process is the same process that you use for all of the bids. It's just that those two... Yes. Had a data issue? Yes, ma'am. Okay. Okay. I have one more question. Ms. Charge, the people who submitted the seal of millions, were they contacted and everything was okay with them? We were told not to do anything and make any contacts until the board
013makes a decision on the item. So they'll all be contacted tomorrow. We didn't award, we didn't call anyone and tell anyone anything. We can't do that until the board makes. had an action on it. So if this had not happened, we would have been asking you to award the bid to the most responsive bidder. But because this did happen, we have to ask you to reject. And once you reject, then we'll contact them tomorrow to let them know if you approve of the rejection. Okay. Okay. Any other questions? Okay, Ms. Laws? So, Mr. Stewart, is the upload process done by the same person or by different people? It's based on the team, but Ms. Miller, do you want to go into more detail? Absolutely. So this was our first set of bids. We had seven
014to do. This was our first set. This was the first two. We did them at the same time. We changed the X on the line to check boxes, and we did it in Word. And when we converted it to PDF and uploaded it, the check boxes went away. It was three check boxes that we could have chosen from. We chose one. And when we sent the upload, we realized that it had disappeared. Okay. So we had to go back to the X. We were able to catch it on everything else. We just didn't catch it on those two during the upload process. Okay. That's what happened. Okay. Thank you. You're welcome. Any other questions, comments? Okay. All in favor? Aye. Aye. Okay, passes unanimously. Item number seven, discuss and approve awarding bid number SFS2627003 paper
015goods for school year 2026 through 2027 to Economical Janitorial and Paper Supplies Incorporated. May I have a bid, please? Bid for Ms. Wheaton. Motion. Motion. Motion and second by Ms. George. Okay. Any comments? Ms. Miller? Yes. Yes, ma'am. There were three vendors, and we are asking that you award to Economical. They were the most responsive and the lowest bid for our paper goods. Okay. Any comments, questions? All right. All in favor? Passes unanimously. Item number eight, discuss and approve awarding bid number SFS. 26-27-004, small equipment for school year 2026 through 2027 to Economical Janitorial and Paper Supplies Incorporated. May I have a bid, please? A motion. A motion, please. I am so sorry. We're bidding. It's a lot of bidding here. Okay. Motion by Ms. Williams, second by Ms. George. Ms. Miller? Yes, ma'am. Thank
016you. There were three vendors on this particular bid. The most responsive, this was an all or nothing bid, so the most responsive on this one was economical, and so we're asking that you award to economical as well on this one. Okay. Thank you. Any questions, comments? Okay. May we? All in favor? Passes unanimously. Item number eight. Nine. What's that? Too many? Discuss and approve awarding bid number SFS 2627007, frozen and staple food items for school year 2026-2027 to Good Star Foods of Louisiana. May I have a motion, please? Motion by Ms. George, second by Ms. Williams. Ms. Miller? Yes, ma'am. And I just want to correct, that should say Gold Star? Gold Star Good Star. Yes, ma'am. It should say Gold Star. Okay, we need to correct that on the agenda then. Yes, ma'am. Okay.
017That bid closed today at 9 a.m. They were the only vendor to put in a bid for that. And so we're asking that you award the bid to Gold Star Foods of Louisiana. Okay. Any comments? Questions? All right. All in favor? All right. It is approved unanimously. And the last one, number 10. Receive report that there were no bids submitted for bid number SFS 2627005, fresh fruit and vegetables, and bid number SFS 2627006, produce for the 2026-2027 school year. May I have a motion, please? Okay, motion by Ms. Williams, second by Ms. George. Ms. Miller? Yes, ma'am. This bid was... We've got to receive the report. Yeah, both of these bids were placed in compliance with what we were expected to do. This is not the first year that this has happened where there were
018no vendors to submit a bid for fresh fruit and vegetables and produce. We currently, this year, we didn't have any vendors to bid on it as well, so we have to quote out each month to get our fruits and our vegetables for the schools. And so no one responded to this bid. And you can't do it again? You can't submit it again? We can submit it again, but I think that we're going to end up with the same results. Yes, ma'am. Yes, ma'am. But if the board chooses to have us submit it again, we will. All right. Any comments, questions? Okay. All in favor? Okay. Passes unanimously. May I have a motion to adjourn? Ms. George? The meeting is adjourned. Thank you, ladies. May 11th, 2026. Mr. Hebert? Here. Ms. Laws? Here. Mr. Tuye? Here.
019You have the quorum, Mr. Tuye. All right. Our committee meetings are broadcasting live. To access the live stream, there's a video icon located in the online meeting agenda. And also, there's a link located on our district website, Facebook, and ex-formally Twitter. First item up is the monthly work order status report. Mr. Cagnoletti? All right. Good evening, everybody. Good evening. So we had submitted or not we, but the staff had submitted 122 work orders and we closed 107 and we have about 34 to 40 outstanding right now. We did have a good rush with all the rain, a good rush of a couple of roof leaks, four or five of them that we're working on getting patched up, but nothing major. HVAC has been running very well. We got some boilers being replaced. MSA West is
020finished. They're working on IES today. So all of that stuff is starting to, everything's starting to come together as far as the maintenance part of it. And we'll talk more about the projects here in a little while. And you can see my biggest concern was the electrical for this month, or for last month, and the carpentry. A lot of that stuff was submitted. So we can have a time frame to get into classrooms because we knew that We had a lot of testing coming up and stuff like that so we couldn't get into it So we were able to get into it We had some couple guys work on the weekends and just to knock things out before it gets overwhelming All right. Thank you. Do we have any questions or comments? I will move
021on long to the next one project planning list Mr. Cagnoletti. All right. We're gonna start off with East Iberville We already know about what's going on in the field house. So we're going to jump down to the welding and pipe fitting classroom. The start date, they started on the 30th. They did remove a lot of the fixtures and they did remove a lot of the ceiling grid. They're working on the HVAC things and they're running your power to each of the welding booths right now. We are a little bit behind. I will not lie to you on that one. We are a little bit behind, but we will catch up more and more as the days go on. So we're starting to speed things up. We did get an A-plus, I'm going to call it,
022on the electrical stuff that we're waiting on. It's not going to be as long as it's supposed to be. So that's going to help us push things a lot faster. And that's the big item we've been waiting on for the longest time. All right, so the baseball-softball field. I have a question. I'm sorry. Is this working? Okay, so with the field house. No, what I was talking about was the welding shop. I know. The field house is the field house we've been building for a while. Yes. That one. I know. What's the update on it? Dr. V can talk to me. I sent you all an email last week on Bono termination, and right now it's in the attorney's hands between Jason Bonaventure is the lead attorney working on that with Hammonds and Seals. Evan
023is aware of that as well. But now we're dealing with the bonding company. And so those meetings are going to start taking place fairly soon. But the contract itself has been terminated. Yeah, I knew that. I was just wondering what was the next step to get it rolling where we can get it finished? I'll let Evan give you the legal standpoint on that. So the bonding company will be called in. Essentially, we'll tell the bonding company, you know, you got to get this job fixed. And if not, we're going to hire a contractor and get it fixed. And we'll give you the bill when it's all over. And so they would have to pay for it? If we have to hire somebody? Yeah, if we have to hire somebody, a contractor, to complete the job,
024that would be added to our damages claim. Okay. We'd basically front the money, have the job fixed. That way the work in the field is now complete, and now we're just fighting over money behind the scenes. Okay. So do we have a time? frame that we're hopeful in the next couple weeks we'll probably know something so we're hoping to get this finished uh the beginning of the year that's the school year that's the goal is to try to have this thing operational for the for the school year and it's really the floor is really the only thing yeah i knew that so you know once we get a good contractor in you know it really is not going to be all that much work to get the building in a usable situation it's just the
025floor issue with the current contractor has basically You know, it's been a line in the sand where they're not pulling it up. So, you know, that's why we're going down this path. Okay. And then the punch list? The punch list can actually be done while the building is inhabited. So even if the punch list is ongoing, that can still be ongoing while the building is being used. So punch list in and of itself. would not hold up the building for you. Okay. Flooring is kind of the big item that's going to make or break that. Okay. All right. Thank you. All right. Let's move to the baseball softball field. The baseball field is... A little bit behind. We have a lot of rain that came through right now, so we have to wait now for
026it to dry up. Hopefully we got some good weather coming the rest of the week, and it'll dry up pretty quick. But the softball field is looking great. Buildings are going up. We did get the – where they can start closing in the buildings with the concession stands and the locker rooms and all that kind of – and the batting facility. So all of that's going to start being installed and built to finish. So we will – push as hard and as fast as we can on the baseball field, but we don't want to push too much because we want it done right. So we want to make sure it is done right, and we do trust the contractor. He has sped up as much as he can with the weather. I can say they
027are out there working. Yes, ma'am. They work on weekends. Yes, ma'am. When I pass, they're always out there. Good. That's good to know. Even whenever it's raining, they're on it. Yes, ma'am. All right, Iberville Elementary. The new baller, we had to replace two block valves that were leaking by that we didn't know at the time. They did their assessment when they tried to shut the baller down and the water was leaking from these two block valves. They ordered them. They're going to install them tomorrow evening. We have to shut the water completely down to the school to do that. So we're going to wait until everybody's off of campus. As soon as they do the block valves. Crank everything back up and they can do the boiler while school is going on. So that's a
028plus for us MSA West Academy the boiler is installed and we're just doing a fine-tuning of the system that Josh crisp runs for us and making sure everything is in sync and the Rental that's on site. I know some of you might get a call on it But the rental will be gone by the end of the week is what he told me So that way it's not interfering with any kind of traffic anything behind the PAC Center. North of building G we're still waiting on some fire marshal approval on Alt 1 which is the which is the elevator that's in the old part of the school. They had some ADA things that we needed to address but it should be lining itself out and we should be moving forward on that within the next
029week or so. Plaquemines high school kitchen renovation. We're still waiting on our new doors to come in as soon as they come in and we'll be ready to rock and roll But that was the last thing on that one the Plaquemines high batting cage Right now they they got everything the studs up. They got your M&Ps is complete They the rough end of M&Ps is 90% But it has finished up and they started putting the drywall and the plywood back on and there's substantial completion As it says on paper, it is 6-15, but we may get that a little bit earlier. And then the Blackman High Football Complex, if y'all have seen already, they mobilized. They started demoing turf. At the time of the report, they hadn't, but turf is demoed already, and they're really
030rocking and rolling on this thing. So I think we're going to be in very good time frame situations with this field. And then the multi-campus project is the greenhouses. The greenhouses at MSA East. is moving a lot faster than the other schools. MSA East had the least amount of unforeseens underground, so it shot up. MSA West had the most things underground unforeseen, gas lines, electrical, and water, all three of them that did not line up with the existing as-built plans that we had. So we had to find them. We had to reroute everything to go to Zasbilt. Now they will start mobilizing. As soon as they're done with MSA East, they're going to start jumping on MSA West and try to get it caught back up. And then north, with the rain, the pad's done,
031the drains are in, but with the rain, it's very sloppy right there, so it's going to be a little minute before we move that way. But instead of postponing everything, we're going to just focus on finishing the east, MSA East. Starting MSA West to get it caught up with East and they can start working at the same times and then we're gonna make a good push towards North and get that done because that's a little bit more tricky. We had to add so much dirt. I don't know if y'all have seen it in a while, but we had to add so much dirt and it's a sloppy mess right now. But it will get done. And we are on time with that one. You're about a week or two off on that one, but once
032they get the The other two completed, everything's going to go rock and roll. So we shouldn't have any problem with them. It doesn't take the mall to do the greenhouses. It's everything else, the post and everything before that comes up. But once that's done, it'll be finished in two weeks. All right. And that's it. Ms. George? Just don't forget about the dressing area for the softball. Say that again? Softball dressing area we talked about last month. Yes, ma'am. I went with the school. We found a spot. That's something we're gonna have to talk about They have multiple areas that we talked with the principals about we talked with the athletic directors over there We talked also we talked with the coaches they have a plan for that and they're there They're good to go, but
033I did speak to everybody on that site and they have a plan They know where they're gonna do it at home, but we need to know what's gonna happen. Is it gonna happen? Are you talking about building something? Are you talking about like finding an area? They have an area. Yes, ma'am. They did locate an area for them to dress in before they go to the field. It's in a classroom that is in the building that they're going to dress in before they go out to the site. But as far as building something right now that's not on our radars, it may come in the early future. But right now we don't have nothing as future plans for that. Dr. V, when we have our next retreat, I want that on the agenda, please. Thank
034you. And then the washer and dryer over there. We did find a place that we could put the washer and dryer. It's going to be next to the one that's there for the high school. It has power, it has drains, and it has the water for everything. So that's the only spot on that school. We talked with the principals and they're fine with it. We're going to start doing that over the summer. All right. Do I have any other questions or comments from the board, audience? All right. Can I get a motion to adjourn? Motion by Mr. Abed, second by Ms. Laws. We are adjourned. Thank you. Good evening. I call to order the May 11th, 2026, Iberville Parish Regular School Board Meeting. Our meetings are broadcasting live to access the stream. There is a
035video icon located in the online meeting agenda, and a link is located on our district website, Facebook, and X. Also, the meeting can be viewed on Cox Channel 21. every Saturday at 7 p.m. following the scheduled school board meeting. The school board agenda can be found on our district website every Wednesday afternoon prior to the monthly board meeting. The public participation policy is posted on our district website and at the front entrance next to the elevator. Thank you for following our policy. Roll call, please, Ms. Suraj. Ms. George? Here. Mr. Hebert? Here. Ms. Higdon? Here. Ms. Holmes? Here. Ms. Laws? Present. Mr. McLaughlin? Here. Ms. Roy? Here. Mr. Touye? Here. Ms. Williams? Here. We have the quorum. Thank you. We'll have a reflection by Mr. Davin Touye following a moment of silence. Please stand and
036remain standing until after the pledge. All your hands. Heavenly Father, we come to you today asking for your guidance, wisdom, and support as we begin this meeting. Help us to engage in meaningful discussion and allow us to grow closer as a group. Fill us with your grace as we make decisions that might affect the students, staff, stakeholders, and community members alike. We ask this in Jesus' name. Amen. Tonight's Pledge of Allegiance presented by our very own Iberville Elementary students. Camilla Riley. Pre-K, Early Riley Kindergarten, Shiloh Edwards, First Grade, Hudson Lucas, First Grade, Haley Washington, Third Grade, and Avery Dickerson, Sixth Grade. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands, one nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Good job. Thank
037you, Mr. Touye, and thank you to the elementary students from Iberville Elementary. Next up, we will have our Iberville Parish School Board vision statement by Ms. Catherine. With our families as partners, the Iberville Parish School System will provide equitable opportunities and academic excellence and positive school environments so that every child thrives in the path that they choose. Thank you. Thank you, Ms. Catherine. Next up, we will have recognitions, presentations, and reports. First up, we'll have a performance by the MSA East Band Orchestra. Thank you very much. Great performance. Next up is recognition of the Iberville Parish school students who completed the Firefighter I certification. Chief Ramirez. Thank you all very much for having us here tonight. It's a glorious time. We're glad that you all are going to be able to witness tonight. You know,
038this is our second year of graduating students. We're looking forward to year three. We already have six students committed with possibly a couple more. So we are growing. I will say that year one students, we do have some already involved in the fire service other than what they did. So, you know, I always come up with crazy ideas. Part of my job, you know, and. Some guy, they tell me to file state chief. No, that's not going to work. Chief can't do that. When I brought this to them, they took it with open arms. Dr. Varo helped us out tremendously. Mr. Robert Promise and these council ladies who are back here tonight in support, if it wouldn't be for them, this would not have gotten off the ground. But for sure, if Tony Seymour. would
039not have taken it on like he did. It for sure would not have, you know, taken off like it did. It was my idea, but it's his baby, and I can't say enough about what he's done for these kids. So thank you all very much for having us. I think we got a little video to show you all of their progress throughout the year, and then we'll do presentations and certificates after. Thank you all. Thank you. Yeah. To the fire ground. High school firefighter. Program, you know. It's more than a class. It's a calling. Let's go. Yeah. Started as high school students just trying to find a way. Now we're the ones who run in while the others stay. Donning our gear in under a minute. If there's a challenge, you know we're in it.
040Tying the knots, clove hitching the figure eight type. Setting up the lighting to conquer the night. Controlling the... Mod and Trinity, please come up to the front. So Trinity was our top performer. She passed every certification on the first attempt and had the high score on two of the three certifications. Ahmad came up in the rear. He on the last certification firefighter one somehow he squeaked past Trinity one point Got the high score on firefighter one, right? We also have one student that couldn't be here tonight Kelsey Brack and we have her certifications here as well Thank y'all cheap. That was up. That was a great video and Congratulations to all the students who completed their firefighter one certificate I hope this program continues to grow. Thank you, Chief. And thank you to everyone involved
041in this process. Okay, next up, we have recognition of Iberville Parish School System students who scored a 27 or above on their ACT scores. Dr. Fulbright. Good evening. We began this tradition last year with 27 and above, which qualified students with the right grade point average for, at that time, the highest TOPS award, which was the honors award. Since then, the state has added an additional distinction for students who earn 30 and above. Those are now called awards of excellence. Tonight we will be recognizing all of our students who scored the 27 and 29 for honors award or the 30 and above for the excellence award. So Mr. Primus, who call out the names of our students and the schools they represent along with their score and then as your name is called, please report
042to the back where we've got the photo area to receive your award and we'll do a group picture back there together and any board members who want to join you welcome to do so. Okay good evening we'll begin with our honors ACT from MSA West we have Linward Barbier with a score of 27. Linward from MSA West we have Stephen Cavanaugh with a score of 29. From MSA West, we have Ava Latchley with a score of 28. From MSA West, we have Collin Shaw with a score of 28. From Plaquemine High, we have Kyra Robertson with a score of 27. And from White Castle High School, we have Gervonta Taylor with a score of 27. This time, we will recognize our ACT scores of excellence. From MSA West, we have Fisher Gilchrist with a score
043of 31. From MSA West, we have Annalise Guillory with a score of 33. From MSA West, we have Cadence Robertson with a score of 31. From MSA East, we have Nakari Kimball with a score of 33. And from MSA East, we have Catherine Uso with a score of 32. Congratulations to each of you. Congratulations to all the students on such high achievement. Next up, recognition of Crescent Elementary. Dorsetville Elementary, Iberville Virtual Learning Academy, MSA West Elementary and Middle High Academy, North Iberville Elementary, North Iberville High School, Plaquemine High School, and White Castle High School for being named Capturing Kids Hearts National Showcase Schools and the Iberville Parish School District for earning the status of the 2025 2026 Capturing Kids Hearts National Showcase Schools District Winner for the third consecutive year. Good evening. Capturing Kids Hearts
044National Showcase schools and districts are recognized for their excellence in creating safe and welcoming environments where students are relationally connected and eager to learn. The CKH program promotes practices such as greeting students daily, sharing good things between students and teachers, using social contracts, and launching students and staff at the end of the day or class meeting with a positive message to promote self-managing students in classroom. classrooms. Research supports the CKH approach to social-emotional well-being, relationship-driven culture, and student connectedness. Award-winning campuses and districts also show that they build a safe and welcoming climate, foster creative learning environments, promote relationships between students, teachers, and staff, and have the majority of teachers have gone through the foundational CKH1 training. We are proud to recognize the following schools as CKH National Showcase schools, again, as Mr. McGlashaw read, Crescent
045Elementary, Dorseyville Elementary, MSA West Elementary and Middle High, North Iberville Elementary, North Iberville High School, Plaquemine High School, White Castle High School, and Iberville Virtual Learning Academy. We are also pleased to announce that Iberville Parish School District is, again, one of the only districts in the state of Louisiana to become a National Showcase District. Thank you all very much. Thank you, Ms. Johnson. Next up is the consent agenda, which will be enacted with one motion. Discuss and approve a condolence resolution to the family of Mr. Patrick Norris, retired Iberville Parish School Board facilitator's director. Discuss and approve a condolence resolution to the family of Mr. Tyrone McClay, retired custodian for the Iberville Parish School Board. Discuss and approve a condolence resolution to the family of Mr. Brayson Schutz, a student at Iberville Virtual Learning Academy.
046Discuss and approve the April 13th, 2026 regular school board meeting minutes. Discuss and approve the April 20th, 2026 executive committee meeting minutes. Discuss and approve the April 20th, 2026 special school board meeting minutes. and discuss and approve the May 11th, 2026 consent agenda as presented. Do I have a motion? Motion by Ms. Catherine Williams, second by Ms. Roy. Do I have any comments from the audience? Any comments from the board? Machine, please, Ms. Soraj. Online voting is now open. I had to log back in, Ms. Soraj. For the record, Ms. Higdon, what is your vote? It didn't pop up. For the record, Ms. Laws, what is your vote? Mine popped up late, so I just voted. Pass is unanimous. Thank you. Next up on the agenda is the superintendent's report. Dr. Favreau. Yes, good evening.
047Before I get into the first slide on the report, it was wonderful tonight to see what we've got going on in our school district with the performance by the MSA East Band and Orchestra, along with the firefighting program that we worked so hard to develop. And I do want you to know we are definitely trying to get that expanded onto the St. Gabriel side as well. And as always, like we mentioned with our early college option coming up, we're trying to find as many opportunities as we can for our students. So I'm very proud and pleased with the support that you all give for those types of programming. On the presentation. The very first of all, congratulations to our class of 2026. We have graduation on. Thursday night and Friday night of this week. And
048congratulations, class of 2026. We're still in the process of compiling the total scholarship numbers. Hopefully we have that ready for you in June. Our 2024 to 2025 seniors doubled in the value of their scholarships and TOPS awards. And hopefully we see that momentum continue. The total number, right under 300 for parish wide. Next slide is your last enrollment update for the school year, which we stayed overall pretty stable. We did have a few more kids that were added into that adjusted count for students who qualify in both the MFP and in the early childhood for pre-K. We are continuing to see a little uptick of students classified with disabilities. Summer school is coming up soon. As we graduate this week, close out of school year next week, we will be offering our summer programming at
049all campuses in the parish. And on the next slide, we just wanted to give a little bit information about which programming is going to be taking place during the summer, beginning with pre-K. Pre-K all the way on up through high school, leap remediation will be taking place. The next slide, as you know, we have continued to try to expand summer opportunities for Jumpstart Summer Welding, Industry Institute on the east side because of the generosity of East Iberville Inc. We've been a second year in a row, have one on that side of the river, along with what we do on this side. We've got Adobe this summer, along with IPSB, Industry, and Healthcare Institute. So, plenty of opportunities and many of these opportunities our students can earn money while learning about careers that they may be
050interested in. Our next slide, probably the most popular offering that we have in the school district. The next session for driver's ed will be June 8th through the 11th, and that process of application is going on at this time. And so we'll continue to work with our contract provider to keep offering this opportunity for our students as well. It's a great value, but for our public, do know that our older students are going to get the first priority. I think we've had parents contact us with kids as young as 12 and 13 trying to get into this, but that's a little bit too early, and we certainly don't have the spots for it. And the last few slides that I want to go through, as you all know, we're going through budget development for next
051school year. And I do want to make some reminders. You know, the fiscal budget runs from July 1 to June 30. So we'll be closing out our fiscal budget for 25, 26 later next month. And then we start a new one on July 1st. We'll be coming to you probably in July for approval of that budget. But I do want to remind everyone of what we did with this current year budget as we work to see what's going to happen at the end of the fiscal year with the financial impact. This year we gave a $4,000 across the board pay raise that you all approved. We increased the mandatory training stipend. to $300. We increased materials and supplies for our teachers from $300 to $600 per teacher. We increased theater sponsor stipends. You know, we
052doubled those. You go to the next slide. We increased pay for our substitute teachers. We increased pay for our student workers, and believe me, they appreciated getting checks this year that reflect $15 an hour. as opposed to nine and we were able to get a lot of our students hired through internships throughout the school year and we'll have student summer workers again this year as well. You made a big enhancement in the amount of difference in pay for bachelor's to master's degree in the pay scale. It used to be a range. Now it's 2,000 regardless of experience. You also, that was the master's in demand. You also increased the differential in the salary schedule itself, not just the stipend. And for support, you know, a master's in demand for those teachers or employees who do
053not fall on the master's salary schedule for teachers, that stipend was increased to $2,000. We increased the coach-athletic director maximum factor by 2%. And the reason I'm reminding everyone of this is, you know, as we work to develop that next fiscal budget, we need to really know what the final impact is going to be on those particular raises. I mean, that across-the-board raise was millions of dollars that that encumbered in this year's budget. We also are monitoring. We have a report next month from our insurance consultant on our health care because that. Those costs aren't going down. So we definitely want to educate everyone here in the board on where we are with those factors. And a few dates on the last slide, which many of these are mentioned already here tonight. And that concludes
054my report. Thank you very much, Dr. Vuoro. Okay, next up is governance business. First up is discuss and approve the May 11th, 2026 Insurance Committee meeting recommendations. There were three items on the agenda. Two items were action items and both items passed. Do I have a motion? Motion by Mr. Touye. Second by Mr. Abel. Any comments from the audience? Comments from the board? Ms. Solerage, please. Online voting is now open. For the record, Ms. Higdon, what is your vote? It's not popping up. Yes. Online voting is now closed. Passes unanimous. Thank you. Look, before we move on, I was asked to make an announcement. There is a black Charger parked on this side, on this street, that is blocking traffic. Would you please move your vehicle? Thank you. Okay, next up is discuss and approve
055the May 11th, 2026 Finance Committee Meeting Recommendations. There were 10 items on the agenda, nine were action items, and all nine items passed. Can I get a motion? Motion by Ms. George, second by Ms. Higdon. Any comments from the audience? Is there any comments from the board? Ms. Soraj, machine, please. Online voting is now open. Ms. Higdon, for the record? Yes. Thank you. Online voting is now closed. Pass is unanimous. Thank you. Next up, discuss and approve the May 11, 2026 Building and Grounds Committee Meeting Recommendation. There were two items on the agenda. There were no action items. Do I have a motion? Motion by Ms. Williams, second by Ms. Roy. Any comments from the audience? Any comments from the board? Machine please, Ms. Solrath. Online voting is now open. Ms. Higdon. Yes. Thank you.
056Online voting is now closed. It passes unanimously. Thank you. Next up, we have curriculum and instruction campus operations. First up is discuss and approve a Head Start policy council agendas, minutes, reports, and handouts. Do I have a motion? Motion by Ms. George, second by Mr. Abar. Mrs. Higdon? Thank you, Mr. McGlashan. Our policy council meeting was held April 23rd. And as always, we have our safety monitoring for the month behind March. Our minor and critical incident report, which, you know, we still have some biting and scraps and, you know, little incidents. Thankfully, no critical incident this month. Our attendance report is also attached. for attendance and 90% for enrollment. Registration for next school year is attached. Our March dadness and parent participation chart are what's happening in family services for the month of May, which
057we have quite a bit going on with our youngest learners. The week of the young child was held. Our mental health report. At present, our specialist is working with nine teachers and 13 students. As always, our fiscal report is also attached. District Education Manager report. The district spring learning walks were held and all the data will be used from these walks to drive classroom schedules, instructional planning, and professional development planning for the next school year. Our pre-k admit collaboration meeting will be scheduled this summer in July instead of late August as in the past. Our specialist report is also attached. The TS goal objectives and school readiness goals for the winter 2026 showed much growth. And our home visit policy is also attached. I spoke about this a little last month. Due to many, many
058safety issues, all our home visits will be conducted in a designated location. There are two scheduled visits each school year. Attendance and tardy policy is attached and we are the council and our staff early childhood staff is working on several things to improve this attendance and tardy policy of which we're having some issues. Our Frog Street summer camp. is also attached, the schedule, which will be four days a week, Monday through Thursday, for those students entering kindergarten. And lots of fun activities and lots of learning will take place. So I hope that the public will encourage our youngest learners to attend. And our next meeting will be Wednesday, May 20th. Thank you. Thank you, Ms. Higdon. Any comments from the audience? Any comments from the board? Machine, please, Ms. Soran. Online voting is now open.
059Ms. Higdon, for the record, yes. Online voting is now closed. Passes unanimously. Thank you. Okay, next up is discuss and approve the early childhood home visit policy. Do I have a motion? Motion by Ms. Abas, second by Ms. Laws. Ms. Canova? Good evening. Good evening. Okay, the Head Start has a performance standard that requires these things, that we offer opportunities for parents and family members to be involved in the year for each family, including one before the program year begins. This is to engage parents in child's learning and development. The visits may take place at a program site or another safe location, or if the visit to the home presents a significant safety hazard for staff. We have not had a written policy for home that is what is attached and the policy includes information
060concerning the location of the visits how we will schedule them which will be two per year one before the program year begins that's the education and then also they'll have one from a family education facilitator and that will be also before the Did what will be discussed how it will all be documented and how we will communicate this with families I don't think so miss canova. Thank you. Is there any comments from the audience? Any comments from the board? Thank you Thank you Next up is discuss and approve local revisions to the 2026 Ms. Johnson. Good evening again. The pupil progression plan provides a comprehensive plan for student promotion and placement. The purpose of the district plan is to fund for that part of the plan. In August, after the regular legislative session, the entire
061plan for approval. The following were recommended by the committee. We no longer give a screener for literacy and numeracy, and that is provided by the Department of Education. In part three, promotion and retention of students, the only change to this section is in red, changing it to when the majority of the SAT team, which includes the parent, teacher, principal, SAT coordinator, agree that retention is appropriate. The next portion is with regards to our English learners. We have had a rise in population of English learners, and we wanted to ensure that our plan addressed programming and supports for our English learners. So I will just read the tie are identifying potential ELs. I'll say ELs and that means English learners. EL student placement, EL instructional programs, EL core classroom instruction, English language, EL students with disabilities,
062retention of EL students, exiting ELs. and reclassifying EL students with disabilities. So all of these portions will be added to the plan with regards to English learners. Considerations for grades 9 through 12, we are requesting that we add a bullet about course and schedule requests that they be done within the first five days of school. And also any other schedule or course requests after the five days shall be made at the discretion of the principal in collaboration with the guidance counselor. The next section of the policies related to student placement and promotion, we are recommending that we change the grading for all K through 12 in which letter grades are used and the grading scale will be a 10-point grading scale. You can move it up. So everything from last year's plan was struck through.
063We're also recommending that for grades 1 through 12, grades for averaging per nine weeks and of those nine grades per marking period at least four are required to be major assessments four are required to be mine and that all subjects there shall be consistent waiting across the grade levels which is a sixty sixty percent for major assessments forty percent for classes quizzes and homework listed are the methods of obtaining grades and that is the grading section the last recommendation we are making is to add a bullet under LEA policy on method of obtaining grades and this is an incentive for students that are scoring proficient advanced or mastery on leap 2025 assessments that they can either opt to be exempt from the teacher issued final exam of the course if applicable or take the teacher
064issued final exam but if the teacher issued exam score is less than the current average the teacher will exempt the final exam score for the advantage of the student. And at this time, these are the local recommendations. Thank you. Ms. Johnson, is there any comments from the audience? Comments from the board? I'd like to make a comment. Mr. Touye? Myself and Mr. McLaughlin was in the meeting on the 14th, and thank you to the committee for listening to the community on the issues. And I think it was probably one of the most productive. Thank you, Mr. Touye. Is there any more comments? Ms. O'Rourke, machine, please. Online voting is now open. Ms. Higdon, for the record, yes. Now closed. Passes unanimously. Thank you. Okay, next up is new business. First up is discuss and approve
065revisions to the supervisor of federal programs and designated grants job description. Do I have a motion? Motion by Mr. Abass, second by Ms. Holmes. Dr. Favreau? Yes, good evening. As you all know, we've got two long-time educators in our audience there tonight who are going to be retiring fairly soon. Ms. Pam Moore, you know, Supervisor of SPED, we did revisions to that job description prior to putting that posting out. And Ms. Diana Outlaw, who will be retiring. So we're recommending revisions to update things in that job description before we post that one as well. But I do want to thank both of these really dedicated educators because I don't think they're going to be here next month. So I do want to recognize them for, I think Ms. Moore is around 31, 32 years in
066the profession. And Ms. Outlaw, did you tell me it was 38 years? So congratulations to both of you on your upcoming retirement. We appreciate all the work that you've done here in Iberville Parish. But with that being said, when you take a look at the job description, there's no changes in what the qualifications were before, but there are updates to certain supervisory responsibilities, update to the job goal, and some... Things that really don't belong in there or needed to be reworded Also, we add to really kind of start merging together the compliance with federal programs along with more instructional support with the school improvement plan process, so we're asking for your visions tonight Thank You dr. Varo any comments from the audience on the board Mr. McGlashan. Ms. Higdon. I just want to congratulate Ms.
067Burrell when I taught school a thousand years ago and a good student. For your service and your dedication to this school district. 38 years, that's a long time to be in a school. Long time. Take it from me. So we appreciate it. Thank you so much. But don't be strangers. Come back. Offer your opinion. Offer your suggestions. I think they will be welcomed. Thank you, ladies. Thank you, Ms. Higdon. Any more comments? Machine, please, Ms. Soraj. Online voting is now open. Ms. Higdon? Yes. Online voting is now closed. Passes unanimously. Thank you. Next up, discuss and approve revisions to policy IIB-testing program to reflect Bulletin 118 as recommended by the Executive Committee. Do I have a motion? Motion by Ms. George, second by Ms. Lodge. Is there any comments from the audience? Any comments from
068the board? Machine, please. Ms. Suraj. Online voting is now open. Ms. Higdon. Yes. Online voting is now closed. Passes unanimously. Thank you. Next up, discuss and approve sending policy DJD. Travel expense reimbursement and policy JDE. Expulsion to executive committee for possible revisions. Can I get a motion? Motion by Mr. Abas, second by Mrs. Laws. Dr. Varun? Yes, tonight I'm just asking you to refer these two policies over to the executive committee. We're still working on the final recommended language. Of course, we'll get that to you prior to whenever we can schedule that executive. One is to clarify some things with travel reimbursements that have come up recently, and the other one, a statutory part on infractions as they relate to illegal drugs. Thank you. Any more comments? Online voting is now open. Ms. Higdon? Yes.
069Online voting is now closed. Passed unanimously. Thank you. Okay, next up is consider and approve creating a new position called Superintendent Board Transition Advisor. Proceed with the process to hire a new superintendent. reassigned Dr. Vuoron to the superintendent board transition advisor position upon hire of a new superintendent and amend the superintendent's contract to reflect the reassignment. Can I have a motion? Motion by Mr. Abar, second by Mrs. George. Do we have any comments from the audience? who had high ACTs. Very impressed with it. Very impressed with the band that came in. I'm trying to understand actually the accountability for kids' hearts. So I will be asking somebody for that. But on this particular issue, there are nine of you up here that may not be returning. You just don't know. So to make this particular
070change, to me is a disservice to our students, but it's also a disservice to the incoming board to have you all make a decision and why would you want to change the superintendent's contract, take him out of the job of being the superintendent and give him another job and then hire somebody for the incoming board. I had the opportunity when Cecil Picard died to not do that. to go on and have the incoming board make the decision because they are the people who the people will elect. I think it is important that you allow people coming in. I cannot understand the reason for this, to be perfectly honest with you. I don't think it makes a lot of sense to me. And I know if I were one of the nine and some of you...
071Can't come back because your term limited. So what you're doing is you're running it from your house. And for that, I think is the disservice to our children. Thank you. Thank you, Ms. Linda. Any more comments from the audience? Yes. Yes, ma'am. Good evening, President, board members and members of the community. I stand before you tonight deeply concerned about the decision, well discussion, surrounding the possibility of moving the current superintendent into another position simply to allow the current board to select a new superintendent before several members leave office. These actions raise serious concerns about fairness, transparency, and the integrity of this board's leadership process. The people of the community elected school board members to serve for a specific term. No more, no less. Those terms come with both authority and limits. So if several members
072are reaching the end of their service, then that transition should be respected, not worked around. Attempting to restructure positions or extend influence beyond those terms undermines the voice of the voters and the purpose of the elections themselves. The incoming board members will be elected to represent the community as it exists today, not as it existed years ago. They deserve the same opportunity to participate in major discussions, decisions, as every board before them. Selecting a superintendent is one of the most important responsibilities a school board has. It shapes the direction of our schools, our students' futures, and the trust of the public. That decision should belong to the board that will actually work with and oversee the next superintendent. So what is especially troubling is the idea of creating or placing the current superintendent into another
073position simply to carry out this plan. So many of the community are asking these questions. Is this legal? Is this or is it consistent with the superintendent's contract? Has this ever been done before? And most importantly, is this truly the best interest of the students and staff or is it about maintaining control? Because from the outside looking in, this appears to be an attempt to bypass the natural transition of leadership. It sends the message that certain individuals are unwilling to allow the next board to exercise the authority the public elected them to have. The board has had ample time to vote, make decisions, and carry out its responsibilities. But every term eventually comes to an end. That is how leadership works. That is how democracy works. No group should attempt to hold on to influence
074by reshuffling positions or manipulating timing to secure outcomes before leaving office. The citizens of this parish deserve transparency, they deserve ethical leadership, and they deserve a superintendent selection process that is open, fair, and conducted by the board members who will actually serve during the superintendent's tenure. So I urge this board to respect the transition that is taking place, allow the newly voted members, when their time comes, to participate in selecting the next superintendent and avoid actions that will continue to divide this community and create unnecessary controversy. So I ask that we do what is right, do what is fair, and most importantly, do what reflects integrity and respect for the people who elected each of you to serve. Thank you. Thank you. Any more comments from? Yes, sir. Good afternoon, everyone. I stand to you
075as a product of the Evenville-Parrish school system, and I'm a product of this board. A lot of the older members served when I was going through both elementary school, going up to high school, graduated from White Castle High School. And I am in clear understanding of some of the points of which I've talked to some of the board members about why. They feel as though this decision should be made. I am standing against this decision should be made. I believe that the new board should have the ability to choose the next superintendent. And I'll give you a few points. And I was writing down as I was writing down, I am a product of the. work that those past superintendents had. I was present through Dr. Consian, then going to Dr. Geoffron, then that little
076gray area, then we had Dr. V. I work with Dr. V. I have nothing negative to say about his work in any capacity, but I stand to say for that next person who is coming, and I think you can see by the people present in this meeting today that there's unrest in the community. about this board choosing the superintendent and also the advisory role that come that that unrest will move on to that next person and saying that whoever that next person is whether they be from Iberville parish or from outside of our parish will have to deal with that unrest causing confusion and will surely cause division in that next board So I look at, I talk about the word a lot of times when I'm, and we're talking in community-based organizations in the
077Parish about legacy and the things that we leave. And I think a lot of times you want to leave out on a good note. I would suggest the board members who are leaving. And again, it's nothing. negative about the work that Dr. V has done, nothing negative about the work that this board has done. It is just a point to say, I think you all should pause and consider before making this decision and before causing more unrest in the community. And I also made the point, and I was listening to others talk, and it has always been this mindset in the little parish that there's this whole backroom politics and that kind of... unrest, but I would put it to this board and the members who are leaving this board that if you don't want
078to have those kind of statements said, if you don't want to have those kind of rumors said, if you want to leave on a positive note, just go ahead, just have your time, and allow for that next group of people to come in. They might make a mistake in the next person they choose. They may not choose the person who might have the best mindset for if it will perish or who might not be able to choose, work on their legacy, but don't allow for yourself to be thrown into that situation. Don't let them have an opportunity to say, well, the last boy gave us this boy, so we don't know what's going on. We don't have a clear understanding. Allow for yourself to just be removed and let the next group pull on. And
079then also a conversation about the transition, the process in which superintendents transition. And I don't understand where the idea of the role. for a superintendent transition position came from. That's not something that I have witnessed in my time being a citizen in Nevilleville Parish, but I would only put it to being not. I would only put it to being not a consequential role only because that next person needs to have the position to be able to move in freely. And I think that Dr. V had the opportunity to move in as superintendent freely while working with his board. I think that Dr. Joffron had this idea. He was able to work it without having all these other outside opinions from other people. And I think that Dr. Constantine had that position as well. So I
080also put it to that next person to have fair ground. to be able to have that board with fairground and not allow for them to come in with any negative, anything like that that would hinder your legacy of the members who have passed served on this board. Thank you very much. Thank you. Any more comments from the audience? Yes, sir. Good afternoon, superintendent, board members. I stand before you tonight to say that I think you should reconsider making the decision for the superintendent to also be on the the board to select a new superintendent, I think we should think about, let's think about investing in our community. Let's think about the people that are sitting out here tonight. They're here for a reason. They should have a voice because they vote us. They vote you
081guys in and they should each want to hear tonight. That's in here. The representative for Bill Perry should have a voice in selecting a new superintendent. It should be students, some students from each school, each high school should have a play in the role of selecting a new superintendent. Community leaders should have a role in selecting a new superintendent. Teachers, principals. Everybody should come together tonight and unite as a powerful force to select a new superintendent that's going to lead Ipabir Parish students to the next dimension, to a new level. So this boy tonight, I'm asking you tonight, search your hearts. Search your hearts, each and every last one of you. I know you had a kid that went to Ipabir Parish School. I know you had grandchildren, cousins. aunties, uncles, even we have teachers
082that can talk in the Iphibia Parish school system. Tonight, we shouldn't create a new position for a superintendent to be advisory. We got advisory people right out here in this audience. We got to advise the people that are sitting on this board. We got to advise the people that's not even in this room, that's out there, that's leaders in our community. Each community should have a representation for the seat who be the next superintendent of Ivermere Parish Schools. And I think that if you look down deep in your heart tonight, reconsider the vote. Terribly. Do what you have to do, but I think either this board tabled it, let a new board bring in a new superintendent. Research your hearts tonight and think about each and every last kid that goes to Iberville Parish School
083and their parents. Think about it. Think about it. You got a choice. who you really want to see lead Ivermere Parish, who you really want to see take Ivermere Parish to the next level. We have several students that made high percentage, high scores on the ACT test, and we want to continue that motivation. So just search your heart tonight and think about it for a second before you make that vote. Thank you very much. Thank you. Are there any more comments from the audience? Yes, ma'am. Good evening. I know what you have to do is tough. I guess I just had a couple questions. What's the salary going to be like to Dr. Joe Frost? Is he going to take a cut in pay as an advisor and then a new superintendent? The other thing
084would be like the timeline. When you look, there's nothing I've read that said. when you plan on hiring a new superintendent, or if you are planning on hiring a new superintendent by the time you leave out. And the third thing would be is, I can understand having an advisor if we hire, you hire someone in-house, but if I'm coming from out of state or from a different district, I don't think I want... an advisor and the current superintendent. I may be a supervisor, an outstanding supervisor, superintendent from a different parish, have my own ideas and not that Dr. V doesn't do a great job and I may ask him a question here, there, whatever, but the purpose of having a superintendent is to bring in some new ideas and get this parish moving because of
085the amount of money we spend here. I think our test scores should be better, but I also feel that you have to play the hand you're dealt, and I think we need to do a better job of getting our kids school ready, and that's from an adult perspective at home in the community, encourage kids to get a... Take education seriously, you know these kids who scored 27 above I get the goosebumps thinking about it because that's amazing But then when I look at the money we spend we should fill this room with those kids who are are having You know those scores and we have the math and science academies which are supposed to be our best and our brightest and For the amount of money we're spending y'all. I just don't think we have
086enough kids going like that. So I You know, it's not here or there. Whatever you decide to do, I'm okay with. I just know it's tough. I just think about the new superintendent that comes in if you want. Dr. Veda in advisory role, of course I'm always about money. How much are we gonna pay both of these individuals if he's gonna take less? So those are just some of my concerns, but I think it's more important that we understand that education is important and we need to turn out better and brighter students than we are with the amount of money we spend. Thank you for your service. It's not easy. I can't tell you that I'm happy to be on this end than there, because I am. But I still do have my concerns and
087I still do follow what things are going on. And, you know, who knows? Maybe one day. I may have the opportunity to sit on that end again, but if you ask me today, I'll say no, but we got to do the right thing and we've got to put the money in the right places and we've got to encourage parents to get behind their kids and education is very important. That's why I'm standing here today. Thank you so much for all that you do. Thank you, Dr. V. Good luck with your retirement, whenever that may be. We appreciate you. It's not an easy job, neither is being a school board member. Thank you. Thank you. Any more comments from the audience? Look, as board president, I feel a need to make some comments. And look, I
088hear your concerns. I have concerns, too. This is brand new. This is something that we have never experienced before. And I felt when Dr. Vuoro made his announcement two months ago, knowing that we had an election coming up, knowing that we had an experienced board, term limiting off That we were this board was in a tough position Look on a personal note since last month. I have never felt with any suggestion or any idea or any Recommendation from anyone. I've never thought of it in a selfish way. I don't really care how it impacts me. I don't care how It impacts this board. I only care how it impacts our school community. Now, when you get elected, there's a learning curve involved in this. And I think the rest of this board can attest to
089that. To have an individual with the experience, with the knowledge, with the professionalism, as Dr. Vuoron, to... Moving into an advisory role to assist with this brand new transition adds value to this process. Look, listen, I plan on being on the board in January, but I can't guarantee that. I can't predict the future. But for me to hear recently, hear talk about the new board should do this. the new board should do that is insulting to me. What you see up here is the duly elected school board of this parish, elected by the people in their communities, elected by the people in this parish to make tough decisions. As of right now, that new board, they have no rights. They have no say so. And I'm not going to keep my duties down the road.
090I have an obligation to the people in this community to do what I think is right only in the best interest of this school district. And that's what I'm going to do. This is not your time to speak, ma'am. And listen, quite frankly, and quite frankly, I think it would be irresponsible on our part that if this current board did not select the next superintendent. Okay, like I talked to you all, I've talked to you all and I brought this point up. If we go and hire a new superintendent and a new board come in in January and they can't get along with that new superintendent, are we going to cut him loose? Are we going to continue paying his salary out for two years? You're just gonna hold on to him if he's a
091bad person. We're just gonna hold on to him and the new members, the new people, just gonna have to deal with it. The good news is that if this board does select the new superintendent, you can only give... But he may not get along with the new board that we're gonna have. Well, I hope that, you know, this is a professional organization and that people would try to work together. I'm not for it. Mario. Ms. Laws. Thank you. I thank the community for coming. There's, as I look at this, there's pros and cons for new and old. I'm going to just mention a few. For the new school board, the pros for the new school board is you're going to have a fresh perspective. They're going to have a willingness of new ideas. And they
092may improve public confidence if the voters won't change. Now the cons for the new board will be that they may lack the experience of evaluating a superintendent and the loss of knowledge of both board and superintendent leadership change together. But the pros and cons for the old board, you got experienced members and understand the district strength and weakness. They can better access whether the candidate fit the district culture. But the cons is that they may favor a familiar candidate over innovative leaders. Existing alliance or loyalties may influence the search. They may overlook fresh ideas from outside the district. But the key question is, is the hiring process transparent and focused on students? Will a superintendent have the stable support long enough to succeed? Usually the average superintendent search take three to six months. If you
093involve a professional firm, it could be a little longer. But I speak in support of the community who feels the new board should be able to select the next superintendent. And they feel that for several reasons. The last superintendents we've had, I've been through three. The last superintendent we have, we were set back for years. We had one superintendent made a goal that would be 15 ranking school district in the state of Louisiana. We're in the upper 20s, maybe in the 30s. And then the other one was that our current superintendent, and I have to say that Dr. V has done well in regards to... putting some foundation back in place, bringing back accountability in the district. We've been, we like that over the years, but we still have a long way to go. Academically,
094we have some challenges. We've had some improvement, but we still have some challenges. And I want this board to remember that we don't have to rush this process because this is the most important that I feel. is a task of a school board member, selecting their superintendent. And so I feel that the new board give them an opportunity to take, if they need assistance, as mentioned by someone earlier, we have great supervisors in here. We have great... Staff here that could assist you have Some coming back board members if possible they may make it back So I think that we as a board should consider having the new board Select the next superintendent. Thank you. I have a comment that's all so I know when I was elected as a school board member I was
095elected to represent the voters in District G. And that's exactly what I plan on doing. So I've been speaking to a bunch of people in my district. I think if I do anything other than that, I'll be overstepping my boundaries. So I'm opposed to it. The people in my district are opposed to it. Thank you. Thank you. Any more comments from the board? Mr. Abath? Thank you, Mr. McLaughlin. Everybody has good comments, both sides, point of views. Some of the questions that was asked, we've never had a term limited board. That's why anything like this has never happened before. When I first got elected 20 years ago, I was talking to Ms. Laws. It was Mr. Barrow, and I think he was only here for 10 months, and we was in the process of hiring
096a new superintendent. I'll be honest. I was grateful for the other 13 board members that had been up there at the time we had 15 because I didn't have a clue what was going on. I was trying to learn my role as a board member, which probably took me about two years because I didn't speak much up here for two years. I just tried to listen and learn. So, I mean. The way I feel, we have a great board up here now. I've said it time and time again, we may not agree on everything, but we are professional about everything. And I do think this board is the right choice to select a new superintendent. Thank you. Any more comments from the board? Ms. Soraj, machine, please. Online voting is now open. For the record,
097Ms. Higdon, what is your vote? Yes. Passes 6-Yay, 3-Nay. Thank you. Next up is motion to adjourn. Motion by Ms. Holmes, second by Mr. Abar. Thank you. This meeting is adjourned.