001Calling the meeting to order this April 14th, 2026. This time we will have roll call, Ms. Amanda. Mr. Anthony. Mr. Westmoreland. Present. Ms. Abrams. >> Here. Mr. Dominguez. >> Present. Mr. Duncan. Mr. Moore. Mr. Piazza. Present. Ms. Richards. Mr. Toler. >> Here. Mr. President, I'd like to put in the record that was it three of our members are at a conference along with the superintendent. Just want to put that as a note that they're not really absent, they are serving. Magnet school at conference. All right. I'm ask Ms. Robin Abrams and ask everyone to stand and lead us in the pledge of allegiance. 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. Y'all.
002This time we'll consider approval of the school board minutes for March 17th, 2026. Do I hear a motion? >> So moved. Second. Motion by Mr. Piazza, second by Mr. Toler. Any discussion? No discussion. We'll call for vote. Mr. Piazza. Yes. Mr. Westmoreland. Yes. Ms. Abrams. Yes. Mr. Toler. >> Yes. Mr. Dominguez. Yes. All right. Moving on, consider approval of the DRC committee minutes from March 17th, 2026. Do I hear a motion? Motion to accept. Second. >> Motion by Mr. Mingus, second by Mr. Piazza. Any discussion? There's no discussion, I'll call for a vote. Mr. Piazza. Yes. Mr. Westmoreland. Yes. Ms. Abrams. Yes. Mr. Toler. Yes. And Mr. Mingus. Yes. All right, now >> Now we'll move on to academic update. Our One Trek missions. Dr. Few Sale. Good evening, board members. And we're going to
003do the recognition a little bit different um tonight because we're going to start with a video. But I just want to remind everyone and in anyone watching later, our One Trek program was a new initiative this year. It's for kindergarten students only. And they get 15 minutes. That's where we That's the goal. It can It can go up to 20 minutes sometimes, it's a little less of foundational reinforcement every day from a One Trek instructor. And seven of our One Trek instructors are being recognized tonight. We have a few of them who couldn't make it, but um before we start the video, I just want to say and some of them have their family members here. We did not force anyone to become a One Trek instructor. We put out a call of, "Hey, who's
004interested in doing something new, maybe a little you know, different, little scary, but who's willing to dip their toe in with us because there's extra training that goes on with it. There's uh your role looks a little different as a paraprofessional. And so we had many of our paras that reached out and said, "We're very interested in doing this." And our implementation of the One Trek program is only as good as the people that are here tonight that we're going to that we're going to talk about, we're going to recognize. So what you're going to see here, it's a 4-minute clip. Once put this clip together of just the instructors that we're recognizing tonight. So, you're going to see the students that these once instructors work with every day. You might not see their faces,
005but you're going to see the kids that they work with. And then I'm going to come back and tell you while we have seven of them that are being recognized tonight. So, if you'll play our 4-minute video. Matt did smelled a fish. Good job. Sam said and Alice said fish. See, Matt tried the fish and and leaf. leaf leaf Yeah, leaf. See, Sam drew me a log. See, a snake see Matt at last Sam said I know. fish We melt that and snake. That is so mean. Sam mean What did Eve just say? That is so mean. mean Bye. Bye. I must free the dog and leave the cat. As said as a star, trick. We can scare the dog and and and and give up. You see? Start from the beginning. >> Evil Captain
006Rod sailed close to them. Okay, where did Evil Captain Rod sail, or where did he sail? He sailed close to them. >> Uh-huh. The captain roared. Roared roared. That's how it's ooh. Roared roared. Roar roar roar. Then Mom said, "Remember, it is great to have a boat like this, but it is luck It is luck that will save this team. And the And farewell." Go ahead. The sparks jumped to the stick and made it glow. Alice held the stick and scratched her chin. We must investigate to see what spells the stick can cast. He waved the waved the stick and a frog hopped up over his head. It made him feel very frightened. Mhm. He jumped on him. And so he was feeling Very good. That was very good, Christian. So, those are kindergarten students
007reading at that at the level and and if you notice it moves to comprehension. So, they're not just reading or once instructors are asking them questions. There's um almost 200 cycles. Most of our kindergarteners will not finish all of the cycles, so we're already looking at next year, but we have some that we've had to buy additional books for because they've gone for further than what we projected in the beginning of the year. So, now I want to tell you what's special about Of course, we have over 88 once instructors in our district. There are over 350 once instructors in the nation. There are 34 school districts in the nation. We're still the only one in Louisiana, but that's about to change because as people have noticed our data and and I think Miss Tilly
008mentioned this last time, our kindergarten teachers already do a wonderful job implementing our tier one curriculum with fidelity and high quality. What's happened with once is adding that on top of it, we've seen at least a 7% increase in the performance of our students at the same time as last year by adding this. That just up saying and it strengthens our students as they continue to move on. So, out of 34 school districts in the nation, 351 instructors, Tangipahoa Parish School System has seven one instructors in the top 10 in meeting the minutes with their students. That's fidelity, that's consistency, that means they're here, that means the students here, that means they're not missing their time in order to get where they are. So, we have seven in the top 10. I mean, that's just
009amazing to me. AND SO, what what I would like to do now is we're going to call our instructors up by school and ask them to come up so that we can get a picture with them. And then a few of them would like to share with you, those who are comfortable, would like to share with you a little bit about what they see, what the program's done for them, and what they see it doing for children. So, first we have Miss I'm going to turn this way now so I can see y'all. Is that okay? From Champ Cooper, we have Miss Olivia White. AND WE HAVE A AWARD FOR YOU WITH CANDY CUZ I know your schools gave you certificates, but we'll give it to you so you don't have to hold it at
010the end. Um from Spring Creek Elementary, we have two they could not be here tonight unless they came in and I don't know, I think both of them had a prior engagement. Miss Amber Holden from Spring Creek Elementary, one of our top 10, and Miss Kaylin McDaniel. And I still want to recognize them. From Loranger Elementary, Miss Donna Gross who could not be with us tonight, and Miss Jerry Lynn Sumrall. Who you saw in the video. From Midway, we have Miss Susan Galloforo. And from Parent Early Learning Center, we have Mr. Kerry Siatat. And I'm not sure who would like to come take a picture with any of our or Mr. Westmoreland. Thank you, sir. She can go over here, maybe. Or to pick up Miss Lisa. The important jingo in the room. I'm talking
011to the best jingo. Uh for sure. Yes, sir. So, before they say come as if you are a family member or a school um family member of our awardees here, if you'll stand up because I know the time they put in is time they're not with you or you're supporting them at school, so we want to recognize you. And whoever's willing, I know I have one willing person at least. Mr. Siatat said he would. Um if any of you would like to share. Sure. Well, after working 35 years in the chemical field at Dow Chemical and retiring, um I don't think I ever would have thought that I'd be doing this. Uh but I I have this lady that I've been married to for 53 years that I said, "You can't just sit at home."
012So, I started subbing. I did custodial. I did inclusion classes. And when this came about, it seemed interesting. Uh, I think I've learned more than the kindergarteners have. You have to Excuse me, cuz I'm very emotional person. But, they make me a better man every day. Okay? I get more hugs, more I love yous than I get from my kids. Yep. As I tell them all, my kids are grown, my grandkids are grown. They don't need us anymore. These kids do. Uh, but one of the things I've learned the most and I try to impart to them is, if you really stop and think about it, what would we be like if we didn't know how to read? Math is out the window, science is out the window, history's out the window. Just keep going.
013Reading is an adventure is what I try to tell them. And I not only try to make sure they're comprehending, but I try to make them see what they're reading about. I've come to know Alice, Matt, Sam, and Eve quite quite intimately. I always found it funny that they named the snake Eve. But, uh, we'll just leave that alone. But, I will tell you this, kids are reading. Okay? Not perfectly, but they're reading. That's amazing for a kindergartner. When I finished kindergarten, I knew my ABCs. That's it. It's a long time ago. I'll be 74 this summer. So, it's uh it's it is an honor to do what I do. Try to top that. I'm not going to try and top it. I've been working in education for 39 years. The first time I taught
014a child to read was at Tanglewood Elementary in Central 35 years ago. And the baby couldn't read and I I just stuck with it. And the first time that baby said his first word, his world opened up. I have been in love with reading specifically since then. And I told my principals before we got once, "Just give me a reading lab. Put me with each student 15 minutes. That's all we need. But it's got to be every single day. And it's got to be consistent. It's not pulling and doing and when this program came up and I was asked to apply for it, it's like, what? And my husband laughs because he says, "You helped pray this program into being." And I told Nathan and them, the people that are over this, I really believe
015this is an answer to prayer. You guys, I have been working specifically with fourth graders for years. My kindergarteners this year, and if you would have told me that I would have loved working with littles as much as I did my big kids, I wouldn't have believed you. I love being with these babies. I have kindergarteners reading better and we're not even finished with the year yet than a lot of my fourth graders. This This program works. I hope we keep this initiative. I hope we bring it on. I hope we get a lot more. If there's anybody out there that's thinking about Well, cuz I was thinking about retiring and starting a tutor program because I love reading that much. I don't have to do that now. It's built into my job. And I'm
016telling you if there's anybody out there who's considering I don't know what to do. I you know, please get do whatever you need to do and come on as a once instructor. You won't regret it. It changes the lives of children because math is important. Social studies important. All of it's important, but if the babies can't read and I'm telling you they're reading. Investigate is just a small word. We have five- and six-syllable words that kindergarteners are reading fluently. So, I believe in the program. I love it. Thank you for letting me be a part of it. WELL, I CAN'T SAY IT ANY BETTER. THIS IS I KNOW YOUR school's recognized you, but here's a little game on, challenge accepted, and some candy. Take that and thank y'all so very much. Miss Rozelle, could you
017give us a like um the video showed the significance and the little letters, big letters, what's silent, what's not? I mean, what is Why was the letters different and the the accent marks here and there? If I could tell you what all of those things meant, I would have a It's I know it's how they know how to pronounce things. And by the way, all of our once instructors, they also get coached by a coach. So, that What's happening is they're recording the lesson, but these individuals get coached and they're watching our kids to give little tweaks. But I mean, it's a it's amazing. The program's out of Stanford and um it started there. And the other school districts who they don't always make the commitment. We were talking about um if you don't mind
018me sharing, uh Ms. Summerall said, "I don't know, I mean, I'm just doing what I'm supposed to do. Like, how is everybody not getting in this?" Because it's still in the consistency. And also, they also get scored, and they have some of the top scores. This data was only through March 18th, by the way. So, there's no telling where they are now. But, some of the other school districts only do certain students. They don't do all the students like we're doing. Um, and they also don't, um, they don't do some of the other extra professional development and tutoring that we do. We have somebody come in and work with them. So, anyway, thank you all, and thank you for sharing what you did about the program. And we'll see you back in May, I'M SURE.
019I NEED Y'ALL TO COME do that at my house for me, cuz there were some words in there that I don't think I could have read. But, I I do want to echo what one of them said about the fun- the fundamental importance of reading. Somebody said that their fourth grader doesn't read like some of their kindergarteners. When I was a high school teacher, I had a junior that couldn't read. And that is throughout our school system, throughout the state. A lot of our youth cannot fundamentally read. And what happens is they shut down the farther they go, cuz just like us, when we don't have a skill, it's harder for us to learn it when we get older. I applaud what y'all are doing for our young ones, especially kindergarten, and setting that foundation
020in that eager to learn how to read. Guys, I bragged about the ONCE program actually, probably 2 months ago, I was somewhere and I said, "We have a program that is actually focused on reading, and I think we're the only one in the state." And that was just a tipping point for our school system, that we are dedicated to help kids read. Just at the funnel, just fundamental trying to get them to read. So, thank y'all from the bottom of my heart. Thank y'all for what y'all do every day with them little ones and there's a special place in heaven for y'all because the patience y'all must have. All right, yes. Thank y'all. Moving on to board actions, consider approval to award bid on Loranger Elementary Auditorium renovation. Yes, yes, and more yes. Mr. Mack
021I believe I heard um Ms. Abrams make that motion. I did. I think I did. Ms. Abrams. We haven't made a motion yet. >> We'll make it together. Yeah. All right, we had a we had a very good response um and this is for a renovation. Uh it will have uh full ADA uh compliance. Uh the bathrooms that are in the basement are being brought up to floor level. Um the it's going to have pack units um window units. Mhm. PTACs. >> PTACs. Going to have PTACs uh that we're doing with all of our facilities now. So, we recommend accepting the low bid of Brunt Construction for $3,082,700. Lowest It was the lowest qualified bid. Lowest qualified bid. Yes. Make a motion. I second. Motion by Ms. Abrams, second by Mr. Piazzi. Any discussion? And
022we're just really renovating. We're not We're bringing it up to code. We're bringing everything back to the nostalgia of the building. We're not >> repairing. Right. But what I'm saying though is I know a lot of there was a lot of different talks behind the scenes, but we're just putting in everything back to code, repairing everything, and bringing the building nostalgia look that it currently has now. As much as we could do, yes. >> Yep. We're not changing anything on the outside of it as far as the um integrity of the the history of the building. It will It will look the same from the outside except for there will be PTACs. Yeah, right. Perfectly fine with that. Right. Okay. And and there will be a wheelchair ramp on the side and on the back
023that don't currently >> And no big holes in the roof that's caving in, right? That's going to be taken care of. Okay. So, everyone out there It's getting >> who's been asking, it's getting done. The Plant Auditorium is getting done. We still got to vote on it, but yeah, I think so. >> frame? Is there a time frame? Yeah, is there >> Do we have a time frame? 300 days. 300 days, okay. 300 days, Ms. Lisa. I got you. From notice from notice to proceed? Yeah, so it's going to be safe just say 360 days to be safe cuz it's going to take a little to do the contract, get their middle ones or They're within a year. Oh, contract's ready to go, so. All right. 300 days. Call the vote. >> 301 days. Any
024other discussion? Now, we'll call for a vote. Mr. Westmoreland? Yes. Ms. Abrams? 300% yes. Ms. Dominguez? Yes. Mr. Piazza? Absolutely. Mr. Toler? Yes. Motion passes. And since there's not a lot of us only here, anybody got any wish lists that we could do with only five members on the board tonight? Any wish lists I got? We can make everything happen tonight. Huh? We can just do it all. That's what I'm saying. There's only We got We got all the the power right now. Unfortunately, there's nothing else on the agenda. Dang. So, we'll start with Ms. Abrams and see if she has any comments she would like to make. The thing we hope everyone had a um a great Easter and Strawberry Festival went off. Um one thing I'd like to say, there's so much negativity
025out there right now with um what people perceive as being at the festival this year as far as how many guns were confiscated and all that kind of stuff. I I was there Friday, Saturday. I didn't go Sunday, but I was there Friday and Saturday. It was like it used to be, and Rose will probably agree with me. There was families out there picnicking. There was There was no trouble at the Strawberry Festival itself. The things you see on social media, don't believe it. I mean, yes, they did confiscate guns, but they did their job. That's what they were there to do, to make sure that things didn't happen. And you know, I want to commend the Strawberry Festival board for keeping all of our families safe around there and all of the work, hard
026work, and efforts that they did to make sure that security was in place. So many officers from across the state, whether it be with Louisiana State Police or others, did an amazing job to keep all of our kids safe that were at the fairgrounds. And I I really want to just thank the Strawberry Festival for having a great event this year. Couple quick things. Of course, today we had a tragic event, a domestic event at one of our schools. All that's still the investigation still playing out, but my prayers go out to the family. Prayers go out to the school. It triggers conversation, but that's not a good word. It sparks conversations at work today because people were asking about the alternative school. You know, and first thing out of their mouth was, "Well, that's
027the school where all the bad kids go." And I'm like, "No. There's a lot of good kids that go to that school." And I told them about the school, about the renovations, and about the things, and the misinformation that's out there is just plentiful. So, anytime that we get an opportunity to explain to people the benefits of the alternative school, yes, a tragic event happened in front of our school, but that could happen anywhere, unfortunately, and too many times it does, but um It's not a detention or jail. People think that it's a >> No, it is not. It is a alternate side of education. For kids that need an alternative way to learn. And they get the help they need there and then hopefully go back and transition back to their traditional environment. So,
028but things like this will will ignite those conversations and give us an opportunity to talk about it. Number two. I had one of the Civil Air Patrol students months ago stop me in a restaurant and ask if they could wear their stoles as part of graduation. So, I reached out to Ms. Stilly. She put it forth to y'all. Y'all worked it out. I called Ms. Stilly back this week just to confirm that all that was in place and it was and then I called Coach Vassallo on my end to make sure that it gotten back to the principals and it had. So, I appreciate the flow of information from a student requesting something Mhm. to going through the process and getting approved by the administration. Doesn't sound like a big deal to us, but when
029you're a student, especially in the Civil Air Patrol, when they spend 4 years in that program and they do great things in it, to them that is as important as a beta stole or honor stole or anything else. So, I'm glad that this year we're going to be able to recognize those graduating seniors. When you see that camouflage or whatever it may be, blue, whatever it's going to be, that signifies the fact that they've been a CAP member in our program. So, great things to see on that. Uh Missing those that are at the conference tonight, but I'm sure they're getting recognized on the magnet side and also presenting. So, good things happening there. And last but not least, the world needs more Mr. Carries. I wish he was still here for me to for
030for him to hear me say that. To think and I don't know his whole story, but just seeing his passion would love to see more retirees that whatever industry they're in Come back. come back and and help us in our classrooms because they have a lot to offer. Whether they have an education degree or not, they have a lot to offer. And to see that passion, I would love for my daughter to have him as a teacher. Whatever class it may be. So, we have a lot of Mr. Carries in our school system. We have a lot of those, you know, male and female teachers that care and love, you know. I saw one of them tearing up back there earlier when when he was doing this. So, um hats off to all our teachers
031for doing a great job. That's it. Thank you, Mr. Toler. Mr. Mingus. Uh well, first I'll I will congratulate the Ponchatoula Strawberry Festival for having a great festival. I I don't know that the money was there. I haven't got a reports. I do know Thursday night, family night, they did really well. There were a lot less people, but uh with an abundance of caution, the decision was made to shut the festival down this year at 8:00, which was already going to impact some of our funds for our fund, you know, our organizations, but I think it's a great festival. I know there's always issues, but in today's society, it's it's kind of scary to go anywhere. So, I I enjoyed it. Uh went back and forth, you know, to the different events and visiting with
032a lot of our like our softball teams and the teams that we have that are supporting our schools. The people who like the Charlie Landry group that gives thousands of dollars every year to our students. All of those groups, it's important. It's important that we support our local festivals. And uh I I do hate the negativity. Uh I did see some comments about the sponsorships that were offered that people didn't like the sponsorships that the board chose to take money from, but that money goes into helping our community. And if you don't participate because you don't like a particular sponsor, you're only hurting your local community, in my opinion. And I I you know, I felt like that was just a sad thing that some people wouldn't go for that reason, but I thought it
033was safe. I felt safe. I I saw many like Robin said, many many families out there having a great time. The parade was amazing. There was there There so many different um community law enforcement agencies there that helped us and I I really felt like it was a great thing. So, I I hope that everybody made money and I hope that some of those booths will come back next year. So, because that money is important to our community. It's very important. So, my other thing is we haven't had a meeting since we all went to state conference, but for the record, that needs to be, uh, noted that all of our board members were able to go except Mr. Toro and Mr. Duncan. And we all received our credits for our CLUs, which is important.
034Um, I enjoyed it. I thought it was great. It was very cold. Uh, it was cold. Very cold. I learned a lot even though I'm a veteran of board member. You know, you can always learn and it's always good to go. So, uh, just for the record, make sure we get our credits listed and, um, we thank you for that, Ms. Amanda. And that's good for me. Thank you, Ms. Mangus. Mr. Pierson. You know, I'm going to echo what Mr. Toro said about people coming at the end of their journey in their workforce and when they retire to come and and volunteer in our school systems because the true statement is is it takes a village to raise kids. And that means all walks of life. That man said he was in the plants. He
035was in plant work for a long time. Well, guess what? We got a lot of young men trying to get into the plants that I'm sure could use his guidance as these they're going through that walk of life. I think now more than ever what happened today, which were I'm not going to drag on about, it was an unfortunate situation. My prayer goes out to that family and to the student. And to all the things that are being negatively said at the festival, the truth of it is though is our youth has changed, guys. There's a lot of problems going on with our young people and it's going to take everybody working together to get it fixed. And I mean that in all walks of life. I mean, it's going to take people really digging
036deep and putting a foot down and helping these kids out to get us in a better place. I mean, we're behind because of COVID. There was mental health breakdown in that time period. We all know where kids were suffering and had no avenue to turn. They didn't have their teacher in front of them. They didn't have that special friend that they could talk to because they were shut up. That we're still seeing that repercussion in our communities right now. If anything that we learned from both this weekend and from today is we have to be prepared and be proactive in what we're doing with these young folk. All the safety measures that we have put in place in the last four to five years showed today that they were they were we did what we
037needed to do as a board and I can't be more proud of everybody that sits behind here and our administrative staff for putting that first when we could have put it last. And I hope we continue to get better at it because it shows that we are going to need it. And that everybody all that training we did that the teachers knew what to do. The SRO knew what to do. I was very proud that that that's how we responded to it. Um but it's going to take a village to get these kids back to where they need to be. So, if you're a young man, a young woman and you're feeling a certain way, please reach out to an adult, reach out to that special teacher, to that counselor, to the principal, to the
038vice, whoever you feel comfortable. If you need help with some emotion, please reach out to somebody and get the help you need. There's nothing to be ashamed of. We are all educators and as you heard tonight, we do it for the love of you. Because we love you and we love what you what you provide to our community. You're the next generation and we need them to be healthy and on the right path. And like I said, I am very proud of the things we put together as this board and like I said, I know that some of my predecessors put some things, too. So, I want to thank them, but we have really focused on security, discipline, and trying to get consistency back across all campuses and all, both big and small. And I
039think that showed today that what we've been doing is working, and I hope we get to move forward with it even more. Thank you, Mr. Piazza. We have Mr. Trent Anthony that joined us. Do you have anything you'd like to Yeah, just this time. I will. So, I want the record to reflect that I made it. So, but no, I haven't missed a meeting in my four years, so I hated to not, you know, to be tardy for this, but yeah, I I did make it, so I haven't missed a meeting yet in four years. And um Did you get your tardy slip from the front office? >> ask him to send it to fill that out for me. Um there was no secretary back there. Dang. But no, I did just kind of want
040to echo what Mr. Piazza said, you know, um and one thing I noticed today, the public was uh really patient, and I I think because they could see everything that we've invested into security and stuff, and and how well everybody responded. In addition to that, um including our our administrative staff here, um I got to hear a lot of what Mr. Genko was able to comment on it and uh Chief Bergeron. So, um don't think we take this lightly, because this is kind of all I know um Joey and I, when we got on the board, that's kind of was our major focus. Like, safety, discipline, not saying that wasn't y'all's focus, too, but that's kind of what we centered on. And um it's a I don't want to say it paid off, but we
041had a we had a catastrophe today, and it I don't know if it could have been handled any better. And um obviously, if there's anything that we can do going forward to make sure nothing like that happens again, we'll we'll invest time and and effort into that, also. So, but that's it. But thank you all for having me, and I'm sorry I'm late. All right. Thank everyone for coming out tonight. You know, uh I think the Watts recognition, we're the only one in the state, and I think uh we're doing an excellent job, and I'm very proud of that. And we're going to have a meeting next Thursday, I mean next Tuesday night will be our second meeting for the month of April. And with that, we're going to adjourn on the meeting.