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St. Tammany Parish School Board

Minutes Committee As A Whole Meeting

Business Affairs and Administrative

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May 2, 2013

The St. Tammany Parish School Board met as a Committee As A Whole in the C. J. Schoen Board Room, Covington, Louisiana, Thursday, May 2, 2013.

On roll call, there were present:, Chairman, Michael J. Dirmann and Members, Neal M.

Hennegan, Elizabeth B. Heintz, Stephen J. “Jack” Loup, III, Charles T. Harrell, Roanne V. Tipton, Willie B. Jeter, Peggy H. Seeley, Ronald “Ron” Bettencourtt, Robert R. “Bob” Womack, James “Ronnie” Panks, Sr., John C. Lamarque, Ray A. Alfred, and Mary K. Bellisario.

Absent: Robin P. Mullett. Invocation and the Pledge of Allegiance were led at the Committee As A Whole for

Human Resources and Education meeting prior to this meeting.

Mr. Dirmann stated Mr. Wayne Guirovich, Post Vice-Commander of American Legion Post 415, Mandeville, LA., requested time on the agenda.

Mr. Guirovich stated he spoke to School Board Members a few months back about the Boys

State Program, the Girls State Program, and the Oratorical Scholarship Program. He stated the Boys State Program and Girls State Program would be held in June and the students representing each school were being selected right now. He stated the Oratorical Scholarship Program was a big program with large scholarships, and the literature was geared to the 2013-2014 school year. He asked Board Members to look over the information on the scholarship and share this information with principals. He asked for questions.

Mr. Folse stated Mrs. Peggy Sharpe, Fine Arts Supervisor, was put in charge of making sure

principals knew how important these programs were to the System, and the System would do its best to get good participation.

Mr. Dirmann stated that the next agenda item was the approval of minutes for the

Committee As A Whole Meeting held April 4, 2013. He asked if there were any additions or corrections to the minutes. It was moved by Mr. Womack, seconded by Mr. Jeter, to accept the minutes.

Mr. Dirmann asked if there were any public comments. There being none, the motion

carried unanimously. Mr. Dirmann called on Mr. William Brady, Assistant Superintendent, who stated the

Energy Management Program, was one of the most successful programs working in the School System, which was a self-generated, self-organized, and led program from within the St. Tammany Parish School System. He stated this Program gained the School System national recognition for its energy savings and cost avoidance. He was happy to report tonight that this Program continued to produce tremendous amounts of cost avoidance in energy consumption, including but not limited to payments to Cleco and Washington-St. Tammany Electric. He stated the School System, because of the hard work by employees and students, was awarded the Energy Star Leader Award again this year. He stated over 20 percent cost avoidance was obtained this year which was unprecedented in the School System. He asked Superintendent Folse to join him at the podium to receive on behalf of all the employees and students the Energy Star Leader Award for 2013.

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Mr. Dirmann called on Mr. William Brady who introduced Mrs. Pat Farris, Supervisor of

Food Services, to give a PowerPoint presentation on St. Tammany Parish Public Schools School Food Service 2012-13 Awards.

(A School Food Service 2012-13 Awards PowerPoint Presentation was given by Mrs.

Pat Farris, Supervisor of Food Services and attached to the minutes as “Attachment 1.”) Mr. Dirmann called on Mr. William Brady who stated the rededication of the Harrison

Curriculum Center was one of the best ceremonies of this type that he attended in his forty-six years of working with the School System. He stated many individuals knew of the fantastic and monumental contributions to education in St. Tammany Parish that Dr. Harrison had made and this building would live on forever as a great example and tribute to his dedication to the young people of this parish, especially to the Covington area.

(A PowerPoint presentation showing before and after slides of the Harrison Curriculum

Center renovation was given by Mr. William Brady, Assistant Superintendent, and attached to the minutes as “Attachment 2.”)

(Slides were shown of the rededication of the Harrison Curriculum Center.) (A video developed by Channel 13 commemorating this event and the life of Dr. Harrison

was shown.) Mrs. Heintz stated that of all the renovations and rededication ceremonies she attended, the

Harrison Curriculum Center was truly moving. She stated when the Channel 13 video came on, the alumni of the school who were in the audience started singing the alma mater. She said the former teachers and students were so proud, and the community pride was so obvious that day. She stated it was an amazing renovation. Mr. Dirmann called on Mr. William Brady, Assistant Superintendent, who stated that the Monthly Construction Report was included in the Board Members’ packets, and Ms. Cameron Tipton and staff were present to answer questions. Mr. Hennegan asked for an update on the Brock and Woodlake Elementary School projects. Ms. Cameron Tipton stated both jobs were progressing. She stated at Woodlake Elementary School the contractor was looking towards getting the gym completed this summer. She stated the work going on in Wing Five (5) would continue into the next school year but was currently underway. She stated at Brock Elementary School good progress was being made as the roof deck was on, the brick was nearing completion on the exterior, and the contractor was working to rough in the plumbing and electrical. She stated she did not think the project would be completed for the opening of school but felt it would be sometime in the first semester. Mr. Dirmann called on Mr. Brady who stated that the Maintenance and Custodial Report was included in the Board Members’ packets, and Mr. Richmond was present to answer questions. There were none. Mr. Dirmann called on Mr. Brady who stated that the Risk Management Report was included in the Board Members’ packets and Mr. Kirt Gaspard was present to answer questions. There were none. Mr. Dirmann called on Mr. Brady who stated that the Transportation Report was included in the Board Members’ packets, and Mrs. Cathy Aime and staff were present to answer questions. There were none. Mr. Dirmann called on Superintendent Folse who stated included in Board Members’ packets was an Intergovernmental Agreement that would be required if Board Members decided to join the District Cooperative of Louisiana. He stated many Board Members attended the session at

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the LSBA (Louisiana School Board Association) and reported back to him that they were interested in joining this organization. He stated this agreement was given to Board Members for discussion and consideration and would follow the Board’s wishes. Moved by Mrs. Heintz, seconded by Mr. Womack to join the District Cooperative of Louisiana. Mrs. Heintz stated Board Members heard the presentation from Vermilion Parish Public School System representatives Mr. Jeffery Hand and Mr. Jerome Puyau, Superintendent, explaining that the District Cooperative of Louisiana would be a pooling of resources from public school districts across Louisiana. She stated approximately 20 districts had joined at this point. She stated Mrs. Amiee Woessner, Supervisor of Administration, and Superintendent Folse had attended meetings about the District Cooperative. She stated the focus for this year was on technology, equipment and curriculum, and possibly securing better pricing for some of those things. She stated it seemed like a group of professional educators meeting to problem solve and talk about some of the issues in education these days, as well as look at national trends, which were some of the things being done in St. Tammany Parish already. She looked at the District Cooperative as being a broader network. She stated after seeing the LSBA presentation, she asked Superintendent Folse to check into it further and obtain the documents. She felt it would be a good for the district to join the District Cooperative. She stated because the System had over 5,000 students it would be a very low cost to the district of just $2,000.00. Mr. Bettencourtt asked how many other districts were in this Cooperative. Mrs. Heintz responded at this time there were about twenty (20). Superintendent Folse responded there were other school systems that had joined and the latest was Central Community. Mr. Bettencourtt stated the $2,000.00 fee should be easily recouped. He did not see the cost as being a big problem. Mr. Womack agreed with Mr. Bettencourtt and Mrs. Heintz that there was power in numbers and if it saved the district money, he did not see how the Board could go wrong because the expense was not that great. He stated with the things being faced statewide it certainly would not hurt from that standpoint to have camaraderie with other Boards across the State. Superintendent Folse stated to Board Members, in his opinion, the decision to join the District Cooperative should not be based upon saving $2,000.00 in quantity purchases but rather Board Members should base their decision upon if they believed this would be an opportunity and avenue to share with other school districts regarding common problems, common solutions, as well as learn from others what was going on across the State. He stated the System already benefits from group purchases such as with Louis Boullion and the technology purchases. He stated the System could gain from hearing best practices from other school systems. Mrs. Seeley asked if the fee was a one time fee. Superintendent Folse stated it was $2,000.00 per year with no commitment past the one year. Superintendent Folse stated that if the Board chose to join, he hoped the Board would ask him to report back close to the end of the year’s time to determine if participating in the District Cooperative was beneficial to the School System. Mr. Dirmann stated he agreed with Superintendent Folse. He stated in looking at our purchasing practices he did not think joining the District Cooperative would benefit the System that much by looking at the $2,000.00. He felt the System could share and start to work together across the State with all of the different School Boards. He stated there were roughly 70 school districts within the State of Louisiana and twenty (20) had already joined, and he assumed many more may join. He stated if it did not work out, the System was only in it for a year so it was not a lifetime commitment being made.

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Mr. Dirmann asked if there were any public comments. Mr. Sean Mickal, parent, stated without the benefit of the workshop or presentations from the District Cooperative, he saw an article in the Times Picayune newspaper saying that this topic would be discussed at tonight’s meeting. Mr. Mickal was wondering who the group was. He asked if the System already had the ability to do group purchasing why even spend the $2,000.00. He stated if the System had this knowledge to spread, just spread it for free. He asked if the group was a for-profit or non-profit. Mrs. Bellisario responded the Vermillion Parish School Board was doing this in-house. She stated she attended the workshop in Marksville and there had been several mandates passed down to local school systems from the State such as with required professional development. She stated if School Systems could together produce the professional development resources, and it was much cheaper than all of the local school systems producing it individually. Mr. Mickal stated he opposed giving the District Cooperative the $2,000.00. Superintendent Folse stated that was up for discussion and valued his input. He stated he wanted to be clear with regard to the quote Mr. Mickal referenced he made, that the $2,000.00 did not matter. He stated that was not what he said. Mr. Mickal stated that was his mistake. Superintendent Folse stated there was already a State contract for bidding that the System participated in. He asked the Board not to make the decision on that basis because that was not a component to him. Superintendent Folse stated he appreciated Mr. Mickal sharing his thoughts. Mr. Hennegan stated he understood Mr. Mickal’s concerns because he did not hear the presentation. He stated many of the School Boards felt they were under attack from the State Department of Education and this was just an opportunity to get together to pool ideas and resources. He felt it was more of an association of School Boards. Superintendent Folse asked if Mr. Mickal was interested in meeting to discuss further the information he received.

The motion carried unanimously. Mr. Dirmann called on Ms. Fortenberry, Director of Business Affairs, who stated the Monthly Purchasing Report was included in the Board Members’ packets and Mrs. Stevens, Director of Purchasing, was available to answer questions. There were none. With no further business to come before the Committee As A Whole, Mr. Dirmann declared the meeting adjourned.

ATTACHMENT 1

ATTACHMENT 2