The Lincoln Parish School Board will meet Tuesday, May 3, 6:00 PM, Central Office, 410 South Farmerville Street.
Here is the agenda.
Archive for the ‘Lincoln Parish School Board’ Category
Lincoln Parish School Board Tuesday
05/02/2022Tax Election Tomorrow
03/25/2022Parishwide Consolidated School District No. 1 Proposition
Shall Consolidated School District No. 1 of the Parish of Lincoln, State of Louisiana (the “District”), continue to levy a ten (10) mills tax on all the property subject to taxation within said District (an estimated $4,805,400 reasonably expected at this time to be collected from the levy of the tax for an entire year), for a period of ten (10) years, beginning with the year 2023 and ending with the year 2032, for the purpose of (a) purchasing textbooks, instructional materials and equipment, (b) acquiring, maintaining and operating school buses, (c) constructing, maintaining and operating school buildings and facilities, (d) offsetting reductions in federal and state school funding, and (e) funding mandated federal and state programs?
Ruston School District No. 1 Proposition
Shall Ruston School District No. 1 of the Parish of Lincoln, State of Louisiana (the “District”), continue to levy a two and fifty-three hundredths (2.53) mills tax on all the property subject to taxation in the District (an estimated $806,800 reasonably expected at this time to be collected from the levy of the tax for an entire year), for a period of ten (10) years, commencing with the year 2024 and ending with the year 2033, for the purpose of maintaining and operating school facilities in the District, including, but not limited to, the payment of the costs of utilities?
National Merit Finalist Recognized @ LPSB
03/02/2022
Another Lincoln Parish scholar has made it to the finals of the National Merit Scholarship program.
Ruston High School (RHS) senior Jason Willis was recognized at last night’s meeting of the Lincoln Parish School Board for his merit scholarship accomplishments, and also was recognized as High School Student of the Year.
Lincoln Schools’ Communications Coordinator Brando Sutherland said Willis is editor of the school’s newspaper, the Chatterbox.
“He’s a member of the Student Council, National Honor Society, and the FBLA. He also scored 35 on the ACT,” Sutherland said.
Also recognized were Elementary Student of the Year Avery Dixon, and Junior High School Student of the Year, Melissa Lee.
In other business, the board approved the calendar for the school year 2022-2023.
Notable in the personnel report was the retirement of two administrators, Transportation Coordinator Rick Cason, and Special Education Supervisor Lisa Wilmore.
Appointed as Cason’s replacement was David “Doc” Hoefler, who most recently coached and taught at RHS.
Lincoln Parish School Board Tomorrow
02/28/2022The Lincoln Parish School Board will meet Tuesday, March 1, 6:00 PM, S.T.E.M. Center, 525 Tarbutton Road.
Here is the agenda.
Covid a no-show @ School Board Meeting
02/02/2022Maybe the most newsworthy item at last night’s meeting of the Lincoln Parish School Board was what wasn’t discussed. The word “covid” was mentioned but once in passing. No talk of elevated absenteeism, lack of substitute teachers or other personnel.
After the past several months of remote learning, curtailed schedules, and quarantines, no conversation about extensive illness in our schools is the best news we’ve heard in a while.
The meeting itself was just about as routine as it gets.
Assistive Technology Facilitator Terri Belknap reported on the progress being made on technological aids for students with learning disabilities.
One of the tools for the hearing-impaired is text-to-speech.
“That can give that student more independence. They can take that technology with them,” she said.
Belknap also talked about Bookshare, an online library for those with reading impairment disabilities like dyslexia or blindness can access books.
The personnel report had but a handful of changes.
Superintendent Ricky Durrett said that at the March board meeting the district’s teachers, principals and students of the year will be recognized.
School Board meets tonight
02/01/2022The Lincoln Parish School Board will meet tonight (Tuesday, February 1) at 6:00 PM, Lincoln Parish STEM Center, 525 Tarbutton Road.
Here is the agenda.
School Administration Confirms FLAIR Resumption
01/12/2022It’s official. Lincoln parish schools will continue to offer the Foreign Language Academic Immersion (FLAIR) program into the third grade for school year 2022-23. New kindergarten applicants will also be accepted.
Chief Academic Officer Lisa Bastion told last night’s meeting of the Lincoln Parish School Board, “After we had met with parent groups – listened to their concerns – we have also met from someone with the state department (of education) along with the coordinator of CODOFIL where the teachers come from – we have notified Corrine Nutt who is our program coordinator here in the district – she’s one of our teachers – and we’ve also notified a parent leader from the French Immersion family, to inform them that we will proceed for the 2022-23 year with French Immersion.”
She went on to say that the program will involve kindergarten through the third grade.
She added, “There are a lot of details to work out,” and “we will make sure the parents are aware” when decisions are made.
The meeting saw the unanimous election of a new board President for the coming year.
District three’s David Gullatt was elected to that post, and Lynda Henderson was re-elected as Vice-President. Gullatt was nominated by David Ferguson.
Several reports were made to the board, including the monthly personnel report.
FLAIR said to Continue at Lincoln Schools
01/10/2022The Foreign Language Academic Immersion (FLAIR) program at Lincoln Parish Schools will apparently continue into the third grade and K2, as well as class openings for next year’s K1, Lincoln Parish News Online (LPNO) has learned.
LPNO has spoken to parents of children enrolled enrolled in the program who said they had received a text message informing them of the program’s continuation.
Last November, it was announced that the program would be terminated at the end of this school year, but vociferous push-back from parents at the December board meeting and at an open forum held several days later apparently had persuaded school administrators to reconsider.
We have reached out to the school system administration, and are awaiting official confirmation. We will update as we learn more.
Meanwhile, the regular monthly meeting of the school board will be held tomorrow (1/11/22), 6:00 PM, Lincoln Parish STEM Center, 525 Tarbutton Road.
Here is the agenda.
New Interview with French Immersion parent
12/14/2021ATL Ruston All Things Local-Ruston, Louisiana
Interview with Sara Shadoin Duke
Durrett agrees to discuss keeping FLAIR program
12/10/2021Lincoln Parish School District Superintendent Ricky Durrett agreed last night to discuss retaining the Foreign Language Academic Immersion (FLAIR) program for parish elementary students. That program “immerses” the student in an environment where the French language is spoken almost exclusively.
See here an interview with one of the parents that describes the program.
The hour and twenty minute back-and-forth was attended by upwards of 100 parents and students, and was held at Glenview Elementary.
Durrett began the session with a history of the program and the decision making process that led up to the pending termination. He admitted that the notification of parents was not handled well.
Said Durrett, “We live and we learn. Maybe there was a better way to do it.”
Among the issues Durrett cited was funding, other foreign languages, the number of children enrolled in the program, the difficulty of transitioning the program into the third grade, and standardized testing issues.
“I’ve looked at some options, some compromise. Can we do something different?” Durrett said.
The program review actually began in February of 2021, Durrett said.
We asked if parental input was solicited during the review process, to which Durrett admitted that it was not and again said that it was not properly done.
“And you’re right. Maybe we should have reached out to them.”
One parent asked how a program that had been guaranteed to to run through the fifth grade could be unilaterally terminated.
To a person, the crowd said that their children were thriving under the program. One said that his son was about to be tested for the Gifted and Talented program, and he attributed that progress to the FLAIR program.
There were several comments that the district was negligent in not promoting the program, and that the enrollment issue could be solved that way.
District 7 School Board member Hunter Smith suggested that a committee be formed to meet with the administration and try to find a solution.
Said Smith, “We have had tremendous success in other areas of the school board where we have created committees. There’s a middle ground here somewhere.”
Board members kept in dark about plan to scrap FLAIR
Several sources at last night’s meeting told Lincoln Parish News Online that when contacted, their school board member professed ignorance of the administration’s plans to terminate the program.
About half of the 12 member board attended the meet.
See here links to video of the meeting:
Lincoln Parish News Online 