School Board Meets Tomorrow

The Lincoln Parish School Board will meet Tuesday, November 6, 6:00 PM, Central Office, 410 South Farmerville Street.

Here’s the agenda.

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Latest Merit Scholars @ School Board

L/R David Griffin, Michael Bishop, Davis Ellis, former RHS Principal Ricky Durrett

Yesterday’s meeting of the Lincoln Parish School Board had some special visitors – three National Merit Scholarship semi-finalists: David Griffin, Michael Bishop, and Davis Ellis. All three are Seniors at Ruston High School.

Griffin is a member of the RHS Band, the Future Business Leaders of America (FBLA), and the EcoCar Team. He volunteers with the local DART program, and is a math tutor on the RHS campus. David has won the Future and Business Awards for RHS, placed third in the state Impromptu Speaking competition, and was a member of tenth place award-winning Parliamentary Procedures team. A 4.0 student with an ACT score of 33, he will enroll in college following graduation to pursue a degree in biomedical engineering.

Bishop is the Drum Major for the RHS Band, and is a member of the Bearcat cross country and track and field teams. Active in Key Club, he is a member of the St. Thomas Aquinas Catholic Church Youth Group as well as the Boy Scouts of America where he has earned the rank of Eagle Scout. He is a member of the Bearcat Swim Team where is has been part of three consecutive state championship titles. With a 4.314 GPA and ACT score of 34, he plans to attend college following graduation.

Ellis is President of the Student Council, captain of the RHS Tennis Team as well as FBLA Louisiana State Parliamentarian. A worship leader for the Temple Baptist Church youth group, he is a Special Olympics volunteer and is employed at Chick-fil-A where he’s a Winshape Camp volunteer. He placed first in Algebra II in the State Literary Rally. With a 4.32 GPA and 36 ACT score, he plans to attend college with a double major in mathematics and economics.

In other business, the board approved some changes to the district’s medical plan.

See here the memo.

Also, they heard the monthly personnel report.

School Board to Meet @ Simsboro Tomorrow

The Lincoln Parish School Board’s regular monthly meeting will be held at a different location and time – Simsboro School, 1 Tiger Drive, Simsboro, 10:30 AM. Several times a year, the board meets at one of the district’s schools.

Here’s the agenda.

Budget Begins to Pinch @ Lincoln Schools

“Based on current levels of revenue, we cannot maintain the current levels of staffing with our current revenues. That’s just a fact. We’re spending more than we’re taking in.”

So said Business Manager George Murphy at last night’s meeting of the Lincoln Parish School Board’s Finance Committee meeting.

Murphy presented the proposed 2018-2019 budget to the board, where it was revealed that spending would exceed revenues for the second year in a row.

In a Power Point presentation, he touched on the increased costs of the system’s medical and retirement plans, and that sales tax revenues had recently decreased because of reduced oil and gas drilling activity in the parish. State funding from the Minimum Foundation Plan is not guaranteed, he added.

Murphy noted that capital spending will be tapering off next year, otherwise, he said, the deficit for this year would be even greater. There’s still a surplus balance in the general fund, he said, but that deficit spending can go on only so long.

Regarding sales tax collections for the parish – a significant source of the district’s funding – Murphy said that the numbers were lower than the comparable period last year.

See here the report.

Both the committee and the full board approved the budget as proposed.

In other business, Personnel Director Doris Lewis reported on personnel changes for the month.

Lincoln Parish School Board Tonight

The Lincoln Parish School Board will meet tonight (Tuesday, September 4), Central Office, 410 South Farmerville Street.

There will be a Finance Committee meeting at 5:45 PM, followed by the full board at 6.

Here are the agendas.

Choudrant Elementary Traffic Woes Discussed

Last night’s Lincoln Parish School Board (LPSB) meeting had a visitor from the Lincoln Parish Police Jury to discuss solutions to the traffic problems at Choudrant Elementary.

Parish Administrator Courtney Hall reviewed with the board several scenarios to solve the morning and afternoon traffic jams where 100 or more vehicles back up onto US Hwy 80 awaiting drop-off and pickup of children.

As a temporary solution, vehicles will this year be routed on Walker Road about a mile east of the school. That road forms a large loop and exits onto Hwy 80 next to the school pickup point. However the road crosses a railroad twice, and that could be an issue when vehicles begin to stack up.

Hall had investigated the possibility of installing crossing gates on the two road crossings, but the delivery is prohibitive, Hall said, besides the $250 thousand each cost for the equipment.

Another possible solution is the construction a new road west of the school that would loop southward, between the school and the railroad, then connect up with Walker Road next to the school parking lot. Hall estimated the cost at $25 to $50 thousand in materials, depending on the routing, plus donated labor and equipment from the police jury.

The board also received a report on the just-ended Enhance School Calendar (ESC) program. Several teachers, administrators, and a couple of parents had high praise for the program.

Typical of the remarks was that of Glenview Elementary Principal Jana Comstock: “Half of my kids are thirty days ahead. They’ve had thirty days to delve deeper into our standard.”

Comstock said that one of her most experienced math teachers told her, “This is the first time in all of the time I’ve taught math that I thought that my kids get it.”

District Ten Board Member Otha Anders noted that the idea for the program originated from District Seven’s Trott Hunt.

There were a few questions to Chief Financial Officer George Murphy about the budget, which is being prepared for presentation at the next meeting.

Finally, Human Resources Chief Doris Lewis reported that there were numerous personnel changes this month.

See here the report.

School Board Spending Exceeds Revenues for FY 17-18

The Lincoln Parish School District spent almost $6 million more than revenues for the fiscal year ended 6/30/18, according to the revised budget that will be up for approval at tomorrow night’s monthly meeting of the Lincoln Parish School Board (LPSB).

The district had, however, adequate fund reserves to cover the shortfall.

The revised budget shows revenues of $73.8 million, and expenditures of $79.8 million. Beginning combined fund balance as of 7/1/17 was $37.7 million, with an ending balance of $31.8 million.

To be fair, the budget that was adopted last year predicted this outcome relatively accurately.

That document estimated revenues at $71.3 million and expenditures of $77.1 million, and an ending fund balance of $31.8 million.

The meeting is set for 6:00 PM, Tuesday, August 7, Central Office, 410 South Farmerville Street.

Here’s the agenda.

Many Local Politicians Get Free Ride to Office

Many local politicians were unopposed for election at the closing of the three-day qualifying period at 4:30 PM today, including all the Lincoln Parish School Board (LPSB), all the Ruston City Council, the Mayor of Ruston, a Third Judicial District judge, and an appeals court judge.

Elected without opposition were:

Jay B. McCallum – Louisiana Court of Appeal, Second Circuit, District 2, Division 1
Jeff Robinson – Third Judicial District Court, Division A
Susan Wiley – Lincoln Parish School Board, District 1
David Ferguson – Lincoln Parish School Board, District 2
David Gullatt – Lincoln Parish School Board, District 3
Mike Barmore – Lincoln Parish School Board, District 4
Danny Hancock – Lincoln Parish School Board, District 5
Joe Mitcham – Lincoln Parish School Board, District 6
Hunter Smith – Lincoln Parish School Board, District 7
Lisa Best – Lincoln Parish School Board, District 8
Lynda Henderson – Lincoln Parish School Board, District 9
Otha Anders – Lincoln Parish School Board, District 10
George Mack, Jr. – Lincoln Parish School Board, District 11
Debbie Abrahm – Lincoln Parish School Board, District 12

Incumbent school board members Curtis Dowling (District 3) and Trott Hunt (District 7) did not run for re-election. All the others were incumbents and were unopposed.

Smith is a petroleum landman and graduate of Ruston High School and Louisiana Tech. Gullatt is an adjunct professor at Louisiana Tech.

Robinson is a local attorney and is an assistant district attorney in the Third Judicial District.

Also, incumbent Ruston Mayor Ronny Walker was unopposed, as was the entire incumbent Board of Aldermen:

Carolyn Cage – Alderman, Ward 1
Angela Mayfield – Alderman, Ward 2
Jedd Lewis – Alderman, Ward 3
Jim Pearce – Alderman, Ward 4
Bruce Siegmund – Alderman, Ward 5

The race for Division C of the Third Judicial District is contested, and will be decided on Tuesday, November 6.

Vying for that position are Bruce Hampton and Monique Clement.

Lincoln School Employees to get Social Media Rules

A proposed “Employee Use of Social Media” policy will be discussed at next Tuesday’s (7/10) meeting of the Lincoln Paris School Board (LPSB), and will be considered for for formal adoption at the 8/7/18 board meeting, according to the agenda and other supporting documents.

From the proposed rules:

Employees who use social media for personal purposes must be mindful that they are responsible for their public conduct even when not acting in their capacities as school district employees. All employees, including student teachers and independent contractors, shall comply with the requirements of this policy when using electronic social media for personal purposes.

School Board personnel may monitor online activities of employees who access the Internet using school technological resources. Additionally, the Superintendent or designee may periodically conduct public Internet searches to determine if an employee has engaged in conduct that violates this policy. Any employee who has been found by the Superintendent to have violated this policy may be subject to disciplinary action, up to and including dismissal.

See here the complete document.

A significant number of personnel changes will also be reported at the meeting.

See here the complete list.

The meeting is set for 6:00 PM at the Central Office, 410 South Farmerville Street.

Here’s the agenda.

Dubach’s Pruden State Principal of the Year Finalist

Dubach Principal Pam Pruden (L), Lincoln Supt Mike Milstead

Dubach’s Pam Pruden has been named a finalist for the Louisiana Principal of the Year Award, and was recognized at Tuesday night’s Lincoln Parish School Board (LPSB)Meeting.

ACHIEVE Coordinator Cathi Cox-Boniol introduced Pruden, and said she was “…among 9 educational leaders who have been named a Finalist for this year’s Principal of the Year honors and one of only 3 finalists named from North Louisiana.”

Cox-Boniol noted that School Performance Score for Dubach increased 20 points from a 66.4 SPS in spring 2015 to an SPS of 86.4 in spring 2017. The Value-Added Model (VAM) Dubach teacher scores increased 56 percent from spring 2016 to spring 2017, she added.

The winner, along with Teacher of the Year, will be announced at a July event in Baton Rouge.

The board gave approval for revisions in the district’s capital outlay plan, and also authorized advertising for bids for the 2018-2019 school year.

Here’s the revised plan.

Approval was also granted to accept the low bid of $2.73 million by Triad Builders of Ruston for construction of the STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics) Building to be located adjacent to Ruston Junior High. Construction is scheduled to begin soon, with occupancy expected for the 2019-2020 school year.