November 9, 2004
THE PARISH SCHOOL BOARD OF VERNON PARISH LOUISIANA CONVENED IN REGULAR SESSION, NOVEMBER 9, 2004, AT, 10:00 A.M. AT 201 BELVIEW ROAD, LEESVILLE, LA. PRESIDENT GUNN CALLED THE MEETING TO ORDER AND ON ROLL CALL THE FOLLOWING MEMBERS WERE PRESENT:
PHILIP L. GUNN, PRESIDENT
M. GENE HAYMON, VICE PRESIDENT
JAMES K. ARMES, III
MEL HARRIS
ROBERT PYNES, JR.
MARK H. SMITH
BETTY WESTERCHIL
RICKY REESE
WILLIS A. FARRIS
W.R. ”r;RANDY” MARTIN
B.R. HARVEY
GAYE McKEE
COL. MARK ROCKE
There was also present Dr. Cynthia Gillespie, Secretary of the Board.
The meeting was opened in prayer by Gene Haymon.
The Pledge of Allegiance was led by Mark Smith.
On motion of Mark Smith, seconded by Ricky Reese, the Board voted to approve and dispense with the reading of the minutes of November 4, 2004.
On recommendation of Superintendent Gillespie and on motion of Gaye McKee, seconded by Robert Pynes, the Board to approve the attached resignations.
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On recommendation of Superintendent Gillespie and on motion of Robert Pynes, seconded by Randy Martin, the Board voted to approve the attached sabbatical leave requests.
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On recommendation of Superintendent Gillespie and on motion of Mel Harris, seconded by Gaye McKee, the Board voted to approve the attached employee transfers.
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On recommendation of Superintendent Gillespie and on motion of Gene Haymon, seconded by B.R. Harvey, the Board voted to approve the attached list of new employees.
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Superintendent Gillespie and Ron DeGray, GATES Administrator, recognized and presented GED and JAG certificates to GATES graduates, Rudolph Cook and Justine Graver. The Board highly commended the two young people for their accomplishments.
On motion of Randy Martin, seconded by Ricky Reese, the Board voted to approve a resolution authorizing the advertising for sealed bids for the purchase of Three Million Two Hundred Thousand Dollars (3,200,000) of General Obligation Bonds, Series 2005, of Pickering School District No. 142 of the Parish of Vernon, Louisiana, authorized at an election held on Saturday, September 18, 2004, and providing for other matters in connection therewith.
John Farris, Secondary Curriculum Director, discussed recently released Performance Scores with the Board. Vernon Parish=s scores were very good and 14 out of the 18 schools are eligible for monetary rewards from the State.
On motion of Betty Westerchil, seconded by the Board, the Board voted to adopt the following resolution:
WHEREAS, the members of the Vernon Parish School Board wish to commend and congratulate our schools for the outstanding Performance Scores that were recently released; and
WHEREAS, the Board is pleased that the test scores of our students continue to improve and our parish=s scores remain considerably above the state average; and
WHEREAS, the central office curriculum staff dedicates many hours and a tremendous amount of effort to developing an instructional program that is aligned with the required tests and providing the necessary tools to assist teachers and students; and
WHEREAS, our teachers incorporate the information and materials made available to them into their lesson plans and utilize every opportunity afforded them to prepare their students for testing; and
WHEREAS, the support of our parents is a tremendous asset in student preparation for successful test scores; and
WHEREAS, our students continue to excel and work hard to reach expectations set for them; now
BE IT THEREFORE RESOLVED that the Board adopts this resolution to commend the teamwork of the administration, teachers, support personnel, parents and students in accomplishing these results.
On motion of Betty Westerchil, seconded by Gene Haymon, the Board voted to grant Don Gallemore, Technology Administrator, permission to post Request for Proposals (RFP) on the web site.
On recommendation of the Transportation Committee and on motion of B.R. Harvey, seconded by James Armes, the Board voted to amend the bus drivers= fuel adjustment scale to include fuel prices over $2.00 per gallon. The following scale will be used to determine the fuel supplement for drivers:
$1.25 B 1.50 .10 per mile one way
$1.51 B 1.75 .15 per mile one way
$1.76 B 2.00 .20 per mile one way
$2.01 B 2.25 .25 per mile one way
On motion of Gene Haymon, seconded by Randy Martin, the Board voted to advertise for an assistant principal at Simpson to replace Mr. David Lewis while he is on a one-semester sabbatical leave.
On motion of Randy Martin, seconded by B.R. Harvey, the Board voted to advertise for a secretary in the Finance Department to replace Lynell Johnson, who retired.
On motion of Gaye McKee, seconded by the Board, the Board adopted the following resolution:
WHEREAS, the Vernon Parish School Board takes this means to congratulate the Rosepine High School APurple Pride@ Band members and Director Tra= Latham for their many outstanding accomplishments; and
WHEREAS, the Board is extremely proud of the Band=s Superior ratings and its numerous awards, both individual and collective, in regional and state competitions; and
WHEREAS, their performance demonstrates not only the talent possessed by the band members, along with their untiring efforts and hard work, but also the pride that exists at Rosepine High School; and
WHEREAS, the professional instruction and direction provided by Mr. Tra= Latham is evidenced by the band=s success and the members= respect and admiration for him; now
BE IT THEREFORE RESOLVED that the Board is proud to adopt this resolution congratulating and commending Mr. Latham, director, and the Rosepine High School APurple Pride@ band.
On motion of Ricky Reese, seconded by Mark Smith, the Board voted to authorize the president and secretary to pay the claims.
There being no further business, on motion of Gaye McKee, seconded by the Board, the meeting adjourned.
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PHILIP L. GUNN, BOARD PRESIDENT
ATTEST:
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DR. CYNTHIA GILLESPIE, SUPERINTENDENT