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06-05-07 |
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DATE, TIME, PLACE OF MEETING
The Calcasieu Parish School Board met at the LaGrange High School auditorium, located at 3420 Louisiana Avenue, Lake Charles, Louisiana, on Tuesday, June 5, 2007, at 4:45 p.m. The meeting was called to order by Bryan LaRocque, President. The prayer was led by Clara Duhon; the pledge was led by Randy Burleigh.
ROLL CALL
The roll was called and the following members were present: Joe Andrepont, Annette Ballard, Billy Breaux, Randy Burleigh, Mack Dellafosse, Clara Duhon, Chad Guidry, Fred Hardy, Bill Jongbloed, James Karr, Bryan LaRocque, Jimmy Pitre, Elray Victorian, and R.L. Webb.
Dale Bernard arrived after the roll call.
MINUTES APPROVED
On a motion by Mr. Karr and seconded by Mr. Webb, the Minutes of May 1, 2007 and May 31, 2007 were approved.
SUPPLEMENTAL AGENDA
On a motion by Mr. Webb and seconded by Mr. Victorian, the Supplemental Agenda was included as part of the regular agenda.
Mr. LaRocque said that the Curriculum and Instruction Committee report would be included in the Presentation portion of the Board meeting.
PRESENTATIONS
Educational Task Force Regarding Lake Charles-Boston High School
Reverend Sam Tolbert, representing the Louisiana Home & Foreign Missions Baptist State Convention, spoke on behalf of the task force. Regarding the presentation that he was prepared to discuss, he said that after viewing the plan presented on May 31 by Clara Duhon, Mack Dellafosse, Fred Hardy, and Elray Victorian, it was decided that their plan was basically identical to the one that the task force was going to submit. They decided to stand in support of the plan presented by the aforementioned Board members and not present their own plan. He said that he was representing the Baptist Minister’s Union, the Youth Pastor of the United Christian Fellowship Church, Father Henry Mancuso from Sacred Heart Catholic Church, Father Goodly from Immaculate Heart of Mary and many others that are in support of them and their plan. He said that they are in total support of the plan, indicating that there are other options for Lake Charles-Boston High School, other than closure.
A copy of the plan that they were to submit is included in the official Minutes, available upon request.
Presentation of Information Regarding Lake Charles-Boston High School
Clara Duhon, Fred Hardy, Mack Dellafosse, and Elray Victorian gave a presentation to the Board, regarding an alternative proposal to the Superintendent’s plan for closing Lake Charles-Boston High School. Each of them presented a portion of the presentation, to encourage the Superintendent to look at other ways to keep Lake Charles-Boston open.
A copy of the complete plan that they presented is included in the official Minutes, available upon request.
Alternatives to Closing One School
Fred Hardy presented a plan of several choices and options; alternatives to closing one school and alternatives to improve the curriculum at all schools.
A copy of the plan that Mr. Hardy submitted is included in the official Minutes, available upon request.
Curriculum and Instruction Committee Report, May 9, 2007
R.L. Webb, Chairman, gave the committee report. Mr. Savoy, Superintendent, presented a power point presentation regarding Lake Charles-Boston High School. This included: Overall School Projections, 9th Grade Projections, 10th Grade Projections, 11th Grade Projections, 12th Grade Projections, Cumulative GPA by Grade, Decline in Enrollment, Correlation to “School Performance”, Reassignment of Students, Reassignment of Employees, Services Offered at Receiving Schools, Staffing, and Facilities/Equipment and the proposed Lake Charles-Boston Academy of Learning. A copy of the plan is included in the official Minutes, available upon request.
A vote was taken to close Lake Charles-Boston High School and open an Academy of Learning. Annette. Ballard, Dale Bernard, Billy Breaux, Bryan LaRocque, and Jimmy Pitre voted for the motion. Randy Burleigh abstained and voting against the motion were Clara Duhon and Fred Hardy. At committee, the motion carried.
On behalf of the committee, Mr. Webb made a motion to accept the committee recommendation.
Mr. Andrepont then offered a substitute motion, seconded by Mr. Dellafosse, as an amendment to the motion, to allow Lake Charles-Boston to remain open for one probationary year, with certain stipulations:
The reading level would increase from a sixth grade to an eighth grade level; the overall average improve from a “D” average to a “C” average; that attendance improve at a 90% rate; that an aggressive administrator be hired by July 1.
He said that if these goals were attained, a second probationary year would occur, with these changes:
The reading level would increase from an eighth grade level to a ninth grade level; maintaining the average and attendance requirements as staff recommends. Mr. Andrepont stated that he felt that announcing the closure of a school in May and closing it in August had not given the community enough time and that Lake Charles-Boston students did not want to go to another school and other than the athletes, realistically, the other schools do not want the students to come to their school.
Mr. Victorian questioned the one year probation, stating that he felt that it was not enough time to make the necessary changes.
Mr. Jongbloed stated that as the previous Administrative Director of High Schools, he was very involved with stopping the downward spiral of Lake Charles-Boston High School. A District Assistance Team (DAT) was assembled and weaknesses and strengths were discovered and recommendations were made. Over the next two years, several programs were implemented, that were recommended by educational experts from around the state and around the country, to improve teaching and learning. Some of the programs were successful and some were not. The State Department sent in a Distinguished Educator (DE), someone especially trained to go into low performing schools and make recommendations to try to solve the problems. After three and a half years working with Lake Charles-Boston and Reynaud Middle School, the state recalled the DE to help with the New Orleans area, after Hurricane Katrina.
All incoming freshmen at Lake Charles-Boston were assigned to a Reading Lab. A system was put into place to better track attendance and to contact parents when a child was absent. New certified teachers were offered a $2,300 bonus to teach at Lake Charles-Boston and $1,500 for teachers already there, if they would stay there and not leave and miss a minimum number of days. No other high school in Calcasieu Parish had this offered to their teachers.
Mr. Jongbloed continued, saying that none of this helped. In the last several years, more money per student has been spent on the students of Lake Charles-Boston High School, that at any other high school, even more than twice the amount, in some cases.
The pupil-teacher ratio is 7-1 and at other high schools, it is closer to 27-28 to one. Students at Lake Charles-Boston have 1.2 computers per student and Barbe and Sulphur have 5 students per computer. The TAP program was put in and it was met with tremendous teacher resistance and finally discontinued. He said it was very difficult to find good, certified teachers that would stay at Lake Charles-Boston. He said that cries for reform have not fallen on deaf ears.
A scholastic audit was performed by the state and many of these same problems were revealed. He said that we need to put aside our bitter feelings, feelings of racism, sentimental and nostalgic feelings and finger pointing about whose fault this is.
He said that assigning these students to other schools will give the students greater access to qualified, certified teachers and a more diverse curriculum. They will be offered credit recovery.
Mrs. Duhon said she thought that when the scholastic audit findings were reported to the Board, it would clear up those things that Mr. Jongbloed referred to. She said that it is like having a barrel of things that can be moved out and things are continually put into the barrel, without cleansing the barrel, and then the barrel gets stopped up. She said that all that is being asked is that Lake Charles-Boston be allowed an opportunity to be cleaned up. She said if there is the right leadership, it could work. She said if given a year, the community would do whatever it takes to turn Lake Charles-Boston around. She asked for Board support for the opportunity to turn the school around.
Mr. Dellafosse said he knows the reasons why students do not choose to go to Lake Charles-Boston, but they are too numerous to explain. He mentioned the report by Dr. George Reado, Elementary Director of Curriculum, on elementary schools. The report shows that 39% of first graders are reading on grade level; 47% of fifth graders are reading on grade level; out of the 17 low performing schools, 15 are predominantly African-American schools. He said there is a lot of work to be done.
He said the Academy will only service a few students and that students that can’t read on grade level will not be able to “test in” to attend the Academy.
He felt that the money could be better spent by investing in literacy programs for the students and that he is concerned with how many special education students there are in the low performing schools.
Mrs. Ballard said that her concern is there is not enough evidence to insure a strong probability of success, rather than just the possibility of success. She said that we should not gamble with the lives of our students at any grade level and there is a great deal of work to do at all grade levels.
Mr. Hardy said that he can accept probation and wants to keep the school open. He said that the truth is that the students are under performing because so many of the teachers left during the school year. He questioned how many observations were done on the principal and the teachers at Lake Charles-Boston and were they positive? He said if there was no corrective effort done on teachers that did not have positive observations, then the teachers had to be told they were doing a good job and you can’t come back and say they were not doing a good job. He said the evaluations did not reflect what the school actually did.
Mr. Breaux said that the one thing that concerns him more than anything are the current students at Lake Charles-Boston. He said those are the ones that do attend daily and do what they need to do to make their lives better, for themselves and for their families. He said that is what is most disheartening to him, that if the Board allows the school to stay open, it is an injustice to the students and their families. He said before the May 9 committee meeting, the attendance rate was 82%. He felt that after that meeting, the community would show their support and do what needed to be done, but after the meeting, the rate went down.
Mr. Webb corrected that he read the date of the meeting as May 8 and it was May 9. He said that the motion to close Lake Charles-Boston was what he recommends to the full Board, based on the committee vote.
Mr. Webb said that he agreed with Mr. Jongbloed, and that Lake Charles-Boston has been declining in academic success and population for the last five years. He said that the program has not turned around, regardless of what has been done.
He said the morale of the teachers and administrators in Calcasieu Parish is being affected by what is happening at Lake Charles-Boston. He said he perceived absenteeism to be one of the major problems.
Mr. Karr said he has read everything that he could, regarding the situation at Lake Charles-Boston. He said the Board has endeavored for five years to improve the educational process at Lake Charles-Boston. He felt it should be recognized by the community that experts have been employed to try to combat the situation. He said he thinks the problem is family, students, and the community and that the ones that are not attending are dragging the scores down for the ones that are attending.
He said the Board and the community should team up to face the future for the students.
The following people spoke to the Board, in support of Lake Charles-Boston High School:
Reverend Mack C. Guillory Sergeant Mark Kraus Debra M. Ramirez Joseph Hampton Mary Morris Reverend J.L. Franklin Wilbert Lewis Reverend Kevin Donalson Dianna Ross Victoria Webb Rodney Geyen, Principal Reverend Arthur Fuselier Michael Cuba, Jr.
All made remarks in support of Lake Charles-Boston High School and opposition to closing the school.
Mr. Andrepont said he wanted to re-state that tutoring programs should not be just for high school students, but for elementary and middle school students, also.
Mr. Victorian said that when W.O. Boston High School and Lake Charles High School were combined, the population of the combined school declined. He said even real estate companies play a part in this and you can not make people stay in an area if they don’t want their children to attend school in that zone.
He said that a mentoring program is necessary at Lake Charles-Boston and that a recent television show reported on a school in California that had raised test scores, due to a mentoring program. He said that community involvement is necessary and everyone has a part to play.
Mr. Bernard spoke and said that he would like to correct Reverend Donalson’s remark that S.J. Welsh is 100% white. He said that it is very well represented by the African-American community.
Mr. Dellafosse asked that Board members give the community a chance. He said that there are a lot of unknown factors regarding the Academy, such as the budget and busing to the school.
Mrs. Duhon said that there will be mentors for each student at Lake Charles-Boston, if the Board gives them a chance.
Mr. Guidry said he was never in favor of closing the school and he asked the Board, if this school was in their district, would they vote to close or give it another chance.
Mr. Burleigh said that he tried to put himself in the student’s position and the position of the superintendent and the administrators. He said that he has been a mentor with the Big Brothers/Big Sisters program for several years and that mentors are positive influences, but minor compared to the influence of a true parent.
He said when he looks at the programs at Lake Charles-Boston and the money spent, he wishes that he had those same programs at his Westlake schools. He said doing extra at one school and not at the others is not equal and does not give each student the same chance. He said that it is important that the students have someone at home pushing them to do the right thing, that education is available at all Calcasieu Parish schools if a student wants it.
Mr. LaRocque asked all students from Lake Charles-Boston to please stand and then asked them to remain standing or sit, regarding how many days they have missed this past year. He said that students have not taken ownership of their own education and continued by saying that the students in attendance were not the problem at Lake Charles-Boston. The students and the parents that did not “show up” for the meeting are the problem, he said. He said the data given by the superintendent is all valid data and the biggest problem is attendance.
He said there is documentation on what has been done by the system to turn Lake Charles-Boston around, with very few positive results.
Mr. Hardy said that he believed that if given a chance, the community could make this work. He said that if he thought it could not work, he would not ask for this second chance.
Per Mr. Webb’s request, Mr. Andrepont re-stated his proposal.
Mr. Spruel, Legal Counsel, said that there was a problem with the wording on Mr. Andrepont’s proposal, regarding the hiring of an aggressive administrator by July 10. He said with that as a condition, that is something that is in the control of the Board, that it should be stated that as part of the motion, the Board will endeavor to have that aggressive administrator hired by July 10.
Mr. Andrepont replied that he would incorporate that recommendation into his subsequent motion.
Mr. Burleigh said that he keeps coming back to the fact that bonuses and pay raises have been offered to attract certified teachers to Lake Charles-Boston. He wondered what was the plan to get the teachers to teach there, if the bonuses and pay raises have not already done so.
Mr. Andrepont said that teachers are hired to work in Calcasieu Parish and not to work at a specific school.
Mr. Savoy said that it is true, teachers do not choose a particular school, they are assigned to a particular school.
Mrs. Duhon said that if the Board closes Lake Charles-Boston, they will be the first Board in Louisiana to close a school for these insignificant reasons.
Mr. Hardy thanked the Board for listening and being proactive.
Mr. LaRocque called for a vote on Mr. Andrepont’s amendment to the committee recommendation.
On a roll call vote to accept the amendment: Voting no: Mrs. Ballard, Mr. Bernard, Mr. Breaux, Mr. Jongbloed, Mr. Karr, Mr. LaRocque, Mr. Pitre, Mr. Webb Voting yes: Mr. Andrepont, Mr. Burleigh, Mr. Dellafosse, Mrs. Duhon, Mr. Guidry, Mr. Hardy, Mr. Victorian
The motion failed on an 8-7 vote.
Mr. Andrepont called a point of order and Mr. Spruel stated that the amendment to the motion failed, so the main motion, as presented through the committee, is now back on the floor.
Mr. Webb stated the motion again, to close Lake Charles-Boston High School and open the Lake Charles-Boston Academy of Learning. He submitted that committee recommendation to the Board, requiring no second.
Mr. Andrepont asked if the Learning Academy was going to come before the Budget Committee and Mr. Savoy replied that the details would come before committee, as a five year plan.
Mr. Hardy made a substitute motion that the Lake Charles-Boston Academy plan be tabled for further study. This was seconded by Mr. Dellafosse.
Mr. Spruel stated that the recommendation from committee has two parts, first to close the school, second to create the academy. He asked Mr. Hardy if his intent was to table both parts. Mr. Hardy said that he felt that the committee decision needed more discussion. Mr. Hardy said he was making a motion to table both items.
To be clear on Mr. Hardy’s substitute motion, Mr. Spruel asked if his motion was to table (postpone) both parts.
Mr. Hardy then corrected by saying he would make the motion in two parts. His first motion was to table the motion to close Lake Charles-Boston High School and his second motion was to table the motion to create the Lake Charles-Boston Academy.
On a roll call vote to table the recommendation from the C& I committee: Voting no: Mr. Andrepont, Mrs. Ballard, Mr. Bernard, Mr. Breaux, Mr. Burleigh, Mr. Jongbloed, Mr. Karr, Mr. LaRocque, Mr. Pitre, Mr. Webb Voting yes: Mr. Dellafosse, Mrs. Duhon, Mr. Guidry, Mr. Hardy, Mr. Victorian
The motion failed on a10-5 vote.
Mr. Hardy made a motion to approve Option 2 and Option 3 of his previous presentation, with a second by Mrs. Duhon.
Mr. Karr said that he believes in fairness and that his rural district will not receive the benefit from the additional educational opportunities involved in Mr. Hardy’s Option plans. He said he can not even have a basic music program at Starks High School, so he is not in favor of the Options plan.
Mr. Webb echoed Mr. Karr’s statement, that he also represents rural schools and they would like to have programs and that the Options plan is an injustice to the rural schools.
Mr. Victorian said Mr. Karr and Mr. Webb should vote to keep Lake Charles-Boston open and not spend any more money on the academy plan.
Mr. Hardy said the Options program could be incorporated in the schools across the river. Mr. Webb replied that the Options, as written, do not state anything about the outlying schools.
On a roll call vote to approve Option 2 and Option 3: Voting no: Mr. Andrepont, Mrs. Ballard, Mr. Bernard, Mr. Breaux, Mr. Burleigh, Mr. Guidry, Mr. Jongbloed, Mr. Karr, Mr. LaRocque, Mr. Pitre, Mr. Webb Voting yes: Mr. Dellafosse, Mrs. Duhon, Mr. Hardy, Mr. Victorian
The motion failed on an 11-4 vote.
Mr. Webb re-stated the motion as it came from committee, to accept the superintendent’s recommendation to close Lake Charles-Boston High School and open Lake Charles-Boston Academy of Learning.
Mr. Dellafosse made a substitute motion to pull out the portion of the recommendation regarding the academy, seconded by Mr. Andrepont. Mr. Spruel said that Mr. Dellafosse needed to re-word his substitute motion, as a motion to divide the question. This way the two parts could be voted on separately.
Mr. Dellafosse changed his substitute motion to say that he wanted to divide the question, and it was seconded by Mr. Andrepont.
The first part would be to close Lake Charles-Boston High School and the second part would be to create the Lake Charles-Boston Academy of Learning.
Mr. Spruel clarified that the motion to divide would be voted as such: A vote yes would mean that there would be a separate vote on whether to close and on whether to go with the academy. A vote no would mean that you would not divide the question and we would go back to the original motion.
On a roll call vote to divide the question: Voting no: Mrs. Ballard, Mr. Bernard, Mr. Jongbloed, Mr. Karr, Mr. LaRocque, Mr. Pitre, Mr. Webb Voting yes: Mr. Andrepont, Mr. Breaux, Mr. Burleigh, Mr. Dellafosse, Mrs. Duhon, Mr. Guidry, Mr. Hardy, Mr. Victorian,
The motion to divide passed with an 8-7 vote.
The next vote was to vote on the first part of the committee recommendation, to close Lake Charles-Boston High School.
On a roll call vote to close the school: Voting no: Mr. Andrepont, Mr. Dellafosse, Mrs. Duhon, Mr. Guidry, Mr.Hardy, Mr. Victorian Voting yes: Mrs. Ballard, Mr. Bernard, Mr. Breaux, Mr. Burleigh, Mr. Jongbloed, Mr. Karr, Mr. LaRocque, Mr. Pitre, Mr. Webb
The motion to close the school passed by a vote of 9-6.
The next vote was to vote on the second part of the committee recommendation, to open the Lake Charles-Boston Academy of Learning.
On a roll call vote to open the academy: Voting no: Mr. Andrepont, Mr. Dellafosse, Mrs. Duhon, Mr. Guidry, Mr. Hardy, Mr. Victorian Voting yes: Mrs. Ballard, Mr. Bernard, Mr. Breaux, Mr. Burleigh, Mr. Jongbloed, Mr. Karr, Mr. LaRocque, Mr. Pitre, Mr. Webb
The motion to open the academy passed by a vote of 9-6.
Mrs. Duhon left the meeting.
PERSONNEL PACKET/EXECUTIVE SESSION
On a motion by Mr. Victorian and seconded by Mr. Andrepont, the Board went into Executive Session at 8:12 p.m. The Board resumed Regular Session at 8:50 p.m.
Personnel
Gary Anderson, Assistant Superintendent of Administration and Personnel, requested a motion supporting the recommendations as listed in the personnel packet, including the addendum. On a motion by Mr. Bernard and seconded by Mr. Webb, the motion carried.
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