MCSB to address part of consent decree
The Monroe City School Board is set to approve policies that will alter the performance evaluations of the superintendent and some personnel to be determined by compliance with the consent decree. The board will meet 6 p.m. Tuesday at 2006 Tower Drive, Monroe.
The consent decree, in section I.D., requires that a material portion of the superintendent's evaluation and the performance evaluations of district personnel responsible for implementing the consent decree should be contingent on compliance with the decree.
The board also will hold an executive session to discuss ongoing litigation, including the desegregation suit that spawned the consent decree.
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The board plans to call a special election for Nov. 8 to ask voters to renew a special tax of 14.41 mills property tax for operations and maintenance and 6.15 mills property tax for additional aid and support for 10 years.
The tax was set to go on the April 9 ballot, but the board failed to make quorum in January, which prevented the tax information from being read during a public meeting as previously advertised.
The board plans to name the Sallie Humble Elementary School Gymnasium in honor of Billy E. Pee.
Pee was a former principal of Sallie Humble Elementary School and the former head basketball and golf coach at Neville High School. He led Neville to five Louisiana State Championships, including the 1984 4A Basketball State Championship, as well as the 1975, 1976, 1977 and 1979 4A Golf State Championships. They also had three state champion runner-up finishes.
Six board members have completed 20 or more Louisiana School Board Association- approved training hours and are LSBA Certified School Board Members. Those are:
- President Rodney McFarland Sr., District 5: 39.25 hours
- Vice President Brenda Shelling, District 7: 33.5 hours and
- Daryll Berry, District 4: 28.5 hours,
- Jennifer Haneline, District 2: 27.5 hours,
- Brandon Johnson, District 3: 24.25 hours,
- Bill Willson: 34 hours.
Vickie Dayton, District 1, earned five of the six hours of training and instruction as required by Act 705.
"I inadvertently missed by one (continuing education) hour," she said. "Due to my business commitments, I cannot travel to out-of-state and in-state conventions. There are no online classes available except ethics, and I did take that.
"Due to a business emergency, I could not attend the Trail Blazer session. I was able to attend two valuable local working sessions this fall and did take ethics online."
Scott Richard, executive director of the Louisiana School Boards Association, said "there really is no penalty" to not meeting the training hours. He said the LSBA tries to offer training opportunities online to fit with members' work schedules, but members sometimes aren't able to schedule sessions.
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A point of pride on the agenda includes honoring the 2016 District Principal, Teacher and Student of the Year.
- Principal of the Year: Ann Cook, Cypress Point Elementary School (district and regional)
- Teacher of the Year: Kaye "Cissy" Pace (district and regional)
- Student of the Year: Sage Bell, Sallie Humble Elementary (district and regional)
An agenda item also calls for the adoption of the 2016-17 school calendar, and another item, if passed, would authorize a contract with CMA Technology Solutions for management of core infrastructure services.
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