Submitted by Tracy Barnes

TENTATIVE AGENDA

SCHOOL BOARD MEETING

November 8, 2010

6:00 PM

Kristenwood Catering and Reception

14025 Greenwell Springs Road
Central, LA   

1. Call to Order
2. Prayer
3. Pledge
4. Roll Call
5. Recognitions
6. To consider approval of the minutes of the October 25, 2010 Regular School Board Meeting.
7. To consider approval of the Superintendent’s recommendation for administrative, instructional, and support staff positions. (Mr. Faulk)
8. To remove from the table and consider action on a resolution regarding school board member compensation. (Mr. Starns)
9. To consider approval of an out-of-state field trip (Mr. Faulk)

   10.   To receive for reviewing proposed policy changes to Policy B-29 Public
           Participation in School Board Meetings. (Mr. Faulk)

   11.   Construction Coordinator’s Report

   12.   Superintendent’s Report

   13.   Legal Adviser’s Report

   14.   Announcements

   15.   Adjourn          

Article & Photo submitted by Alicia Fergerson

    This past Monday, members of the Central Private Spanish classes moved from their classroom to the cemetery at Zoar Baptist Church.  In previous weeks, the students had been studying the Mexican tradition of Dia de los Muertos (Day of the Dead).  This holiday is the Mexican version of All Saints Day.  Students learned that the people of Mexico take this day each year to honor their ancestors and celebrate their lives.

    As a way of celebrating this holiday, students spent the day doing community service at Zoar, raking and cleaning the cemetery.  They were also encouraged to notice names and dates of some of the people buried in the cemetery.  Before returning to school, they took a moment to honor Mr. J.A. Smith, the first Central Private principal and father of current principal Ellen Frazier, by placing potted mums at the grave of him and his wife.

Photo submitted by Alicia Fergerson 

CP seniors were honored last Friday at the annual senior breakfast.  Pictured above are the second generation CP graduates and their alumni parents: Staci Sullivan and son Brandon, Leslie Cunningham and daughter Mary, Kim Overstreet and son Cody, Orrin Byland and mom Jan, and Troy Lowe with step-dad Steve Lewis.

Photo submitted by Alicia Fergerson

    The Central Private Rebels had their Homecoming Pep Rally last week before their Homecoming game against Centreville.  The new mascot was unveiled at the pep rally.  During the first few weeks of school, CP cheerleaders sold homemade cookies to raise money for a new mascot costume.  The new Colonel Reb is pictured below, portrayed this year by freshman Randall Cunningham.

Photo submitted by Mandy Firmin

St. Alphonsus School's faculty and staff channelled the residents of Sesame Street for their annual Pre-K and Kindergarten Trick-or-Treat Day.  Pictured above are the staff in their Sesame Street themed costumes.

Submitted by Cathy Hernandez

PARENT-TEACHER CONFERENCE DAY
Students will not attend school on Tuesday, November 2nd.  Teachers will be at school from 11:00 A.M. to 6:30 P.M. for conferences.  We will follow an “A” Day schedule on Wednesday, November 3rd.
 
THANKSGIVING HOLIDAYS
Thanksgiving holidays will be observed Monday, November 22nd – Friday, November 26th.  School will resume Monday, November 29th.
 
SCHOOL NURSE NEWS
We have received communication that we will not be receiving the Flu vaccine this year for the students. We encourage all students to receive the flu vaccine to keep them healthy and in school. Please check with your child’s physician, health unit or community flu clinics for you and your family to be vaccinated. Listed below are some healthy habits to review with your child.
To wash their hands often with soap and water or an alcohol-based hand rub.
 Not to share personal items like drinks, food or unwashed utensils, and to cover their coughs and sneezes with tissues. Covering up their coughs or sneezes using the elbow, arm or sleeve instead of the hand is recommended when a tissue is unavailable.
Symptoms of the flu include fever (100 degrees Fahrenheit, or greater), cough, sore throat, a runny or stuffy nose, body aches, headache, and feeling very tired. Some people may also vomit or have diarrhea.  Keep sick children at home for at least 24 hours after they no longer have fever or do not have signs of fever, without using fever-reducing drugs. Keeping children with a fever at home will reduce the number of people who may get infected. Please do not hesitate to contact Ms. Weathers if you have any questions.
 
YEARBOOK SALE
Yearbooks will on sale Wednesday, November 10th – Friday, November 12th in the cafeteria before school only for $25.00.
 
BASKETBALL TRYOUTS
Tryouts for 7th grade boys basketball will be November 3rd from 2:45 – 4:30 and November 4th from 5:00 – 6:30.  8th Grade boys will tryout November 8th and 9th from 2:45 – 4:30.  Girls basketball tryouts will be November 15th – 19th from 2:40 – 4:30 each day.  Anyone interested in trying out MUST have a physical on file before trying out.
Boys Coach – 7th Grade – J. Dupuy – jdupuy@centralcss.org
Boys 8th Grade – M. Edwards – medwards2@centralcss.org – Girls – T. Morris – teackles-morris@centralcss.org
 
 
BETA CLUB NEWS
Beta Club is currently collecting deposits for their trip to Disney in April.  If Beta parents are not currently receiving emails from the Beta Club, please send an email with your child’s name and your email address so that we may correct our records to LZUMO@centralcss.org.
 
UPCOMING EVENTS
Tuesday, November 2nd – Parent/Teacher Conference Day – NO SCHOOL FOR STUDENTS
Wednesday, November 3rd – Student Council Meeting – 6:45 A.M. & Art Club Meeting– 2:40 -  4:00 P.M.
Wednesday, November 3rd and Thursday, November 4th – Boys Basketball Tryouts
Friday, November 5th – Beta Club Meeting before school in gym
Monday, November 8th- Journalism Club Meeting – 2:40 – 4:00 P.M.
Monday, November 8th and Tuesday, November 9th – Boys Basketball Tryouts
Wednesday, November 10th – Friday, November 12th – Yearbook Sale – $25 – Before school only
Monday, November 15th – Wednesday, November 17th – Girls Basketball Tryouts – 2:40 – 4:30 P.M.
Tuesday, November 16th – Library Club Meeting – 2:40 – 3:30 & Chess Club Meeting – 2:45 – 3:45 P.M.
Wednesday, November 17th – Library Club/Glee Club Field Trip to Hammond – 7:30 A. M. – 2:00 P.M.
Wednesday, November 17th – 8th Grade Field Trip to La. State Museum & State Capitol – A Day – 9 – 2 P.M.
Thursday, November 18th -  8th Grade Field Trip to La. State Museum & State Capitol – B Day – 9 – 2 P.M.
Thursday, November 18th – Youth Leg Meeting – 2:40 – 3:45 P.M.
Monday, November 22nd – Friday, November 26th – THANKSGIVING HOLIDAYS
Monday, November 29th – Journalism Club Meeting – 2:40 – 4:00 P.M.

Submitted by Kacy Edwards

Career Compass of LA works year round with the ninth through twelfth grade students at Central High School…enlightening, encouraging, and empowering them to pursue post-secondary training.  In an effort to make the process of transitioning from high school to postsecondary a positive, seamless transition and make a post-secondary education accessible to all, Career Compass provides workshops that address age appropriate topics concerning what it really takes to obtain a post-secondary education. These workshops, along with the Career Compass senior program, which involves weekly one on one college and career coaching to all seniors at the high school, were first implemented at Central High School during the 2007-08 school year.

Student in grades nine through eleven participate in seminars in the fall and spring.  This year, in an effort to increase college awareness on campus, students are being encouraged to wear t-shirts from their favorite colleges on the day of their fall Career Compass seminar. Career Compass coaches and the administration, guidance department, and faculty of Central High School are working hand in hand to create a college going culture at Central High School.

By Dave Freneaux

The Central Community School Board is moving toward a period of open public comment at the end of each meeting.  Central's City Council already has this policy in place and the School Board instructed Superintendent Faulk to draft a similar policy for the School System.  Discussion centered around allowing up to ten persons to make comments of up to three minutes each.  Cards would be available at the meeting to sign up to speak, but there would be no official action taken as a result of this public comment.  A policy is expected to be brought a meeting in the near future.
 
The School Board is also moving forward with revisions to the Drug Testing Policy to include hair sampling.  A committee including student, parent and staff input is being formed to interview and select a drug testing company.  Further revisions to the policy will be made in the next two months.  In the interim, testing via urinalysis will continue.
 
An agenda item calling for an Independent Investigation of the Legislative Auditor's was removed from the agenda.  The item was on the agenda as a result of Mr. Keith Kepper's request at the last School Board meeting.  Reached for comment, Mr. Kepper stated that he felt that the School Board needed to be given time to handle the issue internally rather than pursuing a potentially expensive outside investigation.

In other business, the Board awarded a contract for a new intercom system at Bellingrath and Tanglewood and approved payment of change orders that were necessary to complete the three-school renovations over the summer.  While the change orders totalled $161,787, the project as a whole is still under budget.  School Board Member Marty Guilbeau questioned the process of approving the changes after the work was already done.  Construction Coordinator Ross Bogan explained that the change orders were agreed to as the need arose in order to allow for the timely completion of the renovations.  Superintendent Faulk then offered that more formal and proactive change order guidelines are being looked at as the School System embarks on the new school construction projects.
 
The Finance Committee's report is discussed in a separate article in today's paper.  Finally, due to Holiday schedules, the School Board will meet once per month over the next two months, on November 8th and December 6th.

Submitted by Tiffany Whitehead

Tanglewood students are very excited this week as they are making their first visit to the new Digital StarLab. This Digital StarLab, the first and only of its kind to be purchased by any Louisiana school, is shared between Tanglewood Elementary and Central Intermediate Schools. The StarLab allows students to learn about day and night, the phases of the moon, stars, constellations, and the planets in an interactive way. It allows them to experience a panoramic view of the night sky and other space events shown in an accelerated time lapse to show changes that seem insignificant over time. Tanglewood looks forward to hosting its first annual Astronomy Night on November 9th, where parents will have the opportunity to experience the Digitial StarLab and other astronomy activities with their 2nd and 3rd graders.

Submitted by Mike Gardner

The following CHS freshman football players have made the A/B Honor Roll.  This is a great accomplishment, as it is a challenge to keep grades up and to devote lots of time and effort to their sport.  Congratulations to these players, who make up about 1/3 of the freshman team:

Joesph Pourciau
Kade McAdams
Ryan Morris
Jake Myer
Drew Lee
Donald Lewis
Darius Wallace
Payton Mangham-Straight A's in honors 4.5GPA
Seth Thibodeaux
Jonathan Thibodeaux
Dean Roberts-In Honors-4.2 GPA
Sam Russell
Austin Estave
Ashton Estave
Cole Edgens
Chandlor Clinkingbeard-In Honors 3.9GPA
Cade Guerin
Corey Guerciau
Logan Buckner