The East Baton Rouge Parish Junior Deputy Program is seeking applicants, both male and female, ages 12 to 18, who are US citizens and residents of East Baton Rouge Parish. Junior Deputies will learn the knowledge and skills needed to build strong, solid, patriotic, moral character, integrity, trustworthiness, and the desire to perform good deeds for others. They will be exposed to Law Enforcement topics, agencies, and demonstrations. The program summary is attached with more detailed information. If you would like an application, please contact your school counselor. At the middle school, you can ask for Cara Zito or Julia Boatner at 261-3804.

The School Facilities Steering Committee will meet at 6:30 PM at Trinity Driving School next door to the School Board Offices.  The meeting is open to the public and all are encouraged to attend.  The following are items detailed by Superintendent Faulk to be discussed at the meeting:

1.  We are planning to have the first of several tours of the facilities on Saturday, January 17th beginning at 9:00 A.M.  We will discuss the itinerary at our meeting on the 15th.  The public will also be invited to attend.

2.  We will be planning some public forums toward the end of the month to allow for public input regarding our school facilities.

3.  I did a Request For Proposals relative to a Comprehensive Facilities Assessment.  I received 3 proposals.  Two were submitted at a cost of $60,000 and one proposal was submitted at a cost of $125,000.  I reviewed all three proposals and will be recommending to the board that we engage the services of PBK Architects to conduct a Comprehensive Facilities Assessment and present Facilities Plans to address the facility needs of our school system.

4.  PBK Architects will work with the Steering Committee, staff members in the school system, and receive input from parents, the business community, and the community at large in formulating a Comprehensive Facilities Assessment of the facilities in our school system.

5.  All facilities will be examined for compliance with applicable codes and ADA regulations.  A list of corrective work items, including anticipated material and/or equipment replacements as well as a review of the major building components will be provided.  Determinations will be made as to the educational adequacy of spaces.  All existing facilities will be analyzed for their maximum and best useage.  The information will be used by the school district not only for any possible tax issue but will also be used by the district for long range planning and budgeting needs.

We all enjoyed December 11th, 2008 and will remember it as “The day it really snowed.” The kids got to stay home from shool and play in the snow! Unfortunately, that missed day of instruction has to be made up. Having used up our “storm days” and then some due to hurricanes, the snow day will have to be made up by going to school on Wednesday, February 25th, which is the day after Mardis Gras.

This information was discussed at the 1/12/09 School Board meeting and was approved by the board.

St. Alphonsus students presented the annual Christmas Gala for family and friends on Friday, December 5, 2008. Each grade level was responsible for a part of the program depicting a special aspect of Christmas. Special thanks are extended to all who gave their time and talent in making this event yet another memorable one for St. Alphonsus.

Leah LeSage puts finishing touches on the Christmas Tree in the foyer of the Family Center for the annual Christmas Gala.

The following CMS students were “Caught Being Great” for the months of November and December.
Congratulations the these students.

6th grade: Kendall Russell and Brennan Fontenot
7th grade: Gary Triplett and Gabe Kennedy
8th grade: Macee Watts and Brittany Johnson

The Central Community School Board met tonight at 6:00PM at Kristenwood.  The board received the Finance Committee report which indicates that the System will be posting a $741,000 surplus instead of the anticipated $166,000.  This surplus becomes part of the fund balance that school system needs to maintain in order to survive financially in emergencies such as hurricanes.

In addition to this good news, the school board had the privelege of recognizing many outstanding students and student athletes.  The students receiving academic letter jackets were honored for their achievement.  The swim, volleyball, cross-country and football teams were commended by the board for their accomplishments.

The board also awarded Russell Starns for his leadership as president of the school board for its first two years.  Mr. Falk and Sharon Browning, the new board president, presented Mr. Starns with a plaque thanking him for his dedication.

First Student, the company operating the busses for the school system, reported on the improvements made in response to the complaints they received during the fall semester.  Radios have been installed in all busses, an employee involvement committee has been formed, bus routes have been changed to improve student safety, and a new manager has been put in charge of the operation.  The board and the fairly large contingent of the community in attendance seemed satisfied with the improvements.  Additionally, digital video cameras will be installed in all busses over the next year to improve safety.

Mr Faulk also asked that teachers and who receive stipends as coaches and sponsors receive additional compensation when athletic seasons are extended due to the success of the teams leading to playoff appearances.  This change will apply to the entire 2008-2009 school year.

The school board attorney reported that several suits had been decided in the supreme court.  One suit will force EBR Parish to remit $1.7 million in disputed ad-valorem taxes to the Central School System.  Once these fundes are recsived, they will become a part of the reserves of the school system.  Additionally, another court decision forces the EBP System to turn over to Central 31 busses that were in use servicing Central students prior to Central withdrawing from the EBR Parish school system.

The board then excused the public and went into executive session to discuss an alleged personl injury claim of Carlos Williams.

This is an update of Monday’s Post with additional documents included.  The final set of options originally considered are presented in the last document.

In an effort to keep all of Central as informed as possible on this important issue, follow these links for copies of information distributed at the first Steering Committee meeting on December 3rd. This first batch of information includes a six-part, 67 page study done to determine the condition of the four schools taken over by the Central Community School Board, and two documents summarizing comments and suggestions made in the wake of the first failed tax election. Several additional documents concerning options initially considered will be made available in a separate article after they are scanned later this week.

It is important to the future of our schools that this community stay informed all throughout this process. To sign up to receive updates each time information is available just send an e-mail to Schools@CentralSpeaks.com and say “Sign me up.”

Click these links for the documents:

Committee Process Suggestions

Possible Reasons For Defeat Of Tax Election

Limited Building Assessment – Part 1

Limited Building Assessment – Part 2

Limited Building Assessment – Part 3

Limited Building Assessment – Part 4

Limited Building Assessment – Part 5

Limited Building Assessment – Part 6

ADDITIONAL DOCUMENTS:

MFP 10/01/2008

MFP 12/02/2008

JVV CONSULTING REPORT

DEMOGRAPHICS

CONCEPTS INITIALLY CONSIDERED

The First Grade students of Bellingrath Hills Elementary School performed a Thanksgiving Program for the student body and parents on Thursday, November 13, 2008. The students from Mrs. Harrison’s, Matherne’s and Szymanski’s class presented the program for the Flannery Oaks Guest House on Wednesday, November 19. Under the direction of Mrs. Toni Black, the program will present the students with an increased community awareness and help to develop compassion, patience, sharing and understanding towards others. The students will conclude the program with the distribution of Thanksgiving cards designed by the children.

We are thankful for such a talented music teacher. Mrs. Black you are the best!!!!!!

The School Facilities Steering Committee appointed by the Central Community School Board met Tuesday evening at Central High school. This initial meeting, run by superintendent Faulk, was intended to summarize and present the work done by the previous facilities committee. The published materials which were the result of the last committees efforts were given to each of the new committee members. The materials included the initial Limited Building Assessment of the facilities, the JVV Consulting report on maintenance needs, and detailed demographic studies. Also included was a summary of all proposed facilities solutions considered by the last committee prior to the failed tax election earlier this year.

The committee received an education on bond issues presented by a representative of the bond company that handles bond issues for the majority of school systems in Louisiana. Other discussions of the evening centered around current sales tax revenues and the growth trends of the student population in the Central School System.

The meeting was attended by most committee members and a number of guests including school board members, school system staff, and interested citizens. The meeting was held solely for the purpose of giving the new steering committee all of the information gathered by the previous committee so that the process of moving forward does not include doing work which has already been completed and documented.

Mr. Faulk explained that consulting firms were currently being interviewed and would be hired at the direction of the school board for the purpose of doing studies of existing facilities and anticipated facility needs. The next meeting date will be e-mailed to all committee members in the near future.

Downloadable copies of the information given to the committee will be available on CentralSpeaks.com in the next few days. For those wishing to stay informed each step of the way as this process moves forward, follow this link to sign up for automatic updates: SCHOOL FACILITIES UPDATES.