PARISH OF DESOTO

DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION

Mansfield, Louisiana

August 6, 2020

The DeSoto Parish School Board met in regular session at the DeSoto Parish School Board Instructional Materials Center, 523 Oxford Road, Mansfield, Louisiana, on Thursday, August 6, 2020, at 6:00 p.m. with the following members present:

Dudley M. Glenn, Dr. Neil Henderson, Jeffrey Dillard, Donald B. Dufour, Alice Thomas, Dale Morvan, Mark Ross, Bobby Boyd, Rosie Mayweather, and Clay Corley, Superintendent.

            Absent:  Coday Johnston and Thomas Craig, Jr.

            Item 1:  Call to order

            President Boyd called the meeting to order, gave the invocation and led the Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag.  

            Item 2:  Revisions to the agenda.

            There were no revisions to the agenda. 

            Item 3:  Approval of minutes of the regular Board meeting of July 2, 2020.

            Mr. Glenn made the motion, seconded by Mr. Dillard, to approve the minutes of the July 2, 2020, regular Board meeting.  The President stated the motion carried with the following votes – Yes = 9, No = 0, Absent = 2, and Abstentions = 0. 

            Item 4:  To consider and take action with respect to adopting a resolution giving preliminary approval to the issuance of General Obligation School Refunding Bonds of School District No. 4 of the Parish of DeSoto, State of Louisiana; making application to the State Bond Commission for approval of said Bonds; and providing for other matters in connection therewith.

            Mr. Corley explained that the District has the opportunity to refinance 2015 Series Bonds in District No. 4 that will save money for taxpayers. The possibility of prepaying a portion of this debt is being considered as well.  This resolution gives preliminary approval for our bond counsel, Foley Judell, to go before the State Bond Commission to explore these opportunities for the District.    Mr. Jason Akers of Foley Judell was present to answer any questions.  Mr. Akers explained that the market was good right now and the possibilities are strong for the District to save a significant amount of money for taxpayers by reducing the debt.  There will be no extension on the life of the debt. 

The following resolution was offered by Donald "Donnie" Dufour and seconded by Dale Morvan:­

                                                                      RESOLUTION

A resolution giving prelimi­nary approval to the issuance of not to exceed Six Million Five Hundred Thousand Dollars ($6,500,000) of General Obligation School Refunding Bonds of School District No. 4 of the Parish of DeSoto, State of Louisiana; making application to the State Bond Commission for approval of said Bonds; and provid­ing for other matters in connection therewith.

WHEREAS, pursuant to the provisions of Chapter 14-A of Title 39 of the Louisiana Revised Statutes of 1950, as amended, and other constitutional and statutory authority, School District No. 4 of the Parish of DeSoto, State of Louisiana (the "Issuer") has heretofore issued $8,190,000 of General Obligation School Refunding Bonds, Series 2015 (the "Series 2015 Bonds"); and

WHEREAS, in order to provide debt service savings to benefit taxpayers, the Issuer desires to refund all or any portion of the Issuer’s outstanding Series 2015 Bonds pursuant to the provisions of Part II of Chapter 4 of Subtitle II of Title 39 of the Louisi­ana Revised Statutes of 1950, as amended, and other constitutional and statutory authority (the "Act"), through the issuance of its refunding bonds; and

WHEREAS, pursuant to the Act, and subject to the approval of the State Bond Commission, the Issuer desires to accomplish the refunding by authorizing the issuance of not exceeding Six Million Five Hundred Thousand Dollars ($6,500,000) of its General Obligation School Refunding Bonds (the "Bonds"), to be payable from unlimited ad valorem taxes; and

WHEREAS, the Issuer desires to make formal application to the State Bond Commission for approval of the issuance of the Bonds;

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED by the Parish School Board of the Parish of DeSoto, State of Louisiana  (the "Governing Authority"), acting as the governing authority of School District No. 4 of the Parish of DeSoto, State of Louisiana (the "Issuer"), that:

SECTION 1.  Preliminary Approval of the Bonds.  Preliminary approval is given to the issuance of not exceeding Six Million Five Hundred Thousand Dollars ($6,500,000) of General Obligation School Refunding Bonds (the "Bonds"), of the Issuer, to be issued for the purpose of refunding all or any portion of the Issuer=s outstanding General Obligation School Refunding Bonds, Series 2015, and paying the costs of issuance of the Bonds, said Bonds to be payable from and secured by unlimited ad valorem taxes now being levied and collected annually in excess of all other taxes on all the property subject to taxation within the territorial limits of the Issuer.  The Bonds shall bear interest at a rate or rates not to exceed four percent (4%) per annum, which may be issued as taxable or tax-exempt, to be deter­mined by subsequent resolution of this Governing Authority, and shall mature no later than March 1, 2032.  The Bonds shall be issued in fully registered form, shall be sold to the purchaser thereof at a price of not less than 97% of par, plus accrued interest, and shall have such additional terms and provisions as may be deter­mined by this Governing Authority.

SECTION 2.  Employment of Bond Counsel.  This Governing Authority finds and determines that a real necessity exists for the employment of special counsel in connection with the issuance of the Bonds, and accordingly, Foley & Judell, L.L.P., of New Orleans, Louisiana, as Bond Counsel, is hereby employed to do and perform work of a traditional legal nature as bond counsel with respect to the issuance and sale of said Bonds.  Said Bond Counsel shall prepare and submit to this Governing Authority for adoption all of the proceedings incidental to the authorization, issuance, sale and delivery of such Bonds, shall counsel and advise this Governing Authority as to the issuance and sale thereof and shall furnish its opinions covering the legality of the issuance of the Bonds.  The fee of Bond Counsel for each series of bonds shall be fixed at a sum not exceeding the fee allowed by the Attorney General’s fee guidelines for such bond counsel work in connection with the issuance of revenue bonds and based on the amount of said Bonds actually issued, sold, delivered and paid for, plus out-of-pocket expenses, said fees to be contingent upon the issuance, sale and delivery of said Bonds.  The Director of Business Services is hereby authorized and directed to execute, and this Governing Authority hereby agrees to and accepts the terms of, the engagement letter of Bond Counsel appended hereto.  A certified copy of this resolution shall be submitted to the Attorney General of the State of Louisiana for his written approval of said employment and of the fees herein designated, and the Director of Business Services is hereby empowered and directed to provide for payment of the work herein specified upon completion thereof and under the conditions herein enumerated without further approval of this Governing Authority.

SECTION 3.  State Bond Commission.  Application is hereby made to the State Bond Commission, Baton Rouge, Louisi­ana, for approval of the issuance and sale of the Bonds and for consent and authority to proceed with the issuance and sale of the Bonds as provided above, and Bond Counsel is directed to make application to the State Bond Commission in accordance with the foregoing on behalf of the Governing Authority.

By virtue of applicant/issuer’s application for, acceptance and utilization of the benefits of the Louisiana State Bond Commission’s approval(s) resolved and set forth herein, it resolves that it understands and agrees that such approval(s) are expressly conditioned upon, and it further resolves that it understands, agrees and binds itself, its successors and assigns to, full and continuing compliance with the "State Bond Commission Policy on Approval of Proposed Use of Swaps, or other forms of Derivative Products Hedges, Etc.", adopted by the Commission on July 20, 2006, as to the borrowing(s) and other matter(s) subject to the approval(s), including subsequent application and approval under said Policy of the implementation or use of any swap(s) or other product(s) or enhancement(s) covered thereby.

SECTION 4.  Appointment of Municipal Advisor.  The Issuer hereby retains Government Consultants, Inc., of Baton Rouge, Louisiana, to act as its Municipal Advisor ("MA") pursuant to the provisions of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act and the rules promulgated thereunder by the Securities and Exchange Commission.  The Issuer hereby acknowledges that it is represented by the MA and will rely upon the advice of the MA with respect to the Bonds.  The fee to be paid the MA shall be payable solely from the proceeds of the Bonds when and if issued, and the amount thereof shall be subject to the approval of the State Bond Commission. The Secretary and/or Director of Business Services are hereby authorized and directed, to execute any contract the MA may require with respect to the engagement.

SECTION 5.  Sale of Bonds.  The Bonds are hereby authorized to be sold to a purchaser, and the Secretary, President and/or Director of Business Services are hereby authorized to execute a Commitment Letter or Bond Purchase Agreement, in form and substance satisfactory to Bond Counsel to the Issuer, provided the sale of the Bonds produces minimum net present value savings (after payment of all costs) in excess of the Minimum Present Value Savings to Refund guidelines of the State Bond Commission.

The foregoing resolution having been submitted to a vote, the vote thereon was as follows:

And the resolution was declared adopted on this, 6^th day of August, 2020.

    /s/ Clay Corley                                                   /s/ Bobby Boyd

   Secretary                                                                   President

STATE OF LOUISIANA

PARISH OF DESOTO

I, the undersigned Secretary of the Parish School Board of DeSoto Parish, Louisiana, do hereby certify that the foregoing pages constitute a true and correct copy of a resolution adopted by said Parish School Board on August 6, 2020, giving preliminary approval to the issuance of not to exceed Six Million Five Hundred Thousand Dollars ($6,500,000) of General Obligation School Refunding Bonds of School District No. 4 of the Parish of DeSoto, State of Louisiana; making application to the State Bond Commission for approval of said Bonds; and providing for other matters in connection therewith.

IN FAITH WHEREOF, witness my official signature on this, the 6^th day of August, 2020.

                                                                                                      /s/ Clay J. Corley

                                                                                                         Secretary

            Item 5:  Approval of the revised 2020-21 Personnel Evaluation Plan

            Mr. Corley presented a summary of the changes to the Personnel Evaluation Plan. 

            Mr. Morvan made the motion, seconded by Ms. Thomas, to approve the revised 2020-21 Personnel Evaluation Plan as presented.  The President stated the motion carried with the following votes – Yes = 9, No = 0, Absent = 2, and Abstentions = 0. 

            Item 6:  – Board policies for approval

a.   EBBI – Public Health Emergency

b.    IDFAA – Athletic and extracurricular activity drug screening

Mr. Glenn made the motion, seconded by Dr. Henderson, to approve the policies as presented.  The President stated the motion carried with the following votes – Yes = 9, No = 0, Absent = 2, and Abstentions = 0.

Item 7:  Board policies for review

Mr. Corley presented the following policies for review.

a.      GAAA – Equal Opportunity Employment

b.      GAE – Non-Title IX Complaints and Grievances

c.      GAEAA – Title VII Employee Sexual Harassment

d.      GAMC – Investigations

e.      JAAA –Title IX Sexual Harassment (new policy)

f.       JCEA – Sexually Related Student Misconduct

            Item 8:  Comments

            Superintendent Corley made the public and Board Members aware of the following:

·        Mary Jo Babcock and Paula Sanca from First United Methodist Church in Mansfield made cloth face coverings to share with all schools and the school system is very appreciative of their efforts.

·        Russell Tabor is the new Principal at North DeSoto Lower Elementary School; Barry Carter is the new Principal at North DeSoto Middle School and we are glad to have both of these Principals.  Two more new principals will be introduced at a future Board meeting.

·        Thank you for the hard work and cooperation from all staff in bringing students back this week.  Everyone has stepped up, stepped in, learned new ways of doing almost everything and have accepted the challenge.  Yesterday was not only a new beginning for students, but also a new beginning for all of us.

·        Retirements – Mrs. Noel, Director of Student Learning, is going to the State Department of Education and Mrs. Gamble, HR Director, is retiring to go enjoy life with her family.  Superintendent Corley and Board Members expressed heartfelt appreciation to both Directors for the years of hard work they gave to DeSoto Parish Schools and applauded them for each playing a vital role in the success of DeSoto Parish Schools.

·        School has started for both virtual students and A/B hybrid students that are on a staggered attendance schedule.  District leadership will meet very soon to see if it is possible to combine our A/B students and get them to school four days per week instead of two days.

            Item 9:  Adjournment

On a motion by Mr. Dillard, seconded by Ms. Thomas, the Board voted to adjourn at 6:34 p.m.

Bobby Boyd, President                                      Clay J. Corley, Secretary

 DeSoto Parish School Board                             DeSoto Parish School Board