PARISH OF DESOTO

DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION

Mansfield, Louisiana

November 5, 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, November 5, 2020, at 6:00 p.m. with the following members present:

Dudley M. Glenn, Jeffrey Dillard, Donald B. Dufour, Dale Morvan, Bobby Boyd, Rosie Mayweather, and Clay Corley, Superintendent.

            Absent:  Thomas Craig, Jr., Dr. Neil Henderson, Coday Johnston, Mark Ross, Alice Thomas

            Item 1:  Call to order

            Mr. Morvan led the invocation and 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 October 1, 2020.

            Mr. Glenn made the motion, seconded by Mr. Morvan, to approve the minutes of the October 1, 2020, regular Board meeting.  The vote was taken and the President stated the motion carried with the following votes – Yes = 6, No = 0, Absent = 5, and Abstentions = 0.

            Item 4:  Review and approve revisions to school calendar, relative to testing window.

            Mr. Corley explained that the State Department of Education made minor testing window changes and we revised our school calendar to reflect those changes. 

Motion was made by Mr. Dufour, seconded by Mr. Glenn, to approve the revisions to the school calendar as presented.  The vote was taken and the President stated the motion carried with the following votes – Yes = 6, No = 0, Absent = 5, and Abstentions = 0. 

            Item 5:  To consider and take action with respect to adopting a resolution providing for the issuance and sale of General Obligation School Refunding Bonds, Series 2020, of School District No. 4 of the Parish of DeSoto, State of Louisiana; and providing for other matters in connection therewith. 

            Mrs. Ashworth explained that the District has the opportunity to re-finance Series 2015 District 4 bonds.  The Board has elected to move forward with re-financing and has chosen to pre-pay $1 million of that debt, using reserves set aside from sales tax receipts.  Mrs. Ashworth expressed appreciation to the Board for their decisions involving this issue.  She then introduced Mr. Hardy Andrews of Foley Judell, bond counsel, and Mr. Nnamdi Thompson of Government Consultants.  Mr. Andrews presented information about the legal details of the resolution and Mr. Thompson provided some financial details of the pre-payment and the re-financing.  Mr. Thompson explained that by re-financing at a lower interest rate and pre-paying $1 million of the existing debt, DeSoto Parish School Board would realize a net savings of $384,000 of tax dollars.  This represents one of the largest capital savings Government Consultants has handled recently and at the lowest interest rate.  Mr. Thompson praised the Board, Superintendent Corley and Mrs. Ashworth for the District being financially sound and able to complete this transaction.

            Board Members expressed appreciation to Superintendent Corley and Mrs. Ashworth for their roles in keeping the District financially sound.

Motion was made by Mr. Dufour, seconded by Mr. Morvan, to adopt the resolution as presented.  The vote was taken and the President stated the motion carried with the following votes – Yes = 6, No = 0, Absent = 5, and Abstentions = 0.  The resolution will be published separately.

            Item 6:  Report of the Budget/Finance Committee meeting held on October 22, 2020.

Motion was made by Mr. Morvan, seconded by Mr. Glenn, to approve the minutes of the October 22, 2020, Budget/Finance Committee meeting as presented.  The vote was taken and the President stated the motion carried with the following votes – Yes = 6, No = 0, Absent = 5, and Abstentions = 0. 

Motion was made by Mr. Glenn, seconded by Mr. Dillard, to approve the following action from the October 22, 2020, Budget/Finance Committee meeting:

Approve budget revisions for the General Fund and the Capital Projects Fund, as presented.

Approve changing the name of the Budget/Finance Committee to Finance & Operations Committee.

Award bids for printers, toner and ink cartridges as presented.

Superintendent Corley explained that the committee name change is simply to more accurately reflect the work of the committee and the information presented at the meetings.  Both the Business Department and the Operations Department present various reports, so we felt the committee name should include both Finance and Operations.

The vote was taken and the President stated the motion carried with the following votes – Yes = 6, No = 0, Absent = 5, and Abstentions = 0.

Item 7:  Board policies for review.

Board policies were presented for review and will be considered for approval at the December Board meeting.

a.      Parent and Family Engagement Policy

b.      BCAD – Teleconference/Remote Participation in School Board Meetings

c.      CBD – Employment of Superintendent

d.      DJE – Purchasing

e.      DJED – Bids and Quotations

f.       EFD – Business Continuity and Technology Disaster Recovery

g.      GBDA – Employment of Retired Personnel

h.      IDFAB – Sports Injury Management and Concussions

i.        JGC – Student Health Services

j.        JGCE – Child Abuse

Item 8: Comments

Superintendent Corley asked Board Members to remember Mr. Tommy Craig as he works through health issues and continues to improve. 

He reminded everyone of the upcoming Friday night high school football games, and thanked Board Members for their continued support.

Item 9: Adjournment 

On a motion by Mr. Glenn, seconded by Mr. Dillard, the Board voted to adjourn at 6:14p.m.

Bobby Boyd, President                                                               Clay Corley, Secretary

DeSoto Parish School Board                                                       DeSoto Parish School Board