The Jackson Parish School Board held their regular scheduled monthly meeting on February 3rd in the conference room of the Jackson Parish School District Central Office located at 315 Pershing Highway, Jonesboro, La.
Board members Mary Saulters, Paulette Belton, Rick Barlow, Wade McBride, Dennis Clary, and Calvin Waggoner were present with Gerry Mims being absent.
After Calvin Waggoner gave the Invocation and Wade McBride led in the Pledge of Allegiance, the meeting was called to order by Mary Saulters and the minutes from the January 13th meeting was approved.
As the first order of business the board members approved the following School Board Member Training Resolution.
School Board Member Training Resolution
WHEREAS, each member of a city and parish school board shall receive a minimum of six hours of training and instruction, as required by ACT 705 of the 2011 Louisiana Legislature; and
WHEREAS, this training and instruction shall consist of school laws of this state, laws governing the powers, duties, and responsibilities of city and parish school boards, educational trends, research and policy; and
WHEREAS, such instruction may be received from an institution of higher education in this state, from instruction sponsored by the State Department of Education, or by an in-service training program conducted by a city or parish school board central office or the Louisiana School Boards Association, or training provided at the national level; and
WHEREAS, each member of a city and parish board shall receive one hour of ethics training, per year, of their tenure as board member;
NOW THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, that it become public record that Dennis Clary, Gerry Mims, Paulette Belton, Rick Barlow, Calvin Waggoner, Wade McBride and Mary Saulters, members of the Jackson Parish School Board have successfully received and exceeded the six hours of required training as mandated by the Legislature of Louisiana and all board members have fulfilled the mandate of one hour of ethics training for the year 2025.
Next the 2024 Continued Learning Units (CLU’s) for the Board Members were reviewed with units earned shown below.
• Rick Barlow – 12.5
• Paulette Belton – 24
• Dennis Clary – 8
• Wade McBride – 17
• Gerry Mims – 18
• Mary Saulters – 16
• Calvin Waggoner – 11.5
Paulette Belton was then recognized as a Certified School Board Member for the year 2024 by attaining twenty or more CLU’s.
Amy Hay, Assessment & Accountability Supervisor, then spoke to the board and provided information on the 2023-2024 Test Scores
The bills of the General Fund, Federal Program, School Food Service, Sales Tax, Special Education, District Maintenance bills, and payment of the Employer’s Share of Office of Group Benefits insurance premiums from the General Fund for the March 2025 sales tax distribution were approved.
Additional payment approval was given for the following:
Payment to New Directions Educational Solutions in the amount of $15,000.00 for 10 days of curriculum coaching at Jonesboro Hodge Elementary School, to be paid from Title V.
Payment to SHI in the amount of $17,979.35 for the renewal of Microsoft Campus License 3/1/2025 – 2/28/2026, to be paid from General Fund.
Payment to ZOHO Corporation in the amount of $12,890.00 for the renewal of the Manage Engine Endpoint Addons, to be paid from General Fund.
Payment to Ross Bus Sales in the amount of $141,063.08 for the purchase of a Type C: 71 Passenger, Gasoline bus, to be paid from Parish Wide District funds.