The Jackson Parish School Board held its regularly scheduled monthly meeting in the Conference Room at the Jackson Parish School District Central Office on October 5th, where it named Dr. Robin Potts Interim Superintendent while Superintendent Carter is on Administrative Leave until the issue relating to charges brought against him in the Thursday, October 1st special called meeting is resolved.
In addition, board members Mary Saulters (President), Rick Barlow, Dennis Clary, Wade McBride, Gerry Mims and Paulette Belton announced that at its meeting to be held on Monday, November 2, 2026, the adoption of a resolution ordering and calling an election to be held in the Consolidated School District No. 1 of the Parish of Jackson, State of Louisiana to authorize the levy of an ad valorem tax therein will be considered.
The board also recognized Justin Dodson from the Jackson Parish Recreation Department, who spoke about the use of school facilities for Recreation Basketball and since they also had a request from the Boys and Girls Clubs of North Louisiana concerning the use of school facilities, the board agreed to form a committee to negotiate a policy for Use of School facilities.
Other action agreed upon to be taken included:
(1) Approved a Memorandum of Understanding with the Jackson Parish Sheriff’s Office for five (5) School Resource Officers at a cost of $220,000.00, to be paid from the General Fund.
(2) Approved the 2026-2027 Pupil Progression Plan.
(3) Paid the following bills: General Fund, Federal Program, School Food Service, Sales Tax, Special Education, and District Maintenance bills.
(4) Paid $32,049.00 to Air Reading for High Dosage Tutoring at Jonesboro Hodge Elementary School, to be paid from the High Dosage Tutoring grant. Air Reading is a sole source provider.
(5) Approval to declare the following items at Weston High School Ag department as surplus:
• Tag #200 – 15″ Planer
• Tag #225 – Lathe Machine
• Tag #199 – Bender
• Tag #226 – Welding Rod Oven
These items are no longer usable and will be disposed of by taking them to a scrap yard.
(6) Approved a part-time hourly contract for Kristi Bass to provide training support to the Business Department at a cost of $52.98 per hour (not to exceed 45 hours) plus mileage at the state rate to be paid out of the General Fund. This contract will end December 18, 2026.
(7) Purchased curriculum (Frog Street) for three (3) and four (4) year-olds at Union Bee Head Start at a cost of $12,426.70 to be paid from the EC PDG Consolidated Grant fund. Frog Street is a sole source provider.
(8) Purchased an online program to assist with data collection and IEP writing for students with disabilities from GoalBook at a cost of $11,475.00 to be paid from the General Fund. GoalBook is a sole source provider.
(9) Adopted the resolution granting Bonnie Buckelew permission to sign the State of Louisiana Cooperative Endeavor Agreement for Act 461 of the 2025 Regular Legislative Session in the amount of $150,000.00 for Acquisition, Equipment and Operating Expenses for materials and supplies, as well as labor costs to renovate and enhance the facilities at Jonesboro Hodge High School, Jonesboro Hodge Elementary School and Quitman High School) for and on behalf of the Jackson Parish School Board to finalize the 2025-2026 CEA invoices.
(10) Gave Bonnie Buckelew permission to contact the State of La. Legislators to request a change in the wording of HB 312, Act 961 of the 2026 Regular Legislative Session in the amount of $200,000.00 to (Acquisition, Equipment and Operating Expenses for materials and supplies, as well as labor costs to renovate and enhance the facilities at Jonesboro Hodge High School, Jonesboro Hodge Elementary School and Quitman High School.)
(11)Approved a part-time hourly contract for a Speech Therapist at $65.00 per hour not to exceed 8 hours per week, to be paid from General Fund.
(12) Agreed to acquire two (2) Wal-Mart Pay by Invoice-Trevipay cards for Central Office and Special Education Department use, with the Business Manager being the cardholder (with guidelines attached).
(13) Accepted low bid of $13,300.00 for Hot2Cold Heating, AC & Electrical for the three (3) ton Lennox Mini Split for Support Building and 3rd & 4th Grade building hallways at Jonesboro Hodge Elementary School, to be paid from Jonesboro Hodge District funds.
(14) Accepted low bid of $177,000.00 from Albritton Service Company for lighting and electrical upgrades at Weston High School Baseball and Softball fields, to be paid from Weston District funds (CEA Act 3 of 2026 RLS).
For complete and official minutes of the October 5th regularly scheduled meeting of the Jackson Parish School Board, visit the Classifieds Section of the Jackson Parish Journal.