St. Tammany Parish School Board Covington, LA
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St. Tammany Parish School Board Covington, LA COMMITTEE AS A WHOLE HUMAN RESOURCES AND EDUCATION April 6, 2017 The St. Tammany Parish School Board met as a Committee As A Whole on April 6, 2017, at the C. J. Schoen Administrative Complex in Covington, Louisiana. There were present: Elizabeth B. Heintz, Chairperson, Neal M. Hennegan, Michael J. Dirmann, Stephen J. “Jack” Loup, III, Michael C. Nation, Willie B. Jeter, Sharon Lo Drucker, Ronald “Ron” Bettencourtt, Robert R. “Bob” Womack, Richard “Rickey” Hursey, Jr., Robin P. Mullett, Dennis S. Cousin, and Mary K. Bellisario. Absent: Charles T. Harrell and Peggy H. Seeley. Invocation was led by Mrs. Heintz followed by the Pledge of Allegiance. No one requested time on the agenda. The minutes from the Committee As A Whole meeting held on March 9, 2017, were approved as presented. Mrs. Heintz called on Mr. Folse for the Superintendent’s Student Advisory Panel report. Mr. Folse stated a couple years ago he attended a NFUSSD Conference in Kansas City. One of the work sessions pertained to a Superintendent’s Advisory Panel. Mr. Folse stated he signed up for the session and had an opportunity to learn more about a Superintendent’s Advisory Panel. After speaking with other superintendents and some Board members, there was interest in forming an Advisory Panel. This was the first year for the Advisory Panel, and the process was very enlightening. All the members of the Advisory Panel, the parents, and school administrators were asked to stand and be recognized. Mr. Folse stated he felt it was important for the students to have a seat at the table when decisions were made that affected their education. The students were in the schools and classrooms and had the unique perspective no one else had. When the planning started, the goal was to ensure there was a representative from each grade level from each high school. The panel of thirty-two members consisted of one freshman, one sophomore, one junior, and one senior from each of the eight high schools in the district. Mr. Folse stated the plan was for a student to remain on the panel for four years. Next year eight new freshmen will be selected to join the remaining panel members. In the planning process, it was decided to visit as many high schools as possible since many of our students had only been on the campus of their high school. Mr. Folse stated the first meeting in October was held at Northshore High School. He did most of the talking at this meeting since the students were very quiet. After the first meeting, the students really started to participate. The layout for most meetings started with a discussion of a few topics, followed by a question and answer period. Next was the discussion of upcoming events. Mr. Folse stated he shared with the students the events he had planned with the school system. Most students knew what went on at their high school but were not sure what was done at other high schools. Topics were given to the panel so the students were able to plan ahead for the next meeting. Some homework assignments were given. The panel members were asked to read the book used for Read for the Record Day, “The Bear Ate Your Sandwich.” Mr. Folse stated elementary students had a little different perspective on the book than the high school students. Mr. Folse stated the October 28 meeting included an overview of the school system, the administrators, the Central Office staff, and all the things that made up the entire system. The students knew about their school but did not know what was done at Central Office. The students were given information about the School Board and how policies were made. They were informed about how the Board communicated with the administration before the Board actually made the policies. Mr. Folse stated the panel was informed how important communication was not only with the community, but to the students, schools, and principals. Mr. Folse stated the topic of communication was discussed more throughout all the meetings than any other topic. The second meeting was held at Covington High School in November. Mr. Folse stated this was a special meeting for him because Roslyn Hanson, Principal of Covington High, had prepared a surprise for him for being selected State Superintendent of the Year. He was presented with a plaque signed by each panel member that was displayed in his office. The topics discussed at the November meeting were school atmosphere, safety, discipline, clubs, and activities. Mr. Folse stated it was interesting to learn some activities worked well at some schools, but not all the schools. Mr. Folse 1 stated what was interesting to him was the students sat with the members of their school at the first meeting. As the students attended more meetings, the students began to speak with one another during breaks and lunch. This gave the students a new appreciation not only for their school but the other high schools in the district. The students had much to say about communications, so the group had two meetings where communication was discussed. The third meeting was held at Lakeshore High School with a Mardi Gras theme. The topics discussed were academics, resources, where funding came from for groups, clubs, and athletics, and support from people outside the classroom who helped make a difference. The students may not see the support needed from outside people but had a big influence on their school and students. The fourth meeting was at Mr. Folse’s alma matter, Slidell High School. The students saw pictures of Mr. Folse from 1977. Since it was the last meeting, each panel member was given the scenario of being superintendent for a day. The students were given an opportunity to tell Mr. Folse what changes they would make and what they would do to run the school system. Mr. Folse stated unique perspectives were learned from the activity. Other topics for the meeting were educational trends and leadership. Mr. Folse introduced the following students who each spoke about their experience as a member of the Superintendent’s Advisory Panel: Makaela Lee Slidell High School Dylan Autin Lakeshore High School Brett Stow Fontainebleau High School Kellie Jackson Northshore High School Kayleigh Reneau Pearl River High School Porter Langdon Mandeville High School Mr. Folse thanked the students for their honest feedback because he learned a lot about what the parish was doing right, but also what could be done better. He stated for all the good things the school district did well, there were ways to do better. The Superintendent’s Student Advisory Panel was another step on the path to do better in everything. Mr. Folse stated the first group would always have a special place in his heart for their contributions. Mr. Folse stated there were no administrators allowed in the meetings except Dr. Sanford, a Supervisor, and himself. The students were allowed to share their honest remarks since the meetings were very confidential. Mr. Folse invited Dr. Sanford to the podium to present each panel member a certificate and a cell phone charger cord in a box that stated “You have the power to make a difference”. The Superintendent’s Student Advisory Panel members were: Covington High School Fontainebleau High School Kelly Barre Ruhullah Ashiru Chloe Casnave Riley Audsley Lindsey Jenkins Olivia Phillips Joseph Mitchell Brett Stow Lakeshore High School Mandeville High School Dylan Autin Savannah Davis Alexandra Basse James Langdon Grace Decker Elisabeth McLaughlin Aubrey Womack Karlee Mott Northshore High School Pearl River High School Logan Doody Destinee Anders Jordyn Fong Jesse Gille Kellie Jackson Kayleigh Reneau Kayli Smith Sarah Surla Salmen High School Slidell High School Raven Donald Timothy Ander Karisa Greenlee Carson Canulette Vivian La Mikaela Lee Mark Legendre Alice Santiago Mr. Folse thanked all the students, parents, and school administrators for being a part of this special group. The host sites scheduled for next year will be Fontainebleau High, Mandeville High, Salmen High, and Pearl River High. A video prepared by Channel 13 was shown. 2 Mrs. Heintz stated Mr. Folse mentioned NFUSSD which stands for National Federation of Urban and Suburban School Districts. This organization represented school districts very similar to St. Tammany. This gave the district an opportunity to send members to meetings where the ideas shared were relevant to our school system. Mr. Dirmann thanked everyone involved in the Superintendent’s Student Advisory Panel and everyone in attendance. There were no further comments or questions. Mrs. Heintz called on Dr. Wagner for the Foreign Exchange Students report. Dr. Wagner stated the report recognized the visitors who chose to explore academics and culture in our country as foreign exchange students. The St. Tammany Parish foreign exchange program was twenty-two years strong through the partnerships with a number of agencies that promoted positive learning and social experiences. St. Tammany Parish School District hosted twelve students from other countries for the 2016-2017 school year. A video composed by Channel 13 was shown. Dr. Wagner invited the students to come to the podium to receive a certificate and have a photo taken with Superintendent Folse. The students were: Emilia Geuting from Germany Pearl River High School Giovana Genda-Nishimure from Brazil Northshore High School Alexsandra Arnstein from Sweden Salmen High School Wilma Jonsson Berg from Sweden Salmen High School Marcus Selle from Norway Salmen High School Raphael Lorinser from Germany Covington High School Levin Steiger from Germany Covington High School Oskar Ekman from Sweden Fontainebleau High School Emma van Koppenhagen from the Netherlands Fontainebleau High School Mattawan Wongvatcharapaiboon from Thailand Fontainebleau High School Tabea Povogel from Germany Slidell High School Anh Le from Vietnam Lakeshore High School Dr.