The meeting of the Webster Parish School Board on September 11 was brief and the agenda relatively short. All members of the board were present.
The meeting began with a remembrance to the tragic events in our nation’s history that took place on September 11, 2001. Board President Charles Strong said, “It occurs to me that we ought to think back 22 years and remember. Remember and let us never forget.”
The first item on the agenda was the presentation of the Employee of the Month Award to Maggie Watts of Minden High School by Rodney Taylor of Taylor and Sons. Details of this will appear in a future Minden Press-Herald article.
Next, the board unanimously approved adopting the 2023 millages. For the most part, these millages remain the same as last year’s. The only two that dropped were the Minden District #6, which dropped from 36.5 to 36.0, and the Springhill District #8, which dropped from 29.0 to 28.5. The three that increased were the Doyline District #7, which increased from 42.0 to 43.0, the Sarepta District #35, which increased from 34.6 to 35.5, and the Shongaloo-Evergreen Consolidated District #1, which increased from 11.04 to 12.50.
After that, the board voted unanimously to approve the proposed fiscal year 2023-2024 budgets.
Item four was consideration for the approval of a trip to Rome, Italy, for the Expanding Horizon students in grades 9-12. This trip will be funded by the Gifted and Talented Allocated State Funds with the students being responsible for a portion of the costs. It is scheduled for April 2024.
The final item of new business was the approval of a bid from Dumas Construction, LLC in the amount of $347,400 to make alterations to the J.E. Harper Pathways to Excellence Center to create the new barbering school. It also passed unanimously.
The approved maintenance fund expenditures will be detailed in a future Minden Press-Herald article.
Personnel Director Robin Tucker reported that all teaching positions in the parish have been filled. They are still looking for a school secretary for Brown Upper Elementary. There will be a substitute training event on September 14. Contact the district office at 377-7052 for more details.
Superintendent Rowland took a few minutes at the beginning of his regular report to remember North Webster High School senior Tarcus Hawthorne Jr. who died at school on August 22 after a medical emergency. “Anytime you lose a student, and especially at school…it’s something that you pray you’ll never have to go through, but we did. Our thoughts and prayers go out to his family.”
The final portion of the meeting consisted of possible upgrades to the district office. These upgrades would be quite modest: power washing the building, removing some window-unit air conditioners, replacing some windows, upgrading the sign, and adding a canopy which would cover the walkway between the two front doors.
The board’s next meeting will be held on October 2 at 6 PM at the district office, located at 1442 Sheppard Street. The public is welcome to attend.