Leonard Gray / L’Observateur / May 25, 1998

RESERVE – Members of the negotiating team which developed a new union contract last November with the St. John Association of Educators willfinally receive compensation, the St. John Parish School Board narrowlyagreed Thursday.

Board members James Madere and Richard DeLong each declared their opposition to the action to disperse $40,000 in the budget to those team members as soon as possible.

Madere said since their work as negotiators was not part of their job description they should not receive the extra money. Madere said it was”too much money.”On the other hand, Felix “Pappy” LeBoeuf, celebrating his 70th birthday, said, “They’ve already done the job, they’ve done a good job,” and voted for the action. “I can’t see what the argument is.”Originally, $10,000 was set aside in the budget for compensation but some, including 200 hours in one case, put in much more time into the negotiations, working out to $40,000-worth of work.

Team members included business manager Felix Boughton, transportation supervisor Johnny Owens, personnel director Alfred Donaldson, Title I coordinator Herbert Smith, food services director Terry Charles, elementary education director Wilbert Ocmond and pupil appraisal coordinator Ann LeBorde.

Finance director Nathan Stein pointed out the board “forced them to do something not in their job description,” going above and beyond their duties.

Voting for were Charles Watkins, Dr. Gerald Keller, Matthew Ory, ClarenceTriche, Aletha Bardell and LeBoeuf. Voting against were Russ Wise, DowieGendron, Leroy Mitchell, Madere and DeLong.

In other activity, the board recognized several retirees, including West St.

John Elementary principal Myrtle Bossier (34 years), LaPlace Elementary principal Lowell Bacas (33 years), East St. John High School assistantprincipal Judy Fiffie (30 years), East St. John Elementary specialeducation aide Sandra Weston (21 years), Glade School special education aide Elizabeth Bourgeois (20 years), bus driver Barry Holland (17 years) and general maintenance employee Paul Roussel (10 years).

Also in personnel, cafeteria manager salaries were adjusted at an annual cost of $3,200.

Alfred Donaldson told the board the cafeteria managers were removed from the labor negotiations to settle separately their inconsistent job experience cited. “We had to make sure the seniority was correct,” hesaid.

Each manager agreed in writing to the changes and each received salary increases while eliminating duties such as checking the coolers during the summer months.

Superintendent Cleveland Farlough reminded the board of the upcoming Honor Roll Roundup, set June 6 from 11 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. at the PEROBuilding at Dupont, featuring rides, games and food for those honor roll students who earned their right to attend.

Finally, special education teacher and wrestling coach Scott Murphy of East St. John High School will be attending the Fulbright Memorial FundTeacher Program in Japan for three weeks, beginning June 14.

Murphy will be joining an elite group of American teachers studying the Japanese education system.

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