By David Vitrano

L’Observateur

RESERVE – The St. John the Baptist Parish School Board held a special meeting Wednesday morning, but an item added to the agenda at the last minute, the evaluation of Superintendent Courtney Millet and her contract, was ultimately put off until a later date.

Board member Rodney Nicholas asked for the addition because board policy states the superintendent must receive a written evaluation by July 15 of each year. According to Board President Patrick Sanders, it was decided the board’s July retreat would be a more appropriate place for a discussion of the superintendent’s performance. He said an Executive Committee meeting will be held to determine the exact dates of the retreat.

Also Wednesday, the school board accepted a bid of $134,600 from ARC Contractors Inc. for backflow preventer projects at the various sites owned by the school board. Backflow preventers stop water from re-entering the public water supply.

According the CSRS Project Manager Todd Mann, this project will complete the installation and one-year certification of the backflow preventers at each school board site. Mann said the preventers must be recertified each year at a cost of about $100 per piece.

Given the ever-expanding uses of new technology in schools, the school board approved the newest version of the Student Internet Policy. Bonnie Dinvaut-Irving and Bob Bourgeois of the technology department also introduced the Employee Internet Policy to the board. The biggest change in the policy is a redefinition of privacy expectations. The policy states, “Users have no explicit or implicit expectation of privacy.”

The item will be up for approval at the next school board meeting.

The newest version of the Student Handbook will also be up for approval at the meeting. The biggest changes to the handbook, according to board member Albert Burl III, deal with student absences and equal education opportunities.

Lastly, the board attempted to add an item dealing with some leftover funds in the parish’s Head Start department to the agenda, but board member Russ Wise objected to its addition. Votes to add an item to the agenda during a meeting must be unanimous.

According to Millet, there is about $27,000 left in the budget, and the district must decide what to do with the money before the start of the next fiscal year or lose it.

“We have a bad habit of rushing to spend every available dollar at the last minute,” said Wise. “Any time we are talking about taxpayer money, I am going to vote against adding it to the agenda.”