Board reviews Northwestern State University memorandum; district eyes taking on custodial services

Finance staff (Miss Paige) presented a memorandum of understanding with Northwestern State University that the district has revisited periodically. She said most terms remain the same but two items prompted discussion: NSU’s historical payment of the Middle Lab principal and performance concerns with third‑party custodial services NSU uses on certain campuses.

"There were two areas that NSU wanted to talk through," Paige said, explaining that NSU historically paid the Middle Lab principal and that principals on those campuses have raised service quality concerns about custodial staff who report to NSU’s contracted vendor rather than district principals. Paige said district negotiators and NSU worked through the issues and that the district believes taking on custodial services could at minimum maintain and possibly improve performance while preserving the partnership.

Board members asked whether the change would affect tuition; Paige said tuition decisions are controlled by the university and beyond the district’s purview and that any tuition change would be communicated in advance by NSU. Paige said the NSU memorandum would be presented for a vote at the next board meeting.

What’s next: the NSU memorandum will be on the agenda for next Tuesday’s vote; staff recommended continued partnership while clarifying custodial service arrangements.