School board approves salary schedule raises, Head Start policy updates, contracts and insurance award

At its Feb. 16 meeting the St. John the Baptist Parish School Board approved a package of personnel and business items including salary schedule changes, Head Start policy updates and several procurement actions.

Salary changes: The board approved recommendations from the Salary Study Committee to raise the bus driver maximum pay to $29,111 (from $25,296), to provide a $3,000 modified raise amount for nurses and counselors aligned with teacher increases, to expand assistant principal step levels to 25 (with $308 per additional step beyond step 4), and to establish performance-pay amounts of $300, $450 and $750. A motion to fold a $2,411 clerking supplement into the superintendent’s secretary base and increase it to $3,000 was approved after a substitute motion to add $750 for secretaries who clerk committees failed (substitute 2 yeas, 8 nays). Several of these salary votes recorded one consistent dissent from Board Member Albert Burl, who said the district should secure the millage renewal before approving pay increases.

Head Start policies and safety procedures: Administration introduced and the board approved incorporation of mandatory Head Start personnel rules into the district’s Employee Conduct policy and approved new Head Start Emergency Bus Procedures. The emergency procedures detail roles (center directors, Transportation Operations Coordinator), an incident/accident action plan, parent/guardian notification steps and reporting to licensing authorities.

Contracts, procurement and insurance: The board approved advertising or soliciting bids for items including general maintenance supplies, awards and incentives, and bus parts; advertising for a janitorial contract failed after several abstentions. The board awarded a property insurance contract to a responsive proposer at a total cost of $3.9 million. An agreement to use Munis (Tyler Technology) for transportation routing was referred to the Land and Facilities Committee for further review.

Other actions: The board approved the 2023–24 school calendar, granted administration authority to accept E-Rate classroom wireless procurement from Transformyx, approved the SJAE contract as negotiated, and established several committee appointments and workshop dates. The meeting adjourned at 9:36 p.m.

The minutes record both recorded approvals and a standing objection by a board member urging fiscal caution until the millage renewal process is complete; despite that objection, the board approved the salary and business items by roll call votes.