School board holds executive session on two litigation matters; settlement-authority motion flagged for inconsistent roll-call entry

The St. John the Baptist Parish School Board voted Nov. 6 to go into an executive session at 6:17 p.m. to discuss ongoing litigation in Kathy Duhon et al. v. St. John the Baptist Parish School Board and prospective litigation involving Pinnacle Polymers LLC under La. R.S. 42:17(A)(2). Atty. John Blanchard made the request and the board approved the motion to enter executive session by roll call.

The board returned to open session at 7:15 p.m. Following the executive session, multiple motions were taken. A substitute motion by Board member Burl to "bring the Sheriff and Council to make them aware of this settlement" failed on a roll-call vote recorded in the minutes as 2 yeas and 9 nays. A subsequent motion, recorded in the minutes as moved by Board member Frizzell and seconded by Board member Morris, sought to "grant settlement authority to Mr. Patrick Amedee" (the transcript first refers to him as Patrick Amedee). The minutes record the roll call for that motion as 9 yeas and 2 nays but state that the motion failed. The minutes therefore show an internal inconsistency between the tallies and the stated outcome; the board minutes do not explain that discrepancy.

La. R.S. 42:17(A)(2) was cited in the request for executive session. The minutes do not record additional detail about legal strategy or settlement terms discussed during the executive session, consistent with the statutory protection of privileged deliberations. The board took no further recorded action on the cases in open session that night.

The board clerk's roll-call entries identify board members present for the votes (Burl, Holden, Triche, Morris, DeFrancesch, Frizzell, Mamou, Wallace, Mitchell-Williams, Vicknair and Schum).