Board rejects health-insurance RFQs, tables certain procurement items and appoints finance committee member

The St. John the Baptist Parish School Board on Aug. 22 rejected all RFQ packages submitted for a health insurance broker and directed staff to re-advertise at a later date, after discussion and public comment.

DeFrancesch moved to reject the RFQs; Schum seconded. After extended discussion and a substitute motion that would have hired a particular firm, the substitute was not seconded and the original motion passed with nine yeas and one nay recorded in the minutes.

The board also approved advertising for property insurance and referred the matter to the appropriate committee for process development; the board approved advertising for custodial cleaning supplies. A motion to extend the district's third-party administrator for workers'comp claims was made but ultimately tabled by substitute motion (6 yeas, 4 nays, 1 abstention). Public comments were recorded from Dustin Breaux and Natalie Tatje.

In governance business, the board approved appointing Mr. Raydel Morris to the Finance Committee to fill a seat vacated by Mr. Albert Burl III after a motion to waive policy to amend the agenda; the vote was 10 yeas with one absence. The board also approved changing the September workshop date from Sept. 26 to Sept. 19.

The minutes record votes, substitute motions and recorded roll-call tallies. Several items were tabled or referred to committees for additional review; when motions were tabled the minutes record vote counts but do not include the underlying procurement evaluations or RFQ responses.