Board upholds superintendent's recommendation to not renew an administrator's contract and convenes executive session on long-running litigation

Reserve, La. ' In a personnel action taken during the St. John the Baptist Parish School Board's June 20 meeting, the board voted to uphold the superintendent's recommendation to not renew the contract of an administrator identified in the record as Employee #7811.

Dr. Kimberly Johnson presented the personnel recommendation. Schum moved to uphold the superintendent's recommendation; Vicknair seconded. The roll call recorded nine yeas, one abstention (Holden) and one absent; the motion carried.

Later in the meeting the board considered a request from Atty. Robert Hammonds and voted to convene an executive session to discuss strategy related to pending litigation, listed in the agenda as Kathy Duhon, et al. v. St. John the Baptist Parish School Board, Civil Action No. 90-1669 (United States District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana). Morris moved to convene in executive session; the board entered executive session at 8:18 p.m. The board reconvened in open session at 9:20 p.m.

Why it matters: Personnel non-renewals are significant employment decisions for district staff and are recorded in the public minutes; executive-session votes to discuss litigation are permitted under state law and were recorded by motion and subsequent reconvening in open session.

The minutes provide the motion text and roll-call outcomes; specifics about the reasons for the personnel decision or the content of the executive-session discussion are not recorded in the public minutes.