BoardDocs, bus contract approved

After two months of discussion on student transportation as well as several months of discussion on the BoardDocs program, the Acadia Parish School Board finally voted on the measures Monday night.
Both received unanimous approval.
Three years of festering issues had led to aggravations and annoyances toward Student Transportation Services and the board faced a tough decision on whether to approve a three-year contract renewal with STS.
Issues with communication and office personnel had loomed for some time and as the contract renewal matter arose, so too did those problems. The school board had weighed not renewing the deal or, at the very least, renewing only for one year, perhaps with a later extension if the problems were rectified.
Finally, at the last committee meeting, the Budget and Finance Committee of the school board recommended the board approve a three-year renewal. That recommendation seemed shaky, but it appeared Monday that the board had finally come to a decision, but it wasn’t without comments Monday night.
With a calm approach, Board Member Milton Simar presented stern comments to STS representatives in attendance at the meeting.
“I think the communication we had at our last committee meeting [in May] was very clear, the majority of this board felt we had some concerns that we felt had to be addressed,” he said. “We thank you, for listening to us and saying you were going to address these things.
“Realize that those were important issues, because we’re standing up for our people in Acadia Parish. We would like you to do everything you can to address these concerns and make it better. I think the board will re-visit your performance at the end of next year.”
Board member Gene Daigle added comments of his own, focusing on the communication problem.
“We need more communication,” he said. “Communication is the problem.
“We shouldn’t have all this communication at contract time. Where were you in the first year, the second year and the third year?”
Simar and Board President Doug LaCombe took some of the blame on that regard, as they both said they didn’t bring forth some of the issues until contract time.
“We need to get y’all to come in and sit with us at committee meetings and it just be an open dialogue,” said LaCombe. “I think that’s what it’s going to take.”
Daigle called for question and the board approved the measure 7-0 with Board Member David Lalande absent from the meeting Monday.
The board also approved the systemic move to the usage of BoardDocs – an eGovernance system that helps government bodies move to a more paperless (or completely paperless) route for its meetings. Mainly, the system will see board packets, minutes and such be moved to an online hub instead of continually being printed out.
For some time board members have weighed the pros and cons of making the move to paperless, helping save time and paper in the many-paged packets and reports, though some had questioned whether it would really help. That was on display not long before the June meeting. Members of the board joked that if there ever was a display of its usefulness, it was the hours before the June meeting when the agenda changed multiple times and the agenda, and related papers, were printed and re-printed multiple times.
The price, which has not changed in 10 years, would be $9,000 annually, plus a $1,000 initial start-up fee. The fee is at a reduced cost to Acadia Parish as it is a member of the Louisiana School Board Association. Normal cost is $12,000 per year.
Simar only had one request, to continue to put the teachers first in Acadia, even over themselves.
“I’m speaking from being a principal, I guess,” he said. “We’re talking about making our job easier and spending that much money (per year), and our teachers are going through what they go through every year. I would just ask the board, whenever possible, that we do things for our teachers in this parish. They are a good group of people and we owe them everything we can give them.”
Superintendent John Bourque and other board members said they would continue to do so and believe they have been doing so thus far.
“I think we’ve done that, but, yeah, absolutely, we need to continue doing that,” said Board Member John Suire.
Bourque added that the system will also be beneficial to teachers who may have heard rumors of an action at a board meeting. They will now be able to quickly look up the item and see the truth.
The contract is a year-to-year contract and can be renewed or declined each year with no ramifications.
The board has set its July meeting for Monday, July 13 due to Independence Day. It has also set up its June committee meetings for Wednesday, June 17. Bourque added that there will likely be need for a special meeting to be called June 17 as well.