Parish recognizes FPS teacher for securing grant

Published 12:14 pm Friday, May 30, 2014

In a meeting mostly devoted to recognitions, the Washington Parish School Board also conducted several items of routine business Thursday.
Franklinton Primary teacher Robin Cook Perez was recognized during the May 22 meeting for her efforts in helping the school secure a Lowe’s Toolbox for Education grant of $4,975.
Superintendent Darrell Fairburn congratulated Perez and said he is proud of the initiative she displayed in applying for the grant.
The funds will be used to seal the concrete floors in the school gym — used for physical education, visual and performing arts and recess in times of inclement weather — and to cover the floor with foam linking mats.
Perez said she got the idea to make that request in the grant application after an inclement weather recess held for pre-K students. One student slipped and got a knot on his head, and then she knew that was what she needed to write the grant for, she said.
She said Lowe’s is waiving the shipping fees for the materials and will send personnel to assist with installation. That will take place in July, and she said teachers and parents are planning to help, as well.
After the purchase of materials, about $700 of the grant funds will be left. Perez said Principal Aylene Crain plans to use that funding to replace some doors in the gym area.
Also recognized were the Washington Parish School System students who placed at the state level in the Young Authors Contest.
Rita Mulina of the Washington Parish Reading Council said the contest is sponsored by the Louisiana Reading Association. Students move through competitions at the school and district levels before going on to the state contest.
She said the system had 21 students placed first, second or third in the state in the categories of fiction, nonfiction and poetry. The winners were recognized in a recent ceremony at the Franklinton Library, and Fairburn read each of their names during the meeting.
In other business, the board approved the per-pupil fall allocation from the state of $365,715. Director of Finance Beth Keaton said that is based on the Oct. 1, 2013, count and includes $65 for each elementary and pre-K student and $75 for each high school student.
Bids for bakery products and milk products for the school lunch program for the 2014-15 school year were presented by Director of Food Services Marsha Newman. The board accepted her recommendations of Flowers Foods for bakery products and Brown’s Dairy for dairy products.
In another finance-related item, the board considered bids received on surplus equipment.
Chief accountant Lacy Burris said two bids were received on items from Franklinton High School: $111 for a bass clarinet and $45 for a piccolo. She said Principal Lisa Tanner felt those bids were too low and would like to decline them, possibly putting the items up for bid again at a later date.
The other bid was $5 for a metal swing set frame at Franklinton Primary School, and that was accepted. The purchaser will be removing the item, Principal Aylene Crain reported.
Among the items on the personnel report presented by Fairburn was the appointment of a new assistant principal at Pine High School. Teacher Mike Ingram’s move into the assistant principal position there will be effective June 1.