The Bogalusa City School Board met Thursday, and quickly took care of business.

The board, with Adam Kemp and Brad Williams absent, unanimously approved the financial statements, as well as the updated tobacco use policies. The updates broaden the policy to include E-cigarettes and vaping.

During the public session, only one citizen spoke. Mark Jones said he is currently a student at Northshore Charter School, but had formerly been in the Bogalusa City School system. He said that he had good teachers in both systems, but that he had a bullying experience in the BCS system and feels safer at NCS.

During her statements, Superintendent Lisa Tanner first commended Jones.

“It takes a lot of courage to stand up,” she said.

Tanner said that she wished she would have been his principal when the bully was victimizing him. She said she would look into his bullying incident, and she promised him that now that she’s superintendent, “In the future it’s going to be better” in Bogalusa City Schools.

Tanner then excitedly told those in attendance that Hal Bowman, a 20-year teaching veteran who has spent the last decade on the road working, studying, and consulting with the best educators and school leaders across the nation, will bring his “Be the One” — a research-based, results-driven professional development event — to the middle school and high school shortly after Thanksgiving.