The Livingston Parish School Board approved a $325,000 scoreboard bid for Live Oak High School, accepted the substantial completion of Denham Springs High School’s new field house, and reviewed plans to fund state-mandated employee stipends during its Aug. 6 meeting.
Purchasing accountant Kelly Prejean told the board that Showboss LLC submitted the only bid for the Live Oak scoreboard project. The board unanimously approved the $325,000 bid.
The board also considered accepting the Denham Springs High School field house project as substantially complete.
Jeff LaRosa of Coleman Partners recommended that the board “accept this project as being substantially complete in its entirety.”
The board unanimously accepted the project’s substantial completion.
Board member Cecil Harris described the field house as a “beautiful place” that created space “for all our sports, both boys’ and girls’.”
The board then received a report from the Budget and Goals Committee meeting held Aug. 3.
During that meeting, the committee reviewed the governor’s executive order requiring school systems to provide one-time stipends of $1,000 or $2,000 to eligible employees in certain positions.
“After reviewing available funding options,” board member Jeffery Cox read from the committee’s report, “the committee approved a braided funding approach utilizing a $5 million contribution from district funds, with the remaining amount funded through the general fund.”
Richard Baker of the Louisiana Federation of Teachers thanked the board for its efforts to provide the stipends.
“We appreciate all the efforts that you’re doing for all of the employees … to be fair and equitable in some very trying and difficult times,” Baker said.
“It’s not easy, but we highly value our teachers. We highly value our staff,” Board President Stephen Link said. “We were down to the gristle, not any fat left on the bones, but we’re gonna scrape off that gristle and give it to you in the form of cash.”
The district tentatively plans to distribute the stipends around Oct. 7. The state’s deadline for issuing the payments is May 1, 2027.
Superintendent Jody Purvis concluded the meeting by thanking district employees for their work preparing for the beginning of the school year.
“It was a busy day, but it was also a great day,” Purvis said. “We had a very, very smooth start. Our schools were all prepared. Employees worked weeks and weeks to make sure that they were ready for today. So I just want to say thank you.”
