Bossier Parish committee reviews personnel policy changes to align with Louisiana law and speed staff pay adjustments

At a Bossier Parish School Board administrative committee meeting, committee members reviewed a package of personnel and student-registration policy amendments that presenters said align district policy with Louisiana law and streamline administrative processes.

The committee heard that arrest-reporting requirements would apply to all employees and that failure to comply could result in discipline up to and including termination. A presenter said the recommendation "came through Mr. Geiss with Hammonds" as part of legal counsel guidance. The committee also approved removing language that had delayed pay increases tied to additional degrees or certifications until the next school year; under the change, the pay adjustment will begin when employees provide documentation to human resources.

The package included changes to job-abandonment and dismissal procedures. The committee was told that current policy treated 10 days without contact as job abandonment; presenters said Louisiana law defines job abandonment after five days and recommended changing the district policy from 10 to 5 days. For dismissal hearings, the district proposed shortening the employee response window from 10 days to seven days, which presenters said also aligns with state law and would reduce the district’s paid waiting period after issuance of a dismissal notice.

Committee members and staff also discussed an update to student admission and assignment policy (file JBC) to reflect the district’s fully online registration process and to list the declaration of residency form among online forms parents may access. Michielanda Jefferson, director of student services, was identified as the staff member who requested that JBC be amended to match current procedures.

During discussion, an attendee asked whether arrest reporting applied to arrests in other states; a staff member responded, "Yes, sir. That's correct," indicating the reporting requirement would cover out-of-state arrests. On the question of job abandonment timing, a staff member clarified: "If they don't come in, they don't put in an absence in our system, they don't send an email or text, we're not able to reach them for 5 days, that is considered job abandonment. ... After that fifth day of no communication, at that point, it would be job abandonment, and it would be dismissed."

A motion to advance the policy package was made and seconded; the meeting transcript records the motion and second but does not record the vote tally or an explicit recorded outcome for this item.

Committee members concluded the administrative business and moved on to a separate agenda item that evening.