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Ouachita Parish School Board reads bond-election notice and votes to terminate municipal adviser agreement
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Summary
At its meeting, the Ouachita Parish School Board had a required public notice read about a possible East District bond election and voted to terminate its municipal adviser agreement, citing lack of communication; the board expects to seek a replacement before the January meeting.
The Ouachita Parish School Board on an unspecified November meeting read a formal notice that it will consider calling a bond election in the East Ouachita district at its Jan. 14, 2025 meeting, and the board voted to terminate its existing municipal adviser agreement so the district can pursue a replacement adviser ahead of any bond work.
Grant Schluter of Fuller Udell Bond Counsel read the announcement into the record, saying, “Notice is hereby given that at its meeting to be held on Tuesday, Jan. 14, 2025 at 12PM ... the Parish School Board of the Parish of Ouachita, State of Louisiana plans to consider adopting a resolution ordering and calling an election to be held in East Ouachita Parish School District ... to authorize the issuance of general obligation bonds.” The board’s reading satisfied the public-notice step required by state law for consideration of a bond election.
Board staff then asked to end an ongoing municipal adviser agreement originally signed in February 2017. The staff member who introduced the item said she had not had regular communication with the district’s municipal adviser and described ongoing advising needs related to bond issuance, bond ratings and tax millages. She told the board she would bring a recommended replacement to the board at the next meeting. “I do need a municipal adviser in place. I need someone in place that I can depend on,” she said.
Board members discussed the request; one member said they wished they'd been alerted earlier if there had been an issue with the adviser. A motion to terminate the municipal adviser agreement was made and seconded and carried with one abstention. The board did not name the abstaining member in the record quoted at the meeting. The staff member said she would bring a replacement municipal adviser for the board’s consideration at a subsequent meeting.
Discussion versus action: reading the bond-notice was a statutory/public-notice step and not a final decision to call an election; the board did not adopt the bond resolution at this meeting. The vote to terminate the municipal adviser agreement was formal and recorded as carried with one abstention; the board directed staff to pursue a replacement municipal adviser.
The board scheduled consideration of any bond-resolution for Jan. 14, 2025 at noon at the Parish School Board office, 1600 North Seventh Street, West Monroe, Louisiana.
