The Ouachita Parish School Board on Tuesday elected Tommy Como as its 2026 president and Greg Manley as vice president and approved several procurement recommendations and permissions to bid for school facility work.

Board members opened the meeting by approving minutes from Dec. 11, 2025, and amending the agenda to add a permission-to-bid item. During nominations, a board member moved that "we ask Mister Tommy Como, our current president, to serve for this year as president," which the board approved without opposition. Greg Manley was nominated and approved for vice president.

In facility business, Steven Hemphill recommended Lazenby Associates "for this project" to design and engineer a parking lot at West Monroe High School on Riggs Street; the board moved to accept the recommendation and approved it. Jared presented bid recommendations across several procurements. For playground equipment (Bid 18-26) for Stirlington Elementary, he requested the board accept the lowest responsive bidder, Teacher's Pet, in the amount of $45,301.10; board discussion noted certified installation would add to equipment cost and that the overall project total was expected to be roughly $80,000–$85,000. The board approved the award.

On an online marketplace RFP (RFP 22-26), staff reported the evaluation committee met Jan. 8 and recommended Amazon as the winning proposer; staff said Amazon was both the lowest responsive bidder and the highest-scoring proposer (reported score: 99). The board voted to accept Amazon as the provider.

The board also accepted the recommended copy paper bids (Bid 23-26), with Staples and Jackson Paper named for various line items and approved the recommendation as presented by staff.

Finally, the board granted permission to bid three projects: Ouachita Junior High track and athletic improvements (rebid, listed as 26-26), Richwood High School football field replacement (27-26), and marquee-sign work for Stirlington Elementary and Westcott Junior High (28-26). The motion to grant permission to bid carried with no opposition.

Votes at a glance
- Approval of minutes (Dec. 11, 2025): motion carried (unanimous as recorded).
- Amendment to add permission-to-bid item and approval of revised agenda: motion carried (unanimous as recorded).
- Election of officers: Tommy Como, president; Greg Manley, vice president (both approved without opposition).
- Selection of Lazenby Associates for Riggs Street parking lot design: approved (motion carried).
- Playground equipment (Bid 18-26) award to Teacher's Pet, $45,301.10: approved.
- Online marketplace RFP (22-26) award to Amazon: approved.
- Copy paper bids (23-26) awards as presented (Staples/Jackson Paper): approved.
- Permission to bid on three facility projects (26-26, 27-26, 28-26): approved.

What happens next
Staff will finalize contract documents and schedules for the awarded projects and proceed with the permission-to-bid items. Board members and staff said they would continue to monitor project timelines and return with follow-up information as needed.

Source and attributions
Quotes and recommendations in this article are taken from meeting remarks by Steven Hemphill (project recommendations), Jared (bid presentations), and recorded board votes as noted in the meeting transcript.