By Kyle Roberts
The Lincoln Parish School Board held a public forum Monday in Ruston High School’s auditorium to offer an opportunity for public feedback regarding a bond proposal for capital improvement plan considerations in the April 27 election for residents within Ruston School District No. 1.
And while a majority of the feedback could be classified as curiosity regarding portions of the proposal, a heated exchange took place toward the end of the night.
Newly elected LPSB president Gregg Phillips began with an address to the crowd, which numbered close to 100 total of parish-wide community members, teachers, students and administrators.
“We just wanted to get together and begin the conversation and dialog with our community to talk about some of the issues that we see at the board,” Phillips said to the crowd. “These are some things that we’d like to address, over the next few years. So where we landed was, we decided that we were going to put together an idea for a five-year millage. This is a renewal of a current millage that we would do for five years to address some of the infrastructure needs, security needs and some other items that we would like to address as a district.”
LPSB superintendent Ricky Durrett then outlined the proposal for the a 17.5 million dollar bond that the school board will vote on during the February session. If it passes, it will head to an election in April.
Preliminary Proposal:
- RHS Roof: $1,000,000
- RHS Entrance Upgrade for Security: $750,000
- RHS Body Scan Machines: $300,000
- RHS Parking Lot by Gym: $330,000
- RHS Covered Pavilion: $5,000,000
- RHS Softball Field Upgrades: $3,500,000
- RHS Boys & Girls Basketball Renovations: $1,500,000
- RHS Baseball Upgrades: $2,200,000
- RJHS Additional Parking: $300,000
- RJHS Security Upgrades (Fencing & Gates): $1,200,000
- RJHS Body Scan Machines: $200,000
- Ruston School District Activity Buses: $900,000
- Unassigned: $320,000
During the question and comments section, multiple parish residents voiced concerns regarding different matters from questions ranging from the purchase of activity buses to body-scan machines to the covered pavilion.
First, a question was brought up to clarify the cost of buses that are in the general fleet as opposed to buses that are being utilized for afterschool activities. The proposal for the $900,000 activity buses would strictly go toward buses that would be used to transport students to sporting and extracurricular activities. The activity buses would be air-conditioned and will have storage and seatbelts, as well.
A longterm goal of purchasing activity buses would be to offset the cost of chartering for various school activities. Currently, the school district has around 10 activity buses.
Newly-elected Lincoln Parish Police Jury member Diane Richards spoke near the beginning with questions regarding the softball complex upgrade to Bittersweet.
“Why can’t the girls use the boys’ baseball field?” Richards asked Durrett in the public microphone. “What’s the difference?”
Durrett responded by explaining the different sizes of the fields and the size of the mounds being two of many reasons why it would not be possible to share fields between baseball and softball.
Allyson Foster, research attorney for the Louisiana second circuit court, is a softball mom at Ruston High and spoke afterward to the need for an investment in Lady Bearcat softball.
“I really want to make sure that Ruston High softball has the equal opportunity as any other sports program in the parish to be able to stay competitive as a program,” Foster said. “And we haven’t had a complete use of our facilities for years. In order to stay competitive, we should be able to have access year round, seven days a week, 365 days a year. We’ve got some great athletes, but we can’t develop them and give them the opportunity to continue to build when we don’t have access (to a facility), and we’re treated like a part time sport, which we’re not. So we can’t compete in our district without being able to have the same opportunities as everybody else that we play against.
“Other schools in Lincoln Parish– you’ve got Choudrant, Simsboro, Cedar Creek; every single school, every single softball program in North Louisiana (has their own facility). And in our area, they’re all practicing; they’re all there on the weekends. They’re all doing everything. We just can’t keep up, right? You’re really blocked from developing your program any further without having complete use of a facility.”
An audience member followed afterward by questioning the maintenance and repair costs of new construction in Ruston’s district, citing his expertise as a civil engineer.
A further question arose regarding the prioritization of the listed projects, despite the bond measure being allocated to cover all of the proposed items on the agenda.
“Our number one priority is security for Ruston Junior High and Ruston High School,” Durrett said. “Ruston Junior High is probably higher on the list because of Buc-ee’s coming sometime in 2025.”
From a security perspective, Ruston High School’s entrance security would be upgraded to change some of the doors to prevent people and students from coming in and out and safely getting students into the school through a main entrance that will have body-scanners. These scanners are designed for students to walk through without having to stop and will only flag if something appears to be out of sorts in pockets or a bag, such as a weapon.
There will be three body-scan machines purchased for Ruston High and two for Ruston Junior High. All five will be portable and can be used at different sports events as need be.
Dr. Liz White spoke during the public comment time to the mental health of students who may be anxious about being scanned upon arrival.
“I’m all for security, and we definitely need security for our kids,” White said. “There is some discussion on the use of those machines and the effect it has on student anxiety. We definitely don’t want there to be anything that hinders their performance in school.”
“We’ve talked to several districts,” Durrett responded. “Some use metal detectors. What we’re talking about is something called the ‘Evolve System.’ It scans gun parts, knives, vape pens; there’s different settings to put it on. But the kids are just walking through and not stopping if you don’t have anything in there. If you do, it will show up on a device and the child will be stopped to show what has been identified. Kids will be able to figure out over time what they can and cannot bring.”
The proposal also includes a $5 million covered pavilion that will be built near the Chick Childress Field House. The pavilion will be able to be used by multiple sports, not just football, and for pep squads and the band, as well.
Toward the end, tensions percolated when Ruston resident Bill Smith spoke to the speed of which he deemed the school board to be moving forward with the plans.
“I’m an older man and it takes me longer to read and understand all these things that we’re discussing,” Smith said. “We’re always in a rush to do these things. And it doesn’t appear to be enough thought and consideration being given. I think we need to slow down a little bit and figure it out.”
Ruston head coach Jerrod Baugh responded to Smith’s comments and defended the preliminary proposal.
“I take exception to that,” Baugh said. “That’s my job on a daily basis: it’s to try and evaluate all sorts of things these kids need. I would encourage you to come look at some of these places and listen to some parents about what their arguments are for the kids. I think you’re quick to say ‘no’ without going through and researching for yourself about what we need to do for our kids. At the end of the day, that’s what I feel like we all need to be following more in the same direction to do what’s best for the kids involved.
“I would also add that if we pass this, it’s not like you can pick and choose what parts you feel like you need more than the other.”
Smith quickly responded.
“I’d like to take exception to that,” Smith said. “You tried real hard a few months back to get the indoor facility passed. Didn’t work. And you haven’t said anything about it to John Q. Public since that tax failure. And now you want to come up and talk like you look at an item in ten minutes and decide what’s best for these stakeholders. All I said was that we needed time to think about it.”
Smith then went personal with his comments to Baugh.
“You get your paycheck from him,” Smith said, referring to Durrett. “I would expect you to jump out of Durrett’s pocket and bark and support what he does. It doesn’t mean it’s right.”
“That means you don’t know who I am,” Baugh said.
“I know exactly who you are,” Smith said louder. “I know exactly who you are, Baugh.”
As the crowd sat stunned, Baugh exited the room in an effort to de-escalate the situation.
Dr. White then addressed the room to thank Durrett and the school board for holding the open forum, despite the disagreements.
“I want to thank the superintendent for bringing us together,” White said. “I think it’s great for the community, and it’s great for us. As we go into this, let us go into this together. I just appreciate you bringing us together.”
Ladarius Mamon, owner of Phat’s Barbershop, said after the meeting he was pleased with the preliminary proposal.
“It’s a great proposal,” Mamon said. “I’m not a timeline guy, so I just want it all to be done. And I loved having a public forum. This is my first time coming to one, and I didn’t know what to expect. And, honestly, right now, I could have stayed and listened longer. I loved hearing the views from people — that’s one of the things that, even with my podcast, that I like to present to the people of Ruston and Lincoln Parish. So I’m thankful for the school board for having this forum. This is great.”
Ruston High principal Dan Gressett also expressed his gratitude for the public forum.
“I think the meeting went well overall,” Gressett said. “We probably had 150-plus in attendance. There were some good questions. We are fortunate to have a superintendent that supports us, asks our needs, then acts on it. We don’t get everything we ask for. There’s nothing on that list that I don’t feel like we need. Some we have to have now. Do we have nice facilities? Yes. But we want the best. We want to be the best in everything. Do our girls need their own softball facility? Yes. I’m speaking as a parent of a 7th grader and as a principal. We want our kids to have the best. We didn’t just come up with these ideas on a whim. We have talked about most of this stuff for years — people that are invested in Ruston High School have talked about it. You’re either moving forward or you’re moving backwards. At the end of the day it’s about what will benefit our kids.
“I’ve been fortunate enough to see most of the facilities in Louisiana and even surrounding states. I’ve driven a bus for thousands and thousands of miles. How nice would it have been to have those activity buses that have been proposed? How nice would it be to have a covered facility that nearly all of our athletes and many other students would benefit from? Baseball needs renovations. We must have a new roof. We must have security upgrades. Again, that list is good. We have some great things going at RHS, but we can’t remain stagnant. Be for it or against it. But be informed. That meeting tonight was a chance to be informed.”
The bond proposal will first be voted on by the members of the school board on Tuesday, February 6, at noon at Ruston Elementary.
