EPSB adopts budgets, but did it fulfill legal requirements?

Before voting to adopt the revised budgets for last fiscal year and the consolidated budget for this year, one Evangeline Parish School Board Member questioned if Wednesday’s meeting met the requirements of the state’s open meetings law.
The issue first arose when Chief Financial Officer Amy Lafleur went over the budgetary information.
Lafleur stated the school district enjoyed a $762,745.17 surplus in the 2019-2020 General Fund. As she said, “It is higher than we expected and a direct result of the COVID-19 pandemic and the shut down of our facilities.”
Total expenditures in the previous fiscal year accounted for $45,402,121.96 leaving a total fund balance of $8,522,989.68.
Highlighting the district’s special revenue funds, total expenditures for parishwide maintenance was $2,818,669.62, for Basile maintenance was $355,068.46, for Basile High School Athletic Fund was $101,686.69, and for Child Nutrition was $4,962,343.57.
Lafleur commented, “Over all we have a surplus of $146,899.05 in all of our funds which is not too bad considering we were in a pandemic.”
When it came time to vote on adopting the revised budgets, Board Member Mike Fontenot asked if the open meeting requirements were being met. His issue was dealing with whether or not the public was given the opportunity to give their input.
“I’m afraid we’re not fulfilling our open meeting laws,” Fontenot exclaimed. “Usually, we lock the doors when we get 25 people. The only people we provide Zoom to are the supervisors.”
He then asked the board’s legal counsel, Betsy Jackson, if the board was meeting the requirements of the law by not providing a call-in number or Zoom log-in information to the public.
Jackson replied, “For the previous meetings, there have been individuals who were able to sign up if they wanted to speak.”
Fontenot then expressed, “At the last meeting, we provided the public with a Zoom call in. For this meeting, we’re not providing Zoom except for the supervisors, principals, and assistant principals.”
Superintendent of Schools Darwan Lazard joined the discussion and said he had spoken with board attorney Bob Hammond regarding the issue of the “board’s responsibilities as for the meeting during these pandemic times because we have limitations in space.”
According to Hammond, the board was “fulfilling the law as it is,” Superintendent Lazard said. He added, “Now, if we were having it virtually, (Hammond) said then we need to make sure that we use certain disclosure forms.”
Fontenot interrupted and asked, “Not letting the public into the hearing and not giving them the means of watching the meeting is fulfilling the law?”
Superintendent Lazard replied by again saying Hammond advised the board was fulfilling the requirements because “it is an open meeting.”
Once the discussion had settled, the board voted to adopt the revised budgets. At that point, Lafleur went over the 2020-2021 consolidated budget with a projected surplus of $35,958.25.
In other business, Superintendent Lazard and Maintenance and Operations Facilitator Anthony Bertrand discussed updates on hurricane recovery at the school campuses.