POINTE COUPEE PARISH SCHOOL BOARD
337 Napoleon Street
New Roads, LA 70760
REGULAR SCHOOL BOARD MEETING
Thursday, April 23, 2026
The Pointe Coupee Parish School Board met for their regular monthly meeting on Thursday, April 23, 2026, at 337 Napoleon Street in New Roads, Louisiana 70760. President Frank R. Aguillard, Jr. called the meeting to order at 5:30 p.m.
President Frank Aguillard offered the invocation, and Mr. Chad Aguillard led everyone in the Pledge of Allegiance to the United States of America.
Members of the School Board present when the roll was called: Chad Aguillard, Frank R. Aguillard, Jr., Lisa Loupe-D’Aquila, Aubry Hendricks, and Thomas Nelson.
Absent members of the School Board were Walter Grezaffi, Anita LeJeune, and Jason Lemoine
President Aguillard announced there are five School Board members present for the meeting; we have a quorum.
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Central Office Administrative Staff in attendance: Kim Canezaro, Superintendent; Natalie Aguillard, Director of Human Capital; Dawn Albert, Supervisor of Exceptional Students Services/504; Tiffany Davis, Literacy Innovation Coordinator; Amanda Fontenot. Supervisor of HeadStart; Brandi Forbes, Chief Academic Officer; Karla Jack, Federal Programs Supervisor/Assistant Superintendent; Stephen Langlois, Chief Financial Officer; Tabitha Ransom, Supervisor of 21st CCLC; Kate Roy, Child Nutrition Program Director, and Dr. LaShonda Victorian, Supervisor of Child Welfare and Attendance.
School Administrative Staff in attendance: Ms. Tanya Burgess, Administrator of Virtual Academy of Pointe Coupee; Dr. Rosie Courville, Principal of Livonia High School; Marcie Cazayoux, Chief Program Administrator at STEM Magnet Academy of Pointe Coupee; April DosRamos, Principal of Rougon Elementary; Ms. Lamonica Edwards, Principal of Rosenwald Elementary; Sara Taylor, Principal of Valverda Elementary, and Carolyn Wells, Principal of Upper Pointe Coupee.
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Expression of Sympathy – On a motion by the five members of the School Board present, and seconded by those board members, condolences were offered to the family of:
Merlin Plauche, a retiree of the Pointe Coupee Parish School Board.
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Remarks from the Superintendent- Superintendent Canezaro made the following announcements:
Board members, you have a list of end-of-the-year celebrations for each school in your update folder, highlighting our graduation on Friday, May 15, 2026. We plan to hand out 128 diplomas to our seniors; each senior will be able to invite 17 guests, weather permitting. If we must transition into the gym, each senior will receive 10 guest passes.
At this time, I would like to invite Dr. Rosemary Courville, Principal of Livonia High School, and Mrs. Marcie Cazayoux, Chief Program Administrator at STEM, to the podium. They will be introducing new members of their administrative team for the 2026-2027 school year. We are excited to welcome them to this leadership role and share this introduction with the School Board and our community.
Dr. Courville introduced Ms. Alisa Brown, who is going to transition into a position as her assistant principal. She mentioned that Alisa has been in the Pointe Coupee Parish School System for five years and has served as an instructional coach at every school in the parish. Dr. Courville announced that Ms. Brown was the instructional coach at LHS during COVID and now she is going to come back to Livonia primarily working with the middle school, and over the new STAR Academy that will open at LHS next school year. Dr. Courville expressed how excited they are to have Ms. Brown. President Frank Aguillard asked Ms. Brown to introduce her family members in attendance; Ms. Brown introduced her two sons, Jeremiah and Joseph.
Mrs. Marcie Cazayoux introduced Ms. Priscilla Marshall Temple as one of the Assistant Principals at the STEM Magnet Academy of Pointe Coupee. Mrs. Cazayoux stated that Ms. Temple has been working at STEM as a gifted teacher and a math instructional coach for the district. Mrs. Cazayoux stated that Ms. Temple has 33 years of educational experience, starting at Valverda Elementary and ending with 6 1/2 years total in Pointe Coupee. She announced how excited they are to have her in that position.
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Consent Agenda- Mr. Thomas Nelson offered a motion, seconded by Ms. Lisa Loupe D’Aquila LeJeune, to approve the consent agenda items. Hearing no opposition, the motion was carried by a unanimous vote of the five members of the Board present and voting.
Approval of the minutes from the regular School Board meeting of Thursday, March 26, 2026.
Approval of the Executive Committee meeting minutes of Thursday, April 16, 2026.
Proclaim May 4-8, 2026, as Teacher Appreciation Week.
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Receive the Head Start Supervisor’s Monthly Report – Ms. Amanda Fontenot announced the Head Start Supervisor’s Monthly Report for March was placed on BoardDocs, along with some attachments for their end of the year documentation. Ms. Fontenot stated they evened out and the budget is clear for that fiscal year (2025-2026). We are working on documents with the office of Head Start for our renewal grant that we will be applying for.
President Frank Aguillard announced that he saw a telephone call yesterday from Washington, D.C. and asked if the Office of Head Start may have been trying to contact him for a conference call. Ms. Fontenot stated there was a 1:00 – 1:30 p.m. conference call with the Office of Head Start; where she, Mr. Stephen Langlois, Mrs. Brandi Forbes, and Mrs. Judy Lloyd were consulted, and all questions were answered.
Mr. Thomas Nelson offered a motion to approve the March 2026 Head Start Monthly report prepared by Ms. Fontenot. Ms. Lisa Loupe D’Aquila seconded the motion. Hearing no opposition, the motion was approved by a unanimous vote of the five members of the Board present and voting.
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Consider Request to Award Bids for the Child Nutrition Program for the 2026-2027 School Year - Mrs. Kate Roy announced the bid summaries regarding items for the child nutrition program for school year 26-27 are on BoardDocs. Mrs. Roy stated she will be happy to answer any questions if there are any. Mr. Frank Aguillard announced that although his company does not bid on the items for the program, some of his competitors do; therefore, he is going to recuse himself from voting.
Mr. Thomas Nelson made a motion, seconded by Ms. Lisa D’Aquila, to award bids for bread/bread products, food items (frozen & staples); and non-food items/supplies for the child nutrition program for 2026-2027 school year. The motion, to award the bids for the child nutrition program, was approved by a vote of four of the five members of the Board present voting yes, and a recusal by Mr. Frank Aguillard.
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Annal Audit Report for Fiscal Year June 30, 2025, Presented by Representatives of EisnerAmper- Mr. Stephen Langlois announced that Mr. Rodney Combs and Ms. Amanda Lemoine, auditors with EisnerAmper, are here to communicate with the Board the results from the audit report for fiscal year ending June 30, 2025.
President Aguillard stated the school system has been working with Mr. Rodney Combs since he was an auditor with P & N (for more than twenty years) before they merged with EisnerAmper. Mr. Aguillard announced the Board pays attention to the budget and mentioned the importance of using taxpayers’ money correctly; he stated that he, too, is a taxpayer.
Mr. Rodney Combs announced that he is the Engagement Partner over the school district’s audit engagement, and he introduced Mrs. Amanda Lemoine as the Engagement Manager responsible for the day-to-day operations over the engagement. Mr. Combs stated that he will review the summary of audit results and Mrs. Lemoine will provide required communications with the Board. A copy of the audit report presentation was provided to members of the Board listing the summary of the audit results. Mr. Combs reviewed the presentation, stating they are required to look at the school system’s financial statement numbers to perform an audit on those numbers. He explained that auditors look at supporting documentation records and gave an example that they confirm with the bank the amount of cash in the bank that is listed on the school system’s financial report and also look at other financial numbers. Mr. Combs stated looking at those numbers, the Board received an unmodified opinion, which is the best opinion the Board can receive, which does not provide absolute assurance because to provide absolute assurance, they would have to look at every transaction requiring them to be at the central office year-round, and they are here long enough already. Mr. Combs announced they use a scientific method to sample a number of transactions to render an opinion and reiterated it is the best opinion you can receive. He stated it takes a lot of work to receive an unmodified opinion and commended the Board. Mr. Combs explained that it is an involved process. Auditors request a lot of information; the staff provides the documents that are looked at by the auditors, followed by a lot of questions, more documents, and additional conversation. Mr. Combs stated the Pointe Coupee Parish School Board’s staff works in a professional manner and always provides information in a timely manner. Mr. Combs stated in addition to auditors giving an opinion on the financial statements, they are also required to look at the controls the school system has in place regarding compliance with state law. He mentioned there was a finding regarding a violation of state budget law due to the ESSER funding the school district receives. He stated the school system provides a budget to the state but is required to adopt a budget internally as well, and that did not occur; he said the good news is that grant program is going to end or has ended and will not be an issue going forward. Mr. Combs also mentioned with regard to internal controls, they are required to look to make sure the transaction controls in place are sufficient (prevent, detect and correct) material misstatements (error that rises to a level that cannot be quantified) and did not find anything resulting in that and a good thing for the school system not to have material weakness with internal controls. He explained besides compliance with state law, the other portion of the audit engagement is to look at federal programs in the school district. Mr. Combs stated the district receives a significant amount of federal funding during the year and mentioned there are instructions provided by the White House Office Management and Budget that they use to perform the procedures related to federal programs. Mr. Combs stated that he usually presents the audit report in January or February. However, this year he is here later due to the issue with the government shut down (instructions were not provided to the auditors until the Wednesday prior to Thanksgiving) and did not give them enough time to complete the audit by December 31st. Mr. Combs announced that the legislative auditor was made aware of this; the school system asked for an extension of March 31, 2026, and was able to meet that deadline without a late finding inasmuch as everyone was aware of what transpired with the shutdown of the federal government. Hopefully, going forward the federal government will not have a shutdown thus not having this issue again. He mentioned the federal programs they reviewed and reported the child nutrition and Title I program received an unmodified opinion on those program audits as well, which is good news. Mr. Combs mentioned they did have a couple of findings on the Title I program; there are a lot of extensive compliance and rules but not unusual or significant enough to be brought to the Board’s attention. However, there was a discussion with management to have corrective action in place to ensure that those matters are corrected. He stated one of the procedures they will do next year is ensure the corrective action plans have been put in place. Mr. Combs inquired if there were any questions, and hearing none, he was asked to continue his presentation. Mr. Combs stated there are other reports included in the financial packet (required supplemental information) and limited procedures are performed on those, and also some supportive schedules in the statements they are required to give an opinion to determine if they are fairly stated and are listed in the report. He mentioned that he will not go into detail as they talk about them every year. Mr. Combs further explained there are two other engagements performed within the one engagement. They review federal numbers and compliance of state law and are looking for former engagement related to federal programs, then statewide agreed upon procedures. Mr. Combs stated as mentioned before, they sample things that the legislative auditor is aware of, and a few years ago it was determined that some best practices should be in place regarding government institutions, as they would like auditors to “drill” down a little closer looking at the controls other than what they currently do, thus the reason there is a statewide agreed upon procedure used during an audit engagement. He stated there were some exceptions related to that but nothing significant that would result in a finding or recorded in the report. Mr. Combs stated there is another agreed upon procedure engagement they perform related to performance and measurement numbers that are submitted to the Louisiana Department of Education, and there were some exceptions related to those, which is not unusual, but it did not result in any findings or anything needing improvement for controls. Mr. Combs stated they did issue a management letter. He explained they look at the school district’s controls, which may not be a significant deficiency; however, they decide if those controls can be improved; therefore, communication to management is made to make controls stronger, preventing opportunities for significant deficiencies for material weaknesses to improve controls, and those were discussed with management as well.
After Mr. Combs concluded his report, President Frank Aguillard asked if there were any questions, and having none, he then requested that Mrs. Amanda Lemoine approach the podium to review her portion of the audit report.
Mrs. Lemoine stated that she will review some required communications with the Board at the conclusion of the audit. She reminded the Board that the audit does not relieve management or the Board (those charged with governance) of their responsibilities. She stated that she is going to highlight some of the required communication and if they want her to slow down and answer any questions to let her know. She mentioned footnote 1 in the financial statements outlines the stipulating accounting policies of the School Board and there were two new accounting GASB 101 for compensating absences and GASB 102 for certain disclosures but neither had a significant effect or impact on the School Board’s financial statements. She mentioned there are two uncorrected statements we had but those are the statements below our material audit threshold and are not required to be posted to the financial statement based on their measurement of materiality. Mrs. Lemoine stated they did not have any changes in their planned audit strategy that was communicated at the very beginning of the audit in the engagement letter that was communicated with the Boad. She stated there are no related party transactions that were previously unidentified or anything that needed to be communicated with you today; did not identify any potential fraud or material non-compliance with laws/ regulations and requested management to make certain representations at the conclusion of their audit that they signed (a management representation letter). Mrs. Lemoine stated she is happy to report there were no disagreements with management, no difficult matters, and no difficulties encountered during the audit. She stated that everyone has answered her questions and has truly been a good help and extends her appreciation for making her job easier. Mrs. Lemoine stated this is the conclusion of her required communication with the Board and asked if there were any questions.
Board member Chad Aguillard asked how long Mrs. Lemoine has been with EisnerAmper. She explained she has worked with the auditing firm for eight years, and although it is her first year presenting to the Board, she has worked on the district’s audit for six or seven years.
President Aguillard informed Mr. Rodney and Mrs. Lemoine that a least four members of the Board will not be returning to the Board (term limits) next year, and it has been a pleasure working with them. Mr. Aguillard reminisced how twenty plus years ago the school district needed an auditing firm to work with the school district to identify some problems they were having. He mentioned how beneficial the auditing firm has been to the school district, and how proud he is of the Board for taking strong actions that have resulted in many unmodified budget opinions.
Mr. Chad Aguillard stated that he watched Mr. Rodney Combs “grow up” when he first started in the field of auditing, and it has been a pleasure working with him. Mr. Aguillard stated he thinks Mr. Combs has been professional, thorough, and wanted to publicly thank him and tell him how appreciative he is for looking out for the Board’s finances over the years. Mr. Combs thanked the Board for their sentiments and mentioned that he would like to thank Mrs. Lemoine and others for their assistance in making his job easier.
Mr. Chad Aguillard offered a motion, seconded by Mr. Aubry Hendricks, to approve the annual audit report for fiscal year ending June 30, 2025, by Eisner/Amper. Hearing no opposition, the motion was carried by a unanimous vote of the five members of the Board present and voting.
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Discussion and/or Action Regarding Monthly Financial Information - Mr. Stephen Langlois asked if there were any questions regarding the monthly financial information and the budget for actual reports that were reviewed at last week’s Executive Committee meeting, and on BoardDocs. No questions were asked.
Mr. Aubry Hendricks made a motion, seconded by Chad Aguillard, to approve the monthly financial report for February 2026. Hearing no opposition, the motion was carried by a unanimous vote of the five members of the Board present and voting.
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Discussion and/or Action Regarding Budget Revision for Capital Outlay Fund for Fiscal Year Ending on June 30, 2026 -Mr. Langlois stated as discussed at last week’s Executive Committee meeting, the main reason for this adjustment is an increase in revenue from the original budget; the pilot program regarding the solar plant in Lottie has generated some additional funds and that is good to see. He explained another reason for the revision is additional expenditures for the field house that was approved last month, accounting for some of the expenses before year end, and are the main changes from the original budget.
Mr. Thomas Nelson made a motion, seconded by Mr. Aubry Hendricks, to approve a budget revision regarding the Capital Outlay Fund for fiscal year ending on June 30, 2026. Hearing no opposition, the motion was carried by a unanimous vote of the five members of the Board present and voting.
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Discussion and/or Action Regarding Central Office Project - Superintendent Canezaro announced that before Stephen Langlois (CFO) and David Mougeot (Architect) talk about this project, she mentioned that Representative Jeremy LaCombe contacted her yesterday. Ms. Canezaro stated that Mr. LaCombe was under the impression that we would not have enough money to do this project, and he had not realized that we had advertised for bids. However, Representative LaCombe has added another two million dollars to priority 5 for this project and he said that Senator Caleb Kleinpeter is going to add another $500,000, which would be another 2.5 million. Mr. LaCombe requested that she and Mr. Langlois call Ms. Margaret Hill, with the State of Louisiana Planning and Control Division, which they did. Ms. Hill suggested that we submit a letter requesting assurance that this money will be available for us; there is no guarantee that it will be moved from Priority 5 to Priority 1; however, it will be in HB 2. Ms. Canezaro stated she wanted to inform everyone about this information before the recommendation is up for a vote.
Mr. Langlois stated that he requested that Mr. David Mougeot attend the School Board meeting tonight to explain the base bid as well as the alternate bids for the central office project. Mr. Langlois stated the letter of recommendation, from Mougeot Architecture, has been on BoardDocs since last Thursday, and it is currently on the screen tonight for anyone to review. The letter stated bids for the Pointe Coupee Parish School Board New Central Office were received on Tuesday, April 14, 2026 at 2:00 p.m. It is their recommendation to accept the lowest base bid received from J Reed Constructors, License No. 37085, in the amount of bid of $3,783,000.00; Alternate No 1 in the amount of $247,000.00, Alternate No. 2 in the amount of $96,000.00 and Alternate No. 3 in the amount of $42,000.000 for a total of $4,168,000.00. The letter also stated they confirmed that the General Contractor is in good standing with the Louisiana State Licensing Board for Contractors and the State of Louisiana Secretary of State. Mr. Mougeot mentioned some changes were made to reduce costs because the project “sat” for two years. He reminded School Board members they were finished and ready to obtain bids but had to get concurrence from FB&C to go out for bids; they moved the money back to a lower priority and finally got it back to cash in priority 1; therefore, approved to go out for bids, and at that time thought that a few costs should be cut back. Mr. Mougeot stated that he spoke with Mr. Andrew Duhe, Supervisor of Maintenance and Support Services, about the roof and agreed it would be one that would be acceptable as an alternate 1. Mr. Mougeot explained the roof that the Board likes is the two-ply modified pitch roof but changed it to a TPO roof, which is still a 20-year roof but does not hold up as well as the 20-year modified pitch roof. He stated they also moved the front concrete and parking, with the exception of 8-10 spots for handicap parking and a few other spaces right at the building that were left as concrete parking, but everything else in the front and on the side changed to limestone. The back parking lot is alternate 2 to upgrade it to concrete; therefore, base bid is concrete, and limestone is alternate #2; alternate # 3 ($42,000) is a monument sign for the front to identify the building, as well as a flagpole. Mr. Mougeot stated the base bid was received at under our 3.9 million capital outlay approved dollars; received a base bid of $3,783,0000.00. He stated the reason he is recommending the other alternates simply because he thinks they are valuable assets to the overall project; however, it does put the project $260,000 over the capital outlay money.
Mr. Frank Aguillard stated he wants everyone to know that the money (3.9 million) for the new school board office is not local tax money, but it comes from the state of Louisiana. He explained when the new Audubon Bridge was built, and the highway was moved, the entire School Board Office Building located at 1662 Morganza Highway was flooded. The state has owed this money to the Pointe Coupee Parish School Board for many years, and it has taken this long to finally get it to build a new office. Mr. Frank Aguillard stated he doesn’t know how his colleagues feel about it but if you are going to spend 3.783 million on the beautiful building, he does not want a limestone parking lot; therefore, he would like to include alternates 1, 2, and 3. He further stated that he feels confident that State Representative LaCombe and Senator Kleinpeter will get the additional revenue to fund the $260,000. Mr. Aguillard asked Mr. Stephen Langlois if there is $260,000 in the capital outlay account that could be used to complete the project and Mr. Langlois confirmed, yes, there is money in that account. Mr. Frank Aguillard announced that he wants the public to understand that they are not placing the school system in a deficit with building the new school board office; the office is being built with 3.9 million dollars from the state of Louisiana, with maybe $260,000 from the School Board’s capital outlay fund (one time money received for the district).
Mr. David Mougeot mentioned that Superintendent Canezaro did a good job explaining the conversation she engaged in with the state representative and Ms. Hill. Mr. Mougeot stated that Ms. Margaret Hill is with Facility Planning and Control for the state of Louisiana and she is the Assistant Director, which oversees the Capital Outlay state and non-state projects. He mentioned that during the conversation he, Superintendent Canezaro and Chief Financial Officer Stephen Langlois had with Ms. Hill, she told them if they give us the commitment letter those projects supported by the letter projects already underway will get priority as far as getting approved. Mr. Mougeot stated he feels good about this, and the money will be needed for furnishings and equipment for the building; however, it could also be used for the $260,000 balance. Mr. Mougeot announced that Mr. Jim Lee, Capital Outlay Project Manager, with Facility Planning and Control for the state of Louisiana, assisted our school district with this project for many years; however, he retired, and Mr. Richard Hebert is our new Capital Outlay Project Manager.
Mr. Frank Aguillard announced that he would like to make another statement. He mentioned this Board has always tried to support local contractors in the parish and the low bid received for the new school board office building is from a local contractor; one of the owners of the company is from Morganza, LA. Mr. Aguillard inquired if any other Board members would like to ask a question, hearing none, he stated that action on this item will be considered at this time.
Mr. Aubry Hendricks made a motion to accept the lowest base bid from J. Reed Constructors, in the amount of $3,783.000.00, with three alternates (Alternate No. 1 in the amount of $247,000.00, Alternate No. 2 in the amount of $96,000.00 and Alternate No. 3 in the amount of $42,000.00) for a total of $4,168,000.00. Mr. Frank Aguillard seconded the motion. Hearing no opposition, the motion carried by a unanimous vote of the five members of the Board present and voting.
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Adjournment - On a motion by Mr. Thomas Nelson, seconded by Mr. Aubry Hendricks, the meeting adjourned at 6:04 p.m.
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Frank R. Aguillard, Jr., President
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Kim Canezaro, Superintendent cost $876
