School Board OKs fee action
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ST. FRANCISVILLE — The West Feliciana Parish School Board voted Tuesday to go to court, if necessary, to force the Police Jury to pay what the board called delinquent fees for collecting sales taxes.
The unanimous vote came after a 30-minute session behind closed doors with the board’s sales tax attorney, Robert Rainer, of Baton Rouge.
The board’s staff collects sales taxes levied by the town of St. Francisville, Police Jury and School Board, but the Police Jury and School Board have been at odds since June over the language in a three-year agreement among the bodies.
Finance Director Ruthie Davis, on the advice of Assistant District Attorney Mike Hughes, would not disclose how much money is involved in the dispute, although she said the jury had made a partial payment Monday.
The 20th Judicial District Attorney’s Office represents both bodies, and Hughes did not participate in the executive session.
The board’s resolution directs Superintendent Jesse L. Perkins Jr. to write a letter to the jury demanding payment but reserves the right to seek “judicial support.”
On another matter, the board voted 4-2 to approve Perkins’ recommendation to appoint Ben Necaise as principal of West Feliciana Middle School.
Board members Milton Coats and James White, along with Police Juror John Cobb, questioned why Assistant Principal Jovanka McCray did not get the recommendation, saying she had more experience as an assistant principal than Necaise.
Perkins said he agreed with a selection committee’s unanimous recommendation of Necaise, which was based on the candidates’ résumés and interviews.
“I think we have erred in passing over a worthy, qualified candidate,” Coats said, while Cobb argued that the board needed to have a “little more (racial) diversity” in its administrative ranks.
McCray is black, and Necaise is white.
Coats and White voted against the recommendation, which was supported by Kevin Beauchamp, Kelly O’Brien, David Cornette and Amanda McKinney. Board President Sara Wilson-Wright abstained.
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