The school system is ready for tomorrow.

This was the theme of the St. Tammany Parish School Board Committee as a Whole meeting held Thursday night, the night before opening day of the 2008-2009 school year. In a back to school report, Superintendent Gayle Sloan asked each department to update the board on the status of projects within the system.

Deputy Superintendent Trey Folse reported the modular building at Madisonville Elementary is complete, but he said Madisonville Junior High is still a construction site. The new library at Covington Elementary and the Slidell High School classroom wing are also complete, he said. “We accomplished a lot during the summer,” Folse said.

He also said final proposals are being reviewed for proposed security cameras and a timeline to complete the work will be included in the contract.

In transportation, Ronald Despenza said all bus routes are filled with certified drivers, and a full staff is in place. The newly formed transportation Hotline had 981 calls, and the new transportation Web site had over 7,000 hits since Aug. 1. Drivers’ phone numbers were provided so parents could call directly if they had questions, he said.

Assistant Superintendent of Human Resources Peter Jabbia said 250 teaching positions were filled with 166 of those being new teachers to the St. Tammany Parish School System. There are six positions still available, five of those becoming vacant mere days before school started, he said. Substitutes are in place, and everything is ready, he added.

Cheryl Arabie, assistant superintendent for Curriculum and Instruction, said the new Blackboard application for the revised and updated guaranteed curriculum has been well received. Also, she said, over 1,000 teachers participated in the Summer Institute professional development program. In late July, the administrators’ conference was held with the theme of visions for student learning, including a speaker on how technology has changed student engagement in education, said Arabie

A legislative update from Sloan included some of the bills passed this summer that will impact training for School Board members, including the procedure for opening an agenda during a School Board meeting.

In other news:

• A suggestion to name the agriculture science building at Northshore High School for Paul Payne, the beloved teacher who started and built the model agriculture program used at the school, will be considered. Payne devoted 25 years to the school’s agriculture science program, Sloan said.

• The new high school on Louisiana Highway 1088 should be completed in the spring, said Sloan. A principal will be named this fall to work at the school full time during the spring semester to prepare the facility for opening in fall of 2009. Recommendations are being considered for attendance boundaries, name, mascot, colors and all things that “make the high school experience,” said Sloan.

• The external review of hiring practices has been completed, said Jabbia. Many changes proposed cover incidents of arrest, including the history of employees. The school system now has a fingerprinting machine, and a background check will link the system to the National Registry of Sex Offenders.

Jabbia said any history of arrest and/or conviction will be available in a matter of days as opposed to the current system, which takes weeks, and no employee can begin work until his or her background check is complete.

In addition, Jabbia said the current system of practices, procedures and documents is strong, but changes will be made to clarify disclosure even more. A hard line policy will be in place for those failing to disclose information on an application, including the possibility of termination. This will include arrests and convictions of any kind to determine the character of an individual applying for a position in the school system and is not limited to classroom personnel.

• The committee as a whole recommended approval and has forwarded the following proposals to the full board for consideration at its regular meeting next week: The purchase of a lot at 2346-2348 Ciruti St., Slidell, for $200,000; the acceptance of Pine View Middle parking lot and Madisonville Elementary School drainage as substantially complete subject to the architects’ recommendations, submission of all regulatory requirements, and approval of Sloan; and consideration of bids for a ProStart kitchen at Fontainebleau High School for $200,700.

• The consideration of the 2008-09 general fund budget has been made with a public hearing scheduled for Aug. 21 at 6 p.m.

• Jabbia said a revision to the job description for leased school bus operators changes the wording so that the current bus lease program will cease at the end of the 2009-2010 school year. Bus operators of leased buses will either need to purchase a bus by this time or become a substitute bus driver to remain with the school system, according to the proposed changes.