Bossier School Board authorizes employee stipends, despite lack of full state funding
Plus — Bossier Fire District 1 battles two fires early Thursday.
Friday, September 19, 2025
Bossier City weekend forecast
Friday 🌫️🌦️🌤️ High: 91°F | Low: 68°F 💨 SE wind ~5 mph 🌧️ Rain chance: 40% ☁️ Patchy morning fog, partly cloudy with scattered PM storms
Saturday 🌫️🌤️ High: 94°F | Low: 70°F 💨 S wind ~5 mph 🌧️ Rain chance: 0% ☁️ Fog early, then warm and partly cloudy
Sunday 🌤️🌦️ High: 91°F 💨 S wind 5–10 mph 🌧️ Rain chance: 20% ☁️ Mostly sunny with a slight chance of afternoon storms
Sunday Night 🌕🌧️ Low: 70°F 💨 S wind 5–10 mph 🌧️ Rain chance: 20% ☁️ Mostly clear with a few late-night showers possible
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Bossier School Board authorizes employee stipends, despite lack of full state funding
Though the expense is not 100% covered by the state, every Bossier Parish full-time employee will receive stipends next month.
The payments were approved at Thursday's school board meeting.
Stipends include $2,000 for professional and certified staff, $1,000 for support staff, and $250 for crossing guards. Payments will be made by direct deposit on October 3rd.
Bernard Friday of the local teacher union, Red River United, spoke before the board.
"I want to thank you on behalf of the many employees for not adding any exclusionary language or prorating the state stipends for those on sabbatical leaves, workers' comp and extended sick leave due to debilitating illnesses," Friday said. "I thank you because, believe it or not, I've seen it firsthand.
"What happens when the board prorates these stipends for whatever reason, they unintentionally harm those employees, just like the ones we prayed for at the beginning of this meeting," he added.
Superintendent Jason Rowland then asked BPSB Chief Financial Officer Nicia Bamburg if the stipends included pre-K teachers.
"Yes, sir. It does. We don't get money from the state for all of our positions. But we do include all full-time employees in our supplement. For this year, we are anticipating being short, slightly short. And so the district does make up that difference," Bamburg replied. Just like I mentioned with the crossing guards, we don't get any money for them either, but we do include them in our supplement payment."
Vice President Sheri Pool then asked about teachers who are filling in for teachers on sabbatical.
"We pay both of those teachers during that time — the teacher that's filling the sabbatical will get that pay as well as the person on sabbatical," Bamburg said. "So the supplements actually paid to us based on the prior year staffing count, which would not include that extra position that we've added to cover for that sabbatical. And so that's another reason that can cause us to be short from one year to the next. But we are paying everyone. Every full-time employee."
"Is the district ever reimbursed for the shortage?" Superintendent Rowland asked.
"So the district over the years has always taken on the shortage from the state," Bamburg replied.
In other business, the School Board authorized the construction of a walking track at Benton Intermediate School, funded by the school itself.
Bossier Fire District 1 battles two fires early Thursday
Bossier Parish Fire District 1 responded to two separate structure fires during the early morning hours of Thursday, September 18.
At 3:15 am, units were dispatched to Holly Lane in the Red Chute community for reports of a camper fire. Upon arrival, crews located a fifth-wheel camper with heavy smoke showing. Firefighters made entry and discovered a microwave on fire. The incident was quickly contained, and the fire was brought under control within approximately five minutes.
While still on the scene of that incident, at 3:35 am, BPFD1 was dispatched to Coastal Drive in the Princeton community for a reported mobile home fire.
First-arriving units found a double-wide mobile home heavily involved in fire. Crews worked aggressively, and the fire was brought under control in approximately 30 minutes. No civilian or firefighter injuries were reported; however, six pets were lost in the fire.
In total, four engines, one rescue unit, two EMS units, and three chiefs responded to the two incidents. The Haughton Fire Department also responded to provide assistance on the second fire.
I-20 reconstruction marks two years
The Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development celebrated another significant milestone for the $128 million I-20 major rehabilitation project in Bossier City, officially marking two years of construction as the project marches steadily toward completion.
"While daily tasks have included laying thousands of tons of asphalt and square yards of concrete, the deeper accomplishment lies in the project’s adherence to the original timeline and schedule," the DOTD said in a release. "This success is a direct result of DOTD and the contractor’s strong commitment to open and ongoing communication, ensuring that challenges are identified and resolved quickly and efficiently."
In addition to the full reconstruction work, the project also includes extensive concrete panel repairs on the Shreveport side of the I-20 corridor, from Pines Road to past LA 3132, as well as near the I-49 interchange.
Current ramps that are closed for reconstruction:
Airline Drive: all on and off-ramps (Estimated reopening: late October 2025)
Barksdale Blvd. westbound on-ramp (Estimated reopening: late November 2025)
Benton Rd. westbound on-ramp (Estimated reopening: November 2025)
Benton Rd. eastbound off-ramp (Estimated reopening: late December 2025)
Bossier third graders receive pocket Constitutions
Every third grader across Bossier Schools received a powerful piece of history this week — a pocket-sized copy of the U.S. Constitution.
In honor of Constitution Day and Freedom Week, nearly 1,700 booklets were delivered to classrooms parish-wide, thanks to the Republican Women of Bossier and U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson.
"This special gift brings the founding principles of our nation right into their hands," Bossier Schools said.
Fire results in evacuation at Horseshoe Casino; no injuries reported
Thursday evening, a fire was reported just outside the Horseshoe Bossier City Casino riverboat.
Employees and local emergency personnel evacuated all guests and staff with no injuries reported. The fire was quickly extinguished, and the Horseshoe subsequently resumed normal operations.
"We extend our sincere gratitude to the Bossier City Fire Department, Bossier City Police Department, Louisiana State Fire Marshal, and Louisiana State Police for their swift and professional actions," the casino said in a statement.
"It was the crosstie on the outside that has the rubber bumpers to the boat," officials told KEEL News. "The boat was evacuated and the RiverDome was not affected."
Electricity was temporarily cut off at the boat, with only the casino floor evacuated. Other areas of the property remained open and operational, KEEL News added.
Authorities are continuing an investigation into the blaze.
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