With the dawn of a new school year on the horizon in Evangeline Parish, Superintendant of Schools Darwan Lazard told the school board Wednesday that the ongoing summer projects are on track for completion before school begins.
“Some of them might be real close, but we’re planning to be ready for school,” Lazard said. “The first day for teachers is August 7, and the first day for students is August 9.”
Lazard then said that he is often asked why school is starting so early this coming year. He said that is because “we have a number of holidays.” He added, “We have to get in a certain number of work days, and we also have to build in some days into the calendar in case we have snow in Ville Platte and Basile as we had this past year. We want to make sure we’re well prepared so that we can serve the students of Evangeline Parish.”
Lazard also introduced two new French Immersion teachers who will teach second grade at Mamou Elementary and Ville Platte Elementary and presented a certificate from the Executive Department that is signed by Secretary of State Kyle Ardoin and Governor John Bel Edwards that acknowledges Karen Vidrine as the school board member for District 3.
Earlier in the meeting, the board viewed a presentation from Assistant Principal Johnny Deshotel from Basile High School about activities at the school. The board had similar presentations from other schools in the district.
Deshotel updated the board on the construction projects on campus. “We completed the cafeteria, and we also constructed four new classroom buildings,” he said. “In our main building, we changed all of the ceilings, lights, and flooring and updated all of the bathrooms.”
“We remodeled the band room and the vocational classrooms,” he continued. “We also constructed a brand new welding shop and updated our wood shop.”
Another big project that is nearing completion is work to the track. “It is completely prepared for the rubber to be laid on August 1,” said Deshotel. “It will take about 10 days for that to happen and, then, two or three more days to stripe it.”
“We can be thankful for this because this is the only really nice track we have in our whole parish,” he continued. “I think we really needed the work because all of our teams were having to travel good distances to go to track meets. We will be able to host the track meets in our own district.”
According to Deshotel, a new extracurricular activity at Basile High School is Future Farmers of America. As he said, “They haven’t had a chapter in quite a long time. We had 26 members this past year. Christina LeJeune was the club sponsor, and she went and brought the kids all over the place. They had a very active year.”
Special Education Director Roxane West then told the board about plans to construct an apartment kitchen/ classroom lab for students with disabilities at Ville Platte High School. “In that classroom, they will be able to create food that they will be able to sell on campus to teachers,” she stated. “It will be teaching them entrepreneurship as well as cooking skills that they will use everyday.”
“The apartment will also help them learn housekeeping skills and things that are important for life activities,” she continued.
The board voted to approve the price quote of $40,300.00 from EQ Solutions for the construction. Plans are also in the works for similar construction at Pine Prairie High School.
In other business, the school board:
• acknowledged Superintendant Lazard for being appointed to the Governing Board of the American Association of School Administrators and board member Dr. Bobby Deshotel for setting a record of qualifying more times than any other school board member.
• set a public hearing on August 1 to adopt millages.
• approved an addendum to the Pupil Progression Plan for 2018-2019.
• approved an increase in tuition reimbursement from $2,000 to $2,500.00 through federal funds for teachers who are seeking certification.
• accepted a low bid from Ceaser Construction for removal and elevated replacement of the Mamou High School gym floor.
• adopted the 2018-2019 student handbook.
Image
TONY MARKS Associate Editor