The Evangeline Parish School Board welcomed a new school board member at its meeting on Wednesday.
Sheila Joseph was sworn in to office to replace Buck Dupius, who recently resigned from the position after moving from the parish.
After the oath of office was administered to Joseph by Assistant District Attorney Nicole Gil, the board then got down to business with a decision to be frugal with its money by entering into a contract with Johnson Controls to save on energy.
The contract calls for Johnson and Controls to change and upgrade lighting at all 12 campuses, which they ensure will save the school district $4,527,488.50 over a 15 year period.
During the Wednesday’s meeting, EPSB members were informed of the work that would take place on each campus.
For classrooms with existing drop ceilings, Johnson Controls will upgrade existing fixtures to LED and install architectural kits for new fixture appearances. In classrooms where drop ceilings are not present, they will be installed. Other upgrades that will take place in classrooms that do not already have dropped ceilings will include lowering the intercom and removing unit heaters, if needed, and installing a new lay-in LED fixture to improve light levels.
In school gymnasiums, new LED fixtures will be installed, which will provide for the lights to turn on instantly, longer life and light controls.
In regard to this project, Evangeline Parish Assistant Superintendent Mike Lombas, said, “We have been working very close with Johnson Controls to make sure the job is sound and we are getting our pay back.”
Lombas also shared the “goal is to not interrupt any instructional time,” therefore all updates will be done after school hours.
During Evangeline Parish Superintendent of Schools Darwan Lazard’s closing comments, he announced he recently visited with Donald Fontenot and Kyle Fontenot with Pine Prairie Energy. Lazard then shared that Pine Prairie Energy would be donating $2,000 to the district for its teacher of the year program. This money he stated will be divided and $100 will be given to every teacher of the year school winner.
At the meeting, Lazard also introduced the Ville Platte Gazette’s new publisher, Garland Forman, to the educators of Evangeline Parish.
The superintendent then thanked Cody Perron and Phillip Buller for assisting the school district in acquiring a school safety grant.
The next school board meeting is set for October 17, 2018 at 6:00 p.m.
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ELIZABETH WEST Managing Editor