School Board sets interviews for superintendent applicants

CENTERVILLE — St. Mary Parish could have a new superintendent of public schools in about three weeks.

At a special meeting Monday, the board scheduled interviews with the six candidates for superintendent for April 18 and 19, three each night.

The board rejected an attempt to reopen the application period for a month and to offer a higher salary rather than the $120,000-$140,000 that had been advertised.

Also Monday, board members agreed to buy property insurance coverage at a premium steeply higher than last year’s. And the board set a May 1 public forum in Centerville to talk about budgetary and calendar adjustments needed if parish high schools are to return to block scheduling in the 2023-24 year.

Interviews

Attorney Bob Hammonds advised board members to limit each initial interview to an hour in an open meeting. Each interview would consist of a 10-minute opening statement, a question from each board member, and an eight- to 10-minute closing statement.

Board President Alaina Black set the interview order at random by picking slips of paper bearing the names of applicants.

The interview schedule for April 18 is:

—5:30 p.m., Margaret Cage, director of special education for Assumption Parish schools.
—6:30 p.m., Hamilton Brock, principal at Baker’s K-12 Alternative Learning Center.
—7:30 p.m., C. Michael Robinson, chief academic officer for East Baton Rouge Parish schools.

The schedule for April 19 is:
—5:30 p.m., J Ina, principal at Franklin Junior High and a Parish Council member.
—6:30 p.m., Buffy Fegenbush, district director of academic intervention for Lafayette Parish and Berwick High’s principal 2005-17.
—7:30 p.m., Curt Green, director of human resources for St. John the Baptist schools.

The board could make its decision at its monthly meeting April 20. That meeting, normally on the second Thursday, was rescheduled because of the Easter holiday. Or the board could set a round of follow-up interviews.

What it won’t do is advertise for more applications.

Member Ginger Griffin of Patterson moved to advertise for applicants for another month and to raise the stated starting pay from $120,000-$140,000 to $130,000-$160,000.
Griffin, joined by Marilyn LaSalle of Patterson, said the motion isn’t a judgment about the quality of the applications received so far.

When member Debra R. Jones of Franklin asked Griffin if the current applicant pool is lacking, Griffin replied, “No Ma’am. I’d just like to see more candidates apply.”

Other members asked what would be gained by the delay.

“Now we’re going to get to this place and not move forward?” Tammie Moore of Four Corners asked. “I don’t see the sense in that.”

Member Lindsey Anslem of Bayou Vista asked Dr. Rachael Sanders how she’d feel about extending her service as interim superintendent.

Sanders called it a Catch-22 in which she would have to make important decisions that might not fit the new superintendent’s vision.

Griffin’s motion was defeated 6-5. Members Griffin, LaSalle, Black of Morgan City, Murphy Pontiff and Joseph Foulcard, both of Franklin, voted for the motion. Moore, Anslem, Jones, Andrew Mancuso and Rhonda Dennis of Morgan City, and Chad Paradee of Berwick voted against.

The motions needed to set the interview schedule passed on voice votes without objection.

Insurance

The School Board will pay much more for property insurance for the same reason many homeowners will: After years of massive payouts due to natural disasters, many insurers are raising premiums, refusing to write policies or leaving Louisiana altogether.

The board agreed to accept a package put together by Paul’s Agency. The new coverage goes into effect Saturday.

The package would cover School Board property valued at $374 million for an annual premium of up to $2.25 million. Facilities would be insured against wind storms, fire, hail and lightning.

Deductibles for damage from named storms would be 5% of the claim with a minimum of $100,000. The deductibles for other perils would be $250,000.

The payout for each event would be capped at $30 million. The current coverage has a $20 million cap.

Insurance consultant Carmel Breaux said the $2.25 million premium is up 76% from last year.

Paul’s sought proposals from 52 insurers, Breaux said, and received 12 responses. The other 40 either declined to make a bid or no longer insure property in Louisiana, Breaux said.

Block scheduling

The public forum will be at 6 p.m. May 1 at Centerville High. It will be about “necessary adjustments to the budget and the 2023-24 school year calendar should high schools change to block scheduling,” according to Monday’s agenda.

The board is considering whether parish high schools should return to a block scheduling system.

High schools now operate on a traditional seven-period day. Under block scheduling, each day would be divided into four 93-minute periods, and each class would run for one semester.

The School Board moved away from block scheduling before the 2017-18 school year to save money.