School board picks Bagwell as next superintendent

CENTERVILLE -- Dr. Teresa Bagwell will be the next superintendent of St. Mary Parish public schools.

The school board picked Bagwell from among four candidates Thursday to succeed Leonard Armato, who will retire June 30. Armato has served nearly four years as superintendent.

Bagwell, currently St. Mary's assistant superintendent, will start her new job April 1 with a base pay of $130,000 per year on a two-year contract. The board timed the selection process so that the new superintendent would be able to work with Armato for several weeks before his retirement.

The board was prepared to have a runoff vote if none of the four candidates received the required six-vote majority from the 11-member board. But Bagwell got six votes on the first go-round.

She has been with the parish school system for 37 years.

The other candidates were Dr. Buffy Fegenbush, currently the district's instructional supervisor of secondary education; Dr. Glen Barnes, a principal in Cleveland, Texas; and Clyde Washington, the executive assistant superintendent of administration in Rapides Parish. Each candidate was interviewed separately beginning at 5 p.m. in a closed-door session.

When the board returned to open session about 9 p.m., Bagwell got the votes of board members Kenny Alfred, Ginger Griffin, Wayne Deslatte, Marilyn LaSalle, Dwight Barbier and Michael Taylor. Fegenbush got the votes of board members Alaina Black and Roland Verrett.

"Mainly I want to make our school district better," Bagwell said after the meeting. "I want our kids to be prepared for life, whether that's college or work or technical school. And I want our parents to feel confident in the quality of education in our schools."