School Board picks teacher as interim board member

CENTERVILLE — A Franklin woman with a master’s degree in special education and more than a decade as a teacher will be the next St. Mary Parish School Board member.

The board on Tuesday appointed Debra Roberson Jones as an interim board member to replace Pearl Rack, who resigned from the board Aug. 12.

The board passed a resolution calling for a special election March 25 to fill the seat permanently. If a runoff is necessary, it would be April 29. Qualifying will be Jan. 25-27.

If Jones is to continue to serve as an interim member until the election, she will have to be reappointed again in December,
Superintendent Dr. Teresa Bagwell said after the meeting. When Rack resigned, she also withdrew from the Nov. 8 School Board election, for which she had qualified without opposition.

Rack’s resignation came after qualifying for the November election had closed.

Rack cited personal reasons when she posted a resignation announcement on Facebook. At Tuesday’s special meeting, she told the board that her presence on the board would prevent her daughter, Alexis Rack, from applying for administrative positions in the school system.

“There was an opportunity for my daughter to improve where she was ...,” Rack said. “My first thought was, ‘Man, holding my child back.’”

She described her resignation as “a chance I had to take.”

“My heart is still with the St. Mary Parish School Board,” Rack said.

Board President Kenneth Alfred praised Rack’s service on the board.

“My most favorite characteristic of Mrs. Rack is that she is always prepared,” Alfred said.

Jones earned her bachelor’s degree in general studies with a minor in early intervention from birth to 5 at Nicholls State in 2007.

Her master of special education came from California’s Ashford Uni-versity in 2016.

Jones worked at Foster Elementary 2007-12 before becoming a special education teacher at Hernandez Elementary in 2012.

After Hernandez was closed in 2016, she became a special education teacher at Iberia Parish’s Westgate High School, where she is still employed.

Her memberships include the Delta Sigma Theta Sorority and Court Appointed Special Advocates for Children.