Schools get public information manager

CENTERVILLE — The year-end accolades continued Thursday, when the St. Mary Parish School Board also toughened some of its disciplinary policies related to vaping, gang activity, drug possession and social media.
The board recognized athletic and academic achievements, and made clear the way for a new district public information officer.

The board approved job descriptions for four positions, including a new one. The system will have a public information manager.

Superintendent Dr. Buffy Fegenbush says the occupant of the post will be able to provide accurate information to the public while acting as the voice of the school system.

And in the event of a major incident, school administrators can “focus on the response and we’ll have someone communicating ...,” Fegenbush said.

On Friday, the system announced that Fegenbush had named Fallon Mitchell to the post.

Mitchell, who was a 2004 honors graduate at Franklin High, has worked in the district for 13 years, the announcement on Facebook said. She began as a talented theater teacher and for 11 years was a teacher for gifted and talented students.

Most recently, she has served as an at-risk interventionist.

Mitchell earned her bachelor of arts degree from Marymount Manhattan College in New York. She holds two master’s degrees.

The board, acting on recommendations of its disciplinary committee, put vaping on a level with the system’s rules against tobacco use by students.

The new policies also extend rules against possession of illegal drugs to all K-12 students. Before Thursday, students in K-5 were not specifically covered by the policy that requires cases to be referred to local law enforcement.

The sharing or posting on social media of unauthorized pictures or videos is also prohibited. And students exhibiting gang symbols or what the policy calls “gang paraphernalia” will be referred to the school resource officer.

On the non-disciplinary front, the board recognized members of the Berwick High baseball team, which won the LHSAA Non-Select Division III championship May 12 by beating Doyle 4-2 in eight innings.

The team, introduced Thursday by head coach Seth Henry, fell one run short of a state championship in 2022.

Another athletic accomplishment was celebrated. Milton Schexnayder of Centerville High was the state discus champion. He also placed in shot put, coach Charles Jefferson said.

Evan White of Berwick High, a member of the baseball team, was introduced to the board by Grisel Torres for an off-the-field achievement. White is a National Merit finalist.

The board recognized four newly minted principals. They are Toney Linn Jr. at Berwick High, Lacie Quintanilla at Morgan City High, Amber Monceaux at Morgan City Junior High and Celeste Pipes at Wyandotte Elementary.

Also Thursday:

—The board heard from insurance consultant James Perez that the district’s group health insurance plan paid an unusually large amount in claims in the first four months of 2023.

The plan has taken in about $3.8 million in premiums January-April. In the same months, medical and medication claims have totaled about $4.5 million.

In February alone, the plan paid about $1.3 million on one claim and $263,000 on another.

—The board approved 2023-24 participation in a program that makes free breakfasts and lunches available to students at all parish schools.

The program is the Community Eligibility Provision of the Health, Hunger-Free Kids Act, wrote Supervisor of Child Nutrition Dawn Chaisson. St. Mary Parish has participated since 2016-17, and since 2020-21 students at all parish schools have been eligible.

The federal government reimburses the school district at a rate that’s based on the number of students who qualify for free meals because their family qualifies for certain aid programs and or because they’re homeless, migrants or foster children.

The district’s reimbursement rate since 2020-21 is 99.96%, Chaisson wrote.