More than part-time desired

A group of 11 Cecil Picard Elementary School teachers, including the new principal Wendy Stoute, attended the School Board meeting in hopes to convince the School Board members that their school needs a full-time assistant principal and not just a part-time assistant principal.

For the last five years, Cecil Picard Elementary has had a part-time assistant principal and a counselor.

Prior to that, the school had no assistant principal or counselor.

This past school year, one person wears an assistant principal hat half a day and then takes it off and puts on his or her PE teacher’s hat for the remaining school day.

In the last five years, Cecil Picard Elementary has had four assistant principals. They stay for a year and then get promoted to a full-time assistant principal at another school in the parish.

This past school year, Paulette Gaspard was the assistant principal at Cecil Picard Elementary. She is leaving to be a full-time assistant principal at J.H. WIiliams Middle School.

“We are tired of being the revolving door,” said Joan Romero, who is a PE teacher at the Maurice elementary school. “We are never going to get someone today as an assistant principal if we do not make it a full-time position. It is a part-time position and they teach PE. That is ridiculous. We need someone in there who will help us.”

After Romero and part-time book keeper Mandy Richard voiced their concerns about the need for a full time assistant principal, the School Board members said nothing other than to close the meeting.

After the meeting, Superintendent Randy Schexnayder explained why the school does not need a full-time assistant principal.

Schexnayder said according to the Accreditation Standards of School Staffing Recommendation chart, an elementary school with the enrollment that Cecil Picard Elementary had this past school year, 578 students, calls for a part-time assistant principal. Schexnayder said that is why Cecil Picard Elementary has a part timer.

But other elementary schools in the parish like Kaplan Elementary, Eaton Park and Herod have around the same enrollment as Cecil Picard Elementary but have a full-time assistant principal.

Schexnayder explained why. He said those schools have more students on free and reduced lunch than Cecil Picard Elementary.

He said only 42 percent of Cecil Picard Elementary’s students are on free and reduced lunch. On the other hand, Kaplan Elementary has 70 percent of its students on free and reduced lunch, Herod has 89 percent and Eaton Park has 84 percent of its students on free and reduced lunch.

“With free lunch, you have more discipline problems, you have more medical problems, you have more issues, lack of parent support,” said Schexnayder.

At the school board meeting, four assistant principals were involuntary transferred to other schools.

•Theresa Holmes, who was at Eaton Park Elementary is moving to Abbeville High School.

• Ken Small, who was at Abbeville High, is being transferred to J.H. Williams Middle School.

• Denise Soileau, who was at J.H. WIlliams, is transferred to Eaton Park Elementary.

• Paulette Gaspard, who was at Cecil Picard Elementary, is being transferred to J.H. Williams Middle School.