Baton Rouge Temperature: 97°
Sunday, July 20, 2008

EDUCATION

THIBODAUX — Nicholls State University announced two additions to its administration. Thibodaux native and Nicholls graduate Jessica Harvey will serve as assistant director of alumni affairs, a new position for the school. Another Thibodaux native, Brian Clausen, is the new director of environmental health and safety.

Southern University is joining the ranks of the many state schools increasing tuition by 5 percent for the fall, the college’s Board of Supervisors decided Friday.

Gov. Bobby Jindal told educators Friday that two new laws will address classroom discipline problems, which he called a top complaint of teachers.

The 100 Black Men of Metro Baton Rouge is holding its 14th annual back-to-school program from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. today at the Baton Rouge River Center.

Southern University is increasing its tuition 5 percent for this fall, the college’s Board of Supervisors approved today.

LIVINGSTON — Livingston Parish School Board committees on Thursday recommended raising fuel reimbursements to private school bus drivers and setting a $500,000 minimum threshold to kick in automatic sales tax exemptions on new construction projects.

With three weeks to go before school starts, the East Baton Rouge Parish school system is reporting 108 vacancies — but still has 231 applicants for these jobs.
•WBRZ, students collect school supplies in drive

LAFAYETTE — Parish School Superintendent Burnell Lemoine said Thursday that he expects the district to call for proposals from long-range planning firms within two to three months.

OPELOUSAS — The St. Landry Parish School Board met Thursday in a lengthy closed session while a demographer presented proposed school attendance zones that he said could help school officials develop a student desegregation plan.

Voters in Central will decide the fate of a proposed tax for schools this weekend. The election will have two propositions, one for a three-quarter-cent sales tax and the other for a new property tax. The money would be used to build a $95 million school complex to house all students in the Central district.

LSU is increasing its tuition the maximum allowable 5 percent starting this fall, the LSU Board of Supervisors decided this afternoon. The state Legislature in June approved tuition hikes statewide of up to 5 percent each of the next four years.

Newly selected University of Louisiana System President Randy Moffett will receive a total pay package of $427,500 a year, the system’s Board of Supervisors voted Wednesday.

W.T. Winfield’s lone opponent in the race for the District 5 seat on the East Baton Rouge Parish School Board withdrew almost as quickly as she qualified, leaving the veteran politician elected by default.

GONZALES — Members of the Ascension Parish Home Rule Charter Commission agreed Wednesday to read both the current Home Rule Charter and the 2002 commission’s recommended charter.

LAFAYETTE — School Superintendent Burnell Lemoine announced Wednesday that N.P. Moss Middle School will be open for its three grades this fall.

VILLE PLATTE — In a short routine meeting Wednesday the Evangeline Parish School Board was instructed by its legal adviser Raymond LeJeune about the new procedure dealing with public bodies adding agenda items.

New University of Louisiana System President Randy Moffett now has a total salary package of $427,500 a year, the system’s Board of Supervisors voted today. Replacing Moffett at Southeastern Louisiana University is new interim President John Crain.

The East Baton Rouge Parish school system predicts the state will siphon as much as $65 million a year to educate as many as 6,900 children at chronically low-performing schools if the state decides this fall to take over those schools.

GREENSBURG — St. Helena Parish school officials will ask voters for a second time in nine months Saturday to approve a 25-year bond issue to build a new consolidated school complex for instruction of kindergarten through 12th-grade students.

BAKER — The Baker School Board declared Tuesday that the school system has a critical shortage of certified teachers. Baker has 20 vacancies for certified teachers.

GONZALES — The Ascension Parish School Board approved a 2008-09 operating budget Tuesday, adding $400,000 in maintenance projects to the first-proposed draft.

LAFAYETTE — The Lafayette Parish School Board will have a first hearing tonight on a plan to streamline the process of hiring principals and assistant principals.

GREENSBURG — Initially projecting a $156,760 general fund deficit for the 2007-2008 fiscal year, the St. Helena Parish School Board will end the fiscal year $58,510 in the black under a final revised budget approved Monday.

PLAQUEMINE — Discipline was a lead discussion item when the Iberville Parish School Board met Monday night. Board members approved hiring in-school suspension paraprofessionals for all schools.

INDEPENDENCE — Residents of Independence and Amite will have a chance to discuss an impending school desegregation plan with school officials later this month, an organizer said Friday.

Gov. Bobby Jindal’s plan to spend $20 million on merit and flex pay for public-schoolteachers has turned into a $10 million push solely to address hard-to-fill jobs in rural districts. The proposal began as something broader and more controversial.

NEW ORLEANS — Southern University may become the first school to reject or minimize tuition increases that were approved statewide by the Legislature in June.

AMITE — The former head football coach of Amite High School will not supervise coaches nor assistant coaches and his pay will remain the same as Tangipahoa Parish School Board’s new parishwide coordinator of athletics, a federal judge in New Orleans has ruled.

NEW ORLEANS — Southern University Chancellor Kofi Lomotey officially took over July 1, but he hasn’t moved in yet. Lomotey said Thursday he plans to move into his new office July 21, although he is conducting university business in the meantime.

A federal judge in New Orleans has adopted an interim plan for Tangipahoa Parish public schools next school year regarding special voluntary student transfers aimed at school desegregation, court records show.

LAFAYETTE — Construction and equipping of Northside High School’s newest academy is in full swing, and the director wants parents to know openings are still available for students.

A 10-person panel, which included three principals and an assistant principal, repeatedly emphasized Wednesday for a small audience at LSU the importance of a strong leader to a school’s success.

After a couple of years of no increases, East Baton Rouge Parish school system employees are likely to see an average increase of almost 9 percent in their medical insurance premiums come January.

LUTCHER — St. James Parish School Board members unanimously adopted a 2008-09 salary schedule that carries substantial pay raises for the system’s teachers and employees.

LAFAYETTE — The leader of a Lafayette Parish citizen’s group focused on school facilities said Wednesday she has plenty of takers among people who want to continue the group’s work.

PORT ALLEN — Pointe Coupee Police Jury members have no authority over education, but the subject took up a significant amount of time at their meeting Tuesday night.

GONZALES — Three years after Ascension Parish voters extended the life of a property tax, they will see a partial return next month when two new schools open for classes.

A school panel on Monday recommended buying eight temporary classrooms so that McKinley High School will have enough space to continue operating while that school undergoes a multimillion-dollar renovation later this year.

A second member of Louisiana’s top school board Monday questioned the state’s spending of $63 million on after-school programs with what critics call little oversight.

DONALDSONVILLE — Later this month, the Ascension Parish School Board will consider a proposed budget that has already been trimmed by $5 million and could dip into the district’s surplus funds for millions more.

Loranger residents continue to explore how to prevent a Tangipahoa Parish school desegregation case from splitting their school attendance zone, even though school officials have cast doubt on a counter proposal the residents support.

Colleges statewide have begun notifying students to expect tuition increases this fall.

About 600 teachers from throughout the South will arrive Sunday in Baton Rouge for advanced training in science and math instruction thanks to professional golfer Phil Mickelson.

The state has spent $63 million in the past decade on after-school programs that badly need more oversight and accountability, a member of the state’s top school board said.

OPELOUSAS — The St. Landry Parish School Board voted 11-1 Thursday to reject a proposed U.S. Justice Department student desegregation plan that aims to consolidate or close many of the district’s schools.

LAFAYETTE — On his first day on the job, new University of Louisiana at Lafayette President Joseph Savoie said he wants the university to make a little more noise in the state.

DONALDSONVILLE — The Ascension School Board hired a new principal Tuesday night for Central Elementary School. Lynette LaCaze, who was assistant principal, was promoted to succeed Rhonda Lamendola, who plans to retire in August.

Longer days and smaller classes, new teachers and weekend tutoring are just some of the changes planned for students at four Baton Rouge area schools taken over by the state and being run as charters by two nonprofit groups, officials said Tuesday.

CLINTON — The East Feliciana School Board rejected an application for a proposed parishwide charter school submitted by the East Feliciana Charter School group Tuesday.

AMITE — The Tangipahoa Parish School Board on Tuesday night called a special meeting for 9 a.m. July 8 to declare two seats vacant after members resigned rather than face new financial disclosure requirements under recent ethics law changes the Louisiana Legislature enacted.

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