CHRISTINE HARVEY / L’Observateur / September 19, 1999

LUTCHER – For the first time since St. James Parish parents and citizensstaged a boycott to protest the transfer of St. James High School’sprincipal to the parish’s new alternative school, many were refused entry Tuesday into the board’s regularly scheduled meeting.

Deputies from the State Fire Marshal’s office received a call requesting they come to the school board office to make sure the fire safety code was being properly enforced, said Melvin Wheat, deputy state fire marshal.

They took measurements to determine the number of people who would safely be able to exit the building in the event of a fire and capped capacity at 75 people, he said.

“It’s not to keep anybody out,” Wheat said. “All we’re doing is safety forpeople in the building.”Citizens not allowed to attend Tuesday’s meeting balked at not being able to fight for their side in the Ridgely Mitchell matter.

Since school board members voted on Superintendent P. EdwardCancienne’s recommendation in July to transfer Mitchell to the Learning Academy, hundreds of concerned parents have shown up at each successive board meeting to protest the move.

“We’re going to remember this,” said Catherine Moore, a protester who was not allowed inside. “This is not going to go unnoticed. This is no wayto treat human beings.”Board member Willis Octave tried to have the meeting moved to a larger facility, but the board voted down his recommendation.

He said the meeting should have been moved to accommodate those people who drove 15 or 20 miles to attend, only to find themselves turned away without prior notification of the code enforcement.

But citizens kept from the meeting had several voices inside, lobbying on all their behalves.

Minister Stacy El Muhammad of the Baton Rouge mosque of the Nation of Islam called for Cancienne’s resignation, a move Muhammad said would turn the tense situation toward one of atonement and reconciliation.

Muhammad also said intimidating parents with threatening letters about their children’s absences from school would not be a wise move.

“If you move on those parents and children, then God will move on you,” he said.

And another boycott could be staged unless the citizens get their way.

“If you don?t answer our cries, we will shut you down again,” Muhammad said.

Eileen Jasmin, one of the citizens’ spokespeople, asked the board to grant a degree of fairness to her and the other parents as far as their children’s education is concerned.

“We already know we are unequal because of the Mississippi River,” she said. “Don’t leave us out. The money is here for everybody.”Jasmin said three uncertified teachers taught her son last year and some St. James Parish schools do not have as many textbooks or computerfacilities as others.

Mary Edwards, student services and resources administrative director, said she was not aware of a textbook shortage on the west bank but would check into the matter.

Muhammad, Jasmin and other citizens were granted requests to speak at the meeting, but board members refused to answer any questions directed their way, which is permitted by the board’s rules.

In other business, the board granted approval of the Learning Academy.

The parish’s formal proposal for the school will be submitted to the state Board of Elementary and Secondary Education for its final approval, said Janie Vee Henderson, acting administrative director for school accountability.

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