By Kimberly Hopson
L’Observateur

LAPLACE – St. John the Baptist Parish Superintendent of Schools Kevin George addressed major issues concerning the upcoming school year during his first Meet and Greet at New Wine Christian Fellowship’s multipurpose center Monday.
A large group of concerned parents, teachers and employees listened as George introduced himself, talked briefly about his background and experience in education, and discussed his philosophies on educating children. School Board members Clarence Triche, Keith Jones and the Rev. Rodney Nicholas showed their support by attending the event.
Kelly Eldridge, a teacher at Lake Pontchartrain Elementary, attended the forum and said she was happy that the new superintendent seemed willing to listen and commended him for keeping the school in his sights.
“We’ve been given lots of promises, so I’ll believe it when I see it, but I definitely feel more optimistic than I did coming into the meeting,” she said.
George expounded on a system in which teachers learn how students will be tested during state assessments and continuously reinforce the knowledge by testing them throughout the school year, which he referred to as “checking the pulse.” His belief is that many educators know they should “check the pulse” but do not because it is hard to keep up with.
“It’s hard. It’s tough to educate a child. No one said it’s easy. But I think we know what to do. It’s my job and principals’ job to ensure that people continuously do it. I call it progress monitoring. We can’t just teach and at the end of year cross our fingers and hope they do well on the test,” he said.
“We have to assess them the way they will be assesed on the test. We have to check it at certain points throughout the year to see where they are. When they are not where they should be, we have to go back and reteach it to make sure they understand it.”
George also said one of his goals was to make sure the St. John Parish school district achieves an “A” rating because it would be more attractive industry looking to locate in the area, and he believes parents should not have to send their children to private schools to receive a better education. He went on to say that he would always make decisions that are in the best interest of the children, even if it the situation would not be convenient for adults.
“We should be the No. 1 stop for the best education,” he said. “There will be some ups, and I’m sure there will be some downs, but the one thing I can tell you is this. I will be at it — I will be working with our principals and staff to get this district to where it needs to be.”
The floor was then opened for questions from the public. A woman in the audience asked about the situation at Lake Pontchartrain Elementary.
George acknowledged the inconveniences of having students scattered across six schools and said that this year is “not the best situation, but better than last year.” Students displaced from Lake Pontchartrain Elementary will be consolidated into three schools: preschoolers will go to the St. John Child Development Center; K-3 students will attend East St. John Elementary; and grades 4-8 will go to the Adult Education Center in Garyville.
George said it would be a priority to make sure Lake Pontchartrain Elementary teachers had all of the materials they needed to teach this year. George also revealed that a temporary campus will be built on East St. John’s campus, with a tentative completion date of Jan. 1.
When asked about the status of East St. John High School, George said the process to begin building is “painfully slow.” The superintendent has only been in office for 12 days and could not give a definite timeline but said he would provide updates to parents and teachers at the end of the month during his administrative institute at LaPlace Elementary School.
Social worker Latunya Dykes said George’s enthusiasm and youth is exactly what the school system needs because the feeling is missing in many classrooms. Dykes went on to say that it was good to see George is not from the area, eliminating what she sees as nepotism amongst the school administration.
“I would say I’m at the top with him because he’s not from here. What I’ve noticed is that they put in people they know. You don’t have to be qualified, but as long as I know you, you can get this position. But he’s not from here, so he’s not from our political system,” said Dykes.
A second meet and greet took place on Tuesday, July 23, from 6 p.m. to 7 p.m. at West St. John High School’s cafeteria.