RESERVE — Two of the parish’s most successful public school principals recently accepted promotions out of parish, leaving openings at Lake Pontchartrain Elementary and East St. John Preparatory Academy.

St. John the Baptist Parish Public Schools Superintendent Kevin George acted quickly, naming interim principals to guide each campus for the 2018-19 academic year.

Taking over at the Preparatory Academy is Johnika Gayden, while Dr. Shelly Chauvin has been tapped to lead Lake Pontchartrain.

According to George, the new interim principals are welcome to apply for the jobs fulltime when the positions are officially advertised in Spring 2019.

Because the District was forced to fill the positions late in the summer, George utilized the interim route to ensure students, teachers and community members knew who the new principal would be as soon as possible.

Gayden is replacing Stacy Bradford, who left to assume principal duties at Broadmoor High School in Baton Rouge, while Chauvin is replacing Jason Beber, who left for a position with the Jefferson Parish public school district.

“Those two guys were doing amazing jobs for us,” George said. “Now, we are expecting the same from their replacements.

“When you are doing great things, people are going to come steal your people.

“That is why you have to have contingency plans — to build additional leaders who can step up when opportunities arise. We are going to continually have people get plucked away because of the things we are doing here. People appreciate what we are doing here.”