By JOHN HOWARD

Staff Reporter

RESERVE-The St. John Parish School Board voted 7-4 to uphold the administration’s decision to not rehire East St. John Basketball Coach Charles Julien at their most recent meeting.

The board held a closed hearing after originally announcing that it would be open to the public. School Board Director of Public Relations Ann LaBorde said they closed the hearing to the public because they didn’t want any confidentiality laws broken.

Superin-tendent Michael Coburn had previously decided to not renew Julien’s contract based on an evaluation by Former East St. John Principal Debbie Schum, but Julien appealed this decision to the school board.

The board agreed with the superintendent’s decision and voted to not renew Julien’s contract. Julien was not tenured and was working for the school on a year-to-year basis.

According to LaBorde, probationary teachers (those teachers without tenure) undergo an evaluation at the end of each school year by that school’s principal.

In order for a teacher to receive tenure, according to the state tenure law, a teacher must be certified for three years and have taught in the same parish for three years. Julien was not certified until 2006.

Board member Ruse Wise said Julien was previously suspended for one month for allegedly making improper statements to a student. Superintendent Coburn was in favor of firing Julien at the time of the said incident, however the board thought the punishment was too harsh with the lack of evidence. So, they decided to not uphold the administration’s decision to fire Julien and instead suspended him for a month.