ERIK SANZENBACH / L’Observateur / July 1, 2000

RESERVE – Richard DeLong, who is retiring as school board member and president, turned the gavel over to new St. John Parish School BoardPresident Dr. Gerald Keller.As the last order of public business at Thursday night’s special board meeting, DeLong asked for nominations to fill his post.

Keller was the only nominee, and he was made school board president by acclamation.

“I really appreciate everyone’s support,” said Keller as he took the gavel from DeLong.

A career educator, Keller has worked “everywhere” in the St. John schoolsystem. Before he retired in 1995 he was an assistant superintendent. He then ran for the school board and has served as representative for his district ever since.

DeLong’s retirement officially begins today, and the board has accepted LaRue Speights as his replacement on the board. DeLong is retiring due tohealth problems and plans to move back to his home state of Illinois, where he will open a clock shop.

Keller will be president of the board until January when DeLong’s term is up.

In other school board business, Superintendent Chris Donaldson’s reorganization plan for his administration won overwhelming approval from the board.

Despite some misgivings from the St. John Parish Association ofEducators and from board member C.J. Watkins, the board agreed withDonaldson’s plan.

Under the new plan, which is now in effect, the directorships of Title I, elementary education and finances have been dissolved.

The Title I director will be given a new post as director of Data Management/Student Services with the same salary. A coordinator ofelementary education will run elementary education, while an assistant superintendent will take care of personnel evaluation of elementary education employees.

The director of finance will now be the supervisor of sales tax, while the director of business operations will become the executive director of business and finance, a post between a director and an assistant superintendent.

Probably, Donaldson’s boldest part of his plan is to create a supervisor of custodial and maintenance services.

Donaldson said his reorganization plan will save the school board $122,000 a year.

Watkins and the SJPAE were very concerned about the disappearance of the director of elementary education.

Barbara Knight, a teacher and a representative of the SJPAE, wondered, “As an elementary teacher I don’t understand why we don’t need a director. If it was important before, why get rid of it now?”Watkins echoed Knight’s concern. “This is the most important part of oureducational system. Elementary education is the foundation for a child’slearning. I am really puzzled about this.”Donaldson said that since the director of elementary education had retired, the system had been doing quite well with just a coordinator.

Also, he said the director system of organization wasn’t really working.

“If I continued with the tradition of appointing directors I would have to pull good people out of the schools where they are needed,” Donaldson told Watkins.

Another area of concern for Knight and Watkins was the creation of the supervisor of custodial services and maintenance.

“We are not sure that replacing two positions with one will work,” Knight said. “We would like to convince you to fit in a head janitor position.”Watkins said, “This superintendent of custodial services and maintenance leaves me very skeptical. This is contradictory to your earlier statementthat we should out-source these services.”Again Donaldson answered the criticism. He told Watkins he has only askedfor permission to study the idea of out-sourcing maintenance and custodial services.

“We will work in-house,” Donaldson said. “If I didn’t think it wouldsucceed, I wouldn’t recommend it. But it is time to reorganize thisdepartment, and this plan can do that.”Leroy Mitchell backed up Donaldson. “I’m in support of the plan, knowingthat it will need some work,” he said. “We need to get it off the groundand tweak it as we go along.”Dowie Gendron echoed that, saying, “If we want the superintendent to be accountable we have to let him do his planning. We can’t hamstring him.”The vote to accept the plan passed 10-1 with Watkins voting against it.

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