By STACEY PLAISANCE / L’Observateur / Febuary 17, 1999

LUTCHER – Members of the St. James Parish School Board have agreed tosubmit formal evaluations of interim Superintendent Walter Landry’s job performance by the end of March.

They even said Landry could become a permanent fixture in the superintendent’s chair when his one-year contract ends June 30.

This comes after four board members refused to evaluate the superintendent’s performance at the Jan. 26 board meeting. The four -Lloyd LeBlanc, Kenneth Foret, Kathleen Becnel and Carol Lambert – voted to proceed with the search for a new superintendent even after fellow board members called for them to wait until Landry’s performance could be evaluated.

LeBlanc and Foret, the board president, said board members are usually asked to submit evaluations during the third quarter of the superintendent’s term, and they intend to do the same for Landry.

All but Becnel, who took her seat in January, said Tuesday they would or already have submitted formal evaluations. Becnel said she may not beable to properly evaluate Landry since she has not been working with him long.

Most board members said they have seen no discrepancies in Landry’s work and added he may be the best qualified for the superintendent’s job.

However, Lambert, LeBlanc and Foret said they just want to make sure a formal hiring procedure is followed in selecting the parish’s next superintendent. They said Landry will be considered for the position alongwith any and all other applicants.

“We’re an equal opportunity employer, and we would be violating people’s rights if the public wasn’t informed about the job opening,” Lambert said.

“When we hire new teachers or even janitors we don’t just put anyone in the position, and we certainly can’t do that for the highest job position in the school system.”The hiring procedure used last year when Landry was appointed interim superintendent caused tension among board members as the job opening was not advertised, no application process was followed and board members were not given the opportunity to review applicants prior to the position being filled, LeBlanc said.

Assistant Superintendent Caldonia Ceasar, who was out of state when Landry was hired, was not even given the opportunity to apply. She saidshe was dismayed at the board’s action.

“I came back from visiting my daughter, and the position had been filled,” she said. “I was hurt, and I’m glad to see that this time they are trying todo things the right way.”Ceasar has been employed with the St. James Parish School System foralmost 40 years. She said she will probably not apply for thesuperintendent position this year because she is close to retirement.

When former Superintendent John Boughton retired last year, local business and industry leaders offered to help the school board find a new superintendent. But within minutes of the discussion the board voted tohire Landry, the school system’s area supervisor for maintenance and operation, for a one-year interim term.

While the school board will evaluate Landry, it will proceed with its search. The board will discuss advertising the position at its Feb. 23meeting, deciding when to initiate the search and whether to screen applicants statewide, or only parishwide.

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