Superintendent Kent Reed said all schools in the parish should reopen Thursday, October 15, providing power has been restored to the sites after Hurricane Delta. At press time, there was no power at the schools in Reeves, Fairview and Elizabeth.
Reed told the board the school board office would reopen on Tuesday, October 13, and administrators and janitorial staffs would return to work at their respective schools. On Wednesday, all employees would return to work.
The superintendent reported the majority of sites in the parish survived Hurricane Delta in “good shape for the most part.” He said they will be looking at the weight room at Oakdale High School because of the amount of water that reached the inside of the building. He said a company from Eunice was working on the problem. Water also entered the band room and home economics room. The ag shop roof will need to be replaced.
The gymnasium at Reeves is needing repair and the high school hallway. Floor tiles are popping up from the damage from Hurricane Laura and will have to be replaced.
The cafeteria’s lower wall in Elizabeth has been replaced, and the gym roof is tarped. He explained the metal stripping is going to be hard to find. Plywood sheets have risen in price from $18 to $35. He said Habetz Roofing agreed to help with the roofs in Reeves, Fairview and Elizabeth. Reed said he contacted four or five roofing companies, and they claimed they were too busy to help at the moment. He said Habetz is working in Kinder and agreed to do the work.
He also explained one building in Fairview had been re-roofed and part of another building. He said the guys worked on the roofs in the rain until late Thursday afternoon. He said they returned Monday morning.
The fence around the football field at Oberlin High will have to be repaired. He added they would have to address the damaged storage building and small leaks in the gym classrooms and school building on the high school site and the counselor’s office on the elementary site.
In Kinder, he said debris would have to be removed. There were a few waters leaks in the same place as Hurricane Laura inside the buildings, and the fences and dugouts around the athletic complex would have to be repaired.
“We’ll get it fixed day-by-day,” Reed told the board.
Reed is concerned with virtual students who are not doing the work or getting online to participate in classroom activities. He said they’ve tried to reach parents unsuccessfully. He said Kenney Courville (supervisor: CW&A, transportation and special services) spoke with the sheriff about the situation. The sheriff will begin making some on-site visits on behalf of the district. The board inquired and learned the district can still utilize the district attorney’s office when dealing with truancy cases.
Reed discussed how the district could approach grading for the first nine weeks since the end of the first nine weeks is almost here. With Covid-19 and the two disasters, instructional learning had been difficult to maintain a steady schedule. Students in Fairview have only been in a classroom for five days since March. He said he was going to speak with educators about giving a three-week progress report and hopefully at the end of the second nine weeks a grade can be marked for both periods.
He said during his visits to classrooms in the parish, he was learning students really enjoyed using technology to learn. He said some even linked their chromes to their phones for reminders, etc. on homework and other classroom assignments.
The finance committee will be looking at figures and prepare to give a report at the November meeting for the supplement given at this time each year from revenue provided by the Coushatta Council and sales tax revenue. “I believe its important for our people. They’ve been through a lot this year,” he said.
Reed said St. Charles Parish Superintendent Ken Oertling had visited Allen Parish and presented a check to the parish. He said they planned to use the funds to replace some chrome books and purchase some curriculum material for students.
In other business, the board:
•Authorized the superintendent to advertise for a new principal at Oakdale High; a special education para at Oakdale Middle and a bus driver for Kinder.
•Approved a change order for the Kinder Elementary/Middle Schools improvement project for $4,285.
•Approved the September 14, minutes, payment of bills and the Louisiana Compliance Questionnaire for Kolder, Champagne, Slaven and Co. LLC for the June 30, 2020, audit.
