Superintendent-elect Brad Soileau brought a message of school and community to his first meeting held in Elizabeth on Monday evening.
He discussed keeping academics at the top of the list while working on all aspects of education to bring growth and success for students, schools, the district and the community. He wants to focus on “the whole student.” And this includes everything from academics to athletics, learning how to talk in front of others, etc.
Soileau wants to give all students, across the parish, the same opportunities as every other student in the parish. He said decisions unfortunately revolved around money, time and having the personnel needed in the classroom. He noted how an electrical class was being established in Oakdale this year. There was already one in Kinder, and the district was looking at ways to bus students into these programs from other campuses, when possible. He said there were many things to consider, like scheduling – some schools are on a 4×4 while others have seven class periods each day.
“It’s not something that will happen overnight,” he said.
Soileau believes a positive note is the best way to begin this journey. He said hurricanes and Covid-19 were in the past, and it was time to move on. His question was how do we continue to grow and make sure everyone is on the same page. He said consistency and equality in all schools were keys to providing students those opportunities and moving forward in the system of education.
He wanted to make sure all stakeholders understand scores like literacy, LEAP testing, etc. If a student was asked to do something above the normal daily routine, he said the goal might be a bigger success. He said the GPA was important, and often parents just look at report cards. Test scores were important too.
Elizabeth High’s average on ACT scores is 17.5. The state’s average is 18.2. His district goal is 19 this year. He said they will be working on improving ACT scores.
“17.5 is not good enough for Elizabeth High,” he said. “So if they are asked to do a little more work, it’s not a bad thing necessarily.”
In the area of LEAP scores – ELA (English Language Arts), Elizabeth seventh graders grew 20 percent. English I grew by 14 percent; Algebra I by 17 percent. In science, third graders grew two percent; fourth grade five percent; seventh grade, 35 percent; and eighth grade, three percent. U.S. History scores grew by 15 percent.
In the future, issues like teacher pay will continue to be important. The district may look at the four-day program other districts are utilizing now. It’s important to be attractive where recruitment is concerned. Soileau said he left for a time but came back. He said this was his community, and he wanted to work here. He wants to attract educators to the parish.
He discussed campus security, and his goal to work toward a resource officer on each campus instead of sharing between some campuses. He also pointed out improvements around the Elizabeth High campus.
Soileau said with new duties assigned, the district will work on keeping social media positive. He urged parents and guardians to commit to posting positive things. If they have a problem, he asked them discuss those problems with the teacher or administration about the incident in question before posting. He also said utilizing the chain of command was important.
Soileau said competition is important. “It’s okay to want to be the best. It drives us.”
