High-poverty Lafourche schools will share nearly $7M stimulus funding

If the federal government approves a grant application passed last Wednesday by the Lafourche Parish School Board, nearly $7 million in economic stimulus money will be headed to Lafourche Parish schools.

Of that $7 million, approximately $2.9 million will go to the parish’s eight highest-poverty schools: South Thibodaux, Raceland Lower and Upper, W.S. Lafargue, Golden Meadow and Thibodaux elementary schools, and Raceland Middle and West Thibodaux Middle schools.

With the money, 10 new employees will be hired. One will be placed at each elementary school and two at each middle school to help teach the current faculty members how to respond and to work with students who are in danger of failing, according to Pam Folse, supervisor of Lafourche’s low-income school programs.

“We’re focusing on implanting either literacy coaches or instructional intervention teachers in our eight highest poverty schools,” she told to the board. “We’re looking at giving them the option of either a coach or intervention teacher.”

The funds are intended to help cut back on the dropout rate of students that are high across the state, according to Superintendent JoAnn Matthews.

In addition, the same money will go to creating technology-based classrooms, Folse said.

More technology-based classrooms means installing new “interactive white boards” or “smart” boards that can be accessible through a teacher’s computer.

“We are trying to get more of the technology-rich instructional strategy in our classrooms,” she explained. “Along with that, they will receive a mobile laptop center that has 30 laptops per center. Each one will have two of those setups for the students to use.”

Another portion of the money, approximately $4 million, will go to benefit the special education program in schools, according to Dr. Charles Michel, supervisor of special education.

With the money, nine new workers will be split between the south, central and north parts of Lafourche Parish.

Included in those positions are teachers who will work specifically with poorly-performing special education students, counselors to encourage the children not to drop out and job coaches to help graduates find employment.

Twenty-five paraprofessionals will be added to help disabled students increase math scores.

The remainder of the $4 million will provide service for disabled students and special-education training for teachers.

Also at the meeting, the board officially declared a vacancy in the position of principal of South Lafourche High School. Former principal Mary Curole’s contract was not renewed at a special meeting two weeks ago by a vote of 13-0.

Days later, it was learned that the reason cited for Curole’s dismissal was a failure to document alleged mistakes of her faculty and neglect of her principal duties, the school board reported.

Curole’s contract officially ends Aug. 30, at which time the new principal would take over.

In the meantime, an interim principal will be appointed sometime next month.

“I’d like all decisions to be made in conjunction with the interim principal-elect,” Matthews told the board. “It is decisions based prior to the appointment. We want to get this done as soon as possible and have the new principal in place by Aug. 31.”

The board requested that the deadline to apply for the job be 10 a.m. on July 2.

Board member Jon Callais was absent from last week’s meeting. Instead, he was attending a meeting in Baton Rouge.