Richard: Trading school job in search of a good fishing spot

On this his final day in the Terrebonne Parish School System, Ed Richard Jr. is as upbeat as ever.

But the usually forward-thinking superintendent is in a reflective mood.

Retiring after a 37-year career in the system, the past four-and-a-half as superintendent, Richard wonders what could have been.

“I loved every minute of it,” he said. “I’m not ready to retire. I just didn’t think I had any choice.”

Richard’s working relationship with certain school board members deteriorated over their conflicting agendas. The 5-4 vote on his March 2007 contract renewal caused a rift in the board that influences almost all matters that come before it.

In October, he announced his retirement from the school system in a letter effective today.

“I know we’re not going to always see eye-to-eye, but I think it went above and beyond disagreement, and that’s why I was disappointed,” Richard said. “I left many board meetings just aggravated, disappointed, upset. That’s why I decided to retire. It didn’t seem to be getting better. It seemed to get worse.”

Still, he believes most of what he set out to accomplish was achieved during his tenure – from increasing the system’s fund balance, getting the pre-K program in most elementary schools, getting diagnostic testing to identify a child’s learning weakness and bringing cohesion between the administration and schools in the education process.

However, he thinks the greatest feat was something unplanned.

“We had four hurricanes – Katrina, Rita, Gustav and Ike – shut down schools around the parish. We had quite an accomplishment to get those schools open as fast as we did,” Richard said. “I think that says a lot about my staff, the principals, the custodians, all of us working together. If we hadn’t worked as a team, Grand Caillou Elementary still wouldn’t be open.”

The son of Dolly and Ed Richard Sr., the outgoing superintendent is a Houma native and 1966 Terrebonne High School graduate. His first education experience was teaching swimming lessons during the summers while at Houma Junior High.

But it was during his summers working offshore on a drilling rig while attending Nicholls State that he decided to make education his profession.

“When I told my dad, he was very excited because he had the utmost respect for teachers,” Richard said.

He graduated from Nicholls in December 1970 with a Bachelor of Science degree in education. His first teaching job in January 1971 was in eighth grade science at Evergreen Elementary.

“I learned I was a very poor teacher because I was teaching the way I learned in college, which was lectures,” Richard said. “If I didn’t do something different, I would have a very short career in education. I worked very hard thereafter to make my lessons interesting and challenging for the students, and I got better and better as a teacher.”

After eight years of teaching and earning a Master’s plus 30 in curriculum and administration from Nicholls, he was promoted to assistant principal at Ellender. It was there that he learned to have high expectations for everybody – students, teachers, administrators – and usually they tended to live up to them.

From 1984-92, Richard had two as principal. First at Upper Little Caillou Elementary, then at Houma Junior High.

His next post as supervisor of student services (precursor to child welfare and attendance) solidified his philosophy of a community-oriented, team approach to education.

As an advocate for suspended and expelled students, he worked often with the court system and got to know many of the people working in various parish agencies.

“It taught me that the school system is not an island by itself. It needs all these community people to help us,” Richard said. “Sometimes their thinking helps because they’re not thinking of it from an educator’s point of view. A lot of ideas they come up with help us help our students.”

After three years, he became supervisor of personnel from 1995 to 2004. Richard said being in that post gave him a great advantage when he eventually succeeded Elizabeth Scurto as school superintendent in July 2004.

“I hired most of the new teachers and transferred people to different schools,” he said. “I got to know many of our employees, including the non-instructional personnel – the custodians, the cooks, the janitors and the bus drivers. So when I got into this job, I knew everybody.”

Richard said his relationship with the school board was admirable the first three years, but for reasons unknown to him, it crumbled.

During the protracted battle over his contract renewal, local residents took up petitions to recall board members that did not support Richard.

That move may have helped the superintendent secure a two-year deal, but it may have also been the final straw with some board members, Richard admits.

“That was a groundswell that came from the public. I had no control over it, and I think some of the board members felt I was behind that, and I truly wasn’t behind that,” Richard said. “It made me feel very good. It made me feel like my agenda was correct.”

After today, the 60-year-old father of four will have no agendas except to find a good fishing spot.

He and his wife of 25 years, Elaine, a retired guidance counselor in the school system, have not thought about what the future holds.

One thing he certainly will not be doing is throwing his hat in the political arena.

“I’ve been approached by local people to run for quite a few different things, all the way from U.S. senator to a board member,” Richard said. “I didn’t do so well on the political scene, obviously, with the board members. I’m not too sure I’m cut out to be a politician.”

Whatever he does, he will bring the same humanistic approach that he brought throughout his 37 years in the Terrebonne Parish School System.

“I prefer leading by example. I don’t believe I had to go around telling people, ‘I’m the boss,'” he declared. “When I say something, people listen. If I show I’m willing to roll up my sleeves and work hard, I think most people follow that example and do the same thing.”