School board OKs Terrebonne school chief’s contract, finally

The ink has dried on the Terrebonne Parish School chief’s two-year contract, as the board signed the official document at its board meeting last Tuesday.

After months of fighting the renewal, School Board President Clark Bonvillain was the first to sign Ed Richard’s two-year deal.

Initially worried that Bonvillain would again delay the contract signing, board members L.P. Bordelon and Don Duplantis called for Vice President Hayes Badeaux to endorse the document. Bordelon presented the motion and Duplantis seconded it.

“Forty-two days later we should be in a position to sign this,” Bordelon said stressing the delayed time between the April 3 and May 15 meeting. “Prolonging this matter is only ammunition to the media to rake this board over the coals.”

However, the motion to have Badeaux endorse the contract failed 4-5, with board members Gregory Harding, Bonvillain, Rickie Pitre, Roosevelt Thomas and Badeaux voting no.

Before inking the document, Bonvillain reiterated his reluctance to endorse the superintendent’s contract. “I wanted to look over the previous and present contracts to make sure that they were the same. It wasn’t my intention to prolong the matter,” he said.

Under the agreement, Richard received a $5,000 raise and a $1,000 increase in his vehicle allowance.

Each member of the board, acting as witnesses, added his own “John Hancock” to the two-year-deal upon the board president’s request.

“Without a doubt, I am happy that this matter has been laid to rest,” Richard said.

The controversy surrounding the Terrebonne public schools chief’s contract started after a split vote in January threatened to allow Richard’s current contract to expire on June 30 without a new offer.

In February, the board approved a one-year contract. Board attorneys Clayton Lovell and Berwick Duval, and parish District Attorney Joe Waitz Jr. informed the board members a one-year contract violated the board’s policy, however, and advised a two-year deal be made.

In April, the one-year offer was extended to two years. The board voted 7-2 to offer a new two-year contract, which included the pay hike and vehicle allowance. Bonvillain and Pitre voted against the deal.

After the board approved the two-year contract, Bonvillain sought an outside opinion on the legality of a one-year contract from Baton Rouge Law Firm Hammond and Sills. According to Bonvillain, the Baton Rouge attorneys said the one-year contract was legal.

A copy of the opinion was forwarded to the school board’s attorneys and Bonvillain.

In response, Duplantis said he never expected Bonvillain to go against the recommendation of the appointed school board attorneys, who supported Richard’s two-year contract renewal from the outset.

Staff photo by SOPHIA RUFFIN • Tri-Parish Times * Terrebonne School Board Vice President Hayes Badeaux, President Clark Bonvillain and District 3 representative Richard Jackson look over Superintendent Ed Richard’s two-year contract.