Terrebonne Parish New Superintendent of Schools Interviewed at Special Meeting

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The Terrebonne Parish School Board held interviews for the next Superintendent last night. The five applicants had the chance to speak about their passion for education. The candidates were given five minutes to present a speech, a minimum of 20 minutes for interview questions presented by the board, followed by a chance to give a final statement.

Cory Butler is Terrebonne School District’s supervisor of child welfare and attendance who has spent years in education including being a principal at Ellender High School, East St. John High School and has children in the Terrebonne school district

Butler was asked what transparency means to him. “Being honest all the time,” he said,” it’s not a part-time gig. I’ve been in the Terrebonne Parish school community all of my life and I’ve worked both in and out of the school system. In fact, in the agency that I work for, the Boys and Girls Clubs of America, the Houma-Terrebonne branch, I actually partnered with this very same school district. In fact, I partnered with one of your board members, one of my board members, Mr. Clyde Hamner when he was the principal at Legion Park. I have spent a lifetime formulating relationships with people. People know that I am a person that prides themselves on his integrity, and I was taught that by my mother and father. Still, water runs deep with me, a person’s word means something, it’s supposed to,” he said.

He said you have to have tough conversations with people, “Even when your philosophies do not align, you still have to sit down to be able to reach a consensus, and publicly there has to be a united front that we collectively have to present to the people because people are entrusting us with their children, that’s important, and I don’t take that for granted.”

Bubba Orgeron is the Terrebonne School District’s Assistant Superintendent. He is a former teacher, principal, and supervisor in Lafourche Parish. He said in his introduction that he is grateful to Superintendent Martin to be able to serve as Assistant Superintendent for the district. He said he has worked hard alongside Superintendent Martin for the last six and a half years and has worked hard at making relationships at every level.

“My team has also worked hard to improve academic outcomes for all of the kids in all of our schools. As a matter of fact, we helped improve academic outcomes every year but one, and that was COVID. Despite all the hardships of COVID, we put together a model instructional plan…Online visits, hard copy packets, we had grab-and-go meals, we even had teachers step up to get videos so that we can place those lessons on HTV.”

He said when the 2020-2021 school year rolled around, they couldn’t thank their teachers enough for the jobs they did, “With all of the challenges of COVID, they rose to the occasion and we were able to be successful because of that.” He announced the district moved from the 19th ranked district to the 14th ranked district in Louisiana out of 70 districts. The graduation rate improved at 94 percent which is one of the highest in Louisiana and he said the district was the sixth-highest top growth district in Louisiana which he said means the students either scored advanced or mastery or were on track to mastery which is on grade level. His last point was that the district is down to one ‘B’ school. In that particular school, he said they managed to have the second-highest growth in Terrebonne Parish with 5.5 points during the COVID pandemic year which is unheard of. Orgeron said this shows the strength of the leadership team and the strength of the teachers.

“Bottom line, we have a strong instructional system that’s very comprehensive and we have strong leaders that are supportive of their teachers who really get it done every day in their classroom…so for me, it wasn’t about accomplishments and accolades. For this job that I’m being interviewed for, I just wanted to do a good job because I’m thankful and grateful for the people. Now, with that said, I look forward to moving forward with Ida recovery, we have a lot of work to do. I look forward to moving forward with a facility master plan that can guide us for decades to come. I also look forward to work through some of the priorities in my vision that can really guide and shape us in years to come. Thank you for this time,” he stated.

Dr. C. Michael Robinson Jr. is the Chief Academic Officer of the East Baton Rouge Parish School District. He is a Thibodaux native with over two decades spent in education which began as a substitute teacher while attending Nicholls State University. He said his purpose in education is a calling and his mission in life, “It is what I enjoy doing and I don’t think I would want to do anything else, I tried, but you always find your way coming back to what your first love is and that is education,” he said.

School board member Dane Voisin asked the candidate a question dealing with teacher morale, “Teachers are continuously being asked to add to their plates. We need to encourage teachers to inspire students. Teachers have the power to impact students’ lives positively and negatively. Teachers can motivate students to achieve great things. If you are the next superintendent, how would you address this very important issue and how do we get back to just letting the teachers teach and inspire our young minds?”

Dr. Robinson responded, “The victory is in the classroom and that’s where we really have to back to that. As you would get to know me, I am one of the most innovative educators that I know. If I can dream it, I want to try it. But we’re going to have to get back to the purpose of why do people go into education to become teachers. What you hear is I can’t even teach anymore, it’s robotic, it’s this or that…some of this or that might be necessary, but it’s how we approach it. As a former superintendent and even in my current role as a Chief Academic Officer, I spent a lot of time with teachers. We have a teacher advisory committee which I had as a superintendent as well, but I work with teachers consistently…listening to them, providing an open door and an opportunity to listen. Having that advisory committee is one of the most valuable assets that you can have as a superintendent…that’s one of the most important and valuable instruments that you could use as leverage as a superintendent. You cannot do this work without teachers, these are people on the front line, and having been a teacher myself, I understand the hard work and dedication, but I also need you to understand that in all of those things that we’re asking them to do, what really is the purpose behind it, what’s the essence behind what you’re really asking them to do. How much time do you spend? As a former superintendent and even know, I spend a lot of time in schools and that’s where the victory is. If we’re really going to move a district, if we’re really going to educate students, I have to be in the schools. I talk to teachers all the time. Tell me the good, the bad, and the ugly. Tell me how I can do the job better. Give me the recommendations. That’s what we do with those advisory committee meetings. It doesn’t always feel good, because those mandates are coming from the top and coming down. But how do we support those teachers? Resources are great. Everybody needs a raise, that’s important, but I think if you take away the human aspect, you forget that these are human beings, these are people, they have lives, they have feelings. I think we have to get back to that and building those positive relationships with the teachers. That’s one of the things I would definitely do is spend a great deal of time with teachers, and administrators alike, but I need to understand [how] the decisions I’m making are impacting that classroom. What does that look like in the classroom? That’s why I need to be there. To be able to see that.”

Mark Torbert is the Terrebonne Parish School District’s Secondary/Vocational/Adult/Driver Education Supervisor. He served in the Army National Guard and has over 27 years of experience in serving Terrebonne Parish in different capacities including Principal at South Terrebonne.

School board member Clyde Hamner introduced the 13 points of education provided by the Houma-Terrebonne Chamber of Commerce. He said one of those points includes early childhood education and the implementation of universal Pre-K four-year-olds. When asked how would his plan for the Terrebonne Parish School District include the implementation and about his philosophy in regards to early childhood education, he responded with, “Thank you for asking that question because it goes right in line with what I just finished saying and that the earlier we can address deficits when as soon as it comes, and I don’t mean that to be critical of anyone, but obviously we all know that kids come with different levels of education when they come into the building even in kindergarten…the earlier we can address that issue, the better. If we’re using a universal Pre-K type program, then I think they can definitely begin to eliminate some of those issues, because the thing is if we don’t address it early enough, first, second, or third grade, then we’re putting them in a situation where we’re talking about an achievement gap, it will continue to get bigger and bigger the longer we wait to address those issues. So to answer the question, I am in favor of universal Pre-K if we can find a way that is feasible and we are able to sustain it year to year.”

Clyde Washington is the Assistant Superintendent of Administration for the Rapides Parish School Board but has bayou ties as he was a principal at several Terrebonne Parish schools and has experience in education administration. He has 25 years of experience in education and said he is honored and humbled to have the opportunity.

School board member Voisin asked Washington if he would be selected as superintendent, what he would see as being their biggest challenge in Terrebonne Parish and how he plans to address it. Washington responded with, “Right now, I think the biggest challenge is getting facilities back up and running. I came here Saturday and went around the schools and around the community; there’s a lot of destruction out there. One of the things I think is getting the schools back in order, and I guess the way to do that would be to identify your funding sources… We’ll just go through a couple of options, if you look at the special reserve, if you have let’s say six months of operational monies in the special reserves, you can possibly take monies from there until you can recover from FEMA or the insurance company. It’s ideal to have at least three months in the special reserves, but if you have six, that would make it easier to take three, and go that route. The other way, to make immediate repairs, would be to take out a certificate of indebtedness where you borrow money, and again, it’s like an obligation like an I.O.U. in a sense. There’s a certain rate you’d have to pay on that money, but again with that option, you have to possibly look at other funding sources that you’re going to have to pay for that monthly, so you’re going to have to allocate that money from somewhere to be able to pay the monthly bill until you can again recover the bull from FEMA or insurance company.”