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The Terrebonne Parish School Board has given Superintendent Philip Martin a top job evaluation grade of “satisfactory” for the past year, even as the superintendent warned of hard financial choices to be made during the next 12 months.
Gathering in a special board meeting last Tuesday, public school decision makers, less member Gregory Harding who was absent, heard Martin present a 15-minute report, summarizing what had been accomplished in terms of student achievement and what challenges are on the horizon due to state budget cuts.
“Our student performance score this year was 97.6 [while] the state average is 93.5,” Martin said. “We started out at 84 three years ago.”
The superintendent credited the work of teachers and students for making the improvements happen, while board members pointed toward his leadership as a defining factor. Martin added that as encouraging as improved student performance may be, it is not enough to satisfy his intentions regarding academic accomplishment.
Martin said the greatest challenge to increasing academic performance is facing a constant reduction of resources. He avoided making any direct declarations or requests, but hinted that cutting staff or asking the public to vote on new taxes to support public schools may become a necessity.
“All we have been able to do is cut expenses,” Martin said. “We need to address what I think will be a critical issue for this district. We are going to be making some very difficult decisions.”
Martin noted that of the school districts that perform higher academically than Terrebonne – mentioning St. Tammany and St. Charles – do so with greater financial resources and fewer students. “St. Charles [Parish School District which posted a performance score of 106.7 this year] has 56 mills which generates for them $56 million annually, and they have 9,000 students. We have a 3 percent sales tax and 9 mills [for more than 15,000 students]. … I’m just saying that to illustrate how these high achieving districts have more revenue.”
Martin said that his mission is first and foremost related to student achievement. He added that he also has to face reality. “To get our children where they deserve we need to look at getting more resources,” he said. “I don’t know a single parent that does not want a wonderful school system for their children. I think the most pressing thing is looking into the financial issues. I think we have to look to ourselves.”
Martin said that the coming year will include thorough teacher evaluations and changes. “I will be presenting to the board a comprehensive systematic plan of what we will need to do,” he said. “It’s not about the school board. It is not about the superintendent. It is about what kind of school system we want.”
Following Martin’s presentation the board entered into a 48-minute executive session. Not revealing details of that forum, board President L.P. Bordelon said that Martin’s review grade is the highest possible, with only the levels of “needs improvement” and “unsatisfactory” as alternative grades.
“I expected the satisfactory rating,” Bordelon said. “[Martin] hasn’t discussed any details with the board yet regarding financial alternatives. He is going to come back through the committee system with plans. It is easy to be superintendent when you have the funding. Not when you don’t. He is an outstanding superintendent.”
“We are moving in the right direction with student achievement, although we are not where we want to be,” Martin said. “The area we’re not moving forward in is finances, and that continues to be more of an issue. There are two ways you can balance a budget. You can cut expenses or you can raise revenues. We’ve cut expenses to the point where we have to start having discussions about other options.”
Martin has been superintendent for 3.5 years and has 2.5 years remaining on his current contract.
Terrebonne Parish School Board member Debi Benoit listens as Superintendent Philip Martin makes his case regarding success ad challenges of the area’s public education system. Afterward the board entered executive session during which it offered Martin the highest job performance rating possible in Louisiana.
