NEWS

Coker announces new school's name

Bonnie Bolden
bbolden@thenewsstar.com

Superintendent Don Coker said the new school on Fairbanks Road will be called East Ouachita Middle School. He told the Ouachita Parish School Board that the naming committee's decision was "almost unanimous."

Board member Greg Manley, District G, asked if the colors and mascot had been picked yet. Coker said they will be chosen by the new principal, who could be in place by the beginning of the next school year if all goes according to schedule.

The board also signed a cooperative endeavor agreement, approved a 2016-17 school calendar and received an update on flood damages to the district's property.

Working to serve dropouts

Herbert Dixon, Outreach Coordinator for the Louisiana Workforce Commission, said the agreement between the school district and the Workforce Development Board of Ouachita Parish would help funnel teens dropping out of high school into job training programs.

Herbert Dixon, Outreach Coordinator for the Louisiana Workforce Commission, talks to the Ouachita Parish School Board about a new program to help dropouts on Tuesday.

In 2014-15, 63 students dropped out of Ouachita Parish Schools.

Dixon said he has an upcoming meeting with Louisiana Superintendent of Schools John White during which he plans to ask that school districts not get a negative mark for teens who successfully transition into the work training program rather than dropping out.

Coker said if White agrees to that, it would be "a huge plus for every district in the state."

The program, Dixon said, is federally funded and was created as part of the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act. It will start serving students in the 2016-17 school year.

The school district will appoint a liaison with the WDB. Once a student has been identified as at-risk for dropping out, representatives with the WDB will meet with him or her and advise them of services provided through a local Business & Career Solutions Center. At no point will students be encouraged to leave high school, but they will be advised of the WDB option.

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2016-17 calendar

Todd Guice, personnel director for the district, presented a calendar for the coming school year. He said seven days were built in for inclement weather and the calendar has the same number of instructional minutes as the 2015-16 school year.

Important dates are:

  • Aug. 8-10: No students. Employee inservice.
  • Aug. 11-12: Half day for grades 1-12
  • Nov. 8: Election Day/Veteran's Day observed
  • Nov. 21-25: Thanksgiving break
  • Dec. 22-Jan. 4: Winter Break
  • March 27-31: Spring Break
  • April 14-17: Easter, 4-day weekend
  • May 4: Seniors' last day
  • May 8-12: Graduation week
  • May 24: Students' last day
  • May 25: Teachers' last day

Weather damages

Purchasing Agent Bobby Jones told the board that the district has made the appropriate applications with the Federal Emergency Management Agency, but they aren't sure of what assistance they'll receive yet.

The three schools that took on water, West Monroe High School, Lenwil Elementary and Swayze Elementary did not have flood insurance, he said.

Coker said aid received from FEMA should cover 75 percent of a project, and the district would have to pay the remaining 25 percent.

Roofs on several schools leaked, and Construction Supervisor Ken Slusher said the auditorium and gym at Ouachita Parish High School are in dire need of repair.

The district has not yet fully assessed damaged from the hail storm that swept the parish Friday afternoon.

The next board meeting will be at noon April 19. Normally, it would be April 12, but the late Don Shows is being inducted into the Louisiana High School Sports Hall of Fame that night in Baton Rouge.

Follow Bonnie Bolden on Twitter @Bonnie_Bolden_ and on Facebook at http://on.fb.me/1RtsEEP.

Group collecting supplies for flood-damaged schools