Webster Parish Schools Superintendent Johnny Rowland announced Monday that he will retire December 20, bringing to a close more than 30 years of service to the district, while the Webster Parish School Board also took action to move two major Minden school construction projects toward completion.
Rowland made the announcement during his superintendent’s report at the September 14 regular meeting, becoming emotional as he reflected on his career with Webster Parish Schools.
“It’s been the honor of my life to serve this system for the past 30 plus years in many different roles, and I have met so many great people along the way,” Rowland said.
Rowland thanked the board for the opportunity to serve as superintendent and said that, despite mistakes he may have made during his career, his goal has always been to support Webster Parish students and educators.
“I have loved working for this board,” Rowland said. “This is a great district. It’s a great place to work. I’m very proud of it.”
“I’m just blessed, and I’m just thankful from the bottom of my heart for the opportunity you gave me,” he added.
Following the announcement, board members jokingly objected to adding an item accepting Rowland’s retirement before ultimately doing so. The board unanimously approved his retirement and authorized the district to advertise for, accept applications for, and hire a new superintendent.
In other significant action, the board approved what officials expect to be the final change order for the Minden High School multipurpose building, a project now nearing substantial completion.
“It is with great joy that I present what we’re calling the final change order for the Minden High School multipurpose project,” Perry Watson of Yeager, Watson and Associates said. “We’re right on the cusp of substantial completion of the project.”
Watson said remaining work, including matters involving the fire marshal, is expected to be completed within one to two weeks.
The $41,589.24 change order includes adding a logo to the center of the basketball court, an additional gas line at the laundry, another backflow preventer, electric hand dryers, batteries for emergency lights in a bathroom, and a covering for an air-conditioning unit in a stairwell.
“Grand total: change order of $41,589.24 will close this project out,” Watson said.
The board also approved a $46,446.49 change order for the Griffith Park project, where Watson said the grounds have already been razed and cleared.
An abandoned building near the right-field corner has constrained plans for that portion of the field. The City of Minden has donated the property to the school system, allowing the district to remove the structure and improve the field layout.
“When it’s torn down, we can square off right field, raise the grade, and make the field uniform throughout, left to right,” Watson said.
The board also added and approved an item to move the district’s pre-K program from J.A. Phillips Elementary School to J.L. Jones Elementary School beginning with the 2027-28 school year.
During discussion of the district’s 2026-27 budgets, J.A. Phillips counselor Olivia Sebald addressed the board about staffing needs and the difficulty of attracting and retaining workers for positions paid at contract rates.
“At Phillips, we are blessed with some of the best people,” Sebald said. “I just wanted to offer you some insight on what it’s like on the front lines where those numbers become people. At our school everyone is willing to do whatever, but we have reached a point where willingness does not equal capacity.”
Sebald said when contract positions remain vacant, the needs those jobs were intended to address do not disappear. Instead, other employees must take on additional responsibilities, or some needs may go unmet.
“The needs that that position was created for are still there,” Sebald said. “When we don’t have the resources we need to meet the needs of these very small people with very, very big needs, it impacts the learning in the classroom.”
The board unanimously approved the district’s 2026-27 budgets.
Earlier in the meeting, the board welcomed the year-long student and resident teachers serving in Webster Parish schools. Personnel Director Dr. Becky Wilson thanked both the aspiring educators and the experienced teachers mentoring them.
“We’re just very, very proud of all of our student teachers and, of course, all our mentor teachers for what they’re doing,” Wilson said.
The residents are Elizabeth Tuttle McKinney and Catheryn Covington of Louisiana Tech University, both assigned to J.A. Phillips Elementary; Sophie Rico of the University of Louisiana Monroe, assigned to Central Elementary; Kaylen White and Jalen Kennedy of Grambling State University, assigned to Lakeside Jr./Sr. High; Dale Marshall Jr. of Grambling, assigned to Minden High; Caitlin Ortiz of LSU, assigned to Lakeside Jr./Sr. High; and Jalyn Wade of Grambling, assigned to North Webster High.
Only McKinney, Covington, and Rico were available for photos.
The board also recognized Freddie Nolan Jr., custodian at J.A. Phillips Elementary, as the September Employee of the Month. Additional coverage of Nolan’s recognition will appear in a future edition of the Minden Press-Herald.
Other actions included approval of the 2026-27 Pupil Progression Plan, a revised travel policy, and trips for Expanding Horizons students to New York City in March and the Lakeside Travel Club to the Fort Worth Stockyards in October.
The board approved campus maintenance expenditures in globo, with the exception of Item 76, which was pulled from consideration.
During the personnel report, Wilson said the district continues to seek an eighth-grade math teacher and a band director. She also noted that the hiring process is taking longer under new background check procedures.
The board was also informed that Doyline High School shop students will visit Honeywell UOP in Shreveport on October 14, while the Minden High Nature Club will attend a National Astronomy Day Star Party at the Shreveport observatory on September 19.
All board members were present except District 6 representative Jana Watson. All items brought to a vote were approved unanimously.
The next regular Webster Parish School Board meeting is scheduled for Monday, October 12. The public is welcome to attend.