A major decision was made during the August 7 meeting of the Webster Parish School Board. Those teachers who have been behind on salary step increases since salaries were unfrozen in 2017 will now be getting those raises starting on their October paychecks.
Finance Director Crevonne Odom wanted to go on the record as not recommending passing this item as it will cost the district an additional $250,000 (approximately) per year. “I cannot recommend this as the director of business and finance,” said Odom.
Almost all the board members were in favor of it however, with some showing visible emotion on the subject. “I say this bill has been owed to teachers for a long time, and it’s past due,” stated Board Member Jonathan Guthrie.
In the end, 10 members of the board voted to pass the measure with Margaret Edens absent and Linda Kinsey voting against.
After that, there were several pieces of good news announced.
Personnel Director Robin Tucker reported to the board that all open positions have been filled, so the school year will begin on August 10 with a full complement of teachers and support staff.
Test scores from last year have come in and look very positive. Of eleven schools (grades 3-11), seven showed an increase in mastery percentages, and of the six testing areas in high school, five showed improvement. There will be more details after administrators have had a chance to go over the results thoroughly. “We’re proud of the results we have seen,” said Superintendent Johnny Rowland. “We want to get to the point where we can say eleven out of eleven schools. That’s what we’re working toward.”
Webster Ready Start has plans to expand their early childhood education efforts and are hoping to gain more sponsors to help them achieve their goals. More details will be provided in a future Minden Press-Herald article.
The board also heard from Attorney Paul Kitchens regarding a title check on two properties. The City of Minden currently owns Griffith Stadium which the Minden High baseball team uses for games. The school district owns a piece of property on Clerk Street which they lease to the City of Minden. There is a proposition that these two entities exchange these two properties. Now that the initial legal inquiries have been completed, it will be the Minden City Council’s decision whether or not to proceed.
The Webster Parish School Board will next meet on September 11 at 6 PM. The public is welcome to attend.