Listen to the inauguration here.

David Rowe/ Times Archives

I've been trying to work on a video/audio presentation of Centenary Prez David Rowe's inauguration ceremony but with all the stuff coming up lately, haven't had time to finish it. I will put it up once I'm done.

However, I can put up the audio of the entire speech now. Download it below.

Centenary prez inauguration

Icess Fernandez's Podcast

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Interim GSU prez: Enrollment is top priority

Grambling State University Interim President Frank G. Pogue paid a visit to The Times' editorial board today.


I usually don't cover GSU but I did want to meet the person whose responsibility was so awesome, it's overwhelming.


GSU had undergone lots of transition in its presidential leadership.  When former president Horace Johnson resigned, Pogue stepped in while the University of Louisiana system searched for a president.


But that system's board of supervisors have tabled that search while the school undergoes accreditation. 


During his visit today, Pogue shared 11 goals he has for the university.  Among the top was growing enrollment. The school has hired a marketing firm from Chicago to help with the school's image. The goal is to raise enrollment from 4,600 students to between 7,000 to 8,000 students. 


Not only will the number of students returning to class (retention) have to increase, but the number of first time, full time freshmen will also.


Now THIS is where it gets interesting.


Pogue talked about recruiting qualified college students. That means, the student will have to have a 2.0 grade point average, or a 20 ACT composite score, or be in top 5 percent of their class. The student can only be in ONE developmental class (that means scoring more than 18 on the English ACT and more than 19 on the math ACT) 


Caddo's average ACT scores in English are 20.3 and in math 19.5. However there are some schools that have scores hovering around the 15 point score. 


Pogue isn't the only college president to comment on wanting better prepared college freshmen to admit. But with that pool of students already courted by local schools, LSU, Tech, and Texas schools, GSU will have to do something out of the box.


Like open an office in Shreveport.


"We want to have an office here," he said. "I don't see a campus here but an office to have applications for admission."


Pogue said the idea was still in the planning stages but he wanted the office, staffed by alumni, to open before the Tech vs GSU  game in September. 


The office would get a piece of the campus in Shreveport, with information for anyone who wants to apply or wants to know more.


Others schools have something similar and have had varying degrees of success. 


We'll keep y'all posted when we know more about the Grambling office in Shreveport. 

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Talking about the legislative session...

Rep. Jane Smith, Times Archives

As I was doing research for this blog post, I came across an interesting bill, which sounded like it was tailor made for a certain NWLA school district.

HB 1003, from Bossier representative Jane Smith, is called the "Red Tape Reduction Act" and if passed  would give a 2 year waiver to superintendents for low performing schools. The waiver waves everything, rules, regulation, the works, giving superintendents and school district carte blanche to get the schools to improve.Of course the super would have to identify in the waiver application which laws and/or polices they would wave, what will be used instead and how the school will improve.

A bit of background on Jane Smith: she is the former Bossier Parish school district superintendent. She's also a longtime teacher and principal from that district. 

Under this bill, BESE can also can require those schools covered by the waiver to  reward highly effective teachers, professional development for those who aren't, and to fire ineffective teachers. 

BESE could also require districts implement one of these four interventions:

1) Hire new leadership and new staff for the school.

2) Convert a school to a charter or use an education management system

3) Close the school and move to student to a higher performing school

4) Hire new leadership and implement "best practices".

Most of these changes have been implemented in the Caddo school district. In fact, it was one of the first major changed implemented by Superintendent Gerald Dawkins and caused quite a stir among teachers. 

However, that's not the part that was tailor made for Caddo. It's this one:

"A district that entered into a Memorandum of Understanding with the board in lieu of having certain schools taken into the Recovery School District may request a waiver for such schools. The effects and requirements of the MOU shall be suspended for the duration of the waiver. If at the termination of the waiver the school has not met its statewide accountability growth targets, the school shall be transferred to the jurisdiction of the Recovery School District."

Each low-performing school in Caddo has entered into an MOU with the state. The school with the longest MOU is Bethune Middle, a school that State Superintendent Paul Pastorek  has said publicly would be the next Caddo school to enter the RSD if it didn't approve. 

With this bill Caddo could ask for a waiver for Bethune and not have to adhere to the MOU. The district could also chose to close the school and move students to other campuses. Why do this? To avoid having another school enter the Recovery School District. 

School board members have said over and over in public meetings that they would do nearly anything to keep another school from going into the RSD. Linwood and Linear, now charter schools, were taken over last year by the state. 

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This week in the legislature

Springs means two things in Louisiana - warmer, prettier days and the beginning of the legislative session.

We apologize for being late in posting this--it's been a crazy spring already.

The Louisiana Department of Education's Office of Governmental Affairs has put together a list of bills that will be heard this week during Wednesday's House Committee on Education. We'll try to post these as we get them.

We're also try to find a similar list for higher ed.

HB 46 - Hutter - Requires public school governing authorities to provide 7th -12th grade students enrolled in Heath Education classes with age- and grade-appropriate classroom instruction relative to dating violence. Also provides guidelines for such instruction.

HB 303 - Henry - Allows students in state-approved home study programs to be eligible to participate in interscholastic athletics at high schools that are members of the Louisiana High School Athletic Association. The bill also outlines the guidelines and procedures for students seeking to participate, such as residency an d consent from school principals.

HB 388 - P. Smith - Current policy allows teachers to take a leave of absence of up to three years to teach at a charter school. During that three-year period, teachers would have the right to return to the district at any time. This bill removes the leave of absence provision from law.

HB 399 - Pearson - Exempts local school boards from granting sabbatical leave requests during a fiscal year when the Legislature does not approve an increase of at least 2.75 percent in the Minimum Foundation Program (MFP) formula.

HB 400 - Pearson - Exempts districts fr om being required to provide employees with extended sick leave during a fiscal year in which the Legislature does not approve an increase of at least 2.75 percent in the MFP formula. Present law requires districts to provide up to 90 days of extended sick leave in each six-year period (for personal illness or illness of an immediate family member), even if that employee has no remaining regular sick leave balance.

HB 403 - Pearson - Requires the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education (BESE) to broadcast all regular, special, and committee meetings over the internet and further requires all such broadcasts to be archived and made accessible for at least one year.

HB 425 - Hoffmann -Allows an applicant who has m et other requirements and has one year successful employment as an assistant principal in a Louisiana public school to be excluded from Praxis requirements. Currently, Louisiana waives Praxis requirements for an individual who has previously served as an out-of-state principal for at least four years and who has been successfully employed in Louisiana as a principal for at least one year. This legislation would extend this waiver to assistant principals who meet these qualifications, as well. This measure also authorizes the Louisiana Department of Education (LDOE), with BESE approval, to establish and collect fees for certification services.

HB 580 - P. Smith - Designates the Louisiana School for the Deaf, the Louisiana School for the Visually Impaired, and the Louisiana Special Education Center as "Board Special Schools" (under the jurisdicti on of BESE); authorizes such schools to share services and functions under certain conditions; and allows children with orthopedic impairments to enroll in such schools.

HB 732 - Norton - Prohibits corporal punishment in public elementary and secondary schools.

HB 1180 - P. Smith - Permits local public school boards to use state funds to purchase instructional technology and related hardware.

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School board candidacy announcement

Lyndon B. Johnson announced his candidacy for Caddo Parish School Board District 2 Monday in front of a small group of mostly friends and family.

He briefly mentioned some of his plans for the district, which include:

-Strengthening school test scores with variable learning tactics.

-Develop workable plans for accountability for administration, teachers, students and parents.

-Promote academic excellence in reading, sciences and mathematics.

Johnson now joins Wiley College senior Jasmine Green, who also is running for District 2 in the October elections. Eursla Hardy is the current school board member who represents that district.

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Learn to play by Roberts Rules

Times Archives, Caddo Parish School Board 

If Robert were at the Caddo Parish School Board meeting on Tuesday, I don't think he would've been happy.

The current edition of Roberts Rules of Order should control the conduct of all Caddo Parish School Board business during regular meetings and special sessions, but that wasn't the case for most of the night Tuesday.

I'll admit, I don't know all the rules. I do, however, know how elected officials should conduct themselves in meetings and that there should be a certain level of respect for fellow members.

Making motions out of turn and having to constantly be reminded to stick to the topic at hand should not be.

Board President Lillian Priest: "Mrs. Phelps, Mrs. Phelps."

Board member Tammy Phelps: "I'm finished with that statement," Phelps shot back.

Later on in the meeting...

Preist: "Mrs. Phelps, are you going to speak on the motion?"

Phelps: "Yeah, we're talkin about Volunteers of Youth Justice, right?"

At one point in the meeting Phelps even reminded Finance Director Jim Lee that it was her turn to speak, not his. Everyone in the room was as surprised as he was. 

To keep things fair, Phelps wasn't the only board member out of line. Priest had to tell board member Dottie Bell to "hold up," when she made a motion out of turn. Board member Willie Burton was even reminded to speak only on the current topic.

But the issue of board members not playing by the rules didn't start Tuesday, and it won't end there either.

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It's inauguration day

B. David Rowe

So today is the day that B. David Rowe will be ceremonially installed as president of Centenary College at the Gold Dome. 

Here are the details that I know so far. The event will start with a formal academic procession. This process will start with faculty, then administrators and then officials and delegates from other colleges and universities and other visiting dignitaries. 

Expect them to be dressed up in full regalia--caps, gowns, tassels, the works. 

Board of Trustees Chairman  Ed Crawford III will read the presidential proclamation. This is a piece of paper that publicly announces Rowe as president. As some colleges I've covered, it's the actual paper board members or trustees signed when the person was hired. 

Then, William G. Anderson, former Chairman of the Board of Trustees, will bestow on Rowe the Presidential medallion. Some other colleges use a staff. This is symbolic of the president's leadership.  After that Rowe will give his inaugural address.

The address is sure to be different from his convocation address, which was hopeful and inspiring. Rowe is a good auditor and with the college going through some financial strain, it will be interesting to see how he address this and still keep it an inspiring speech.

Talking about money, the ceremony is underwritten but several local businesses. Events surrounding the inauguration have been limited to one day. Usually, it's a weeks worth of them, one after the other.

I'll try to take some pictures and post them on my twitter feed later on today.

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