Iberia Parish School Board members paused for a look back at the archives during Wednesday night’s meeting. This handwritten record of school board minutes is dated Feb. 19, 1883. 135 years ago.

A new grant that would support a Teacher Advancement Program in five Teche Area schools as well as the process in which board members will elect their next superintendent of schools was among the items discussed when the Iberia Parish School Board met Wednesday night.

Gleacia Durand, a school improvement and assessment specialist with Iberia Parish public schools, addressed board members to outline how a school redesign grant would be used if applied for and funded.

A Textbook Education Committee voted unanimously to apply for the grant, which would total approximately $1.5 million over the next three years. Struggling schools in the parish that received a “D” or “F” ranking over the past three years will benefit from the grant, which includes Johnston Hopkins Elementary School, Park Elementary and St. Charles Street Elementary. The board will look to Title I funding to allow a 40-percent contribution to a master teacher salary associated with the grant. That person will also work on extending the TAP model and its resources to Jeanerette High School and Jeanerette Elementary School.

The grant would pay for a master teacher, use of a Zern math program that includes integration technology that allows students to learn math with chromebooks, and also will pay for professional development of teachers through cluster groups and interrelated accountability. 

“The Teacher Advancement Program through NIET, allows schools to have incentive pay for teachers based on their performance and the performance of their students,” Durand said. 

The position includes a $59,000 salary and $16,000 in benefits annually. The assistant superintendent of instruction would serve as that person’s supervisor, and evaluations would be submitted from each of the five principals at schools the master teacher would serve.

Also on Wednesday night’s agenda was the voting procedure for the March 7 selection of Iberia Parish’s new superintendent.  Board member Thomas Jolivet suggested and Board President Dana Dugas agreed the board would go by the highest amount of votes given to the top two candidates and have a runoff vote between them. 

Board member Elvin Pradia said in the event there is one person with a higher number of votes that don’t equal a majority of eight votes and a tie between the amount of votes given to the next two persons in line, then the runoff would include three people. Pradia made a motion regarding the scenario that would lead to a three-person runoff. Board member Rachel Segura made a second to the motion and it was unanimously approved. Board Member Dan LeBlanc clarified that if one person receives a majority of eight votes among the 14-person board that person will become the next superintendent without a runoff vote.

A resolution was presented to the board by Personnel Director Jacklene Jones, who is on the executive committee and a chairperson for the Louisiana Association of School Personnel Administrators. The resolution called for the Iberia Parish School Board to unite behind the development of a Louisiana Task Force on Teacher Shortage to research strategies to overcome challenges and secure a stronger educator workforce. 

The document outlined critical shortage areas to address such as math, science and special education as well as a need for a more diverse group of teachers in the classroom. 

“We also realize now that all content areas are now becoming critical shortage areas because children are just not entering into the education program at our universities,” Jones said. “And it’s also important that students have teachers that look like them that are able to relate to them and their culture.” 

Jones is hopeful the resolution will persuade the Department of Education and Superintendent John White to allow the task force to assemble and address the aforementioned topics. Jones noted the teacher shortage is a statewide problem.