Lafayette Parish School System superintendent scores high on board evaluation
Lafayette Parish School System Superintendent Irma Trosclair scored high on her first evaluation from the school board with a composite of 3.67 out of 4.
Each of the nine members of the Lafayette Parish School Board scored her on a scale of 0-4 on the following categories:
educational program and planning
relationship with the board
personnel
business and financial management
community relationships
individual characteristics
job-related characteristics
specific performance objectives
Her score of 3.67 puts her between two ratings: 3 represents "Satisfactory: The superintendent meets expectations" and 4 is for "Outstanding: The superintendent excels in this category," according to the evaluation's rating scale.
Trosclair served as interim superintendent for 10 months, stepping in upon Don Aguillard's retirement from the position in May 2019. She was hired as superintendent March 11, 2020, two days before the governor closed schools due to COVID-19.
The board discussed her evaluation with her in executive session and then announced the results publicly during Wednesday night's regular board meeting. Board President Tommy Angelle called it "a very, very positive evaluation."
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Trosclair attributed her success to the hard work of those around her — board members, teachers, staff across the district and community leaders.
"Our community has wrapped its arms around our schools and our initiatives," she said. "It is not the work of one. It truly takes a village, and we have a great village."
She said a highlight of the past year has been how all of these stakeholders have stayed focused on students despite all the distractions of the last few years.
"We knew that at the end of it we would have students not as far behind if we stayed focused," Trosclair said. "And I look forward to continuing our work as we stay focused on kids and their learning."
Moving into next year, district and school staff will continue to identify kids who have fallen behind to make sure they're supported, she said, and they will focus on tackling truancy and implementing social-emotional learning within the school day.
"We can't afford to miss that (social-emotional piece)," she said.
Contact children's issues reporter Leigh Guidry at Lguidry@theadvertiser.com or on Twitter @LeighGGuidry.
This article originally appeared on Lafayette Daily Advertiser: Lafayette school superintendent receives high score on board evaluation
