New Lafayette teachers may be paid for in-service days before school starts
The Lafayette Parish School Board voted Wednesday to add two in-service days to the district calendar for next school year, and the board may be looking to pay new teachers for attending new teacher in-service days in the future.
By a 7-2 vote, the board approved the two additional in-service days for the 2023-2024 school year. The days include a new teacher in-service on July 31 and an optional in-service for all teachers on Aug. 9, the day before the beginning of school.
The district calendar already had one in-service for new teachers scheduled for Aug. 1. Lafayette Parish School System Superintendent Irma Trosclair said that the new teachers are not paid for attending the new teacher in-service days.
“That has always been the practice here,” Trosclair said.
Louisiana traditional public and charter schools lost 30,000 students since COVID
The issue of new teacher in-service pay was brought up by Julia Reed, the president of the Lafayette Parish Association of Educators. She said the organization supported adding the optional in-service day on the day before the school year began since most teachers were at the school anyway. Adding the in-service allows teachers to get paid for their work that day, she said.
But Reed also requested the board look at finding a way to pay new teachers for their in-service days. With the addition of the second new teacher in-service day, the district was asking these teachers to work without pay for two days, she said.
“We want to make sure that we’re getting off on a good foot with them in their journey with LPSS because we want them to stay,” Reed said. “Even though they may not be a member of mine yet, I still care about them as a fellow professionals, and the more likely they are to stay, that makes my job easier.”
Donald Aguillard, the District 9 school board member and former LPSS superintendent, requested that Assistant Superintendent for Business Services Matthew Dugas look at paying new teachers for these days when the district begins the budget process for the next school year.
Two board members, District 6 member Justin Centanni and District 7 member Kate Labue, voted against the additional days. Centanni said he felt the district was beginning to inch the start of school earlier in the year by adding an in-service in July.
Lafayette schools population hasn't recovered from COVID
Angelle re-elected as school board president, Centanni elected as vice president
Tommy Angelle was elected to another year as the Lafayette Parish School Board’s president unanimously Wednesday night. Justin Centanni was elected as the new vice president.
Angelle, who represents District 2, is in his third consecutive term on the board. The board’s policies say a member can't serve more than three consecutive four-year terms. Angelle was first elected in a narrow election in 2010 when he won by a margin of four votes.
He was reelected in 2014 with 66% of the vote and again in 2019 with 52%.
Centanni, the District 6 board member, was unanimously elected to succeed District 5 member Britt Latiolais as the board’s vice president. Latiolais nominated Centanni for the position.
Lafayette school board member Justin Centanni announces run for assessor
Centanni is in his second term as a board member and was the board’s president in 2019. Centanni announced in early January that he would be running for Lafayette Parish Tax Assessor, which will be elected in October.
Board adds Westside Elementary School to list of construction projects
The board voted unanimously to put an addition to Westside Elementary School on the list of construction projects in the district’s Self-Funded Construction Fund on Wednesday, as well as approved an expedited process for the Lafayette High School project.
The Westside Elementary addition joins several other major projects on the self-funded list, including Prairie Elementary School, Carencro Heights Elementary School, Lafayette High, Northside High School, J. W. Faulk Elementary School, S.J. Montgomery Elementary School, the Judice Middle School library and academic wing addition, the Acadiana High School academic wing addition, and the Southside High School home and visitor stadium.
The board also approved an early release package for the Lafayette High construction project, which would allow the contractors to lock in some costs amid inflation and continue with some non-disruptive construction activities.
The school board also briefly discussed a plan to add an additional pod to the Truman Early Childhood Care Center. Elroy Broussard, the District 3 member, said the district has secured funding for the addition.
“To have this final dot on the ‘i’ and the ‘t’ crossed, it’ll be a tremendous asset to my community and to education as a whole,” Broussard said. “We can’t wait…to see the completed project.”
Tehmi Chassion, the District 4 member, said the original plans for the construction would have allowed for 480 students at the center. With the additional pod, the center can accommodate 600 children.
“My princess will hopefully be one of those kids,” Chassion said. “My 4-year-old will be starting school, and we get to start at a new school, and it’s awesome.”
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This article originally appeared on Lafayette Daily Advertiser: Could new teachers at LPSS be paid for in-service days next year?
