Terrebonne Parish superintendent's school consolidation plan faces board vote
Three elementary schools fates will be decided Tuesday by the Terrebonne Parish School Board. Here's the superintendent's plan.
Terrebonne Parish Superintendent "Bubba" Orgeron will propose his plans for Honduras, Bayou Black, and Gibson Elementary at 6 p.m. Dec. 5 to the Terrebonne Parish School Board. If it passes, the schools will be shuttered and their students and staff will merge with other schools.
Gibson students would pool with Schriever Elementary School, Honduras Elementary School with Village East and Acadian, and Bayou Black would see some students go to Mulberry and some to Schriever Elementary School.
Orgeron said it's a tough decision, but it's what's best for students. Terrebonne Parish School District lost 2,160 students district-wide in the past five years, a 12.5% decline. According to local data, those who are moving are moving toward the city, or out of the parish entirely.
"I just want what's best for the students," Orgeron said after a tense public hearing with Honduras Elementary School. "I'm looking at the community of Terrebonne."
Consolidation
According to numbers provided by Orgeron, there are 180 uncertified teachers in Terrebonne Parish schools. If the elementary schools close, within the first year he intends to have that number down to 70. By closing the elementary schools he can move their teachers and staff with other teachers and more efficiently spread students across teachers, he explained.
The sweet spot is 20 to 24 students in a classroom, he said. In smaller schools, when enrollment pushes up against that number, a second teacher is brought in, and the classroom is split in two. At a larger school with more teachers, the extra teacher positions can be done away with, and the certified teachers can fill the positions of uncertified teachers, shedding the uncertified positions.
Teachers
The lynchpin of Orgeron's plan is teachers. He said he believes teachers are the most important part of a student's education. Because of this, the improvement in student's education relies entirely on teachers' performance.
Teachers at small schools are isolated, "on an island," he said, and are not able to collaborate with other educators. Orgeron places emphasis on the importance of collaboration, and said it allowed teachers to improve one another by sharing ideas.
No certified teacher will lose their job in this educational overhaul, he said. Director of Human Resources Deborah Yarbrough said for those uncertified teachers looking to become certified, there is financial aid.
They can go through the certification process here: the main website https://www.tpsd.org/. Using the search bar type in "Tuition Praxis Reimbursement." The option titled Employee Resources | Employees will take you to a list of teacher resources. Under teacher forms you should find the link.
"This is not a popular answer, but I am working to get 100% certified teachers," Orgeron said.
While not losing their jobs, intervention content leaders, master teachers, lead teachers and computer lab teachers will be removed from their positions and put back in front of students to teach.
According to Orgeron, these positions are often filled by certified teachers with years of experience. When facing a shortage of qualified teachers, he said, why not have the best teachers in front of the students? Master teachers and content leaders are coaches for other teacher.
Computer labs are in a different situation, he explained, they are archaic courses. Students are taught courses like math and English through a program in computer lab. Orgeron said this is unnecessary because the laptops are integrated into these courses. The computer lab still exists, he said, to give teachers prep time. Removing it creates an opportunity to teach something else in that time slot. Asked what that something else was, he said he wasn't sure yet.
Also to be changed are librarians. Teachers are to be removed from these positions and placed back in the classroom to teach students. Taking their place will be paraprofessionals.
More: Terrebonne superintendent visits Honduras Elementary to explain plans to close schools
More: Terrebonne superintendent to present consolidation plan at Bayou Black, Honduras schools
Cost Savings
Orgeron intends to save enough money through this overhaul to offer all certified teachers a 10% raise. This would place Terrebonne Parish as fifth in the state in terms of teacher pay. The exact details of the raise are still being worked out, Orgeron said, because the School Board ultimately has final say over it.
The overhaul will lead to a significant cost savings, according to Orgeron. The average yearly cost savings to operate one of the three schools closing is $700,000. A single uncertified teacher's salary is about $65,000 a year, including benefits. The entire plan, according to Orgeron, will create a yearly recurring savings of $9 million to $10 million.
Other Schools Affected
The Vo-Tech school, Louis Miller Terrebonne Career and Technical High, will be relocated to the former L. E. Fletcher Building on St. Charles Street. It is slated to become Terrebonne's version of a magnet school, with its options expanding to offer opportunities for college diplomas as well. Repairs will occur during the 2023-2025 school years, with a soft opening planned for the 2025-2026 school year.
The School for Exceptional Children will relocate temporarily to the Honduras Elementary school in 2024-2025 school year and eventually to Elysian Fields when it is vacated by Grand Caillou Elementary.
T.A.P.P.S. will relocate to the former East Houma facility when vacated by Upper Little Caillou Elementary. It is planned to take place at the start of the 2026-2027 school year.
This article originally appeared on The Courier: Terrebonne superintendent's school consolidation plan faces board vote
