Spellers, get ready. Living. B1.
The Livingston Parish News volume 116, Number 27
Sunday, October 7, 2012
75 Cents
Watson, 3 others apply P
School Board to interview Superintendent candidates By Natalie Truax
The Livingston Parish News
LIVINGSTON — Assistant Superintendent John Watson is the lone local candidate of four who have applied for the Livingston Parish Public Schools Superintendent of Schools. The school system has never hired an outsider as its Superintendent. Watson, a 30-year veteran with the system, has served in varying
capacities including teacher, coach, assistant principal and principal at schools in Watson Denham Springs, Watson and Walker and as the human resources superviSUPERINTENDENT Page A3
Teachers stressed by new measures By Natalie Truax The Livingston Parish News
Submitted
Last year’s Homecoming Queen Whitney Fourrier crowns Meghan Burns as this year’s queen at Juban Parc Junior High School. As Meghan waves, her escort Reggie Henderson enjoys the moment along with Principal Jeff Frizell.
Queen of Juban Parc
“It’s nice to be important, but it’s more important to be nice.” By Mike Dowty The Livingston Parish News
DENHAM SPRINGS — Juban Parc 8th grader Meghan Burns not only exemplifies that saying, she proved this past week that being nice and being important can go together. It was her sweet nature that motivated football players Dillon Boyle and Matthew Guzzardo to start a campaign to get their classmate with Down’s Syndrome elected Homecoming Queen. Dillon, a cornerback, wide receiver and running back for the Jaguars who likes to
“run over people,” said he got the idea of promoting Meghan last year while watching television. That program featured another school electing a girl with Down Syndrome as Homecoming Queen. He enlisted Matthew and other classmates to do the same for Meghan. The job turned out to be easy. “I just think it’s amazing that the kids would rally around her like that,” said her mother, Daphne Burns. On the other hand, Burns was not entirely surprised. “You can have the worst day in your life and go see her and it all changes,” her mom said. “She’s just so happy. That’s
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Thursday and Friday night Livingston Parish high school football scores
just her thing. She doesn’t have bad days and she never meets a stranger.” The student body apparently sees those qualities in her as well, as they gave her 90 percent of the votes. Meghan found it to be quite a thrill to make the homecoming court and stand on the field at Yellow Jacket Stadium Wednesday for the homecoming game. However, she had no expectation then that her name would be called to wear the crown of queen. When it happened, she beamed, but she took the honor and QUEEN Page A3
facing during a two-hour presentation to the School Board Thursday.
LIVINGSTON — Stress and frustrations are rampant across Livingston Parish Public Schools as teachers and administrators try to decipher the requirements of the new teacher evaluation system with little guidance from the state DeNatalie Truax | The News partment of This formula from the state for calculatEducation. ing teacher performance was posted Director of Thursday night during a meeting of the Curriculum Livingston Parish School Board. It has Dawn Rush educators scratching their heads. and members of her cur“The stress level in riculum teams explained the schools these days is the new requirements, demonstrated the Human remarkable,” Rush said. “Every principal says the Capital Information System (HCIS) and described the frustrations teachers TEACHERS and administrators are Page A6
Inside Business
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Opinion
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Call & Comment
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Living
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Coming Up
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Family
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Classifieds
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Obituaries
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Sports
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Sunday, October 7, 2012
the livingston parish neWS
Queen inspires school with her friendliness From A1 the raucous cheering from the stands in stride, as she does with everything. Meghan said when she attended homecomings in the past she imagined what it would be like to wear that crown. She never dreamed such an honor was possible for her. Even when she joined the court this year, she had no expectation that her name would be called. When it was, she rewarded spectators with a smile even bigger than usual. “I wasn’t nervous,” she insisted. “I was excited.” “She’s always nice to everybody, hugging everybody, saying hi,” said Matthew, explaining the main reason he became one of her many friends in school two years ago. “She’s just a good person,” Dillon added. Appropriately, she belongs to a school organization called the “Buddy Club.” She is also accomplished in her own realm as an athlete. Last summer she won two golds and a silver medal in the state Special Olympics in Hammond. She participates in everything from 50-yard dash to long jump and softball throw. She is also an avid LSU softball fan and attends all the Lady Tigers games she can. Her mother notes that her second of two daughters is also up
Watson once stepped aside for Superintendent From A1
Mike Dowty | The News
Juban Parc Junior High School Homecoming Queen Meghan Burns enjoys the company of her friends, football players Dillon Boyle (left) and Matthew Guzzardo, who orchestrated her landslide election at school. for a “Yes I Can” award from the Livingston Parish School Board this year. Daphne found out when Meghan was 6 weeks old that she had Down’s Syndrome. At first that was devastating news, but over the years the mom learned how to cope with the extra responsibility and has come to appreciate the gift that
Meghan’s personality has been. “I wouldn’t change it,” mom now says confidently. A poster in Meghan’s class says: “Expect to be accepted for who you are.” In her school, that’s more than a poster. It’s an attitude that Meghan teaches and her school has learned.
FEMA Maurepas center stays open MAUREPAS — FEMA announced Thursday it will keep its Disaster Recovery Center in Maurepas open through Oct. 17. The recovery center had initially been scheduled to close last week before FEMA said it would keep the facility operating indefinitely every day except Sundays. The center is located at the American Legion Hall at 24195 LA. Hwy.
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22 from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday to Saturday. After the center closes, Hurricane Isaac survivors in Livingston Parish can still contact FEMA online at www.disasterassistance.gov or via web-enabled phone at m.fema.gov. Applicants may also call 1-800-621-3362 or (TTY) 1-800-462-7585. Those who use 711 Relay or Video Relay Services
may call 1-800-621-3362. The toll-free telephone numbers will operate from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. seven days a week. For more information on Louisiana disaster recovery, visit online at www.fema.gov/disaster/4080 or www.gohsep. la.gov. You can follow us on Twitter at twitter. com/femaregion6 or on Facebook at www.facebook.com/FEMA. Also
visit our blog at www. fema.gov/blog. More than 193,000 residents have registered with FEMA in the 24 parishes designated for FEMA Individual Assistance grants. In Livingston Parish, more than $6.4 million has been approved for eligible residents among the 4,939 Livingston Parish residents who have registered.
sor at the Central Office. When the position was last open in 2008, Watson applied but graciously stepped aside for the sake of School Board unity as one of three candidates to avoid a stalemate over the superintendent of schools appointment. Bill Spear, who was appointed unanimously at the time, will retire in early 2013. Other candidates include Dr. Charles Michel of Metairie, Afreda Hygh of Shreveport, and Dr. Donna Alleman of Pierre Part. Michel, who currently serves as supervisor of special education in Lafourche Parish schools, has 28 years in education experience ranging from teacher, assistant principal and principal at schools in Louisiana and Texas. Michel has also served as the assistant deputy superintendent of accountability for the Recovery School District in New Orleans. Hygh, with nearly 20 years of experience, has served as teacher, assistant principal and principal at schools in Baton Rouge, New Orleans, Texas and Caddo Parish. She currently is a teacher at Fair Park High School in Caddo Parish. Alleman, director of outreach for the Louisiana Schools for the Deaf and Visually Impaired, has 27 years of experience as a teacher, transition consultant, assistant principal and preschool coordinator in Assumption Parish and St. Mary Parish schools. Alleman has also served as a teacher at the Louisiana School for the Deaf in Baton Rouge as well as its interim director. The board scheduled interviews for Oct. 9 and Oct. 10, beginning at 6 p.m. The board will interview Michel and Hygh on Oct. 9 and Alleman and Watson on Oct. 10. The board will appoint the new superintendent at its Nov. 8 meeting. In other action, the board: •Accepted the low bid from John Blount Construction for upgrades to the Springfield High School baseball and softball complex. •Granted tax-exempt status for the project for additional parking at Denham Springs Freshman High. •Adopted and deleted a number of Livingston Parish Public School policies due to legislative changes. •Granted authority to advertise for sale of waste water treatment plants at Gray’s Creek Elementary and Lewis Vincent Elementary.