August 20, 2014

The new school year has begun and the Evangeline Parish School Board held their bi-monthly meeting tonight (Wednesday).  

The Board heard from Lance Enkey with First Student, the board ‘s  bus transportation company.  He reports the new school year is going well so far.  They are short a few drivers, but will be hiring more very soon.  He also reports that buses in the parish are currently transporting 4,850 students and traveling 5,500 miles a day.

Assistant Superintendent, Darwan Lazard, spoke to the Board regarding all of the maintenance projects that were completed over the summer.  Mr. Lazard said: “Mike Hazelton, Maintenance Foreman, is to be commended.  He and his crew worked very hard in completing the projects.”  He also thanked the Board for their support.  He said without the Board’s support, they would not have been able to get to all of the requests they had.  Mr. Lazard said they are going to be “pro-active” in the maintenance department and not wait for things to breakdown.  Nancy Hamlin and Peggy Foreman also commended Mr. Hazelton on a job well done.

School Board Business Manager Amy Lafleur, presented the Board with the proposed 2014-2015 Budget.  The Budget will be discussed during a public hearing on September 4th.  It will then go to the Board for approval.  She also was pleased to announce that the EPSB Sales Tax collections in July  went up by $24,382.50 compared to July of last year.

Superintendent, Toni Hamlin, advised the Board that Ted Soileau will be doing a presentation at the next meeting explaining the “Jump Start” program and what all is involved.  She advised that there will be two new diploma routes for those who are entering high school as a freshman this year. 1) The Core 4 and 2) Career Technical.  Mr. Soileau will explain the new “pathways” that will be implemented and how they will affect students.  The Board also stated that in our area, 82% of children who graduate are not entering college.  These pathways could be a useful resource for students who will not attend college.