The Evangeline Parish School Board held a short meeting Wednesday night in the School Board Media Center.  CFO, Amy Lafleur reported the Sales Tax Comparison for September was $614,230.15 leaving a Year to Date shortfall of only $4,953.36. 

Standing in for Superintendent of Schools, Toni Hamlin, Assistant Superintendent, Darwan Lazard, announced there will be Ethics training available for the Board on November 2^nd and 16^th for the one hour required continuing education.  He also stated that the unofficial count of enrolled students is currently 6,050 which is 20 less than last year when the count was 6,071.  Also, test scores are still not in and he advised he was notified by the State that it would be mid or late November.  He said is may even be in December, which makes it more difficult for teachers to prepare the necessary tests.

The subject of student teachers was discussed and Lazard informed the board that a letter was sent to BESE raising their concerns about their recent 6-5 decision to change the requirements of student teachers.  Previously, a student teacher was required to serve a semester in the classroom, but BESE changed the rules and now require 1 year and compensation.  It was stated that these rules will push people out of getting into the student teacher program and will be very expensive for school boards to absorb.