OHS Bio-Med Concerns
BOBBY ARDOIN
St. Landry Now.com Editor
St. Landry Parish school officials were tasked Tuesday night with explaining the status of the bio-medical program at Opelousas High, whose former academic impact has diminished, according to one board member and an NAACP representative.
Board member Hazel Sias told Superintendent Milton Batiste III, that the Opelousas High bio-med curriculum, established over 20 years ago due to a federal court order, was once an avenue for attracting select students parishwide, who were interested in medical field careers.
Sias said bio-med courses taught at OHS previously represented a program that taught students outside the Opelousas attendance zone, but now some previously-taught bio-med courses have been transferred to other campuses.
“Now it seems OHS has nothing at all and the biomed at the school has been stripped for what reason?” asked Sias.
Sias reminded board members that the bio-med program was mandated by the federal government under the direction of the former U.S. District Court Judge Tucker Melancon, in order to help exempt the District from numerous desegregation violations.
Former certified teachers who oversaw the Bio-Med students, have now left the District and created similar programs in other Districts, Sias added.
Shauna Sias, who read a statement prepared by parish NAACP chapter president Rod Sias, said that OHS is being “ignored” when it comes to providing other specialized courses such as agriculture, earth and planetary sciences, alternative energy, creative design, art, music, architecture, engineering, drafting and professional trade skills.
Students from the Helix AI and Bio-Medical Academy, which begins next month in Opelousas, should serve as a transitional campus for students wanting to continue their medical field pursuits, said Shauna Sias.
Batiste said scheduling at schools is based on needs. Batiste added that it wasn’t feasible for a teacher that instructs seven or eight students.
When he became superintendent two years ago, Batiste said that OHS was a school in turmoil.
Although the situation at the school has improved, Batiste admitted that “We are not where we need to be.”
OHS principal Greg Campbell said that students attempting to enter the bio-med program are required to meet certain academic criteria in order to qualify for a dual enrollment curriculum.
Campbell said he faced a difficult assignment when he assumed the principal position at OHS.
“Prior to this administration there were no teachers at OHS. It was a situation where we had to change the culture and climate in order to get where we need to be. We didn’t have counselors and now we have two,” Campbell pointed out.
Dawana Scott, the District child welfare and attendance supervisor who is in charge of the Opelousas schools, said Campbell has done an exemplary job of rehabilitating OHS.
Scott reminded that Opelousas Junior High, a primary feeder school for OHS, has recorded state performance scores of “F.”
Batiste said however that all but one of the Opelousas schools have shown some evidence of growth during the past year.
Hazel Sias told Scott that she is passionate about OHS even though the other four Ward One board members don’t seem to have that level of concern about the school.
“My concern is that the OHS students are missing out,” Sias said.
