SLSB Approves CLSD Guidelines
BOBBY ARDOIN
Editor/Consulting Writer
The St. Landry Parish School District is hoping to receive $600,000 in grant funding for at least another year in order to provide literacy mentors through the federal and state Comprehensive Learning program that assists with reading instructions at kindergarten through 12th grade campuses.
School board members unanimously approved the 2025-26, 10-month job descriptions for three literacy mentors – formerly called literacy coaches – on Thursday night, following a March Academic Committee recommendation.
During the meeting the Board also recognized nine early childhood art contest winners and three Creswell Middle School students who have read over one million words.
Curriculum Director Angela Cassimere indicated during the Committee meeting that the current District literacy mentor grant is set to expire June 30.
Afterward Cassimere added that the District plans to employ one literary coach in 2026-27.
Action taken by the board on Thursday night allows individuals to apply for the literary mentor positions, providing that funding from the state becomes available, said Cassimere..
Superintendent Milton Batiste and personnel director Kellie Rabalais said the mentors will be employed for 10 months if final state funding is approved.
Batiste said during an interview that according to action taken by the board, two of the literacy mentors hired by the District will be assigned to assist with reading and literacy for the birth to five-year program.
The Department of Education in December assigned $174 million that will be divided among several states who applied for the funding that will be used to advance literary, reading, and writing skills, especially for students who have learning disabilities and schools with high teacher turnover and high risk students.
Cassimere added that the literary coaches hired by the District are also scheduled to support new teachers with fewer than three years of classroom experience.
According to a published story on Yahoo.com, the Louisiana Department of Education was allocated $70 million to fund the CLSD grant allocations for the literary mentoring program.
Board member Kyle Boss said during the committee meeting that some teachers who contacted him about the literacy mentor positions, questioned why the initial learning mentor proposal was based on a nine-month salary rather than the 10-month scale previously used by the District..
Boss said the teachers he spoke with said they needed the extra or 10th month of employment to handle the entire scope for monitoring the literacy mentoring initiative.
After some discussion the Committee decided on paying literary mentors on a 10-month scale.
