Photographs by Freddie Herpin
BOBBY ARDOIN
Editor/Consulting Writer
A pair of St. Landry Parish School superintendent finalists cleared another hurdle needed to obtain the position Monday night as they previewed potential aspects of their administration before a live audience at the Delta Grand Theater.
St. John the Baptist human resource specialist Curt Green and Milton Batiste III, an Opelousas alderman and currently an East Baton Rouge School District school leadership supervisor, answered an array of prepared questions for nearly 90 minutes.
Both are expected back in Opelousas Wednesday night for final round of interviews conducted by school board members. The Board could decide to choose a superintendent at some point during the Wednesday meeting.
Several board members have expressed a need to have a school superintendent chosen before 2023 St. Landry high school graduations begin May 18.
The event sponsored Monday night by the Chamber of Commerce and Vision St. Landry was also live streamed from the theater for those who decided not to attend in person.
Green and Baptist each recalled details of their deep St. Landry heritages before providing answers often without specificity for the questions directed to them by program moderator Dianne Olivier.
Questions directed to each candidate at the forum pertained to issues involving School District finances, teacher recruitment and retention, student discipline and truancy and relationships between the superintendent and board members.
Passage of a proposed parish wide employee and maintenance property tax renewal scheduled for the October election is an issue both Green and Batiste said is necessary in order to maintain the daily operation of the District.
Green said it is important for employees to “buy into” approving the proposition and provide voter transparency. Batiste said the District could lose as much as $12 million annually if the 10-year proposition failed. Batiste said he plans to make parish elected officials aware of what is at stake if voters reject the proposition.
Batiste said he wants to attract and retain St. Landry employees by issuing bi-weekly checks rather than using the current method of paying employees monthly. Green said worker-unionized St. John the Baptist is now paying 95 percent of health insurance for employees and salaries that are competitive.
The applicants also tackled St. Landry School District issues.
Green said the District has failed to pass two consecutive new tax propositions since 2018 and a number of buildings and facilities are aging. Teacher shortages in St. Landry have been chronic, Green added.
Batiste took a more positive approach for his answer, emphasizing that the District really doesn’t have any obstacles that can’t be conquered by finding the right solutions.
Both Green and Batiste said they favor a cordial relationship with board members although state law provides superintendents unilateral authority in making personnel decisions.
Each candidate said they may apprise board members of preferences before appointing personnel.
Green and Batiste each claimed to have been instrumental in helping resurrect failing schools.
For instance Green said that in the three states where he has been a top-level administrator, he has been assigned the task of addressing failing schools and that he devised programs that have helped improve students’ classroom performances.
While in EBR, Batiste said that he also has been vital in redirecting elementary school performance. In St. Landry Batiste reminded the audience that he was also part of school redevelopment for South Street in Opelousas and Lawtell elementary.
