During Tuesday’s regular board meeting, the Ouachita Parish School Board adopted two resolutions to declare results and issue obligation bonds related to the recent Eastside bond special election.

The School Board declared the results of the special bond election, which voters in Eastern Ouachita Parish passed at nearly 57 percent, and authorized the first series of bonds, totaling $25 million, to be released on July 22.  

A second series of bonds, also totaling $25 million, will be released at a later date. Funds will be used to fund facility projects and upgrades that were outlined in the capital improvement plan.

Capital Improvement Plan

·         New elementary school in District E

·         East Ouachita Middle – new multipurpose building

·         Jack Hayes Elementary – new entrance canopy

·         Lakeshore Elementary – office and front entrance renovation

·         Ouachita Junior – track and field renovations

·         Ouachita High – turf for baseball and softball fields

·         Swartz Lower – security upgrades and window replacements

·         Swartz Upper – security and building renovations and painting

·         Sterlington High – classroom and lab expansions, baseball and softball facility renovations, tennis court construction with lighting, female athletic fieldhouse

Strategic Plan

The School Board approved a five-year strategic plan for the district. The strategic plan was created by an 11-person steering committee of central office employees, who collected months of research from surveys interviews and classroom observations with students, teachers, administrators, staff, families and community partners. Based upon this research, the steering committee identified three priorities for the next five years in instruction and personnel.

Pay Schedule Revised for Summer Workers

The School Board approved a recommendation from the District Finance Committee to increase the pay allocation that nine-month employees receive for summer work in June and July. The total allocations increased from $10,000 to $15,000 for high schools and from $,4000 to $6,000 for middle schools.

No employee who qualifies for this allocation can receive more than $1,250 per month.

Architect Selected for Riser Schools Construction

The School Board selected Tim Brandon Architecture as the architect for the improvement and renovation projects at Riser Elementary and Riser Middle. The School Board granted the district permission to seek bids on construction at Riser Middle, which is budgeted for $1.65 million.

Changes made to 2024-2025 School Calendar and 2025 Summer Calendar

The School Board approved changes to the 2024-2025 school calendar and the 2025 summer calendar. Since each school in the district met the required instructional minutes for the school year, students will now dismiss for summer break on May 21. Teachers will now dismiss on May 22.

*Any unforeseen school closure could result in this day(s) being moved back.

The Board voted to recognize Thursday, July 3 as a holiday for 12-month employees, who shift to four-day work weeks in June and July.  

Special Recognitions

The School Board recognized the district’s students of the year and faculty state honorees:

Students of the Year

Elementary School Student of the Year: Aly May, Drew Elementary
Middle School Student of the Year: Josie Borden, Calhoun Middle
Faculty State Honorees

School Health Service Provider of the Year Finalist: Melissa Batson, Student Support Services
Middle School New Teacher of the Year: Leah Maldonado, East Ouachita Middle
High School Principal of the Year: Rusty Farrar, West Ouachita High

High School Student of the Year, Colton Brasher from West Monroe High, and Support Employee of the Year, Mary Lea Dunn from West Ouachita High were also recognized but unable to be present at Tuesday's Board Meeting. Both are also state finalists. 

ACT Achievement

The School Board recognized Katie Namkung of West Monroe High and Lee Cooper of Sterlington High for achieving perfect scores on the ACT.

Bid Item                                                                      Funding Source                 Budget Amount
Property Sale – 3420 Gordon Ave.                                                                              $17,700
Property Sale – Old Burks School                                                                                $67,600
WMHS Practice Field Renovations & Improvements              WOST                         $3,400,000
School Buses                                                                                    M&O                    $2,200,00
Property Sale – Old Sterlington Middle                                                                       $1,275,000
 

The School Board granted permission to bid on the following item:

Bid Item                                                                      Funding Source                 Budget Amount
Riser Middle Renovations & Improvements                             WOST                       $1,650,000
WOHS Land Improvements                                                          WOST                     $260,000
Property Sale – Gordon Avenue                                                                                   $15,045               

Highland Elementary School is proud to host the Knowledge Matters Campaign on April 16-17. The Knowledge Matters Campaign will bring its School Tour to the Ouachita Parish School System in Louisiana, which is implementing high-quality, knowledge-rich curricula in both social studies and English language arts literacy (ELA).

This School Tour destination marks the Knowledge Matter Campaign’s first-ever visit to a district using high-quality curricula in both ELA and social studies, reflecting the Campaign’s newly expanded #HistoryMatters work. It is the 50th visit of the Knowledge Matters School Tour, which seeks to “find the good and praise” the embrace of exemplary knowledge-building curricula and instruction.

School Tour visits offer teachers and school leaders the opportunity to share with other educators what their learning journey has entailed. This visit will capture the experience of educators using three knowledge-building curricula: 

• Louisiana Guidebooks, one of eight curricula recognized by the Knowledge Matters Campaign as exceptional for its content-richness (a key component in the Science of Reading), which was developed by and for Louisiana teachers;
• Bayou Bridges, a social studies program co-developed by the state of Louisiana and the Core Knowledge Foundation that was rolled out last year; and
• Core Knowledge Language Arts (CKLA), also recognized by the Knowledge Matters Campaign, and used in Ouachita Parish for grades K-2.

“We are honored to host the Knowledge Matters Campaign and showcase the knowledge-based teaching and learning happening across Ouachita Parish,” said Curtis Pate, Chief Academic Officer of the Ouachita Parish School System. “Our students and teachers are thriving—and we’re excited for them to share their story.”

The Campaign is especially pleased to spotlight Louisiana, which was the only state to surpass pre-pandemic achievement on the 2024 National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), with its highest scores in elementary and middle school to date.

Since 2018, the Knowledge Matters Campaign has visited districts across the country where educators have shifted their instruction to embrace high-quality, knowledge-building curricula based on the Science of Reading. The Campaign is proud to return to Louisiana and commemorate a “knowledge win” on its 50th School Tour visit, said Barbara Davison, Executive Director.

“It’s fitting that we’d bring our 50th school visit to a place that has embraced the knowledge-rich approach in as comprehensive a way as Ouachita Parish has,” Davidson said. “We’re eager to share the stories of educators who have successfully implemented these evidence-based practices in their classrooms.”

The visit is scheduled for April 16–17 at Highland Elementary School in the Ouachita Parish School System. Members of the media are invited to attend a Roundtable discussion on April 17. 

About the Knowledge Matters Campaign

The Knowledge Matters Campaign is a project of StandardsWork, a non-profit advocacy organization whose mission is to “find the good and praise it.” The campaign garners national awareness for the importance of building students’ background knowledge of the world through high-quality literacy and social studies instruction, including through its School Tour and Review Tool. For more, see knowledgematterscampaign.org.