The Washington Parish School Board recently met for its August monthly meeting.
The lengthy agenda began with a presentation from ADAPT's Rusty Fornea. Fornea briefly highlighted local and state statistics concerning alcohol use, drug use, and vaping and showed that Washington Parish has made tremendous strides in curtailing these habits. Fornea also praised the work of Regina Meyerchick who is the leader of the schools' Youth Coalitions and has been recognized nationally for her work. He ended by reminding the Board that "Prevention works best when it stays visible." ADAPT currently serves all elementary, junior high and high schools in the parish, both public and private.
School System Director of Communications & Operations Tricia Smith recognized Brandi Jeansonne, a new Para to Teacher graduate of REACH University. This is the program that assists paraprofessionals in attaining a teaching degree.
Moving along, the Board approved the minutes for the July 9 Regular Board Meeting.
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Katie Miller, Coordinator of Accountability snd Assessment presented the Pupil Progression Plan for the 2026/2027 school year. There were only two changes made from the previous year to the state's version and no changes were made to the local plan. This is available on the school board's website wpsb.org. The board adopted the plan for the current school term.
Director of Finance Dana Knight presented the June/July 2026 financial statements and reminded the board that the fiscal year ended in July so that was the focus. Knight and Superintendent Jennifer Thomas both are hopeful that the Educational Facilities Improvement District (EFID) funds dispersed twice per year payouts to all personnel from a one cent sales tax will fulfill Governor Jeff Landry's new mandated executive order that stipends be provided that are equal or exceed the previous years' $2,000 teacher stipend and $1,000 stipends for other personnel provided by the state.
The EFID account meets that criteria as equal or greater payments twice per year versus the state's once per year. This will help Washington Parish tremendously if precious MFP funds are not required to be utilized for this purpose. MFP funding has already decreased due to students moving out of the district, and this is a statewide concern as Louisiana's student population is decreasing.
The Board then tackled adopting 20 budgets that the district operates with. Knight reiterated the solidness of the one cent sales tax collection and overall sales tax collections are healthier than in July 2025.
First the Board approved the Technology and General Fund Budget for the 2026/2027 fiscal year. This was followed by the School Food Service Budget, the School Food Service Summer Feeding Budget, and the School Food Service At-Risk Supper Program for the 2026/2027 fiscal year.
Next the board adopted the Angie 5 Mill Tax Budget, the Tax District #4 Capital Projects Budget, and the Educational Facilities Improvement District Sales Tax Fund Budget for the 2026/2027 fiscal year.
The next group of budgets adopted were all federal funds. This includes the Special Federal Funds Budget, the Ready Start Network-CCDF Grant Budget, the ESSA Title I, Title II, Title III Immigrant Budget, Title IV, Title V, and the ESSA-Redesign Planning School Improvement Budgets. All these are for the 2026/2027 fiscal year.
Moving along the Board adopted the Special Education IDEA Part B Budget, the Special Education IDEA Preschool Budget, the SPED Camera Grant, and the IDEA Set Aside Budget for the 2026/2027 fiscal year.
The Board then voted to accept $500 each from the local scrap yard for two buses and one van that are no longer useable. The scrap company will move the three vehicles. It is notable that to move just one bus would cost the district $500, so this is actually a positive transaction.
There are also five other buses that are no longer operational and are at the end of their useful lives. A bid was accepted by the Board for $5,400 for these. Attorney Matt Garner read aloud a proposed ordinance regarding surplus and scrap items which the Board adopted.
Knight also asked that the Board approve and adopt the 2026/2027 Washington Parish School Board Salary Schedule. This schedule is used to figure salaries for the year and also calculates in the issuance of the stipend mandated by the governor's office, which EFID does for the district twice per fiscal year. The salary schedule is available on the district's website.
The final financial item approved by the Board was the renewal of a temporary additional $0.50 per mile fuel supplement for bus operators to offset the current increase in fuel prices, effective August 6, 2026, until discontinued in the sole discretion of the Superintendent.
Mrs. Thomas will observe the price of fuel and will bring a recommendation to the Board if prices decrease and the additional money is no longer needed.
The final item of the night's agenda was the adoption of the revised Washington Parish School Board Policy Manual. Assistant Superintendent Lisa Magee was pleased to present the manual to the Board and offered a heartfelt thanks to everyone involved with the process of making it more modern and user-friendly. She was especially appreciative of the efforts of Board member Scott Breland and Administrative Assistant to the Superintendent Melissa Mauer.
Following a comprehensive review, the manual was streamlined and the policies in the manual were reorganized for clarity and easier searches. Superintendent Thomas noted that the newly adopted manual would be available within two or three days on the district website and is pleased that the work of the committee brought the manual up to date for 2026. She also shared her sincere appreciation for the hard work of Ms. Magee and the committee.
In the Superintendent's report, Jennifer Thomas praised the schools for a great start to the 2026/27 school year. She urges everyone to watch for buses and traffic. She referred to the budget issues the district is facing but stated, "We work hard --- we will get out of it."
She added that Washington Parish has free universal PreK while neighboring parishes charge for this service. This gives the youngest learners a great head start. She also noted that there are only a few PreK spots available in the district.
The district was to recognize Teachers of the Year on August 17, and a Support Personnel Luncheon is scheduled for August 28. She ended by encouraging everyone to support the fall sports which is actually supporting students. Her goal is to move Washington Parish schools forward and keep going.
Board President Lesley McKinley gave some of the candidates for school board an opportunity to introduce themselves. These included Pat Harvey District 3, Kelvin Brown District 3, Calvin Wheat District 4, Regina Ballio District 6, Ellen Taylor, District 4 and Patsy Breland District 5.
The next meeting will be held on Thursday, September 10.
