The Washington Parish School Board met on June 11. Following the invocation and Pledge of Allegiance, the Board approved the minutes of the May 14 Regular Board Meeting.
Director of Finance Dana Knight then addressed the Board concerning the presentation of April 2026 financial statements. The budget was discussed during the Finance Committee meeting, and the Board had no further questions or comments. The Board then approved granting Louisiana Roof Coating, LLC a contract to coat the gym, band and JROTC building roof at Franklinton High School with a silicon substance better suited for the local climate. The $103,000 proposal was the lowest price and best plan. Not only was it less than anticipated, but it also comes with a ten-year warranty and is good for 20 years.
A resolution was adopted to authorize withdrawal privileges for Laquisha Mark and to remove withdrawal privileges from Latricia Warren on all Varnado High School bank accounts. Ms. Marks is the new principal at VHS.
General Fund budget revisions were then approved by the Board for the 2025/2026 fiscal year as well as the Educational Facilities Improvement District Budget revision for the 2025/2026 fiscal year. It is notable that two issues are pressing for the Finance Department. First is the decrease in MFP funds received because of 194 students leaving the Washington Parish School system in the past year. 124 of these moved out of state; however, the remaining 70 were students withdrew to attend school in other districts or private schools, or to enter homeschool programs. This has impacted the budget significantly, but Mrs. Knight explained how adjustments made in other areas of the budget made this less painful than it might have been.
The second factor that may potentially affect the financial health of the system is the proposed pay raise plan by Governor Jeff Landry where systems will have to absorb the cost of mandated raises. The governor's executive order will need a 2/3 majority approval by the House and Senate, but if passed, it will deplete any reserves the system may have.
Mrs. Knight added that many of the state's school systems will be in similar circumstances. The EDIF fund for teacher pay can only be used for that purpose and cannot be moved into other funds. This one cent sales tax is doing very well and the EDIF fund balance is healthy enough to continue to grant two additional checks per year for everyone in the system with the exception of the Superintendent.
In other business, the Board appointed The Era-Leader as the Official Journal for the period beginning July 1, 2026, through June 30, 2027.
School Lunch supervisor Amanda Stafford presented the Board with line items regarding the purchase of small equipment and nonfood items for the School Lunch Program for the 2026/2027 school year. All these were approved.
A Cooperative Agreement to support and administer Louisiana Extension 4-H Youth Development and other Extension Programs was approved by the Board. Superintendent Jennifer Thomas explained that this is a yearly occurrence and WPSB contributes $10,0000 to the 4H program that is utilized at all schools. The final item was the adoption of a resolution authorizing the Superintendent to enter into a Cooperative Endeavor Agreement with the Washington Parish Sheriff's Office to allocate resources to assist the Sheriff's "Unity Camp" to promote youth unity, safety, life skills, and drug awareness in Washington Parish.
Mrs. Thomas further explained that in addition to facilities at Pine High School, which are centrally located in the parish, the camp will also utilize district buses and pay the drivers. Last year's camp attendance was 300 students, and more are expected this year. The cost is $10 per student for the three-day camp.
In the Superintendent's Report Mrs. Thomas thanked Senator Beth Mizell and Representative John Wyble were able to help secure 6.5 million dollars for a new cafeteria dining room and classrooms at TES. With only one serving line, students begin lunch before 10:30 in the morning. This money should eliminate this necessity with the addition of another line and enlarging the dining room. The lunchroom is a priority, and any leftover funds will then be used for classrooms. The principals retreat on June 16 and 17 will be held at the Bogue Chitto State Park. Thomas also announced that many teacher trainings are taking place throughout the summer and maintenance teams are working hard on projects around the parish. They did an excellent job on the modular buildings at Franklinton Junior High. Mrs. Thomas is very excited about this project, a CTE Center utilizing the empty modular buildings at the FJHS site. Summer school started on June 8 with testing later in the month. Offices and schools will be closed Monday, June 22 in observance of Juneteenth. Mrs. Thomas ended with announcing the retirement of Supervisor of Maintenance and Transportation Mike Ingram and thanked him for his service. The next board meeting will be on July 9 with the Finance Committee at 5:30 and the regular Board Meeting at 6:00.
The Board then voted to enter into Executive Session according to LSA R.S. 42:17(A)(1) for the evaluation of the Superintendent. This marked the end of the public meeting.
