The Washington Parish School Board held its monthly meeting on Thursday, July 10. The meeting opened with a moment of remembrance for the victims of the July 4 Texas floods.
The Board then recognized students from Pine High School, Varnado High School, and Franklinton High School. Board President Lesley McKinley also acknowledged the parents of these students. Varnado High School Principal Dr. Latricia Warren was pleased to introduce the Wildcat's new Head Football Coach and Athletic Director Vonta Owens.
Next the Board heard a presentation from Rusty Fornea, Executive Directory of ADAPT Inc. Fornea presented facts concerning the prevention programs in the school system and life skill activities that area students can participate in and the Youth Coalition. He also presented a powerful new video to aid in training and promote awareness of potential at-risk children and adolescents.
Returning to the agenda, the Board approved the minutes from the June Regular meeting then adopted the Pupil Progression Plan for the 2025/2026 school year. Coordinator of Accountability/Assessment Katie Miller explained that two of the changes were issued from the state level and three items contained revisions from the local level. The Pupil Progression Plan will be available on the Washington Parish School Board website.
Director of the Business Office Dana Knight was on hand to answer any questions concerning the May 2025 financial statements. Mrs. Knight also asked the board to amend the timeline for the 2025-2026 budgets with a public hearing on Monday, August 11, 2025, with voting on Thursday, August 14, 2025. The Board then voted to approve the renewal of Student Accident Insurance with Bolinger Specialty Group for the period of August 1, 2025, to July 31, 2026. The renewal cost for students is $31,472.00 and $3,011.00 for athletic coverage.
Next, the Board approved contracting Stranco for garbage disposal services effective August 1, 2025 through July 31, 2026.
The Board was set to act regarding Requests for Proposals received for E-RATE; however, based on information received during the finance committee meeting from Instructional Technology Specialist Candace Stewart, the Board chose not to act on the item. The final item on the agenda was the approval of a motion to enter into a Cooperative Agreement with Enon Baptist Church for the purposes of granting access to an adjoining property. School Board attorney Matt Garver explained that the church has a cemetery that is land-locked by school board property. This agreement will enable the church to access the cemetery via a road on school board property and in exchange they will maintain the road.
In the Superintendent's Report, Jennifer Thomas shared her congratulations with the students who were recognized for their accomplishments and promised more student acknowledgments at the next meeting. She also lauded the ADAPT video.
"It has been a quick summer," she stated. Staff members return on August 1 and students return on August 7. Mrs. Thomas released some dates to the public including the August 18 banquet for Teachers of the Year and the first Superintendent's Advisory Council will be held on August 27 at 12:30 pm at the Central Office. The September 11 school board meeting will be held at Enon Elementary.
Board President McKinley ended by reporting on a very productive meeting he, along with Jennifer Thomas and Lisa Magee had with Senator Beth Mizell concerning the school system. He added that Jennifer Thomas is doing an excellent job, and he is pleased folks are behind her vision for the school system.
