Update:
The school board voted 7 to 1 in favor of the proposal at a special meeting Thursday evening at the school board office in Franklinton. All of the board members voted in favor with the exception of Keith Giles, who represents the Mount Hermon District on the school board.
With the vote in favor of the proposal, beginning with the 2027-2028 school year Mount Hermon school will only be an elementary school. Junior high and high school students will be moved to Franklinton Junior High and Franklinton High School. Thus, when the Class of 2027 graduates next May, it will be the final graduating class at Mount Hermon School.
The School Board held a community meeting at Mount Hermon School on September 10 to address the proposal, receive community comments, and answer questions. The board then announced that a special meeting would be held on September 24 to vote on the proposal.
At both the community meeting held at Mount Hermon School on September 10 and Thursday evening's school board meeting, Mount Hermon residents expressed strong opposition to the proposal. When the 7-1 vote in favor of the proposal occurred, many of the Mount Hermon residents present were dismayed. Some residents have promised to continue fighting the decision.
Parish School Superintendent Jennifer Thomas has cited declining enrollment at the school as the chief reason for the change. She noted that with moving upper level students to Frankinton Junior High and Franklinton High School, new opportunities will be available for students that are not available at Mount Hermon School.
Original article:
A special meeting of the Washington Parish School Board will be held Thursday (Sept. 24) to vote on the reconfiguration proposal for Mount Hermon School.
Having already held a community meeting to discuss the proposal with residents of the Mount Hermon area, the board won’t be allowing public comment at Thursday’s special meeting.
The meeting, which begins at 6 p.m. at the School Board office on Main Street in Franklinton, will be very short. The Mount Hermon proposal is the only item on the agenda. After the board votes, the meeting is expected to end.
If the board votes in favor of the proposal, it will be enacted for the school year beginning in August 2027.
The proposal calls for Mount Hermon School to become an elementary school, with junior high and high school students being reassigned to other schools.
(Once the board votes, the decision will be posted at era-leader.com and will also be in next week's printed edition of The Era-Leader.)
