Board Meeting Comments

I am a teacher here in EBR. I have worked as a teacher in EBR since 2012 and seen the good things Mr Adam Smith has done in that time. This man has come in multiple times and fixed things that poor leadership has messed up. He has done this without complaint and has done a good job of it because he has a heart for it. He LOVES our community, our students, and our schools. There is no one better for the job. His love and desire to see the success of our students are enough, but his ability to see what works and what does not work in the classroom is just as important. He is not only skilled as a leader, but he has served his time on the front lines in the classroom. He knows and understands what is needed to make our schools successful. Please reconsider his application with an open mind.

In light of the withdrawal of Andrea Zayas & the fact that no further finalists remain, I recommend you as a board listen to the community, YOUR CONSTITUENTS, and offer Adam Smith a one year contract (or a full contract). During the year’s time, you could continue your search. We, as a district, need some stability. It is time to end this mess and ensure that our district can provide our students with a stable environment in the upcoming school year.

Yesterday's statement on Mr. Adam Smith was crude and late. Sure, some hoped Mr. Smith would have laid off half of the corrupt central office during the last budget, but if the board had never set an explicit goal then not his problem. He, too, needs time to assess who is working for student outcomes and who is working for EBR expense paid trips and more power. Systems are systems and he is no god. As a district with a dated OVER-EMPHASIS on school choice, we have been refusing to acknowledge that many families chose traditional public schools over and over again. Instead of equitably resourcing the traditional schools so they can thrive, the board pushes more choices and charters like its 1999. No superintendent can thrive with a board that is 30 years behind and refuse to acknowledge that how, as whole have failed kids by too many charters and magnets which are not well integrated with poor and disabled kids. Literally pick anybody but make BETTER POLICY and goals.

Stability in the district is needed to start this school year and to provide an opportunity for real, substantial growth in the future. Please appoint Adam Smith to serve as our superintendent for at least a year while the system attempts to heal from the last few years of divisiveness.

As a Board, you adopted a select process that yielded ZERO candidates for consideration. Blame has been spread around, from: the process was flawed; that the candidates were ill-qualified; there was interference from special interest groups; that the Board is not listening to stakeholders; and of course, Race. Collectively, this is simply bologna. Any attempt to further circumvent this process by interjecting a candidate that didn't advance in the process or introducing an alternative candidate that didn't participate in the process is wrong. It is your inherent responsibility to hold an open, non-political search and hire a candidate that represents our entire parish while educating and advancing our precious children.

This might be hard truth to hear, but simply wanting a new "bold" mystery superintendent because people are too lazy to actually look at the long term causes as why so many schools are struggling now, is pathetic. In 2020 the board whisperers cried and begged for a Jesus like figure to come in to "flip tables" like Jesus did in the temple. The angry Jesus fantasy is childish. Why not change the culture through real policy instead of 30 years of swapping leaders every 3 years? Suggesting the masses don't understand how corrupt and messy EBR Schools is ridiculous. We know, but seems like the school board has no business feeling morally superior? You aren't pushing for unity and healing. We see you loud and clear. Losing 3 highly qualified candidates because of board games should be a big clue that this has noting to do with Adam Smith nor helping "the children" of EBR Schools

It is beyond disappointing that we have gotten to this point and the board is to blame for their lack of willingness to work together, figure out compromise and listen to their consituents (who elected them by the way). For board members to acknowledge that they vote the way they want by themself and don't take their constituents' views into account is a disgrace. I fear that the board will now stall even more and will put this decision ultimately in the governor's hands. While this process was political from the start, state politics shouldn't meddle in running our local school district. Do the right thing and give Adam Smith a permanent contract for at least this school year and let him have the authority and autonomy to accomplish the things you highlighted in your letter that no reasonable person would expect to have seen accomplished as a short-term interim. Give him a chance to prove you wrong and give this school year some stability.

When will the board be on the same page, concerning the wellbeing of the school district?

Please, appoint Adam Smith. It was mentioned that during his “audition” he did not make big moves. I disagree. Mr. Smith did what a true educator would do, & he planned because he knew a failure to plan is a plan to fail. Most of his “audition” was in the middle of a school year. Students crave stability. Making any abrupt changes would have been detrimental to their academic success. He used his time to make adjustments at the district leadership level, aligning executive directors with their areas of expertise rather than being stretched thin supporting all of the aspects of K-12. Under his tenure was the first time that I have seen any safety walkthroughs on my campus, & he made the most significant change of nearly fixing our financial issues. He has also stacked the district’s D and F schools with dedicated teams to support at both the school & district level. He’s placed qualified personnel in positions once occupied by placeholders. Because of these changes, he deserves job.

With Andrea Zayas stepping down, I’m becoming increasingly concerned that this flawed process might be intentional, possibly to allow the predominantly five members to have Jeff Landry appoint the superintendent. EBR is a district with a significant minority population, and having Governor Jeff Landry appoint a superintendent may not be in the best interest of our students. I urge Dadrius Lanus, Carla Powell, Shashonnie Steward, and Cliff Lewis to prevent this from happening.

Because this has been a “Choose Your Own Adventure Novel”, but no one gets to choose or know the next page we’ll be on, what back door deals are being made amongst ALL of you, when the actual vote will happen, what the motion will be, how many substitute motions there will be, what the substitute motions will be, who exactly the new add on is officially, if there’s more than one surprise add on, it seems like a pointless exercise to even submit a public comment. But this is par for the course for the absolute debacle this has been even when you had a clear process adopted by the board. So while I am very grateful we are finally having our public comments readhat’s the point when it’s so dysfunctional and such an embarrassment that we can’t even know what we’re commenting on. Good luck in whatever is happening when this is read, I hope it helps our kids whatever you’re doing.

I appreciated Ms. Zayas bold and candid letter today. The dysfunction of this board has cost us many great candidates. In a statement released by Patrick Martin, Mark Bellue, Nathan Rust, and Emily Soule they stated that Mr. Adam was overlooked because “he did not show a comprehensive vision for the future that would rapidly bring 10 and 20 points of improvement to our traditional neighborhood schools.” While that is certainly debatable about Mr. Smith, those board members fail to see the irony that they are, in fact, the reason we cannot attract and hire candidates to “make strong, bold decisions.” Their top 3 candidates had the wisdom to steer clear from working with a corrupt and self-serving school board. The sole responsibility for the failure of this superintendent search lies with this board, a board more concerned with cronyism and personal interest than common sense and duty. This board has failed the community it purports to serve.

As an educator in EBR schools & a parent of two EBR students, I see the need for unity in our district. One of the biggest things that we know as educators & as parents is that it is necessary for there to be buy-in when looking for success in implementation. That is something that has been lacking in our community. While radical change may be desired from the board members who do not support Adam Smith, it is a short-sighted desire. Radical change is not possible when there is a lack of trust in regards to the person/people trying to bring forth that change. The thing that sets Adam Smith apart from all of the other candidates is that he comes with the buy-in and support from those who will fall under his leadership. That is a hill and a battle that can not be summed up in any resume. That is a value that is rarely afforded to someone in such a position. Mr. Smith has not had an opportunity to lead as superintendent. He has only been given the opportunity to clean up previous messes.

Can we just give Mr Smith a 1 year contract. According to Member Lanus, you only gave him two tasks to complete, therefore the comments made by others were flawed and inaccurate.

On the delay until the 24th: Hello, this is the knitting parent from last meeting. When I commented last week that we should wait for the deadline to pick a superintendent I Was Joking. JOKING in all caps. We need someone tonight. If you need to stay there all night and vote multiple times; then Do it. Yes, to any length of permanent contract with Adam Smith; but preferably a full term.

I recommend there be a motion for Adam Smith to be superintendent with a 1-year contract. This is a feasible decision considering the dysfunction of the board. This will also allow us to have a stable school year under the changes Mr. smith will have already begun to implement; without worrying about a change of superintendent in the middle of the school year. He has been your rescue man, please let him save you tonight. One school year is the least you can do. All we need is for one of you to have a change of heart with a deep-seated desire to act in the best interests of children.

Since the board can’t be on the same page with the date or how long the contract should be, can you the board get on the same page and do it tonight?

This was a waste of everyone's time. No one is perfect or will always agree with everything. Your points seem to not be valid at this point. You had a selection of candidates that you guys have pushed out by your antics. How can you serve on the board with foolish antics and have the nerve to uphold students' actions when you are doing the same thing? And if I were Adam Smith, I would tell you to put the offer where the sun doesn't shine.

Waiting until 9:50 p.m. to motion for a special meeting after you’ve had community members in the room since 4 p.m awaiting a disposition is DISRESPECTFUL. Entertaining the idea of “giving” a man a 90 day contract to save YOU from consequence is disrespectful. Insinuating that the behavior of the community is anything other than a TRAUMA RESPONSE is disrespectful. You were tasked with a duty that ALL nine of you have failed at. I encourage Mr. Smith to bid you farewell PERMANENTLY. I encourage any remaining or future applicants to re-evaluate their interest. I strongly encourage voters to take note of this incompetence and remedy it next election cycle. It doesn’t matter who was whose candidate, you ALL failed at getting the job done.

You are here for represent the community. Listen to us and hire Mr. Smith.

As an elected official, your job is to listen to your constituents. Your constituents have been sending you a clear message for years. Elect Adam Smith for superintendent. Your job is not to tell the people what you think is best, your job is to listen to the parents, students, and teachers in this district. Do your job.

I’m not finished- do NOT censor me, Patrick. Mr. Gaudet, stop playing “tough guy”, nobody believes you. When you speak to your colleagues, when you speak to and about Mr. Smith, I challenge you to picture that big guy you had the police move last week, standing in front of you. We, the community are tired of your disrespect.

Benjamin Franklin said “If you would persuade, appeal to interest and not to reason.” One thing that’s clear is that on Thursday nights on South Foster, reason is absent from the building. I am utterly embarrassed by our lack of care and respect for our fellow human beings. People speak of “praying” and yet talk to one another in Ungodly ways. Why are we fanning the flames of divisiveness instead of looking towards our fellow brother and sister with respect and love? Do we lack the self awareness to ask ourselves, “am I here to ‘do right’ or to ‘be right’ “? Or are you here solely for self interests and to get Facebook likes? My biggest concern is that the loudest voices only represent a small percentage of our community. To everyone that claims that they “know best” and “are speaking for the the people”, are you willing to come back and admit you were wrong if this fails?

First, I gotta address the motions that have been made to temporarily extend Adam Smith's contract. There is no way that any person would feel comfortable accepting a job and getting fired from it in the same day. Those motions are disrespectful. In a community where trust is scarce, choose the candidate that has ALREADY BUILT TRUST in this community. The trust is evident in the amount of people who have engaged and spoken up in this meeting. We can't create meaningful change without trust. It's the only choice at this point. Bold change mean nothing without a strong foundation of trust. Teachers, parents, and students deserve it. When teachers feel supported and can trust leadership, they can show up for their kids BETTER.

The four board members are very disrespectful. You had no right to turnish Mr. Smith in that article. How can you sleep at night? If you know anything about growth it takes at least 3 years. You deserve the disrespect you are receiving tonight due to yours.

It is completely unfair and ludicrous to judge a candidate by the decisions made in an interim, temporary role by this standard. Several members of this board are business people sophisticated enough to acknowledge this very simple premise, and it is disingenuous for them to release a statement saying otherwise. The entire point of an interim is to hold down the fort and maintain the status quo while permanent leadership decisions are being made, not to make big disruptive changes that might yet again change direction when a permanent installment is made. This letter is a bunch of foolishness, whatever your opinion about the superintendent question. It made me so mad to hear this comment “well he’s already gotten his interview. We’ve seen him in the last six months” - Unfair, disingenuous hogwsh. This convinces me more than ever that this refusal to appoint Adam Smith is purely political.

While I understand that there will is some work for teachers that does carry beyond the classroom, these amended job descriptions seem excessive. The majority of teachers I know willingly work beyond the hours they are paid for the benefit of their students. Now, mandating them to work even beyond those hours without additional compensation is not acceptable.

It is unclear how this re-vamped job description relates to or interacts with the new Louisiana law requiring teachers to be paid for extra duties. This new job description should not be adopted until that clarification has been made.

I am concerned that inclusion of the new list of "non-instructional components" requiring teachers to attend one event per month outside of traditional school hours circumvents the spirit and intent of Louisiana's new legislation requiring that districts fairly compensate teachers for work beyond the regular scope of curriculum and instruction. The purpose of that legislation was to protect teachers from extra responsibilities that infringe on the time and energy they need to be effective educators, not to sanction districts to codify those extra responsibilities to avoid fair compensation practices. Many teachers have second jobs and families, and to require attendance at events that sometimes happen several hours after the end of the school day extends the scope of their job beyond what is sustainable.

Teachers love attending graduations, but over the past few years, many graduations have occurred after school is out for the year. Since graduation is now required and not just expected, can the district schedule all ceremonies within the school year? Many teachers have obligations as soon as the year ends, especially child care, so requiring days that are not compensated beyond the contract can create a hardship. Thank you for considering this.

I disagree with this item due the requirement of 1 meeting per month. Teachers are paid for instructional hours. Extra time is voluntary.

The board considering additional mandatory duties while failing to properly address compensation is a display of shortsightedness that has been all too typical of this board. In addition, a requirement to work extra duty to "Attend/work concessions/gates of no more than seven (7) athletic events per school year as requested by the principal or designee" neglects to recognize that there are events that teachers work outside of athletics (dances, concerts, plays, etc).