DANIEL TYLER GOODEN / L’Observateur / April 5, 2000

LUTCHER – St. James Parish School Superintendent Dr. Edward Cancienne hasbeen accused of falsifying information in his five-year plan by the Concerned Citizens Committee of St. James Parish.The plan was presented to the school board March 28. Cancienne assuredthat the plan, only an initial draft, was not before the board for approval but for information purposes.

Assata Olugbala, representing the CCC, said the plan would be more feasible if introduced to the community. Olugbala reminded the board that it ismandated by law that the community be involved in the formulation of such a plan. Also, parents and others in the community who help with the five-yearplan must be identified, else the plan be invalid, Olugbala pointed out.

The committee’s main concern is that the plan claims to have a Parent Teacher Organization at each school, with minutes of every meeting.

“There has been no Parent Advisory Committee all year at St. James HighSchool, though the document indicates it has,” said Olugbala. The district canno longer put on paper that it is doing something when it is not, she added.

Olugbala told the board that if the document is presented to the state Department of Education in its current from, the CCC would be there to let them know what the facts are.

“We ask that you go back and put the truth on paper,” said Olugbala.

At the end of the CCC’s comments, school board president Kenneth Foret Sr., reminded the audience that the document was before the board forinformation only and there was no action scheduled on the agenda. Schoolboard member Charles Nailor Sr. assured the audience that Parent Teachermeetings “do go on at St. James High.”Cancienne seemed agitated at the comments made by the CCC.

“This is a building block. It is my responsibility to present this to the boardtonight and then to others,” he replied. The plan in writing is not opinion, butpure data, Cancienne said, and he walked through the 52-page plan step by step, explaining each of the seven sections.

“This is a five-year plan; we won’t get there overnight. I’ve presented it forreading, and now I’ll take it to the community,” said Cancienne.

The five-year plan gives a wide variety of information. The first section givesa detailed profile of test scores, attendance records, drop-out rates and other staff and student data, much in comparison to the state average. Thesection also diagrammed the needs of the school system and their justification.

The second section presents the district’s vision and mission statements.

“Each high school graduate will be prepared to enter a job, job training, a trade or technical school, the military, community college or a four-year college or university.” The mission statement reads, “The mission of the St.James Parish School System is to produce a student who will possess: a willingness to change and learn continuously; a strong work ethic; core academic learning to solve ‘real life’ problems; team work skills; technology skills to solve problems; and a desire for continuous career preparation.”The section also provided a list of six established staff behaviors and six expected student behaviors.

In the third section the document outlines what results are desired from St.

James students. The section names the members of different teams andleaders. A District Improvement Team allows for citizens ranging from thesuperintendent to representatives of industry and the community, as well as actual students. Members for the DIT have yet to be chosen.The fourth section uses the school’s profiles, the vision and mission statement as well at the information in the other prior sections to analyze the instructional and organizational effectiveness of the parish. The sectionoutlines three pages of strengths and challenges dealt with in the schools.

The last three sections illustrate improvement priorities, a plan of action and an annual progress report, which is constructed for feedback on the document.

Meetings with the community to discuss the five-year plan have yet to be scheduled.

Return To News Stories