ERIK SANZENBACH / L’Observateur / August 5, 2000

RESERVE – Newly-elected president of the St. John Association of EducatorsAnnette Houston didn’t waste any time getting into the thick of things at the last St. John Parish School Board meeting.What appeared to be a quick and easy vote by the board on filling two head custodian positions turned into a somewhat heated and fractious debate on the method of choosing employees within the school system.

Human Resources Director Alfred Donaldson asked the board to vote on recommendations by a committee to hire Willie Mae Jackson and Charlotte Celestine as head janitors for the St. John Early Childhood Center andLaPlace Elementary School, respectively.

Houston questioned the process of selection for these positions, saying the process seemed to be biased against long-term employees of the school system.

“We have people in the system who applied for the position but not get the job,” said Houston. “I think the system should favor long-time employees.”Houston also suggested the board look into training for long-time employees so they can have the experience to apply for other positions within the school system.

Board member, C.J. Watkins backed up Houston’s assertions by saying one ofthe persons he was supposed to vote on had very little experience working within the St. John School System. Talking about another applicant for the job, Watkins said, “I find it hard to believe that a person who had an intern position for five years did not get the job. I question the process of evaluation.”Watkins then moved the recommendations be voted on separately.

Donaldson explained to the board how the selection process works. Acommittee reviews all applicants and applies points to each applicant according to their ability and experience. If a St. John School Systememployee’s points come within three points of the highest-scoring applicant, the school employee automatically gets the job. If there is a tie between twoschool employees, the employee with the most seniority gets the position.

School board attorney John Diasselliss told the board the employees must follow the board policy, and the only way the policy can be changed is by amending it.

This hiring policy has been in effect for the past one and a half years, according to James Madere.

Both Watkins and Patrick Sanders voiced their concern over the hiring policy, thinking it wasn’t fair to school board employees.

Matthew Ory agreed, saying, “We need to clean this mess up.”Watkins’ motion to vote separately on each recommendation passed 9-2, with John Crose and Madere voting against it.

Jackson was accepted by the board with a vote of 8-2, with Ory abstaining.

Sanders and Watkins voted against the recommendation. In the other vote,Celestine was given a unanimous vote of approval.

Right after that the board voted to accept the new Classified Personal Evaluation plan that would include all job descriptions and duties of support personnel in the school system. The purpose of the plan is to increaseaccountability for all personnel. The plan was formulated by a committeemade up of administration and members of the SJAE.

Houston thanked Director or Personnel Accountability Ann Laborde for all her long hours and dedication to working on the plan.

Houston said, “I really enjoyed working with Ann Laborde on these evaluations.”

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