RESERVE – The St. John the Baptist Parish School Board members are not dreaming of sugar plums this holiday season. Instead, the board is shooting for higher standards during 2003. Higher student test scores, greater accountability among administrators and staff, and a plans for future expansion topped board members’ “wish lists” this season.

Board member Matthew Ory said, “We need to continue efforts to get certified teachers in classrooms and work on absenteeism so that our teachers are in the classrooms.”

Accountability was the key phrase during the first half of the school year, setting the backdrop for a multitude of changes. Before the 2002-03 school year started, Superintendent Michael Coburn “shook up” the system by announcing a large-scale principal swap. Principals across the parish were reassigned. Only a handful of administrators kept their positions from the previous year.

“As head coach of this St. John schools team, I have to put in players best fit for first string offense,” Coburn said. “But, they are going to have to do a good job to stay in the game. Accountability will be number one.”

Also in July, voters approved a plan to reconfigure the school system. The reconfiguration left seventh-grade students on the East Bank on elementary school campuses. By 2003, both seventh- and eighth-grade students will have their own facilities at elementary schools, eliminating the need for junior high schools on the East Bank.

Reconfiguration supporters hope eliminating unnecessary transitions will help students focus on academics and will bring up scores. It is also expected to be a more “parent-friendly” approach to education.

“The (plans for) the new expansion, the wings, are in place,” Coburn said. “We have a preconstruction meeting in January. All buildings will be complete by August 1.”

The School Board will also be begin the bid process for construction on a gymnasium at Garyville/Mt. Airy Magnet in January, Coburn said.

But school officials, have more on their mind than just construction during 2003. Consideration of future growth will be addressed.

While nothing is on the drawing board, Board President Gerald Keller said, there has been discussion of a new parish high school.

“That could cost anywhere from $12-$16 million. I think it is still four or five years away,” Keller said.

The school system should start planning ahead, board member Russ Wise said.

“We need to develop a master plan for schools in this district,” Wise said. “What we need to do is put together a team of folks both inside of and outside of education – developers, business people, plant managers – and we need to start planning where we are going to build schools and what is taught in schools.”

While enough growth for additional elementary and high school facilities could still be years away, Wise said he would like to see plans drawn up for neighborhood elementary schools and a vocational high school.

“I would like to see us continue with classroom audits putting administrators in classrooms to make sure teachers are doing what they should be,” Ory said.

Continued use of computer software and testing in classrooms and after school tutorial programs were also ranked high on school officials’ lists of priorities for 2003.

– by Melissa Peacock

“What do I want to see in 2003?” Coburn said. “All my children pass the LEAP test.”