By David Vitrano

L’Observateur

RESERVE – Members of the St. John the Baptist Parish School Board and district administration will begin one of their semiannual retreats tomorrow.

According to district Coordinator of Media and Communications Heidi Trosclair, the purpose of these retreats is to keep the board and administration informed of any new developments that might affect board procedures or even the thinking of individual board members. She said the retreats also serve as an opportune time to go over matters such as the budget outside of a regular board meeting setting.

On the agenda for this week’s retreat are several sessions dedicated to legal issues. In between such sessions, those in attendance will review such matters as their roles within the school system and the Minimum Foundation Program, through which the state provides funding for individual school districts.

Louisiana School Board Association Executive Director Nolton Senegal will start off the seminars with a session on the services of the LSBA as well as the role of school board members. Following this, school law attorney Bob Hammonds will discuss ethics and personnel. This will be followed by the discussion on MFP. These sessions are scheduled to take place between 8 a.m. and 11 a.m.

At 11 a.m. Glenn Koepp will present a session on school redistricting.

After lunch, Raphael Gang of the Louisiana Department of Education will speak to the group about charter schools, and Rep. Nickie Monica will discuss legislative issues.

The day’s schedule will end with financial and legal updates.

The second day of the retreat is split between an update on the various facility improvement projects taking place throughout the parish and the evaluation of Superintendent Courtney Millet.

The retreat will take place at the Reserve branch of the St. John Public Library and is open to the public.

For more information, call the central office at 985-536-1106.