By David Vitrano

L’Observateur

LUTCHER – Romeville Elementary School has moved back into corrective action as a result of last school year’s School Performance Score.

Subsequently, Principal Becky Louque said the school will offer supplemental services for students this year.

Two years ago, the school had a one-star rating, but it was placed on the watch list last year. This year, however, the state Department of Education placed the school back in corrective action after the school earned a projected SPS of 63.5. The state set a goal of 65 in 2011 for schools to stay out of corrective action.

Despite the situation, Louque remained optimistic about the school’s future.

“Our LEAP results were amazing for the spring and summer sessions,” she said, adding, “If summer scores would have counted (toward this year’s SPS), RES would have scored well over 70.”

She said between the two sessions only one student did not pass the state-mandated standardized test given to fourth-graders.

Romeville Elementary will have to continue this upward trend to pull itself out of corrective action as schools will have to earn an SPS of 75 or higher in 2012 to stay off the “academically unacceptable” list.

Despite her school’s current status, Louque was confident in Romeville’s Elementary’s ability to educate its students.

“We may not be moving as fast as the state would like, but we’re moving as fast as we can,” she said. “Moving children to their fullest potential is our goal.”

Superintendent Alonzo Luce said he thought the state’s 10-point jump from 2011 to 2012 would result in many schools across the state being placed in corrective action.

“You’re going to see some radical issues with schools in corrective action,” he said. “What we want to see is every one of our kids grow at least a year’s worth of growth.”

The St. James School Board also approved a joint agreement between the district and the parish government for the collection of sales and use taxes.

Last year, the school board paid $217,574 in collection fees while the parish paid $86,746, or 29 percent of the fees.

The total amount of taxes collected on was about $26.4 million.

Lastly, the board decided to give both Lutcher High School and St. James High School $25,000 to promote athletics, especially non-revenue-producing sports such as swimming and track, at the schools.