By ROBIN SHANNON

L’Observateur

EDGARD – St. John the Baptist Parish Interim Superintendent Herbert Smith on Tuesday informed the School Board of his choice for second in command of the school district.

During the School Board’s meeting in Edgard, Smith promoted Heidi Trosclair from coordinator of curriculum, assessment and instruction for secondary schools, to executive director of curriculum, instruction and assessment. Smith said Trosclair will now oversee the entire curriculum department and serve as assistant superintendent, a position Smith held before being named interim superintendent following the sudden retirement of Courtney Millet earlier this month.

Trosclair said during the meeting she was born and raised in St. John and educated in St. John Parish Schools. She joined the school system as a teacher in 1988 and eventually moved up to the central office. She was the coordinator of media communications before being named coordinator of curriculum, assessment and instruction for secondary schools in December.

In other action from Tuesday’s meeting, the school board approved the refinancing of about $3.8 million in existing debt in an effort to save the school system money on repaying the loan.

Bond attorney Hugh Martin said the school system’s high credit rating helped in securing a very low interest rate on repayment of the money. He said Whitney Bank offered a 1.98 percent interest rate on the loan. Martin said the net savings to the parish taxpayers would be roughly $454,000.

“It is a sign of the times,” Martin said to the board. “Your ‘A+’ credit rating makes it very inexpensive to borrow money right now.”

Board member Russ Wise said the school system’s business department as well as former Superintendent Millet should get some of the thanks for helping the school system secure such a low interest rate.

“People need to understand that this is the closest to ‘free money’ that we are ever going to get,” Wise said.

The board also approved acceptance of a student and athletic accident insurance plan. The board accepted a $47,496 policy with Regions Insurance for coverage in the event of a catastrophic injury. School system purchasing agent Peter Montz said it is the same plan the system had last year.

“This coverage is for athletes, cheerleaders, band members and any other student involved in extracurricular activities that is injured at a school sanctioned event,” Montz said.

Montz said the insurance covers 80 percent of any medical bills sustained from an accident. The remainder would come from any insurance the students’ parents may have.

The board also approved action on declaring a fleet of 13 school buses as surplus materials. Montz said the buses are no longer on the road and are being replaced by 10 new buses purchased with money from a recent bond issue. He said the LaPlace Fire Department is taking three of the buses to be used for training purposes, and the remainder will be sold to the highest bidder.