Special to
L’Observateur

Baton Rouge — Mapping out a five-year plan for the district was among the items tackled during the St. John the Baptist Parish School Board’s recent retreat.

The retreat, which took place July 1 and 2 in Baton Rouge, is a chance for School Board members to spend an intensive two days focusing on short- and long-term planning for the district, receiving required board training and getting updated on curriculum and other district initiatives heading into the new school year.

“We probably had one of our most effective board retreats,” Board President Clarence Triche said. “We discussed something we’ve talked about for a long time but never did anything about and that’s our five-year plan.”

Barbara Thibodaux, who is assisting the district in putting together the plan, led the discussion.

Although it is only in its beginning stages, it will likely focus on categories such as academics, school climate, technology, finance, human resources, operations and communications.

“This is going to guide us, so we are not just saying we are going to do something but we have a plan to do it,” Triche said.

The board also approved the 2014-15 Student Code of Conduct and Attendance Handbook during the retreat.

The board kicked off the two-day event by evaluating Superintendent Kevin George’s performance during his first year on the job.

“This is the first evaluation that brought the board and the superintendent together at the same time, so we could hash out any issues together,” Triche said.

Although the details of personnel evaluations are kept confidential, Triche said the board is overall very satisfied.

“Our superintendent is on top of everything,” he said.