Jeannine LeJeune/Crowley Post-Signal
The Acadia Parish School Board learned that Student Transportation Specialists is already readying itself for the 2017-2018 school year.
Less than three weeks after school was dismissed for the summer, STS employees have been busy cleaning and providing maintenance to the Acadia Parish school district fleet, which has already seen new buses roll in.
“As of today, 32 buses have been through our shop; 28 of them are complete, four of them are waiting on parts before we’ll release them back to their parking area,” said Russell Lanclos, STS Acadia manager, Wednesday night. “Every so often, we bring in a new group of buses. We go through them and fix them.
At this point, according to Lanclos, the bus cleaning is at about 50 percent. And, some of the buses are so clean, just by washing, waxing and cleaning the inside, that they’re being mistaken for new buses on looks alone.
But new or old, STS is making it clear that after it and bus drivers putting in hours this summer that have worked so hard to clean these buses, letting them get so messy again is not an option.
“It was a little disheartening on some of the conditions some of the buses were brought to us in,” said Lanclos. “We are making notes and we are taking photographs.”
STS has made note through pictures just how messy some of the buses were and what the cleaning has done since. They also plan on leaving cleaning supplies in each bus and making drivers aware that keeping buses clean and presentable is a must with random inspections throughout the year expected. Lanclos explained that he understands many of the bus drivers have to pass down gravel roads, for example, multiple times a day, thus perfectly clean isn’t necessarily an option. However, things like trash, wrappers and mud on the bus stairway are just unacceptable and can be cleaned relatively quickly and easily.
While the buses are at STS getting a cleaning, preventative and regular maintenance measures like tire changes, oil and filter changes and more are underway now. The mechanics are hard at work during the summer as well doing many brake jobs on the buses and any items listed on their year-end forms are also being taken care of.
“We do (business with the whole parish),” he said. “We’ve had some of those nationwide salesmen come knock on our door. I take their cards and tell them ‘Thank you for visiting’, but I’m not interested in doing business with a national chain when we have so many local vendors that can supply us.”
Regarding the older buses being moved out of the fleet in favor of the newer buses, as approved by the school board months ago. Those new buses, minus three special needs buses, have all been picked up and are being fitted with numbers and lettering and so forth. As for the older buses they are replacing, six are almost ready for the board to consider selling them.
Items such as radios and cameras are being removed from the older buses to be used in other buses then the six will be ready for sale. As is standard, once the buses are ready for sale, the item will be brought forth to the board to be considered.
Finally, Lanclos reported that internally, work is being done to prepare passenger lists for schools as soon as they are updated at the beginning of the year, polices are being fine-tuned and a new driver’s handbook is being created. Among the policy changes being mulled are the creation of “community stops” in case of flood situations that do not allow a bus to safely travel down certain roads. If, for instance, a bus could not travel down Parkerson Avenue due to flood conditions, but could travel elsewhere, families looking to get their children to school can drop them off at a “community stop” to get them to school.
Meanwhile, Executive Director Ellan Kay Baggett went over the many administrative changes made over the past month, or so, in the school district.
While several jobs have been absorbed as cost-cutting measures, the district did re-open its position of Supervisor of Secondary Education. That saw now former Crowley High School Principal Perry Myles move into the central office position. From there, Tim Boudreaux was moved from assistant principal at Crowley High to principal. A replacement assistant principal at the school will be hired over the next few weeks.
Another central office-based job, a helping teacher position, also opened up and Tammy Meche was named its newest hire. Thus, her position as Rayne High assistant principal was vacant and was transferred to a position of disciplinarian which went to Derrick Boone.
Elsewhere in the parish, principal positions opened up at Mermentau Elementary and Mire Elementary. Regarding the Mermentau position, Evangeline Elementary principal Marie Broussard was named to the Mermentau post. Filling her position in Evangeline is Chad Latiolais. The Mire Elementary principal’s position should be filled in the next week or so.
The assistant principal opening at the school will be filled in the weeks following.
Simply put, Baggett and Superintendent John Bourque wanted to make sure the board was informed as rumors fly very quickly in the parish.
“I get home and my wife tells me who we hired,” said Bourque, jokingly. “Rumors go out so fast. We want (the board) to be informed.”
As for teaching positions opening, there are about six, some of which are in the process of interviewing candidates, the district expects more as teachers transfer to other districts. Those job changes will happen between the months of July and August. The district is expecting potential late openings as well thanks to Lafayette, a usual puller of talent having budgetary issues. The Lafayette Parish school district has still not committed to a budget, meaning many jobs remain in limbo.