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NEW ROADS, La. (AP) — Teachers in Pointe Coupee Parish are hoping the salary boost they've been asking for since April will become a reality soon.
Superintendent Kevin Lemoine told The Advocate (http://bit.ly/1PKHIhh ) that the district will address salaries as quickly as possible, but they will have to bring other things up front first. He said the district will first need to draft a five-year strategic plan, and the school board will have to sign off before employees get a salary raise.
Lemoine said the district will form three committees to address topics to be included in the five-year plan. They include instructional academics, learning support and management within the district. He said the management component will address the financial stability and future stability of the school district. Part of that committee will look at employee salaries, he said.
According to Lemoine, the district will rally community stakeholders, school board members, district and school-level administrators, teachers and parents to form the three committees.
In April, a group of teachers from Livonia High School pressured the school board to increase teachers' salaries. They argued that the district was having trouble retaining instructors and recruiting skilled educators because of the salaries they earned.
School board president Frank Aguillard said he understands that teachers' salaries have fallen below many of the surrounding parishes. "We have to find some type of way to get them in the same ballpark as the surrounding parishes," he said.
Lemoine hopes to present the five-year plan to the board in February.
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Information from: The Advocate, http://theadvocate.com
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