Volume XXVI, Number 3 Spring 2016

Associationof

Principals

LAP Office - North LAP Office - South

103 Crawford St. Winnfield, LA 71483 P. O. Box 488 LaPlace, LA 70069

Phone: (318) 648-2999 Phone: (318) 648-2922

Mission Statement: To provide quality School-based Administrative Leadership for Louisiana schools through Professional Development,

Legislation and Member Services.

E-mail: debra.schum@laprincipals.org

Web Site: www.laprincipals.org Toll free 800-238-9371 FAX 318-648-2990

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Save the

Date!!

65th Annual Conference L’auberge Casino Resort September 11-13, 2016

Make plans NOW to attend the 65th Annual Conference!

Steve grew up in poverty in a housing project in a single parent family. His third grade report card read, “Parent notified boy is retarded.” In the ninth grade, after being involved in a school fight, he had two hip operations and was told that he may never walk again. He was in a wheel chair for a year. The doctor told him he better start to listen to his teachers. And, as he tells students today, the more he listened, the smarter the teachers became.

Education was the only way out of the ghetto for Steve. When he graduated from high school, he worked full-time to get his family off welfare before entering college. He learned how to deal with the challenges of being ADHD and dyslexic. His childhood disabilities and experiences offered unique opportunities that helped him become a better person and educator.

Today, Dr. Stephen Sroka is an internationally recognized speaker, trainer, author, teacher and educational consultant on health education, sex, drugs and violence (including bullying and suicide) prevention education, school safety, brain-based learning, at-risk students and alternative education, juvenile justice, parenting, dropout prevention and leadership building for schools and communities.

Dr. Sroka speaks in schools (K-college) and communities around the world and often on Native American reservations. He has keynoted many state professional conferences. National/international invited keynotes include: AAFCS, AAIE, AASA, ACSSW, ASCD, CGCS, DARE, DEA, IATDP, NAASBMA, NAEHCY, NAPSA, NAREN, NASN, NASRO, NASSP, NCPC, NDPN, NISBA, NMSA, NYAR, PRIDE, PTA, Rachel’s Challenge, SSAC, SSWAA, UNITY, US Dept. of ED (Indian ED), and YCWA. He has presented in programs in Dubai, Guam, St. Croix, Trinidad, Cayman Islands, Guatemala, Zurich, Winnipeg, Calgary, Edmonton, Montreal, Toronto and London.

Keynote Address: The Power of One The New Rx for Principals: Powerful Relationships

Workshop 1: 25 Free Brain-Based Learning Strategies to Help Principals Reach, Teach and Protect the Whole Student.

Workshop 2:

Principal to a T: LAP Style

Conference registration and agenda will be available soon.

Stephen R. Sroka, Ph.D.

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Ty Melton Awarded the 2015 Horace Mann/Louisiana Association of Principals $1,000 Aspiring Principal Scholarship

Ty Melton, a teacher at Winnfield Sr. High School in Winn Parish, has been awarded the 2015 Aspiring Principal Scholarship. This $1,000 award, sponsored by Horace Mann Companies and the Louisiana Association of Principals, is presented every year to a teacher, counselor, or curriculum coordinator who has an interest in becoming a

principal or is currently working toward their principal certification. Applications are taken from all across Louisiana, and the applicant’s principal must be a member of The Louisiana Association of Principals in order to be considered for the scholarship. The scholarship can be used to defray expenses for college tuition, continued professional growth, registration fees to state or national conferences, or textbook expenses. The recipient also receives a one-year LAP Aspiring Membership.

Ty has been an educator for 20 years, serving at Lakeview Jr/Sr High in Natchitoches Parish and Jonesboro-Hodge High School in Jackson Parish, in addition to WSHS. He earned his Bachelor of Science Degree at Northwestern State University in 1996. He is a graduate of Winnfield Senior High School.

Ty has served in the Louisiana Army National Guard and is currently serving in the U.S. Air Force Reserve. He was selected by his colleagues at WSHS as Teacher of the Year in 2004-2005, 2009-2010, and 2012-2013. Winn Parish selected him as Parish Teacher of the Year in 2009-2010. He is also a member of the Winn Parish Leadership Development Cadre.

Ty is very active at WSHS and serves as the Fellowship of Christian Students Advisor and the Dress Code Facilitator. He also coached football for 7 years from 2000-2006 and has coached baseball for 14 years. He is very active in his church teaching 3

rd and 4

th grade children’s Sunday

School and serving as Wednesday Night Youth Teacher. Ty and his wife Erin have 1 son Jackson. Horace Mann Companies and the Louisiana Association of Principals are proud to award

Ty Melton the 2015 Aspiring Principals’ Scholarship.

Ty Melton was awarded the $1,000 check at the monthly meeting of the Winn Parish School Board on January 4.

Pictured on the left: D e b r a S c h u m , L A P Executive Director; Ty Melton; Steve Bartlett, Winn Parish Superintendent.; and Jane Griffin, Principal at Winnfield Sr. High School

Louisiana principals attended the 2016 NASSP IGNITE Convention in Orlando, Florida, in February. From left to right: John Barthelemy, South Plaquemines High; Robin Tucker, Minden High; Jemi Carlone, Belle Chasse High; Debbie Schum, LAP Executive Director; and John Vanison, Jr., Plaquemines Learning Center.

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President’s Message

Robin Tucker

I hope this finds everyone doing well and

everyone preparing for the final few months of

school. It is hard to believe that another school year

is almost in the books. As most of us prepare for

spring testing and the stress that comes along with

that, I wanted to take this opportunity to focus on

some good news that I have been given and pass

along to all of you.

I have had several wonderful opportunities

during this quarter and even with all of the negative

budget talks, I do believe that there are brighter days

ahead for us in education in our state. On February

18, Debra Schum and I enjoyed a wonderful brunch

with our new First Lady, Donna Edwards. It was

refreshing to meet her and spend some uninterrupted

quality time with her to discuss things on her mind.

She met with approximately twenty of us to discuss

what she planned for in her very important role

during her husband’s term. As a former teacher, she

was very aware of the problems and pitfalls that all

of us face on a daily basis and she was also

extremely concerned about the lack of teacher

retention in our state. She shared with us her ideas

of a positive promotional campaign across the state

to promote the education profession. The entire

time that we spent with her was encouraging,

positive, and reassuring that she is our biggest

cheerleader. I left the meeting feeling as if she was

sincere and that she planned to take her role very

seriously when it comes to promoting teachers in

our state. What a change for us who have been

around for a while and have seen the downward

spiral of how our teachers are treated!

The NASSP convention was held February 24-

27 in Orlando, Florida and I was blown away at the

quality of the sessions and the business that was

conducted. There was much discussion throughout

the convention regarding the new implementation of

the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) that was

passed in the fall and how the transition is starting

to take place. States will be given flexibility on how

much of the legislation is implemented and it will

be interesting to see where our state leads us in this

area. I took great comfort as I networked with

people from around the nation that face similar (and

often worse) situations than we experience in

Louisiana. Everyone worries about funding,

available resources, teacher retention,

accountability, and student issues, and it was good

to be able to discuss ideas and strategies that others

use that might be of benefit to us in our buildings.

As we are all well aware, Governor Edwards is

trying to tackle a nightmare of a budget crisis in our

state and we are all very concerned about how this

will impact us in education. I am hopeful that

everyone can work together with the resources that

we have to continue to provide the best quality

education that we can for the students in our

buildings. We have an awesome task to tackle, but

we’re educators! We are made to be resourceful

and I am certain that we will withstand the changes

and challenges that we are facing and that sunnier

days will soon be ahead!

Happy Spring and Happy Testing!

Robin

Robin Tucker

LAP President

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From The Desk of The

Debra Schum

Hi all,

We have had a very active start to spring activities

with the Special Legislative Session on the budget and

working to make sure we preserve the MFP funding

along with a new BESE board. LAP also held a STEM

workshop in Baton Rouge in January that provided site

based and district level administrators with information

on STEM and how to implement programs in their

districts and schools. It was so successful that we are

planning on holding the same workshop this summer in

the Shreveport area—be on the lookout for more

information soon!

At the March 3rd and 4th BESE meetings in a

surprise vote, the BESE board demanded that

Superintendent John White strike a controversial

voucher report from its agenda and rewrite it to more

accurately depict the voucher program. Scott Richard,

Executive Director for Louisiana Association of School

Boards pointed out the report’s biggest contradiction, a

claim that voucher schools are saving the state money

because tuition costs at voucher schools can be lower

than the per-pupil amount sent to public schools through

the Minimum Foundation Program. Mr. Richard

presented a report from the Legislative Fiscal Office

noting that reductions to the voucher scheme would

actually save the state money. Superintendent White’s

voucher report also concluded that voucher students

perform at increasing academic levels, even though a

series of recent studies show that voucher students

actually lag far behind their public school counterparts.

When the Board of Elementary and Secondary

Education was asked to receive White’s report, At-large

Member Doris Voitier said that if receiving the report

means BESE endorses it, it would have to be revised to

reflect the Legislative Fiscal Office’s comments. White

responded that the report is the Department of

Education’s and not BESE’s. ―This does not have to go

to BESE for approval,‖ he said, adding that there ―would

be no consequences‖ for receiving an inaccurate report.

BESE board member Doris Voitier said ―Whether or not

we accept the report, it is misleading,‖ and urged White

to rewrite the document. District 5 Member Gary Jones

moved that the item be stricken from the agenda, and

Voitier amended the motion to require a rewrite. The

amended motion was approved by all 11 members

without opposition.

In other BESE action, a standstill $3.7 billion

funding formula for the state’s public schools was

approved by the Board of Elementary and Secondary

Education and forwarded to the legislature for debate in

the regular session that begins on March 14.

Following a marathon 12-hour session of committee

meetings, the Board of Elementary and Secondary

Education approved a set of revisions to math and

English language standards. The changes are intended to

end a long running controversy over Louisiana’s

participation in Common Core state Standards, replacing

some of the national goals with state-specific standards.

They were written by groups of teachers overseen by a

26-member panel called the Standards Review

Committee. Superintendent of Education John White

said that final adoption of the new standards will

probably come in July. With school slated to begin

shortly after that, Louisiana Association of Principals

(LAP) and Louisiana Association of School

Superintendents (LASS) spoke at the meeting and stated

that implementation of the new standards should be

delayed until the 2017-18 school year. Otherwise, they

say, the new standards could bring the same confusion

that implementation of Common Core caused last year.

The Special Legislative Session ended March 9th

with cuts and some increased taxes, however they did

not cover approximately 30-50 million of cuts that will

have to be addressed in the regular session that begins on

March 14th! We are hopeful that the MFP will remain

intact and we will be present during the session to make

sure your voice is heard. Please check our website

www.laprincipals.org for legislative updates during the

session!

At the national level we are continuing to work with

our national organizations on implementation of ESSA

(Every Student Succeeds Act) and our President-Elect

(Nikki Fryou) and our Federal Relations Coordinator

(Martin Guillory) will be joining principals from across

the nation at a National Leaders Conference in

Washington DC (March 13-15th) to discuss with our

Senators and Representatives the monumental tasks that

our principals face each day! We are also asking all

principals to join us in supporting $30 million in funding

for the School Leader Recruitment and Support

Program for fiscal year 2017. Research has shown that

effective school leadership is second only to instruction

as a factor in raising student achievement. The School

Leader Recruitment and Support Program is the only

federal initiative that directly addresses the difficulty of

(Continued on page 7)

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Save The

Date!

LAP’S 33rd Asst. Principals’ Conference

November 7, 2016 L’auberge Casino Hotel

Baton Rouge

PRINCIPALS,

Plan NOW to send your secretaries to the

22nd Clerical Conference

December 4-5, 2016

Double Tree

by Hilton Lafayette

1521 West Pinhook Rd.

Lafayette, LA 70503

LAP’s January Board of Directors Meeting Held at Tara High School in Baton Rouge

The Louisiana Association of Principals Board of Directors held their January meeting at Tara High School in

Baton Rouge on Wednesday, January 27. Along with the regular business of the Board, the conference planning

committees met to plan the fall conferences. Tara High School’s Pro Start Program provided a delicious lunch for the

Board. Thank you, Karen Triche, principal of Tara High, for allowing the Board to meet at your school.

Save The Date!

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Welcome New Members!

LAP/NAESP

Acadia Parish

Kim Cummins, Martin Petitjean Elementary

Jefferson Parish

Benjamin Moscona, Bridgedale Elementary

Natchitoches Parish

Stephonie French, Natchitoches Magnet School

St. James Parish

Kay Dornier, Gramercy Elementary

St. Tammany Parish

Mary Hart, Mandeville Middle School

Arlana LeBlanc, Henry L. Mayfield Elementary

Terrebonne Parish

Sandra LaRose, Bourg Elementary

LAP

Ascension Parish

Nicole Grimes, Lowery Middle School

Bossier Parish

Waylon Bates, Haughton Middle School

Wendy Lee, Haughton Middle School

Richard Warren, Haughton Middle School

East Baton Rouge Parish

James Smith, Brookstown Middle Magnet

Central Community Schools

Rhonda Taylor, Central Intermediate School

Orleans Parish

Sheila Nelson, Lusher Charter School

Ouachita Parish

Rodney Lloyd, Riser Middle School

Pointe Coupee Parish

Ouida Forsyth, Early Childhood Coalition

St. James Parish

Cynthia Joseph, Lutcher Elementary

West Baton Rouge Parish

Laree Taylor, Devall Middle School

LAP/NASSP

Avoyelles Parish

Laura Hargis, Bunkie High School

Livingston Parish

Kelly Jones, Denham Springs High School

St. Tammany Parish

Roslyn Hanson, Covington High School

attracting and retaining high-quality school leaders in

high-need districts. It is also the only program focused

exclusively on the development of principals. Investment

in school leaders is more essential than ever. We

encourage you to respond to NASSP’s action alert on

the School Leader Recruitment and Support

Program: https://www.nassp.org/advocacy/principals-

legislative-action-center-%28plac%29?SSO=true

We also want to remind you to check out the

information on our FALL 2016 conferences, which can

be found in this newsletter! Please mark your calendars

for the following conferences:

► Annual Principals Conference—September 11-13--

Baton Rouge—L’Auberge Casino Event Center

► Annual Assistant Principals Conference—

November 7th—Baton Rouge--L’Auberge Casino

Event Center

► Annual Clerical Conference--December 5th--

Lafayette--Doubletree by Hilton

I know that this time of year is stressful due to

testing and the many things that must be completed prior

to the end of the school year--we appreciate all that you

do! This is going to be a difficult legislative session due

to the current deficit that existed along with the 30-50

million that was not addressed in the special session.

LAP will be working with other education organizations

to preserve PreK-12 education funding as well as

addressing any laws that will have an adverse effect on

educators! Please encourage your co-workers to become

members of LAP--the more members we have the more

our voice is heard! We are the only organization that is

affiliated with the national principal’s organizations

(NAESP and NASSP) and we advocate for principals/site

based administrators at the national level also!

Please feel free to contact me at

debra.schum@laprincipals.org if you have any questions

or concerns regarding the legislative session or any other

issue that you think we should address.

Wishing you all the best as you move into the testing

season and hope you take some time for yourself and

your families during the Easter Break!

Debbie

Debbie Schum, LAP Executive Director

(Continued from page 5)

8

LAP Board Members Jane Griffin, NASSP Coordinator; Robin Tucker, President; Debbie

Schum, Executive Director; and Karen Triche, District 8 Representative

Jane Griffin

Robin Tucker

Debbie Schum

Karen Triche

DISCOVERY EDUCATION INVITES EDUCATORS TO APPLY FOR EXCLUSIVE PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT AND NETWORKING OPPORTUNITY

Educators passionate about transforming teaching and learning with digital media and educational technologies, are

invited to apply to participate in the 2016 Discovery Educator Network Summer Institute (DENSI). This year, the

DENSI, an immersive, week-long professional development experience focused on professional learning, leadership, and

networking will be held July 17–22 in Chicago, IL. A global community of education professionals supported by

Discovery Education, the DEN connects members across school systems and around the world through social media,

virtual conferences, and in-person events, fostering valuable networking, idea sharing, and inspiration.

Eligible applicants have until 6 p.m. ET on April 1 to submit their application for this unique professional learning

event. To apply, educators must complete a written application, as well as submit a video detailing their efforts to use

digital content and technologies to support student achievement. Additional details and the complete DENSI application

are available at links.discoveryeducation.com/DENSI.