Four vie to lead Livingston Parish schools

LIVINGSTON — Four people have applied to become the next superintendent of Livingston Parish public schools following the retirement of Superintendent Bill Spear later this school year.

The applicants are: Donna Alleman, outreach director for the Louisiana Schools for the Deaf and Visually Impaired in Baton Rouge; Afreda Tomani Hygh, teacher at Fair Park High School in Shreveport; Charles S. Michel, supervisor of special education for Lafourche Parish schools; and John Watson, assistant superintendent for Livingston Parish schools.

The application period closed Tuesday and applicants were announced during Thursday night’s School Board meeting.

The board’s Committee of the Whole will interview Michel and Hygh on Tuesday at 6 p.m. and 7:15 p.m., respectively; and Alleman and Watson on Wednesday at 6 p.m. and 7:15 p.m., respectively, President Malcolm Sibley said.

The applicants’ names were randomly drawn out of a pumpkin to determine interview times, Sibley said.

Alleman has worked as director of outreach for the Louisiana Schools for the Deaf and Visually Impaired since 2010, serving as interim director for a year prior to that.

She also worked as a preschool coordinator, assistant principal, Southern transition consultant and teacher within the Assumption Parish school system from 1990 to 2009.

Hygh joined Fair Park High as a teacher this fall.

Before that, she was a teacher at Hamilton Terrace Learning Center, also in Shreveport, from 2010 to 2012 and 1993 to 1998.

She also served as principal, assistant principal and teacher at several charter schools in Baton Rouge and New Orleans.

Michel has been the supervisor of special education with Lafourche Parish schools since December 2007.

Before that, he served as assistant deputy superintendent of accountability for the Recovery School District in New Orleans from July to
December 2007, and principal at the district’s Joseph S. Clark Senior High School in 2006-07.

Michel also served as principal, assistant principal and teacher at several Texas schools from 1992 to 2006, and as a third-party programs coordinator and special education teacher in Lafourche Parish schools from 1984 to 1992.

Watson has been assistant superintendent for Livingston Parish schools since 2007.

He has worked within the district since 1983, serving in various roles including human resources supervisor, teacher, supervisor of instruction, principal, assistant principal and coach.