2nd vote for interim superintendent possible
Supporters of having Herman Brister Sr. named interim superintendent for East Baton Rouge Parish schools may have another chance this week to try to persuade a divided board to make the appointment, the School Board’s vice president said Monday.
At its last meeting, on Wednesday, the 11-member School Board rejected in a 5-6 vote promoting Brister from his current position as chief academic officer to the top job after current Superintendent John Dilworth’s last day on Feb. 24.
During that meeting, board attorney Domoine Rutledge told the board rules prevent that same motion from being brought up for 60 days unless one of the six people who voted against Brister changes his or her mind and made the motion. That suggested that Brister supporters would have to wait until at least April to try again.
Speaking to about 50 people Monday night in Eden Park, School Board Vice President Tarvald Smith said he spoke with Rutledge further since the board meeting and they discovered that actually that’s not the case.
Smith, who voted to make Brister interim superintendent, said the key is that the motion to make Brister interim superintendent was not the “main” motion — which was to postpone picking an interim superintendent for eight days — but rather a “substitute motion” that sought to supplant the main motion. The 60-day layover rule applies only to main, not substitute, motions, Smith said.
Smith did not tell the crowd at the Martin Luther King Jr. Community Center whether he would try again to put Brister in the top job but he made clear that he continues to support the man. The board’s next regular meeting is at 5 p.m. Thursday.
“I can think of no one better to lead this school system in the interim,” Smith said. “There is no doubt that some of the things in this district have us on an upward trajectory, and that some of that is the responsibility of Mr. Brister.”
Smith suggested that the board in the future make it a policy that its chief academic officer automatically rises to interim superintendent when there’s a vacancy at the top.
Smith’s stance was echoed by several audience members at the community town hall meeting called by Metro Councilwoman C. Denise Marcelle and moderated by Lamont Cole of the Baton Rouge chapter of the NAACP.
“This is a slap in the face to Mr. Brister,” said Edwine Muse, a former Capitol High Academy principal.
She said that denying a hardworking educator like Brister a chance to lead the system sets a bad example for schoolchildren who are told to follow the rules and try hard.
The six board members who oppose Brister are trying to find an outsider to run the system until a permanent person can be found to replace Dilworth.
School Board President Barbara Freiberg articulated that position Monday night. She said an insider would have a tough time making the difficult decisions the school system will face in the next few months, including millions of dollars in budget cuts.
Freiberg also said she’s reluctant to create any more unfilled jobs.
“Dr. Brister is in a position and he needs to remain in that position,” she said.
The town hall meeting also touched on the school system’s new strategic plan, which is still in draft form, as well as Gov. Bobby Jindal’s education agenda, and the possible breakaway school district in southeast Baton Rouge.
Cole said Baton Rouge area residents need to get informed now on education issues, and not just react to things after the fact. He said he’s tired of reading about and seeing young black men die on the streets.
“There is a direct correlation between what happens in our schools every day and what happens on the streets every night,” Cole said.
State Rep. Pat Smith, D-Baton Rouge, told the crowd to keep involved as well, saying a lot more community meetings are coming.
At least one audience member, George Foster, who has three children in public schools, said he does not want to hear anything more from Jindal.
“The governor, he flies over the city. He don’t come into this town,” Foster said. “He’s always somewhere else. He can’t tell me nothing.”