Parkview Baptist headmaster no longer on job

Melanie Ezell

Parkview Baptist School headmaster Melanie Ezell has been removed by the Baton Rouge private school’s board of directors, a board member said Tuesday morning.

Ezell, who has served as the school’s headmaster for five years and three months, is no longer an employee of the school, said Huey Beason, acting board president.

When asked why the board voted to remove Ezell, Beason said members decided they wanted to go “in a different direction.”

The decision was made Monday night at a special board meeting, said Joni Owens, a school spokeswoman. Ezell did not attend the meeting, Owens said.

Owens could not say under what terms Ezell left the school, the largest private school in Louisiana. “The details of the separation have not been released,” Owens said.

Beason would not comment on how the board members voted individually.

Will Williams, former board president, will serve as school headmaster until an interim is named, Beason said.

Beason said the board hopes to have an interim headmaster in 30 days. He said Williams was present at the meeting but he did not vote on the change.

Ezell’s contract with the school was renewed in June for a year, Beason said.

Ezell did not return calls to her office, cell and home phones from The Advocate seeking comment Tuesday.

However, in a statement to WBRZ-TV, Ezell said “I reserve comment at this time at the advice of someone else.”

Prior to joining Parkview Baptist School, Ezell served 14 years at The Dunham School, including stints as head of its elementary, middle and high schools, and three years as interim headmaster. During her time as headmaster, Dunham earned a Blue Ribbon school of excellence honor from the U.S. Department of Education.

Ezell replaced former Superintendent Kenny Payne, whom the Parkview Baptist School board ousted in March 2007, saying they had “a difference of opinion regarding the means and methods of enforcing school policy.”

In July 2005, the board forced the early retirement of Payne’s predecessor, Derrell Hill.

In June 2011, the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools, in partnership with the Southern Association of Independent Schools, approved the dual accreditation for Parkview Baptist School.

Parkview joined 345 other independent schools in 11 states, including Dunham and Episcopal High School, in having this dual accreditation.

Parkview Baptist School, 5750 Parkview Church Road, enrolled about 1,450 students in grades kindergarten to 12 in 2010. It’s divided into elementary, middle and high schools.

The school is on Jefferson Highway near Airline Highway.

Comments

1) Comment by whysoserious - 16/08/2012

oddduck, during Hill's tenure it didn't used to be that way. He actually came under fire for raising teacher salaries so he could keep the best ones. After Hill's ousting, that place, like you said, has become a joke for education. They are currently surviving under the reputation that Hill and Pruitt created. But, that's not going to last forever.

2) Comment by oddduck - 16/08/2012

As a former student of both Catholic High and Parkview Baptist, I witnessed first hand how laughable Parkview's education truly is. They actually fired a really effective English teacher while I was there because the class was too hard. This same teacher taught me at Catholic the year before, covering nearly the same material. She just held the students accountable, and they complained to their parents. The replacement teacher was an unqualified religion teacher, and it was easy street from there on. The parents run that school, and the kids run the parents. Any serious educator doesn't stand a chance.

3) Comment by Mec_123 - 15/08/2012

Totally agree with you about Hill and Pruitt - I thought they were excellent for the school. Ezell didn't even come close, though. I guess that's the risk you take when you needlessly get rid of the people who do their jobs well.

4) Comment by whysoserious - 14/08/2012

Merc, you may be right about her. Don't know anything about her. I just know what I experienced with my 12 years at PBS. What the board did with Hill and Pruitt was wrong and showed what corruption was capable of, so it's really not shocking that they are continuing the trend. Maybe she needed it. In fact, she probably did. But, they're not doing anything to redeem their reputation by continuing this trend of "ousting".

5) Comment by Mec_123 - 14/08/2012

Whysoserious, every private school has it's issues. This is not another problem with a "corrupt school board." In 18 years at PBS, I had never seen an individual run off quality teachers like this woman. She had a negative impact on the school. Hopefully they find a good replacement; the school deserves it after the last five years it's had.

6) Comment by whysoserious - 14/08/2012

*2005

7) Comment by Mec_123 - 14/08/2012

Long overdue.

8) Comment by whysoserious - 14/08/2012

Doesn't surprise me. The school board at PBS are corrupt power mongers. In 2006, the did the same thing with Hill and Pruitt. Destroyed that school. They ran off the best thing that school had going for them; never before had the school and church had such a good relationship. A little later, the SB did the same thing with Hill's replacement... and now, they're doing it again. Coach Guillot is the only positive thing that school has left... hope they don't run him off as well. Might see PBS go the way of Redemptorist in a few years. Power needs to be removed from the greedy hands of the school board if they're ever going to see the top caliber of school it had during Hill's tenure.

9) Comment by arin - 14/08/2012

Goop will come out later.

10) Comment by Being_Stupid - 14/08/2012

Give us the goop.

11) Comment by MissCotillion - 14/08/2012

Well this is interesting. Who knows what this is about? Time to spill!