The Iberia Parish School Board unanimously voted to approve an intergovernmental agreement with the Vermilion Parish School Board for servicing students across parish lines at Wednesday’s meeting.
The agreement was one that was initially made around five years ago but was never signed by the Vermilion Parish School Board, legal counsel Wayne Landry said.
After getting notice that the VPSB superintendent recently signed the agreement, Landry said Iberia Superintendent Carey Laviolette signed a new one as well.
The agreement deals with students who live in Vermilion Parish but who are being educated by Iberia Parish schools due to zoning. Delcambre schools are in the Iberia Parish School District.
“If you have a school district that is funding the child’s education but that child is across the parish line, then the parish that is not educating the child has to pay the tuition for the school district that is educating,” Landry said. “It’s very common.”
Landry said that the price for the agreement has to be thought about again, because the initial price that was conceived when the agreement was first drafted is “way out of date.”
“Both superintendents are going to deal with that in the next few months,” Landry said.
In other business, the Iberia Parish School Board voted in Dan LeBlanc to serve as board president for the new year.
LeBlanc was nominated at Wednesday’s meeting with no other contenders for the board position.
“I hope we have a great year,” LeBlanc said.
Board member Brad Norris took the position of vice-president for the new year, after a 8-5 vote between Norris and board member Mike Mayeux. Nursey McNeal was voted in as second vice-president.
The board also unanimously voted to adopt a proclamation regarding student mental health at the meeting.
Assistant Superintendent Heath Hulin said the proclamation comes after COVID-19 caused a crisis in mental health for students and school employees nationwide, including Iberia Parish.
“During the pandemic we’ve been facing an increased crisis in our schools with mental health to regain normalcy amidst everything that’s happened,” Hulin said.
Last year, Hulin said the district was charged to form a Well Being Committee to monitor the mental health of students and staff.
“We formed a committee with the goal being to support students and staff members,” Hulin said.
Members of that committee were present at the meeting to present the proclamation and advocate for mental health for Iberia Parish students.
