By Kyle Roberts and Malcolm Butler
RUSTON, La. — Tuesday’s Lincoln Parish School Board meeting lasted over two hours as a majority of the time was spent during the public comment section for a reconfiguration vote for the elementary schools in the Ruston School District.
With more than 100 people in attendance at I.A. Lewis, nearly a dozen residents came to the microphone to voice their displeasure (with one resident speaking out in favor of the proposal) regarding the vote to shift Glen View, Ruston Elementary, Hillcrest and Cypress Springs back to neighborhoods school to house Pre-Kindergarten through fifth grade students.
The vote also means the current Lincoln Parish Early Childhood Center will turn into the new central office for the school board.
The public comments ranged from questions about the process for the decision to returning the zones to the pre-2012 lines, after a Louisiana supreme court decision
Longtime educator Dr. Liz White gave one of the public comments to the board prior to the vote.
“I know each of you serves on the board because you care,” White said. “You want safe, strong schools, and a fair shot for every child. That’s what unites us. I understand the appeal of neighborhood schools — they sound simple, familiar and close to home. But our neighborhoods still reflect the lines drawn long ago — the lines of race and income, that none of us created, but that still shape opportunity. If we zone strictly by geography, we risk dividing our children once again not by law, but by circumstance.”
Toward the end, however, one resident commended the school board for taking the vote and reducing the transitions for the students between schools.
“I have four kids who attend three of our schools,” Beth Foster said. “We’ve been in Glen View, in Cypress Springs, and currently at Ruston Junior High. My kids have attended public school, and all four of them had received excellent educations. We have loved their teachers and had great experiences. I would happily welcome anyone here who would love to ride with me in the morning and take them to three different schools and then pick them up in carlines afterward.
“It is hard. I have one kid who struggles with transitions, and we’ve had to be creative with how we navigate those. I believe the least transitions the better for kids.”
Following a 7-3 majority vote, the proposal passed, meaning the reconfiguration will begin in the 2026-27 school year. The seven yes votes included Hunter Smith (District 7), Donna Doss (District 4), Joe Mitcham (District 6), Danny Hancock (District 5), Debbie Abram (District 12), Gregg Phillips (District 8) and George Mack, Jr. (District 11).
Those not in favor were Dr. Danielle Williams (District 1), David Ferguson (District 2), and Lynda Henderson (District 9).
Both Otha Anders (District 10) and Clark Canterbury (District 3) were absent.
LPSB Vice President Dr. Danielle Williams (District 1) spoke after the meeting about her reasons for opposing the vote.
“I still take a stance on student achievement and student outcomes,” Williams said. “That’s what I’m always going to looks at. So when we go to the voters, they need to be informed of what is actually going on. I’m going to communicate my thoughts, because I’m going to get calls about it. My whole reason for voting “no” is because I don’t know where we’re at. We’ve got all these different phases and things that are out there. That’s my issues – I can’t explain what’s going on.”
During the meeting, George Mack, Jr., became visibly animated following public and board member comments that questioned the transparency of the board and superintendent in bringing the proposal to a vote. Mack vehemently pushed back on some of those comments.
“There are things that are very important to this board and important to my father who served for almost 40 years: accountability, responsiveness, and transparency,” Mack said following the meeting. “That’s been the hallmark of Lincoln Parish. And the comments I heard today would indicate that are not part of that. It’s simply not true.
“It’s always, always about the children. I’m about fairness, and when I hear things that are not fair, I’m going to speak to it. I heard a lot of opinions today, which were not rooted in truth at all.”
Between the October and November meetings, the school board sent out a digital survey to assess public feedback. Over 1400 people responded, with nearly 81 percent of people being in favor of the proposal.
LPSB Superintendent Ricky Durrett and Assistant Superintendent John Young also extended invitations to each school board member to review the plan with them during that time, which nearly every board member — but not all — agreed to meet.
“It was the democratic process in action where we got to hear both sides over the past month plus from the public (today),” LPSB President Gregg Phillips said. “Today, we heard some criticisms of the plan, some questions and uncertainty about details that honstly reminds me that we need to do a better job of communicating with the public. We tried to get the information out there, but you heard some concerns that were expressed were not factual information.
“But generally speaking, the board has felt that this is a great first step of getting our system of school back to where it needs to be. The transitions — it’s just not helpful, so now we’re going to work really hard toward the next phase, which is talking to people and the public — including individuals who were here today. And we certainly want to hold every school accountable and make sure they have the resources to be successful. No school is going to be left behind for lack of resources.”
Durrett echoed Phillips’ in his commitment to making sure all schools would be set up for success under the new plan.
“I think we can have four strong elementary schools,” Durrett said. “Each school will be funded and taken care of just as the other one would. There’s not one ahead of the other one or behind the other one. We want all of our kids to be successful, and then we’ll just keep moving forward and try to be as well prepared when we start the school year as possible.
“(We’re) not laying anybody off. Teachers may be asked to teach a different grade by their principal. We’ll put together a “teacher committee” with the city schools to hear some of the concerns of what they’d like to do, how that needs to work, if someone’s asked to teach another grade. We need to look at certifications, and all of that. We will support trying to get them certified.
“Our goal is to have a certified and qualified teacher in every classroom. One school is not going to get more than another one. We will staff them the same as needed according to the number of students there. Our goal is always going to be to give a quality education to every child there.”
