By T. Scott Boatright
An era ended for the Lincoln Parish School System Tuesday night as outgoing Superintendent Ricky Durrett oversaw his final Lincoln Parish School Board meeting before his retirement at the end of the month.
And at the end of the fiscal and academic year for Lincoln Parish Schools, it was simply a matter of wrapping things up and looking toward the future.
The first order of business on the night was the LPSB approving the Lincoln Parish Sales and Use Tax Commission’s proposed 2026-27 budget.
Lincoln Parish Schools Chief Financial Officer Juanita Duke told the LPSB that the total operating budget for the 2026-27 school year for Lincoln and Union parishes’ Sales and Use Tax Commission proposed funding was $470,125, an increase of 7.55%.
Duke said that sales tax funding coming from Lincoln Parish is expected to be $225,125, which would amount to an increase of 7.6%.
After approving that budget, the board ratified the contract of new Lincoln Parish Schools Superintendent John Young, who will officially take over duties on July 1.
Lincoln Parish School Board counsel Jon Guice explained that contract.
“This is an important night,” Guice told the board. “Before you is the contract, which has been negotiated with a good set of discussions. The contract is a 2 1/2-year contract and I want to explain why that is, particularly to members of the audience.
“Louisiana has this law that says that when a school board is in an election year and they’re going out, that the maximum contract they can give is two years beyond their term. So this board, their term will expire, even those who are coming back, their term expires on Dec. 31 of (2026), which means that Dec. 31 through 2028 is the longest contract that this board can award a superintendent.”
Guice said the compensation is at a level that has historically been used in the Lincoln Parish school district and is the same format that has been used previously, with the exception that there has been a change in the accountability laws that in prior contracts had certain incentive pay built into them based on performance on accountability.
“For this contract, those have been omitted until we get some history with this new accountability system,” Guice said. “Other portions of the contract have been adjusted as well. It is my recommendation that this contract is extremely in line with what districts of comparable size and comparable performance pay across the state.”
Guice said the negotiation process was as smooth as any he had ever handled and that he appreciated that.
He added that he is working on contracts in Vernon, Union and Catahoula parishes and that all of them are going to have the same situation.
“Let me tell you a little history on that,” Guice said. “Back in the 1980s, a board like this hired a new guy that came in from out of state. They had the election and then in January the new board fired him. He’d only been there six months and said that he had a long contract and asked what happened? And the new board told him he had a contract with the old board, not us. And the court upheld that. It’s the Hayden (vs. Richland Parish School Board) case.
“So, the legislature found out about that and said that it was a horrible situation and that nobody should be hired and work only six months. So, they reached a compromise. They said that the old board can’t strap the new board more than two years and that the new board should give a superintendent the chance to show what he or she can do. So, the compromise was two years.”
After being asked by Ruston resident Bill Smith what the salary is, Guice said that it is $175,000 and that it is comparable to what starting superintendents in this district have received and that he believes it is extremely comparable with other superintendent salaries statewide.
The contract was approved by the School Board, as was a resolution stating that LPSB President Gregg Phillips and Young are authorized to sign checks issued by the LPSB as of July 1 and that Young is granted the authority to select and designate, in writing, certain employees who will serve as authorized signatories for checks issued by the School Board.
That approved resolution also stipulates that the LPSB further declares that nothing in the resolution shall be interpreted as removing the requirement that LPSB checks be signed by at least two authorized signatories, subject to exceptions contained in La. R.S. 10:97 or La. R.S. 17:414.3.
Also approved by the LPSB during the meeting were 2026-27 employee job descriptions, 2026-27 employee salary schedules and pay rates, as well as the revised budget for the 2025-26 school year.
After Durrett gave his brief, final superintendent’s report, he thanked the School Board for the opportunity to serve in his position.
“I just want to say thank you to everybody,” Durrett said. “Thirty-six years ago when I started in this parish I didn’t think I would be sitting in the chair. It’s been a long time since I coached girls basketball at Simsboro, then on to Ruston High School and then serving as principal at Simsboro and Ruston High Schools.
“Then I took over (as superintendent) during the middle of COVID. I appreciate everybody’s help, the staff, from serving lunches to the lines at schools. I’m very proud of the fact that we recovered academically from that time. Teachers, administrators and staff worked very hard to get our district back going in the right direction.”
Durrett added that he was simply thankful for the people around him during his time working for the Lincoln Parish School System.
“It’s been a great run,” Durrett said. “I’ve had 36 years and it’s time to move on, head home and do a lot of other things. … I think the parish is in a great place going forward and that with John and the people around him, I think things will continue to be as they were before, and now after me, a great parish-funded academic school system. So, thank y’all.”
The meeting wrapped up with LPSB members Joe Mitchem and Donna Doss playfully thanking Durrett for his years of service.
