By Kyle Roberts
RUSTON, La. — It was a busy special session Monday afternoon as a new board member was unanimously approved to finish out a former board member’s term along with the timeline for the superintendent search process.
Patricia Mims-Brooks will now serve out the remainder of Lynda Henderson’s term in District 9 after a unanimous vote by all present board members.
“It’s been my life’s work to serve children,” Mims-Brooks said following the session. “I did it when I was in Dallas with the Urban League of Greater Dallas, and currently, I serve on Teach One, Lead One for Ruston High School students — teaching them how to be better people in the world.”
Mims-Brooks and her husband Troy own Brooks Insurance Brokers and help seniors navigate Medicare.
“I am very happy to have the pleasure of welcoming Patricia Mims-Brooks join this board,” LPSB President Gregg Phillips said after the meeting. “She brings with her both a business background as well as experience in working on a school board in Texas, among other passions she has with volunteering time working with students.
“I have great confidence in her filling Mrs. Lynda Henderson’s spot on this board as she serves this School Board representing District 9.”
Henderson resigned in this month’s session to finish out her husband Joe’s term on the Lincoln Parish Police Jury after his passing last month.
“I’m very excited for Ms. Brooks to join,” Dr. Danielle Williams of District 1 said. “First of all, the respect we have for Ms. Henderson as a board member — we wanted to honor her wishes when she presented Ms. Brooks to us as far as education experience and pass for students. It was a no-brainer.”
Following the vote, the remainder and large chunk of the session was devoted to the search process for the new superintendent following Ricky Durrett’s announcement that he will retire on June 30, 2026.
Attorney Jon Guice reviewed the state law regarding the search process, which requires an ad to be run three times in consecutive weeks. Guice’s recommendation including running an advertisement in the LPSB’s journal of record, The Ruston Daily Leader, on Sunday, March 8, first, followed by an advertisement in a larger paper such as the Shreveport Times or Monroe New-Star on Sunday, March 15, and then one final time in the RDL on Sunday March 22. The advertisement will also be run on the Louisiana School Board Association’s website, the Louisiana Association of School Superintendents & Administrators website and the Louisiana Department of Education website.
The application period will officially close on April 3, 2026, and all applications received will go to a new Post Office Box that cannot be opened until April 7. No new applicants will be considered following that date.
“The reason we send the applications to a post office box is to, number one, make sure nothing gets lost,” Guice said. “Number two, we’re all humans. If somebody at the front desk is taking applications, they may (leak out) that so-and-so applied for the job, and nobody else is going to want to apply. If they’re locked up in a Post Office box, you don’t know who’s applied. There’s no pressure on someone not to apply because somebody else has. So we send them all to that Post Office Box, we get them at one time, and we vet them at one time.
“This board will get a list of everybody that applies. You’ll also get a copy of the letter from the (third-party) school district where it says they have reviewed the people who are qualified and certified.”
All of the applicants will then be sent to a third-party school board to verify that the applicants have the proper certifications. Once they have been verified, the board will then choose which applicants will be interviewed at the April 9, 2026, session at Cypress Springs Elementary at 12 p.m.
The approved timeline would allow the board to make a hire at the end of April should it choose to allow some crossover time with Durrett before his official retirement.
Williams also proposed a town hall component during the timeline for the public to meet applicants, which will be set at the April board meeting along with a selection date.
The school board will meet again on Tuesday, March 3, at noon at Choudrant Elementary School.
