Education Guide 2023: St. Charles Parish school district focuses on teacher recruitment and retention, St. James Parish selects new superintendent

Top photo caption: The St. Charles School District plans to renovate Destrehan High School’s dining area before the 2023-2024 school year with a new ceiling design and canopy. Photos courtesy St. Charles Parish Public Schools.

The St. Charles Parish Public School District is focusing on recruiting teachers and developing a talent pipeline to educate its 9,500 students at its 15 schools and five centers.

St. Charles Parish is actively recruiting more teachers for its roster including mentoring and supporting university students and future teachers.

In May 2022, the St. Charles Parish School Board approved a 10% pay raise for full-time and permanent part-time SCPPS employees, making St. Charles Parish Public Schools the highest average teacher salary in the state at $64,842.

Marketing videos for teachers to apply to the district have become popular with tens of thousands of views, and the district’s human resources department collaborates with local universities to mentor and train future teachers through a residency, similar to student teacher semesters.

During the 2022-2023 school year, 25 teachers in St. Charles Parish Public Schools mentored and supported university students/para-educators.

Through a partnership between the district’s Human Resources and Special Education Departments, para-educators have the opportunity to attain a teaching license through Reach University in four years, while getting hands-on experience in the classroom.

“Twenty-two employees are currently participating in the program and will receive their certification in elementary and special education through this four-year-program,” said Regina McMillan, director of public information with St. Charles Parish School District.

Construction projects across the district at its nine elementary, four middle and two high schools over the next year include improvements to high schools’ digital media centers; finishing a roof replacement of Building C at Hahnville High School and the Satellite Center as well as the field house demolition at Eual J. Landry Educational Programs Center, all damaged by Hurricane Ida.

Specific projects that will be completed later this year include building an addition and floor replacement at R.K. Smith Middle School building, building an addition and renovation of East Bank Head Start Center and building a canopy, concrete and gate replacement at Mimosa Park Elementary School.

Bond issue projects in the design phase include a career and technical education facility expansion and renovation at Destrehan and Hahnville High Schools and a satellite center and digital media center and commons renovation at Hahnville High School.

Following a school safety audit, the district will implement a three-step plan that will add additional resource officers, facility safety enhancements, revisions to the crisis management and emergency response plans and surveillance system enhancements.

St. Charles Parish created a teacher recruiting video to develop a pipeline of future teachers.

St. Charles Parish Public Schools also recently introduced the community to a quarterly report entitled “The ABCs of SCPPS.” The report will be mailed to all addresses within St. Charles Parish four times per year to keep the community updated on school news.

In nearby St. James Parish, in early 2023, the school board voted for Chris M. Kimball as the district’s new superintendent. Kimball replaces Kelly Cook, who had been serving as interim superintendent since February 2022 following the retirement of Dr. P. Edward Cancienne.

Kimball was serving as the executive director of secondary schools in the St. Charles Parish School District where he has worked since 2019. He has a total of 13 years of administrative experience and eight years of teaching experience.

St. James Parish School District has 3,553 students in grades PK, K-12 with a student-teacher ratio of 13 to 1. According to state test scores, 75 percent of students are at least proficient in math and 79 percent are proficient in reading, as reported by Niche, a Pittsburgh-based company that runs an annual nationwide ranking and review of K-12 schools based on feedback from students, parents and teachers.

Over the summer, the district will complete regular maintenance to its nine schools, including repainting the gym floors at Vacherie Elementary.

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