Alfred announces for District 3 School Board seat

The following is a candidate announcement from Kenneth E. “Kenny” Alfred.
I, Kenneth E. “Kenny” Alfred, have decided to run for the District 3 position of the St. Mary Parish School Board. The district encompasses part of Bayou Vista and also includes parts of Baldwin and Charenton. When discussing my possible candidacy with my neighbors in Bayou Vista, I quickly realized that no one knew who their School Board representative is presently or that the district extended to the western end of the parish. To me, this lack of knowledge about our school district is a problem.
One may ask how I will represent the western end of my district. I have been dealing in one way or another with the entire parish since I was 15 years old, when I joined many friends from the western end on Sheriff Chester Baudoin’s summer recreational baseball league, a league that I was later chosen to administer by Herman Borne for several years.
I have since been elected and served as a parish councilman, representing both ends of the parish. Serving as a parish councilman allowed me the opportunity to work with a multi-million dollar budget which will be invaluable to the same responsibility with the School Board. My advanced degrees in education have served me well as I again have served St. Mary Parish both as a public school and private school principal. Between these two principalships, I served in educational administration as the junior and senior high school supervisor and director of athletics for the entire parish. I was the chairman of the board of directors for the now defunct East St. Mary Chamber of Commerce and I am very proud of being instrumental in the merger of both the East and West end chambers and serving as the first chairman of the board of the new, unified chamber. This merger was and still is extremely important in the relationships of the businesses of our entire parish. One last involvement that has joined me to both ends of the parish has been my service as a fourth degree Knight of Columbus and membership in the Monsignor J. J. Rousseau Assembly covering the entire parish. I feel as though I have been successful in all of these endeavors and would enjoy the opportunity to again work with both ends of our parish.
These experiences, especially my 20 years in educational administration, have prepared me for service to our school system as a member of the board. While serving as principal of Morgan City High School, I was elected to the executive committee of the Louisiana High School Athletic Association and served as vice-president for three years, and also served as chairman of both the Finance and Hardship Committees. Since my official retirement from the school system, I have returned to the classroom, first as a full time teacher, then as a long-term substitute replacing math teachers who were out temporarily on maternity leave. Not only has this kept me abreast of what is happening in the classroom, it has also allowed me an opportunity to remain knowledgeable with current affairs in education including, but not limited to, the controversial “Common Core Curriculum,” system finances, and personnel and maintenance issues. These teaching experiences the last six years have complemented my earlier preparation for a School Board position.
I have been married to Judy Aucoin Alfred, a retired public school teacher, for over 43 years, and I have three children, Michele, Kenneth J. “Butch,” who has served two tours in Iraq with the Army, and Jacob, all products of our St. Mary Parish public school system. I have been in education for approximately 39 years and have always loved our school system. I am humbly asking the voters of District 3 for their support in the election on Nov. 4. I will always be available to those in our district interested in the administration of our schools.