Parish councilman thinks school appointments favor east end

CENTERVILLE — Is the west end of St. Mary Parish, especially the black community in the west end, getting a raw deal from the public school administration?
St. Mary Parish Council member Craig Mathews thinks so. Mathews asked the board at its monthly meeting Thursday to form a citizens advisory committee. The committee would solicit advice from people throughout the parish and “consider those problems which vitally affect the future of our children,” according to a written statement submitted by Mathews.
The board delayed action on Mathews’ request on procedural grounds. But board President Michael Taylor said the district will prepare a review of his proposal, possibly before the March meeting.
At the heart of the Mathews statement — and printed in red ink — was the proposition that “the St. Mary Parish School Board shall urge the Superintendent to hire and promote teachers and administrators in accordance with, as much as may be practical, the racial population of East St. Mary Parish and West St. Mary Parish as originally defined and described by Judge Putnam in his Opinion and Order dated August 5, 1970. …”
The late U.S. District Judge Richard Putnam presided over school desegregation cases across south Louisiana, including Boudreaux v. St. Mary Parish School Board.
Mathews pointed to eight appointments to supervisor or assistant supervisor positions in the last 24 months, a period roughly coinciding with the time Leonard Armato has served as superintendent. All eight appointees are white, all come from the east end of the parish, and four are from Patterson.
“Moreover, there appears to be an atmosphere of social acceptance and friendship as a precedence in making such administrative appointments, to the extent that advertisements and qualifications listings are manipulated to fit the preferred candidates …,” Mathews said.
Among the board members, only Pearl Rack, who represents a west end district, responded directly. Rack made a motion to create the citizens committee Mathews requested.
But board legal adviser Eric Duplantis said the board couldn’t act because the Mathews presentation wasn’t on the agenda — the public’s notice about what action is up for board consideration — as an actionable item. Taylor followed up by calling for the district review and said it could be complete as early as the March meeting.