The Natchitoches Parish School Board voted 6:5 to close Cloutierville Elementary. Board members Willis, Graham, Danzy, Metoyer and Harris voted against closing the school.
Several residents from the Cloutierville community appealed to the board to keep the school open, to no avail.
Danzy motioned to look into keeping the school open as a virtual learning center. Metoyer called this idea “a sham to pacify parents.” “Once you close the school it won’t be reopened,” he said.
The motion however, was passed unanimously.
“Next year we’re gonna be right back in this same boat,” said Metoyer. “Which school will we be looking at closing then?”
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This is so sad. I was born and reared in Natchitoches and now I live in a town of about the same population in Texas. Our School Board members are elected and not paid. Why are the School Board members of such a poorly performing school district being paid? If there was no pay then only those truly interest in improving the educational opportunities for our children would be there.
The laws are complicated. Once established, a sitting Board cannot lower its own pay. Immediately prior to the last election, one school board member proposed lowering the members’ stipend to the minimum prescribed by law ($50 per meeting), to take effect during the upcoming term. The motion was soundly defeated. One member argued, “We have spent out of our own pocket for campaign expenses and need the money to pay us back for that.”
Elections are coming this fall. Drain the swamp.
There was no winner Thursday night at the meeting. I hate to see a school close, which hurts the community. My heart goes out to the community as well as the school board members who have been given the task to “fix” the budget and “make it happen”. Bottom line? It’s a state problem, not a parish problem. Look around people, the entire state is in an educational budget crisis. It is my prayer that the school board members can lay aside their own agenda for the good of the people and the parish.
It is a state problem, but many parishes are doing really well. Winn, Bienville and Desota for example. They have managed to keep their community schools open and thrive. I beleve last year a committee came from the Louisiana Department of Education and concluded that there was a lack of leadership in the system Very costly decisions and mistakes have been made that drained millions of dollars from the budget. Violation of hiring policy: 160, 000. Over spending on NPJH : 1.5 Million. I could name others but you get the point. No accountability.
The Natchitoches Parish School Board must be better that this, closing schools kills the entire soul/heart of said community. I graduated from St. Matthew High School in 1967 after transferring from Natchez School in 1965 both communities will never be the same. Closing St. Matthew was a good decision since sharecropping days was over and the entire black community was forced to leave. Natchez and Cloutierville is still a small historic community that deserves a chance to grow, Natchitoches Parish will loose it’s identity with all activities funded and centered around Front Street.
If those communities have not thrived yet they never will. Getting a Dollar General is not growth. Think about it.
just another example of the white man trying to keep us down !!
The hypocrisy of Mr. Metoyer voting not to close a school because of it’s educational value to the community, all the while he himself dropped out of that very school and never got a diploma.
Dale Skinner just lied through his teeth. When I was going to Magnet and NCHS (C/O 2012) I was bused in from Cloutierville and I was late periodically. I walked into class multiple times tardy/late due to bus issues. My bus rides were also ridiculous, in the morning I would need to catch the bus at 6:30 to maybe make the bell. The buses aren’t just their own bus, they have to wait for other buses to finish their routes and get to Cloutierville to unload their kids and load them on another. We live in the country, things happen, cattle gets free, trees fall, stuck behind combines, roads are horrible, there are so many factors in this. I really don’t understand how closing Cloutierville, yet leaving it in operation, will cause anybody anywhere to save any amount of money. Now that there are going to be an exponential amount of busses going back and forth to the City, where are the savings? Buses are surely not going to meet somewhere and consolidate children to a smaller amount of buses that isn’t a Natchitoches Parish School, so they all need to go in on there original buses.
Skinner lied? Only if his lips are moving. This on top of the fact that they gavevhim 18,000$ recently for car expenses! No teacher in the parish gets a travel allowance no matter how far they drive
Such a terrible loss for our students and the community! Thank you Mrs Willis, Rev Harris, Mr Danzy, Mr Graham, and Mr Metoyer for voting to save the school. Mr Danzy suggested making Cloutierville a Virtual Learning Center and it was unanimously approved! So the needed equipment should remain at the school for that plan of action! However it will take a year to put that in place. So for the next year the students will all be bused to schools in Natchitoches! I will be praying for a successful transition for students, teachers, support personnel and parents. I will also be praying 🙏🏻 that I can forgive some of the statements made that were not true and said to mislead the public !
The only consistent factor in the this failing system is the Board! By that I mean the white board members! They have the majority vote and continue to make poor and costly decisions. You dont see them closing the majority white schools. They single out the black board member’s schools because they can’t defend themselves.
hell you knew it was coming ! I am sure the board and skinner had minds
made up from the get go…very sad for the the kids,parents and community.
If Skinner cares so much about the kids and education why not take a pay cut ?
Four years ago one of the Board members proposed cutting Board pay in order to save $70,000 per year. Many of the same ones that voted to keep Cloutierville open defeated the much needed savings.
So where are the kids going to attend school at? How many miles with gas as expensive as it is will they drive and I’m sure what ever school they go to their busses won’t drive that far to pick them up… They will try goldonna next… these smaller schools are way better in my opinion, more one on one interaction between students and teachers… this is such a shame
My daughter will be home schooled this next school year
Absolutely despicable.
Closing a school damages the community. Look at Ashland, Martin, Clarence, etc. It goes on and on. Closing schools kills the area.
I agree and we all know he will be after Goldonna next which means kids from Ashland, Goldonna, Readhimer, etc will be forced to go to Fairview which is already over populated from what we here and most people won’t drive that far to take them to a city school in Natchitoches which my kids won’t go they will be homeschooled or moved to Bienville Parish.