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School board hires law firm
Published Friday, October 9, 2009
VIDALIA — The Concordia Parish School Board passed a resolution Thursday that would allow the school district to hire a law firm specializing in immigration issues.
The reason for the resolution is one of the special education teachers at Ferriday Lower Elementary is not an American citizen and is working on a visa that is about to expire, Director of Academics Paul Nelson said.
Title 1 funds can be used for legal purposes related to the retention of employees in critical shortage areas, and Nelson said special education is a critical shortage area.
When board member Fred Butcher asked if there is any way for the school district to get the teacher agree to stay for a certain number of years after paying the legal fees, Supervisor of Special Education Mary Huhn said that legally there is not.
“She asked to stay, she is doing an excellent job and she told me she wants to stay in this area,” Huhn said. “It’s kind of a gentleman’s agreement.”
The teacher has been in the area for three years, and Huhn said that she could get the teacher to generate a non-binding letter of commitment.
The school board also discussed leasing three pieces of school district-owned property for hunting purposes.
One of the pieces of property was near Ridgecrest, and the other two were in the south of the parish, and Nelson said while he would not recommend the board allow hunting on the property.
“I don’t think the risk associated with it and the reward, when you weigh it out, will be worth it,” Nelson said.
When a board member asked Business Manager Tom O’Neal if requiring lessees to have an insurance bond would remove the school district’s liability for any accidents on its properties, O’Neal said it would not.
“You can’t contract your responsibility out,” he said.
Board member Raymond Riley made a motion that the school board would not lease land for hunting.
The vote passed 5-3, with members Mary Campbell, Daryl Price and Martha Rabb voting against it.
The school district has one piece of property, located in Frogmore, that is currently leased for both agriculture use and hunting. That lease has two years left before it expires.
Comments
Posted by 000117 (anonymous) on October 9, 2009 at 12:49 a.m. (Suggest removal)
If the School Board has enough money to hire a lawyer, why are the Schools in Vidalia trying to get you to buy this and that? The Teachers are saying the schools are not giving them enough money to purchase supplies for their classes. What is this?
Where is all of the money going from the lease of this property?
Posted by crawgator (anonymous) on October 9, 2009 at 5:12 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Deep inside someones pocket!
Posted by natashakubelikov (anonymous) on October 9, 2009 at 5:59 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Another scam to steal money for immigrants not paying taxes. Working the system,non-producers.
Posted by gottabehappy (anonymous) on October 9, 2009 at 6:14 a.m. (Suggest removal)
You got that right natashakubelikov!
Posted by SniperX (anonymous) on October 9, 2009 at 8:34 a.m. (Suggest removal)
If she wants to stay let her get her own lawyer. Why should the tax payers pay for it.
What? We can't find an AMERICAN to teach at the Ferriday Lower Elementary.
They say we need aliens in the country to take jobs American don't want. Does that include teaching our children?
But then again we are talking about Ferriday!
Posted by mom4life (anonymous) on October 9, 2009 at 8:42 a.m. (Suggest removal)
I do not understand the School Boards focus???? Shouldn't your schools be focused on EDUCATION???? I had to move back home and are very worried about my childrens' education. You wonder why your schools are one of the lowest in the country?? I will tell you---- you are more focused on things like immigrants, uniforms, punishment and where the child lives. Maybe some of the board members needs to visit other schools and spend time learning the right things to be concerned about and the right way to spend OUR money.
That money would have been wonderful to get all schools onto the same system and allow parents to keep in touch with their child through the parent/student web page. But no, the only time I hear from the school is when I owe money and my child breaks one of the ungodly rules. Maybe they really need to think about what they are doing and the future of our children.
Posted by Crakalakin (anonymous) on October 9, 2009 at 8:55 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Just....wow.
Posted by tdr (anonymous) on October 9, 2009 at 9:09 a.m. (Suggest removal)
I do not feel that hunting and schooling
go together. This is asking for trouble.
You are right, the focus should be on
education! Lord help our children!
Posted by winnlady (anonymous) on October 9, 2009 at 11:11 a.m. (Suggest removal)
There are BOUND to be good teachers in Concordia Parish and Adams County who would love that job! Why do we constantly outsource? There should be no excuse for this. If she wants to keep the job, she needs to go through the proper channels, pay whatever is required, and get a permanent visa or become a citizen. And that's all I have to say about that!
Posted by Krogers (anonymous) on October 9, 2009 at 2:13 p.m. (Suggest removal)
tdr, and the school board , Director of Academics, et al sound like a pack of knuckleheads to me
totally ridiculous for the school board to hire lawyers for a teacher to get her a green card or speed up the citizenship process, I don't want my tax dollars paying for that ( yes, I'm in Mississippi, so technically I don't have to worry, but for folks in LA, this is going too far,) HIRE A TEACHER FROM LOUISIANA!!!!!!!! Especially a fresh grad that went to school on the TOPS program....let them pay back that way...
and this business of NOT leasing that land for hunting due to liabilities in case of an accident - Counties and parishes have been leasing section 16 land for decades to hunting groups, what a bunch of morons that school board is listening to, the hunting would be voluntary and the individual hunters could easily accept responsibility for their own actions and waive any rights of suit.......any activity, whether hunting or bird-watching or agriculture , etc will have risks involved.....
bunch of sissies...
as a matter of fact , traditionally school lands have been logged with the land leased for timber, and logging is a VERY dangerous activity far more so than hunting.....
it's VERY troubling to me to hear this sort of illogical thinking coming from a SCHOOL BOARD....
Posted by msfixit (anonymous) on October 9, 2009 at 2:20 p.m. (Suggest removal)
I agree about outsourcing jobs. We need to hire locals. However, I know for an absolute fact that this teacher is paying for 95% of the cost and going through the legal channels (unlike thousands illegally). This teacher is contributing to our country by paying state/federal/local taxes. How many Americans do you know that won't work and are getting welfare? The American Way is working and paying taxes. Also, believe it or not - special education teachers are a shortage and I am sure if there were enough "good" and certified teachers in this area, they would be hired in lieu of looking outside the community, however; each year local school districts find that filling special ed. positions with certified/qualified teachers is a nightmare.
Posted by Krogers (anonymous) on October 9, 2009 at 2:27 p.m. (Suggest removal)
tdr- they wouldn't be hunting in the classroom you idiot,
the schools have land out in the parish that can be leased for whatever, hunting is a long time tradition in Concordia Parish, ...the schools need the money I would think ,
how many people got shot last year in Concordia Parish from hunting? I'd say there a good many more hurt or killed from domestic violence or street violence than from hunting....
this is the epitome of politically correct NONSENSE
Posted by jammin1 (anonymous) on October 9, 2009 at 2:52 p.m. (Suggest removal)
I think people are jumping the gun, so to speak, about things they have no full understanding of.
As for the teacher, she came to this country legally and has worked legally paying taxes for the last 3 years and has rooted to this area. If she is paying 95% of the cost for the specialized council then I have no problem with paying the other 5% from my tax dollars.
As for leasing land to hunters, some of the land mentioned is land locked, meaning that other people's property would have to be crossed to gain access. Not a good idea! That would lead to hunting on the wrong land, gates being left open or locks on gates being cut off.
A couple of pieces of land are butted against a neighborhood. NOT A GOOD IDEA AT ALL!
Also in this sue happy world if some idiot got shot on the land, even if the Leaser had insurance, the School Board would still held liable! That means our tax money would be at risk.
Look at the dummy that ran his 4-wheeler as fast as he could on a neighborhood road, hit a speed bump, wrecked and nearly killed himself and yet he sued the police jury for putting a speed bump in the road that his OFF ROAD vehicle wasn't supposed to be on in the first place!
I don't often agree with the board about anything, but on these two items, I do!
Posted by juju (anonymous) on October 9, 2009 at 4:45 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Krogers, As for the foreign teacher, Concordia is known for hiring people they 'LIKE' instead of qualified anyway. They make it difficult for locals who try to work in Ferriday which is already difficult in itself.
And leasing land for ballparks,like in Vidalia, in which Concordia children also utilize makes a whole lot more sense compared to leasing for hunting and having to retain a special, expensive lawyer. Ridiculous!!
Posted by Jbirdisback (anonymous) on October 9, 2009 at 6:47 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Let's see. She works, supports herself, contributes to our society in a positive way by teaching our children....i say not only should we let help her stay but we should import as many like her as we can find . I'll gladly spend my tax dime to assist a person like that. What we need to do is take some of these lazy worthless leeching babymaking simian-like thugs we've got that ARE american citizens but STILL can't speak english with their incoherent street babble, that won't work and stand on the corners with their pants hanging off their a$$ selling drugs and swap them out for about a half a million or so folks just like this lady. Now that's my opinion.
Posted by Pluto (anonymous) on October 9, 2009 at 6:58 p.m. (Suggest removal)
I agree Jbird. I am appalled at most of the comments. Don't any of you realize that this teacher is a perfect candidate for an American citizen? She's doing everything right and legally. This is not an illegal immigrant taking advantage of us. Her supervisor wants her to stay, so she must be doing a great job. Special Ed teachers are hard to come by, especailly good ones. As far as taxes go, if she is working legally and with her visa for the school board, she probably IS having taxes withdrawn. Wow, what a great display "southern hospitality" and intelligence in the comments. Remember, she is NOT an ILLEGAL. Most of us are from immigrant families if we go back far enough.
Posted by tdr (anonymous) on October 9, 2009 at 9:36 p.m. (Suggest removal)
That's what I'm talking about Jammin1
It could be asking for alot more trouble.
Posted by happyreader (anonymous) on October 9, 2009 at 9:45 p.m. (Suggest removal)
When I first read the article, I was unsure of how I felt about a school board doing this. But having thought about it some more, it seems to me to just be a good business decision. Like Pluto said, special ed teachers are very hard to find. And when I say "special ed teachers", I mean people who went to school specifically to study how to help special needs children and who consider that their life's work. Many schools end up plugging a special ed vacancy with someone who doesn't have those qualifications, simply because they can't find anybody who does. Then those people often end up leaving after a short period of time because they were never really cut out for the job to start with. What's better, to spend a little money on the front end to get to keep an employee who's qualified, good at her job, and considers it her calling... or save the money and have a revolving door of less qualified, less enthusiastic employees? (And yes, they usually do fall in one of those two categories.) Not to mention, what's going to help the students in that school learn better?
As far as the whole immigration angle goes, it doesn't offend me in the slightest that someone from another country has come here LEGALLY and is seeking to stay here legally to do a good job in her chosen field. We have a lot of home-grown Americans right here who could take a lesson from that example.
Posted by Gimmeabreak (anonymous) on October 12, 2009 at 1:45 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Natashablahblahikov, please explain how a special education teacher is a non-producer that is working the system? That is a very noble job that she does. Just what do you do besides complain?
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