VIDALIA — With two separate unanimous votes Monday night, the Concordia Parish School board approved to close the doors to Ridgecrest school and open the same doors to a magnet school.

The magnet school, which will educate kindergarten to fifth-grade students that are chosen by a lottery system, will have a math, science and technology focus.

The school will offer specialized courses and does not rely on school district lines, but rather can draw students from the entire parish.

The U.S. Department of Justice granted approval on May 4 for the magnet school proposal.

Since the parish is under a federal desegregation order, the proposal will face its final approval by a desegregation judge in the coming months.

But Superintendent Loretta Blankenstein said judges generally side with the Justice Department, and that she has high hopes the school will be ready to mold young minds in August.

“We’ve had to move really fast with all these steps, but we have so many good people working on everything, and we’re all just really excited to move forward,” Blankenstein said after the meeting. “This is an opportunity for our children — in a rural parish — to have the same opportunities that children in larger parishes have.”

And while the board’s approval means new opportunities for some students, Blankenstein said she also understands the frustration some residents will express about the closing of Ridgecrest school.

“I know that Ridgecrest is a family out there, and I actually started teaching at Ridgecrest myself, so I do understand the relationships out there and the relationship the community has with the school,” Blankenstein said. “But this is a way to move Concordia Parish forward.”

In an effort to inform all concerned parish residents, Blankenstein said the school board will have meetings at each school to answer all questions and provide more information.

School board officials will meet at:

• Ridgecrest School at 6 p.m. on Wednesday.

• Ferriday Lower at 5 p.m. on Monday

• Vidalia Lower at 6:30 p.m. on Monday

• Monterey School at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, May 23.

“We want to make sure we get all the information out to parents and anyone who has questions or concerns,” Blankenstein said. “We’ll discuss what parents need to do to apply, and also if they’re not interested in applying, what the situation for their children will be.”

Students currently enrolled at Ridgecrest are encouraged to fill out an application to be selected, but if they are not drawn in the lottery they will be sent to Vidalia or Ferriday.

There are 20 slots available per grade level, Director of Academic Programs Paul Nelson said.

While there will be no entrance requirements for the first wave of students, Nelson said a 2.5 GPA would likely be required for students to remain at the school.

A clean discipline record will also be required for students to remain at the school — three strikes and a student would be put out of the school.

Other things such as attendance records and parent participation will also factor into students being allowed to stay in the school, Nelson said.

The deadline for submitting an application is June 11.

The school board will also begin interviewing candidates for teaching positions Thursday and Friday.

But one current Ridgecrest employee doesn’t have to worry about her employment security.

Ridgecrest Principal Nancy Anders will continue at the school as the magnet school’s director.

“We talked with our board members and all our administrators, and we feel that she will be the best fit for that school,” Blankenstein said. “She has an extensive background and is already heavily involved with the community.”

In other news from the school board meeting:

• The board approved the hiring of Ferriday High School Principal Michelle Bethea as the parish’s supervisor of child nutrition.

Blankenstein said the appointment does not go into effect until July 1.

The school board will begin advertising and interviewing candidates for principal of Ferriday High School.

• The board approved an early school dismissal time of 12:30 p.m. for May 21.