Board members, counsel outline why two seats lapsed; board asks officers to design a process to prevent repeats

BATON ROUGE, La. — On Sept. 9 the Board of Directors of the Special School District heard legal explanations and public comment after two previously seated members were removed when their terms were not confirmed by the Louisiana Senate.

Ty Minari, general counsel for the district, told the board that three actors are involved in appointing and seating SSD board members: SSD (through the superintendent and board leadership), the governor’s Office of Boards and Commissions (which forwards gubernatorial appointments), and the Louisiana Senate (which confirms appointments). Minari said the most recent removals occurred because the final step — senate confirmation — did not occur in the required legislative sessions; he called it "absolutely unacceptable" that the two members learned of a lapse in their terms "moments before a board meeting started."

Whitney Green, SSD executive counsel, explained the statutory framework and the timing rule for confirmation. She cited Louisiana Revised Statute 24:14 (the Senate confirmation process) and La. R.S. 17:1945.1 (the SSD authorizing statute), and said that if an appointee is not confirmed during the appropriate legislative sessions after a new appointing authority takes office the appointee is "deemed rejected" under state law. Green said the board and district staff are working with the governor’s office to identify candidates for vacant seats and that filling those seats will require coordination with boards-and-commissions staff and, ultimately, the Senate.

Board members and attendees raised concerns about the lack of timely notification and tracking. Minari and district leaders acknowledged a communication and tracking failure and proposed a forward-looking fix: the board voted unanimously to direct the board officers (president, vice president and secretary/treasurer) to develop and bring back a formal process to track member terms, solicit nominees as needed, and coordinate with the governor's boards-and-commissions office to avoid future lapses. The board asked that proposal to be returned for action at the November meeting.

Community commenters called for stronger deaf representation on the board. Jay Ish of the Louisiana Association of the Deaf said, "We need deaf representation on the board, period," and urged the board to apologize to the two removed members and to pursue replacements with sensory-disability community involvement. Jana Broussard of the Louisiana Commission for the Deaf said the commission submitted nominations in June 2024 but that boards-and-commissions staff did not reconfirm outreach to the commission for the 2025 session; she offered to work with the board on next steps. Jerry Pilch, a parent of a deaf child, urged the board to consider statutory geographic limits that can block qualified parents and suggested pursuing legislative changes to permit greater flexibility.

Why it matters: Board composition affects governance and the district’s ability to act on budget, personnel and program decisions. The statutory appointment-and-confirmation process involves outside offices the board cannot control; the board’s request that its officers design a tracking process is an internal step to reduce the risk of future lapses.

Ending: The board directed officers to prepare a recommended process for review at the next meeting and said staff will continue working with boards-and-commissions and the governor’s office to identify qualified nominees for vacant seats.