Superintendent Lamont Cole used the Oct. 16 meeting to review districtwide initiatives and to introduce a principal presentation about Marydale Elementary School.

Cole told the board that district leadership completed in-person data reviews at roughly one-third of campuses and will report findings at the next meeting; he also reminded employees to complete open-enrollment selections by Oct. 31. The district has deployed visitor-management devices at an initial cohort of 20 schools and installed ProVision digital cameras on buses to improve transportation oversight, Cole said. He also said the district will partner with Louisiana State University on a four-year inclusive postsecondary model for students with intellectual disabilities, using a federal Transition and Postsecondary Programs for Students with Intellectual Disabilities (TPSID) grant.

Principal Casey Wells presented Marydale Elementary’s recent progress and strategies. She reported enrollment at about 270–273 students (pre-K through second grade) and said demographics are currently roughly 98% African American, 1% English learners, about 13% receiving special-education services (ESS), 1% with Section 504 plans, and about 3% experiencing homelessness. Wells said many kindergarten students are in their first year of school and that early childhood outreach and pre-K enrollment remain priorities.

Wells described classroom supports and instructional programs aimed at early literacy and foundational skills: daily Heggarty lessons, DIBELS (Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills) assessments with built-in intervention time, a co-teaching model with paraprofessionals in every classroom (approximately a 1:10 adult-to-student ratio), and the selection of a high-dosage tutoring program (Intervene) for the year. Wells said teacher attendance remained high (near 99% at the start of the year and about 94% in September) and overall school attendance rose to about 93%.

She also highlighted family engagement efforts — monthly virtual and in-person parent training sessions, literacy and math family nights, a big-buddy reading program with feeder schools, and community partnerships. Wells said LSU Lab School has donated supplies and agreed to partner on a student art auction; Atmos Energy committed to purchase a book-vending machine to increase home access to books, with Delta Sigma Theta funding the machine’s inventory for three years; VIPS (Volunteers in Public Schools) and Baton Rouge General were recognized for partnerships supporting literacy and workforce pipelines.

Board members praised the school’s progress and asked for details on parent involvement and PTO activity; Wells said the PTO is active and grandparents play a regular volunteer role. Cole said principals were already assembling lists of capital project needs in anticipation of funds approved by the board earlier in the meeting. The superintendent said the board would receive a report on the first 26 site data reviews at the next meeting.

The presentation concluded with board recognition of student and staff achievements and reminders about upcoming dates: a districtwide professional development day Oct. 17 and fall break days when schools would be closed.