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Superintendent highlights NAEP gains, Harvard/Stanford case study and issues guidance for schools on immigration enforcement
Summary
Superintendent Dr. Eloy told the committee that Louisiana posted strong gains on the 2024 NAEP, said Natchitoches may be included in an Education Recovery Scorecard case study, reported a Provencal school award, and described attorney-reviewed guidance sent to principals on potential immigration-enforcement visits to schools.
Dr. Eloy, superintendent, opened the Feb. 4 committee meeting with state- and district-level academic updates and administrative guidance for school leaders.
On testing, Dr. Eloy said Louisiana moved from its historical rankings near the bottom of national NAEP results into the low 30s overall and highlighted fourth-grade reading and math gains. “We are no longer 40 ninth and fiftieth. We are now 30 second,” he said, adding that Louisiana fourth graders led the nation in reading growth for a second consecutive cycle and that several student subgroups posted gains above national averages.
Dr. Eloy said researchers who run the Education Recovery Scorecard (a program led by academics at Harvard and Stanford) contacted the district and completed a short case study on Natchitoches; the researchers plan to publish findings the week after the meeting and national outlets had expressed interest. He told the committee that NPR had reached out and that the district might be featured pending confirmation.
On local recognition, the superintendent said Provencal Elementary was one of five national finalists for a founders award administered by the National Institute for Transforming (NIT) and that the school received a $10,000 prize and could compete for a larger award; the district was completing required paperwork to receive the payment.
On federal policy and grants, Dr. Eloy said the district’s major federal grants (Title I and other formula funds) “are safe as of now,” but that the new presidential administration’s actions, including discussions about departmental reorganizations, could create future uncertainty. He said district attorneys at Hammond, Seals & Geist advised principals on responses if immigration-enforcement agents come to school sites and that the guidance treats immigration agents like other law enforcement but stresses contacting district leaders and legal counsel before releasing students. “When your child's at our school, it's not about their immigration status, it's about us providing for all kids in the same exact way,” he said.
Dr. Eloy told the committee the guidance was currently marked attorney-client privilege and that the district would work with its attorneys to produce a public summary of the operational steps principals should take; some board members raised concerns about how much of the guidance should be shared publicly because detailed procedural steps could be misused.
No board action was required on the superintendent report; staff said they would send requested details on the NIT award, grant-status updates and a public, non‑privileged summary of the legal guidance to the board.
