Crowley High students promote teacher recruitment in PSA; Acadia Parish board approves calendar, Head Start refunding

Crowley High School students presented a public-service announcement urging greater recruitment and support for teachers at the Acadia Parish School Board’s regular meeting on March 11, 2025, and the board approved several routine administrative items including the 2025–26 school calendar and a Head Start refunding application.

The students from Crowley High’s Educators Rising program — Tristan Thunderberg, Jesslyn Anderson, Zoe Giles and China Williams — described a multimedia campaign, including a short video and live presentation, aimed at encouraging people to consider teaching as a career and to increase respect for the profession. “Our slogan, ‘young teachers, bright future,’” the students said, “was created with the intention of our generation’s impact with the future in mind.” The presentation noted national and state statistics to frame the issue: the students said that 44% of public schools have reported teacher vacancies, that about 163,000 inexperienced educators were reported in 2023, and that Louisiana ranks among the states with high rates of uncertified teachers. The presenters also cited a national figure of about 3.8 million educators and said only 12% report being satisfied with their jobs; they tied low pay, classroom behavior and workload to recruitment and retention problems.

Why it matters: board members and the student presenters framed teacher recruitment as a local and statewide staffing challenge that can affect classroom quality and student outcomes. The students argued for higher starting pay, expanded school-funding flexibility and improved supports for teachers, and they urged engagement with state-level bodies such as the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education in Baton Rouge.

Board action and routine business: after the presentation the board conducted its regular agenda and approved a series of routine items. Among items the board approved were the minutes of the Feb. 4, 2025 regular session and committee minutes dated Feb. 18, 2025; permission to hold the April 1, 2025 board meeting at the Acadia Parish Educational Center; an out-of-state travel request for Ray High School’s Beta Club to attend the National Beta Convention in Orlando, Florida, June 22–26, 2025; and acceptance of the recommendation to submit a noncompeting Head Start refunding application for program year 2025–26. The board also voted to advertise for hunting lease bids on a 142-acre tract (Section 16, Township 7 South, Range 1 East, Perchville area) and approved the 2025–26 school calendar. The board received routine consent items including personnel assignment changes and a sales-tax report for February showing a 1.75% month decline and a 1% decline year-to-date.

Votes at a glance: the meeting record shows each motion carried by voice vote (ayes), with no roll-call tallies provided in the transcript.

Context and next steps: board members praised the Crowley High students for their work and presentation; the board’s next meeting was set for April 1 at the Acadia Parish Educational Center. The Head Start refunding application and the hunting-lease advertising are administrative steps that proceed to program or procurement processes described by staff, while the students’ presentation refocused attention on recruitment, pay and support for teachers as topics that board members and community members may raise in future discussions.