Caddo Parish school-board visitors urge protections for staff on social media, object to stipend proration and question pupil-progression wording

Public commenters at the Caddo Parish School Board’s Sept. 16 meeting urged the board to clarify social-media and ethics rules for employees, asked the board to reconsider prorating a one-time stipend for employees on extended medical leave and requested clearer language in the 2025–26 pupil progression plan.

Those concerns were raised during the meeting’s visitor (public comment) section, which the board introduced by reminding speakers they have three minutes and that the board generally does not respond directly to individual speakers.

Betsy Levels, a visitor who identified herself at the microphone, criticized efforts to seek screenshots of employees’ online reactions after the death of a conservative commentator and contrasted punishment for celebrating a violent death with ordinary commentary. "Charlie Kirk was not an elected political official of any kind," Levels said, adding that she found his public statements “horrifying.”

Andrea Labor, who also spoke during the visitor section, said social-media and harassment calls online were creating “a culture of fear” among educators and asked the board to adopt communication or protections so teachers who “keep to their ethics” will not face censorship or retribution.

Jordan Thomas, president of Red River United, urged the board to protect a custodian who is undergoing cancer treatment and objected to the district’s decision to prorate a one-time state stipend and to deny a local stipend while the employee is on approved leave. Thomas told the board the employee "went on extended medical leave. That leave pays only 65% of her salary," and said the loss of the local stipend would further reduce her pay while she receives treatment.

John Glover, another visitor, addressed the proposed 2025–26 pupil progression plan and asked the board to clarify wording on promotion criteria. He noted that during board discussion the term "must" had been used, but the draft document says "should," and he asked whether that represented a substantive change. He also asked about the inclusion of a new scholarship program he called the "Louisiana Gator" scholarship, which he said the governor had recently signed into law and which he described as shifting taxpayer dollars to nonpublic uses.

Board attorney Abrams responded to an earlier question by saying the attorney general had given an oral opinion permitting voice votes and that the board could still record votes electronically. Superintendent Burton and several board members told speakers they would follow up: President Green asked staff and the attorney to meet with individual commenters after the meeting, and at least one board member suggested referring employees to the district’s human-resources director for policy details.

The board did not take immediate formal action during the visitor section; speakers were told staff or legal counsel could follow up after the meeting.

The visitor section preceded the board’s consent agenda and later votes during the meeting.