St. Mary Parish School Board to hold public superintendent interviews April 30

The St. Mary Parish School Board voted April 2 to interview all five applicants for the superintendent position and scheduled public interviews on April 30, 2026, beginning at 2 p.m.

The five applicants received by the district are Emily Morton; J. Eina; James Russell III; Clarence Michael Robinson; and Rachel Sanders. Ms. Jones moved to interview all five applicants and the motion carried. Board members then discussed logistics and agreed to conduct one-hour interviews per candidate with a 10-minute candidate introduction, one question from each board member (with follow-ups permitted), and a 10-minute closing statement. A question bank will be provided to board members in advance.

Mr. Mancuso proposed, and amended, the schedule to start at 2:00 p.m. to accommodate breaks; the board approved the amended start time and decided to assign time slots by random draw so no candidate is advantaged by scheduling order. The first round of interviews will be public and streamed; the board may hold an executive session later to deliberate and discuss candidates privately as permitted by law.

The board also agreed to notify candidates by letter with their assigned times. The interviews are expected to run from 2:00 p.m. through the evening depending on follow-up questions and breaks; each interview is planned for approximately one hour.

Next steps: candidates will be notified of their interview times and the board will convene the April 30 public session for interviews; deliberations or any vote to appoint will follow the public process as required by policy.