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Search for new superintendent will begin this Wednesday

The search to find a permanent superintendent for Vermilion Parish will begin next Wednesday in a special meeting.
At the end of a three-hour regular meeting on Thursday, a special meeting was called for Wednesday. The meeting will be for the school board members to be educated on hiring a new superintendent.
Three school board members have been through the process of hiring a superintendent.
Board members Kibbie Pillette and Dale Stelly were on the board in the early 1980s for the hiring of superintendents Norman Romero and Eston Hebert. That was just under 40 years ago, long before Act 1.
School Board member Chris Gautreaux was a school board member when former Superintendent Jerome Puyau was hired in 2012.
On Wednesday, the board members will be educated on the laws and procedures of hiring a superintendent by school board attorney Bob Hammonds.
Hammonds was at last Thursday’s school board meeting. He gave board members advice on how they should conduct business in the future.
Hammonds said it would be a “high-quality” person who will be applying for the position.
“I would encourage the board members to put your best foot forward,” said Hammonds.
Since the beginning of January, Brad Prudhomme has been acting as the interim superintendent.
The process of hiring a new superintendent could take at least two months.
Last year Vermilion Parish was ranked as the No. 2 school district in the state of Louisiana. It has risen from No. 13 to No. 2 under Puyau. For the last three years, Vermilion Parish has been ranked at No. 6 or higher in the state.
In December of 2019, Puyau and the school board agreed to drop lawsuits between one another if Puyau would step down as the superintendent but continue to receive his $12,000 a month salary as a consultant to the interim superintendent.
That agreement will continue through September of this year.

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