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Students who attend a “D” or “F” school in Vermilion Parish can transfer to another parish school.
Superintendent Tommy Byler explained to the school board members that the state is now updating the Louisiana Public School of Choice rule.
That means that if a parent or legal guardian wants to transfer their child because they attend a school with a letter grade of D or F, the public school choice law lets that transfer happen.
Three Abbeville schools are D schools. They are Herod Elementary, Eaton Park Elementary, and J.H. Williams Middle School.
On Thursday, the school board is expected to approve the new Louisiana Public School Choice rule. After that happens, the central office will mail out letters to parents with students who attend the three Abbeville schools explaining their choices. After that, they have the month of March to decide if they want to transfer their students out of the D schools.
However, there is a catch.
The student transferring can transfer to schools that have the capacity to handle more students. Byler said the transfer is also by classes. He gave the example that one school has 14 spots for third graders. That means only 14 Herod Elementary students can transfer to that school.
Three middle schools have room for new students. A JHW student can attend Rene Rost Middle School in Kaplan, Forked Island/E. Broussard located south of Kaplan, or Gueydan High School.
The Abbeville elementary students have four elementary schools to select. Seventh Ward Elementary is located south of Abbeville, Rene Rost Middle in Kaplan, Indian Bayou Elementary, and Jesse Owens Elementary in Gueydan.
Byler said the letter the parents will receive will have the list of schools for them to select. Byler also said it would be the parent’s responsibility to get their child to their new school, not the school district.
Another catch the parent and student will have to weigh is that the transfer could only be for a year.
Byler said that if the two elementary schools and JHW make a C grade when the schools retake the state tests, the students who transferred will have to return to the Abbeville schools.
Byler said those who want to transfer would have to meet qualifications. For example, if the student has discipline issues at an Abbeville school, then the student will not be allowed to move to another school.

Late last year, the Abbeville City Council approved raises for members of the Abbeville Police Department.
Chief of Police Mike Hardy did not receive a raise at that time, nor does the position qualify for the 2% annual raise, as the salary is set by ordinance.
However, a raise could be coming.
During an Ordinance Committee meeting on Tuesday, the council approved a possible amendment to the ordinance, one that would set the chief’s salary at $85,000. That salary is currently set at $65,000.
Councilman Francis Touchet Jr. said such a raise would bring the chief’s salary closer to chiefs in nearby municipalities.
“When you look at some of these areas,” Touchet said, “there are some inequities.”
Touchet presented salaries for other departments:
• Crowley — $75,782.98
• Broussard — $85,639.22
• New Iberia — $85,855
• Youngsville — $86,985
• Scott — $92,663
“I’m not going to say we need to go to the top end of that,” Touchet said.
Touchet suggested $85,000.
“I say that we bring it up to at least that number,” Touchet said. “We would have a competitive salary for that particular position.”
In December of 2019, the council voted to give then Chief of Police William Spearman a raise, increasing his salary from $55,000 to the current $65,000. Hardy, who took office last July, did not make an official request for a raise.
“This is not Mike brining this to me,” Touchet said.
Mayor Roslyn White said that she agreed with a potential raise for the chief, but that $75,000 would be an appropriate figure.
“Chief, you’re well worth it,” White said to Hardy. “This is no reflection of you or any part of that. We took this job knowing what our salary was going to be. I do think there are some iniquities and that it is an underpaid position. We don’t have the revenue and growth that Broussard has, so I have some concerns over moving to that number. I would feel a lot better moving it to $75,000, plus the supplement.”
The chief receives an annual state supplement of $7,200. That is completely separate from the salary.
“That doesn’t even flow through our accounts,” Touchet said of the supplement. “That is what they get from the state.”
Councilman Carlton Campbell, Councilman Brady Broussard Jr. and Touchet voted in favor of $85,000. Councilman Tony Hardy, who is the chief’s brother, abstained from voting. Councilwoman Terry Broussard opposed.
“This is not reflection on you,” she told the chief regarding her vote. “I do agree with the $75,000 for the chief of police.”
The proposal will now go to a vote from the council at a future regular city council meeting. There will not be a meeting on Feb. 21, as that falls on Mardi Gras Day. The next scheduled regular meeting is Tuesday, March 7.
Touchet said the future factors into the raise.
“We need to make sure that we are taking care of the city not just for now,” Touchet said, “but for five, 10 and 15 years down the road. The chief does not get a 2% raise.”
The $13,000 that pushed starting salaries for officers to $40,000 is producing results, Chief Hardy added on Tuesday.
“We are receiving a lot of interest,” he told the council. “We have more than a dozen applications. That’s after zero in my first few months (in office).”
During the regular meeting, the council approved Hardy’s recommendation of three new hires. That puts the department at 27 members, five short of a full staff. Hardy said he is going to be selective in filling out the department.
“I’m looking bring in the best we can,” Hardy said.

The Vermilion Parish Sheriff’s Office Criminal Investigations Division is actively attempting to locate the above pictured juvenile, identified as Savannah Collins (15-year-old, Black Female, DOB – 12/16/2007).
Collins ran away from a foster residence in Abbeville, Louisiana. Collins was last seen leaving the residence on February 9, 2023, at approximately 0148 hours, possibly picked up by a dark colored SUV.
Collins, and her 5 siblings, were recently placed in foster care due to medical neglect in the custody of their mother. Collins was in temporary foster care in Abbeville, La for 10 days. It is believed that Collins ran away after learning DCFS was going to be placing her with a relative in Bunkie, Louisiana.
Collins is believed to be in Lafayette, Louisiana or Opelousas, Louisiana. Collins is entered into NCIC as Missing.
If she is located or anyone has any information, please contact Sergeant Josh Hebert at 337-898-4403, your local law enforcement agency or 911.

I’m a Tina Turner fan, but she got it wrong in her hit a few years back called “We don’t need another Hero.” The song goes on to say:
We don’t need to know the way home, ooh
All we want is life beyond Thunderdome.
A full life needs hope, inspiration, an understanding of the value of charity, and a following of the precepts of what is honorable. So yes Tina. We do need heroes.
I found my first hero when I was eleven. We visited, my hero and I, as a Saturday morning ritual. I would leave my house at 8:30 am, mount my prize possession: a Red & Black Schwinn Deluxe Hornet Bicycle. Then it was a five-block ride to the local Sears store. My mother, bless her soul, had given me a nickel to buy a bag of popcorn on the first floor of the store. Then it was up the stairs to the TV department when all the new TV sets were on display.
No, we didn’t have our own TV at home. None of the kids in my neighborhood did. So when I arrived at the displays of new black and white TVs, I propped down in a corner to watch my hero, the king of the cowboys, Roy Rogers. He fought the bad guys in each episode, riding the western plains on his golden palomino horse Trigger.
Author Bob Greene, a past guest on my syndicated radio show, pointed out to me that, besides his weekly fight for law and order, old Roy was also full of sage advice. In one episode titled “Uncle Steve’s Finish,” Roy warns young boys not to idolize flashy con men. “He found out that there’s the wrong kind of hero worship, and that his father the schoolteacher was a much better man and his uncle the outlaw.” Who could disagree.
Then in another Saturday show called “M Stands for Murder,” Roy advised how greed can ruin a person: “He didn’t want some money. He wanted all of it. You know, that’s the funny thing about greed. It sort of grows on you. It starts out when you’re young by wanting somebody’s baseball bat or football that doesn’t belong to you, then later on wanting somebody’s job. First thing you know, you’re wanting everything in sight.”
There is sound cowboy advice in just about every episode. In “Quick Draw,” a man bemoans that he might be a coward because he was reluctant to fire his gun. Roy comforts him by saying: “You’re not a coward. You just won a great victory over yourself. Maybe now you’ll know what guns are really for. To protect, not to kill.”
And in “The Scavenger,” my cowboy idol imparts the importance of generosity when he tells a skinflint: “The church needs a new steeple and the school could use a new library. Wouldn’t you rather the people remember Moses as the grand old man whose money did so much for the town?”
Roy rode the western plains with his cowgirl wife, Dale Evans, emoting this kind of wisdom on Saturday mornings, show after show. I continued to watch my icon until his series ended in 1957. I sure miss those peaceful Saturday mornings, my black Schwinn bicycle, the nickel popcorn, and getting an education about upbeat and optimistic living from my first hero, Roy Rogers.
It’s hard to be a real hero today because such heroes are often denigrated by cynics, including the media. Politicians succeed by tearing others down. Investor Ray Dalio points out: “The cynics are people who haven’t accomplished much themselves and stand on the sidelines while criticizing the heroes who are on the field of battle. Politicians are now more polarized than collaborative, more inclined to hurt each other than to be respectful, and more likely to vote along party lines than vote based on principles about what’s right and wrong.”
Heroes are more important than ever today. Not just to help us survive, but to help us thrive and bring out our very best attributes. Yes Tina, we do need heroes. And thank you Roy Rogers for being my inspiration over these many years.

Peace and Justice
Jim Brown