Cayce Booher, Jeff Janette and Julia Williams awarded principals of the year for the Lafayette Parish School Board at their Dec. 11 meeting.

Photo by Charles Long

By Charles Long

@CharlieLong1698

The Lafayette Parish School Board revealed the three 2019 parish principals of the year, one from each level of schooling at their Dec. 11 school board meeting.

Associate superintendent Francis Touchet announced the winners selected by other district principals.

“Principals of the year are Cayce Booher from Prairie Elementary, Jeff Janette from Carencro Middle and Julia Williams from Northside High School,” Touchet said. 

Touchet also said the district was working with the Sheriff’s Office to find new approaches to combat bullying through educational videos.

“Our goal is to educate students about the seriousness of these actions and behavior,” Touchet said.

The Lafayette Parish Sheriff’s Office gave a sample of the presentation to the attendees at the school board meeting.

Among the topics discussed by the board was the approval to purchase two double classroom buildings for Southside High School with USDA funding.

District 9 representative Jeremy Hidalgo argued for the approval.

“I think this is a proactive step in the right direction,” Hidalgo said. “This money has to be spent on the Southside campus. I think this is the right way to go, and I’m asking for your sincere consideration.”

District 3 representative Elroy Broussard explained the reason he would not support the approval.

“It would be wise to use what buildings we have, and money would be best spent elsewhere,” Broussard said. “I think the money can be used in a better way.”

Five of the board members voted “yes” on this item, three voted “no,” and one abstained. 

The last meeting of 2019 was the final for two school board representatives. Hidalgo and District 7 representative Dawn Morris each reflected on the five years they spent on the school board.
Hidalgo addressed the accomplishments in his tenure, looking back at his five years on the board as successful.

“To say that my tenure on the school board over the last five years was rewarding is a gross understatement,” Hidalgo said. “The progress in District 9 over the past five years is unbelievable.”

“I hope you’re at the very least, proud of what we were able to accomplish with the facilities and the academics in this school district,” Hidalgo said. “We’re only on the way up. I want to thank the people that sent me here.”

Hidalgo will be replaced as representative of District 9 by Donald Aguillard, a former superintendent of Lafayette Parish schools.

Morris thanked the board members she worked with, acknowledging how tough some of the decisions they made were. 

“I want to congratulate all of the new board members,” Morris said. “The last five years have been extremely rewarding.”

Morris will be replaced by Kate Bailey Labue as the representative of District 7.