Update: The school board decided to name Scott Richard as Superintendent in Acadia Parish.
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Monday night, The Acadia Parish School Board is one step closer to hiring its next superintendent. The current superintendent, John Bourque, will retire at the end of June after 52 years in education.
Three candidates went in front of the school board Monday for one-on-one interviews. Finalists each had a chance to give opening remarks followed by two rounds where each board member asked a question to the candidate.
First to the podium was Allen Blanchard. He has 27 years of experience in education as a teacher, principal and is currently the human resources, operations and transportation director in St Martin Parish.
"The superintendent in the district is much like the principal in the school. The principal sets the tone for the school. I understand as the superintendent I am responsible for the entire district and I have to be responsive to the people in the district and to the employees to the board members and to the residents and to the parents who live there," Blanchard said during his interview.
Next, was Ralph Thibodeaux an Acadia parish native with 29 years of experience in education as a coach, teacher, and principal of Abbeville High School. He is currently superintendent of Louisiana Special Schools.
"I think my ability to get to know people understand people and get to know people and form a team and become a family and the other thing is every place I’ve been I’ve been fiscally responsible," said Thibodeaux.
The last interviewee, Scott Richard. Richard is an army veteran with 23 years of experience in education. He served as a special education teacher, a school board member in St. Landry Parish and is currently the Executive Director of the Louisiana School Board Association.
"I think the ability to serve as executive director of the school board association and all the other previous positions I’ve held as school board member, working with at risk student the majority of my career, understanding the challenges that many students and parents face because of no fault of their own the experiences that I’ve had up to this point have prepared me to be a leader of this school system," Richard said.
The chosen candidate will start on as superintendent in July.
