December 16, 2024 • 31 mins
What if your child could thrive in a school district that prioritizes both academic excellence and community engagement? Join us as we chat with Ben Necaise, Superintendent of Zachary Community Schools, who shares his insights on navigating educational rankings, implementing innovative teaching strategies, and preparing our schools for the future. You'll hear firsthand how the Zachary Community School District maintains its high standing amid changes in the Department of Education's ranking system and get a sneak peek at upcoming statewide shifts that could impact schools across the board. Ben also offers a personal glimpse into his holiday hopes, his son's dynamic high school journey, and his passion for dispersed camping, all while reflecting on how his Army National Guard service has shaped his leadership in education.
Together, we tackle pressing challenges like fluctuating student populations and school overpopulation fears, armed with smart solutions like early intervention strategies and the Steve Carter funds for enhanced tutoring. Hear about the exciting introduction of the Leads teacher evaluation program, set to offer a more nuanced approach than the previous Compass system. We also discuss the district's strategic plan to ensure a well-rounded student experience, optimize resources, and enhance teacher compensation. With a focus on keeping the community engaged and informed, Ben emphasizes the power of collective effort and partnership in pursuing these goals. Don't miss this enlightening conversation that highlights the resilience and forward-thinking nature of Zachary Community Schools.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Ben Necaisse (00:05):
I'm Ben Necaisse, superintendent of Zachary
Community Schools, and keeplistening to Porch and Parish
the podcast.
Jen Gennaro (00:11):
What's up, zachary?
We are back with anotherexciting episode, broadcasting
from our headquarters right herein downtown Zachary.
Our team is working hard on thewinter print issue of Porch and
Parish.
While visions of sugar plumsdance in our heads, there's so
much going on in town duringthis holiday season, so make
sure to visit porchandparishcombackslash calendar so you don't
miss a thing.
(00:32):
If you're interested in placingan ad with us in 2025 or have a
fun story, idea or event to addto the calendar, reach out to
editor at porchandparishcom orcall 225-324-9515.
Today we are joined by ZacharyCommunity School District
Superintendent Ben Necaisse.
(00:52):
We'll be talking about therecently released Department of
Education rankings.
In case you missed it, the ZCSDno longer holds the top ranking
, but we're still pretty high upthere.
Superintendent Necaisse isgoing to break it down for us
and explain what this means howthe scores are tallied to begin
with and the upcoming statewidechanges to how schools are
ranked.
I'm Jen Gennaro, founder andeditor of Porch and Parish, and
(01:14):
your host for today.
We bring you the best ofZachary and the Development
North region through candidconversations every Monday from
our headquarters right here onVirginia Street.
This is fortune parish, thepodcast.
Stay tuned, we'll be right backwith the lightning round.
(01:32):
I'm Carrie Godbold, your top producing local realtor here in
Zachary for over 15 years.
If you're looking to buy orsell real estate or just have
questions about the real estatemarket, give me a call or send
me a text 225-936-4898.
Jen Gennaro (01:50):
All right, lightning round.
So what do you want forChristmas?
Ben Necaisse (01:55):
Well, I want the same thing every year, and that
is to have just a relaxingtwo-week vacation.
For school administratorsespecially, but even teachers,
that two-week period atChristmas is truly downtime, as
opposed to, summers are usuallyextremely busy and hectic, so
that two-week period forChristmas is really when we get
a chance to take a break.
Jen Gennaro (02:15):
It does feel like the whole world kind of shuts
down for a minute.
So that's nice, all right.
If you were a student atZachary High, which electives
would you take?
Ben Necaisse (02:30):
That's a great question.
I have a son who's a seniorright now and he's going to be
graduating this year and I'vewatched him and he's been able
to take, honestly, just thiswell-rounded course load
opportunity.
So he's taken everything fromAP classes, but then he also had
a chance to dabble in businessclasses.
He had a chance to go intoculinary stuff.
So I think as a high schoolstudent, I would have done the
same thing, taking advantage of,like, the welding classes, but
(02:54):
also academic classes, andthat's one of the things that
makes Zachary High special.
Is this truly a comprehensivehigh school?
So the whole goal is you're notgoing to be college or career
ready.
You should be college andcareer ready.
Jen Gennaro (03:10):
Cool.
In one of our early interviewswith you, you told us your
favorite hobby is dispersedcamping.
What does that mean?
Ben Necaisse (03:16):
Yeah well, it also goes by the name of primitive
camping too.
You'll see it interchanged, andbasically it means going out
into a national forest or anational wildlife area and just
camping out outside of the camparea.
So you know, you can, you canget approved to do that and you
literally just kind of go off onyour own beaten path.
(03:37):
So there's no hookups, there'sno power, You're literally just
kind of camping out there onyour own?
Jen Gennaro (03:44):
What's the?
What's your favorite meal thatyou've ever cooked in the woods?
Ben Necaisse (03:49):
Probably steak.
Jen Gennaro (03:51):
Simple and easy, yeah.
Ben Necaisse (03:53):
Simple and easy.
Jen Gennaro (03:55):
All right, and our last question for the lightning
round how did your years servingin the Army National Guard
prepare you for a career in theclassroom and later at the helm
of an entire school district?
Ben Necaisse (04:06):
Yeah, there were really a lot of parallels.
I was a platoon sergeantespecially during our deployment
to Iraq and Baghdad was incharge of a platoon, ran combat
patrols and really kind of beingin this almost middle position
of you know you were supportingand leading soldiers but at the
same time you are getting ordersand distilling out information
(04:30):
you know from superiors as well.
So trying to find that balanceof support and also you know
responsibility and I saw thatreally fit well as a principal.
It was the same thing.
You know you have districtstaff or state that's giving
mandates, you're trying tosupport in the trenches with
teachers as well and so reallyjust kind of that same role.
(04:51):
So still see it as directsupport in the trenches but at
the same time being able to youknow, manage and support as well
wonderful.
Jen Gennaro (05:02):
now.
That is it for the lightninground.
We will be right back.
All right, we are back withSuperintendent Ben Necaisse.
And now to get to the meat ofthe interview.
Mr Necaisse, first please givethe audience a brief
introduction to our schooldistrict.
How many schools and how manytotal students?
Ben Necaisse (05:21):
Yeah.
So Zachary Community Schools isreally just what I would call
in a sweet spot of districts.
We're large enough where wehave about 5,500 students.
We have seven schools, so we'reable to scale things that
smaller districts can't do, butat the same time we're also not
too large where you just kind oflose that personal community
(05:42):
school feel.
One of the special things aboutour school district as well is
that students matriculatethrough all the grade levels,
starting at pre-K all the waythrough 12th grade together.
So we have schools that areusually about two grade levels
apiece and so, again, you'llprogress through first, second
grade, Then you'll go to third,fourth, third, fourth, fifth,
(06:04):
sixth, seventh, eighth and thenhigh school.
But it gives you thatmatriculation and you know
you're able to move together andyou're able to have all the
experiences and all the supportsthat come with providing that
to every student.
Jen Gennaro (06:21):
And before delving into the rankings, let's
highlight some of the keyachievements Louisiana schools
have made overall this year.
Ben Necaisse (06:28):
Yeah, so one of the things that Louisiana did is
, you know, especially afterCOVID, louisiana schools had a
chance to go back a lot earlierthan most schools or school
districts in the countrydistricts in the country.
So again, we had a lot ofsafety protocols in place just
yeoman's work from staff toteachers to facility team
(06:50):
members to make sure kids couldgo back safe.
That allowed us to really kindof get a jump in advance.
Even as soon as today there'sbeen reports about NAEP testing,
which is national comparisonsthat show Louisiana really has
accelerated well and came inabout fourth place in 2022 after
COVID, showing that we didn'tsee as much learning loss.
(07:12):
But we still know there's stillissues or things where students
did lose learning or did loseopportunities, especially at the
younger grade levels.
The other thing Louisiana isbeing noted for, and our
districts as well, is studentsare doing better in reading.
So we're starting to reallypush the envelope with the
science of reading philosophy.
(07:33):
That's something that we'veadapted.
We've mirrored a lot of whatactually Mississippi is doing
and they have seen tremendousgrowth in reading based on kind
of going back to the basics andgoing back to phonics
instruction and some more directinstruction, along with several
other supports as well.
So that's been something that'sbeen a great part of Louisiana
(07:53):
and our local school districtsas well.
Jen Gennaro (07:57):
Now tell us, how are school performance scores
tabulated?
Ben Necaisse (08:00):
Yeah.
So the measure at theelementary and middle school
levels is pretty simple.
About 65% of their evaluationcomes from the spring test that
everybody's familiar with, sothe LEAP test.
65% is based on the number ofstudents that hit especially at
those higher levels of masterybands and above.
(08:21):
We also have a 25% component ofgrowth.
So this looks at students notjust where they achieve, but if
they've grown past, either mettheir target or exceeded their
target for growth.
And then there's been a 5%piece that call is called
interest and opportunities,which looks at is the school
(08:42):
offering.
You know, everything from artsor STEM programming or other
opportunities for kids.
So that's pretty basic and it'skind of understandable.
When you get to the high school,that gets much more complicated
.
You have entire quadrants thatare based on ACT index.
You have quadrants based on theend of course test.
(09:02):
You have graduation ratesincluded in there.
You have quadrants based on theend of course test.
You have graduation ratesincluded in there.
You have what's called strengthof diploma, so how many
credentials or dual enrollmentcredits a student earns in high
school.
And then you have a 25 or 20percent piece of the grad cohort
.
Is a kid graduating on time infour years, and then they then
(09:24):
have a 5% interest andopportunity.
So the high school piece ismuch more complicated.
Jen Gennaro (09:30):
Now, in what areas did Zachary schools meet or
exceed expectations in this data?
Ben Necaisse (09:35):
Yeah.
So a lot of things that we saw,especially our graduation
cohort rate is well above 97%,which is great.
So kids who come in orgraduating in four years and
exiting well, we do well instrength of diploma.
So a lot of our seniors, wellover three quarters of our
students, not only get a diplomabut they get a credential.
(09:56):
So they're earning dualenrollment, ap credit,
industry-based certificationswhen they exit, which again
builds that whole child kind ofexperience.
So we see that.
And then we also do really wellin general in the achievement
piece.
Our kids achieve well.
But what we're seeing is atrend of we do have students who
(10:19):
are, you know, kind of cominginto different grade levels,
which I know we'll talk about,and we're having to work with
them quickly to try to get themcaught up.
But we do really well in growth.
So we were number two inkindergarten or third grade to
eighth grade growth.
So when students come into ourdistrict we do a great job of
(10:39):
growing them and getting them toachieve their potential.
Jen Gennaro (10:43):
And explain to us how the waiting system works,
will change next year.
Ben Necaisse (10:48):
Yeah.
So and this is a littlecomplicated because what people
will see is our scores arereported a year behind.
So when we got our score reportin November, that is actually
from the data used the previousyear and in some cases with
graduation data it's actuallytwo years ago.
So it's sometimes it'sconfusing.
(11:10):
So what they will see in nextNovember, november 2005, is the
score report for this year andthat will stay the same.
However, when we go back toschool in August, that starts
the clock on the newaccountability system, and that
system in many ways is good inthe sense that it has gotten
very clean and simple tounderstand.
(11:34):
So, generally speaking, theinterest and opportunities
pieces and all these othercomponents will disappear and at
the elementary and middle level, it will only be achievement.
So how well kids do on the LEAPtest and then growth how well
they grow on those tests.
Leap test and then growth howwell they grow on those tests,
(11:56):
the biggest change being growthbecomes 54% of the score as
compared to 25% right now.
So the majority of the scorebecomes growth.
So the state wanted to put anemphasis on we understand kids
are at different levels and maybe struggling and we can't
necessarily affect multiplegrades of improvement in a year.
But what we can do is get themto their target and above, and
(12:18):
that's where we're going tofocus Now.
The high school is much, muchdifferent.
A lot of the things wementioned the interest in
opportunities, dual enrollment,ap graduation rates, all of
those things ACT will all nowcollapse into 25% Right now.
(12:38):
That's making up 75% of thehigh school score.
It's much more comprehensive.
All that will be folded intojust 25%.
At the high school theend-of-course test will now
become 75% of the high schoolgrade and that's important to
understand because at the highschool there's only six courses
(13:00):
that students have to take forthe state to pass to graduate,
and that is those end-of-coursetests, tests.
That is so.
It's Algebra 1, geometry,english 1, english 2, american
History, which is turning intoCivics for the test, and then
(13:20):
Biology.
So, interestingly, 75% of thecourses will come, or 75% of the
high school score will come,from those six courses, which
make up sometimes only six outof almost 200 courses at a high
school.
The other thing that'sinteresting about that is
students only have to pass oneor the other in those buckets.
(13:44):
So once I pass Algebra 1 withan approaching basic not even a
mastery score, then I've checkedthe box for graduation and I
don't have to pass geometry.
So it becomes contingent onteacher relationship, pushing
students to really do their bestand incentivizing, saying hey,
really this is important forthem to take that next test very
(14:07):
seriously.
So again, lots of changes andthere'll be a lot of emphasis
placed on a handful of teacherswho teach those courses.
So we're having to thinkthrough how do we prioritize and
give those teachers moresupport, even compensation and
things to make sure that they'resupported as they become much
(14:28):
more of an accountability system.
Jen Gennaro (14:31):
And those end-of-course tests.
We're just talking about finalexams.
Ben Necaisse (14:36):
Yeah, it's similar to that.
In fact, in those six EOCcourses it replaces a final exam
, so basically it will count forabout 15% of a student's final
grade.
That's part of the incentive tomake sure students it's still
important.
But basically it's a statestandardized test so they go
into a state testing environment.
(14:57):
It's a locked environment,teachers don't have access to
questions.
Of course we teach thecurriculum and the content, but
it's a standardized test, justlike the LEAP, and then students
take that and compare it totheir peers across the state
just like the LEAP, and thenstudents take that and compare
it to their peers across thestate.
Jen Gennaro (15:18):
How do you think?
Ben Necaisse (15:19):
the shift in weighting from performance to
growth will benefit Zacharystudents and educators.
Again, one of the things that wesee is that we see great growth
at the elementary and middlelevels.
One of the areas we're going towork on is growth at the high
school level.
But part of the challenge thereis through our demographic
study and also through just ourstudent enrollment counts.
What we see is more parents aremoving in at the middle and
high school level.
(15:39):
So when we have a student whomoves in and, for example, we
have a pretty good bit you knowin recent years close to 75
students who may come to ninthgrade for the first time as
Zachary students.
So when they enroll in ninthgrade they're immediately in an
Algebra 1 and an English 1 class.
And so if they havedeficiencies or they're coming
(16:01):
in with struggling to possiblyread or have other deficiencies
in math or other subjects, we'vegot a short amount of time
before that March, april, reallyApril to get them ready for an
end-of-course test.
And so we're thinking about howwe provide more supports for
those students very quickly,identify them if they have needs
(16:22):
and make sure they're ready.
Jen Gennaro (16:26):
So you've mentioned a demographic shift, with more
students parachuting in atdifferent grade levels.
How are you addressing theunique needs of students who
join the district midstream?
Ben Necaisse (16:36):
So one of the things and ideally what you want
is, as students matriculatethrough your school system,
especially if they enter at thelower grade levels, especially
in those grade levels likekindergarten, first, second,
where you're learning to read,you have a lot more chances to
intervene with them.
Moving forward from third gradeup, we call it reading to learn
(16:58):
.
So now the focus shifts fromyour teaching reading to now
students are having to read forcontent.
So I Again, as we see studentsnow starting to matriculate in
at much different grade levels,we're having to identify them
quicker through differentassessments and screeners and
(17:18):
then immediately start doinginterventions.
So we do have strongintervention plans that are
built in during the school dayfor students to either receive
pull-out supports or, in manycases, in-class support.
So you may see a classroom withtwo adults in it and one's
teaching a larger group, one'sdoing smaller pull-outs within
(17:38):
the class and rotating students.
We also are doing part of theSteve Cartering tutor, so we're
supporting parents as they makechoices to go into tutoring with
Steve Carter funds.
And then we also have, you know, outside of that, tutoring and
supports outside of school,after school hours in a lot of
(18:00):
cases, and we're doing supportswith that.
So there's a lot of opportunityfor kids and parents.
But again we want to ensure wefocus on not giving a child
overwhelming supports oroverwhelming interventions.
We want to make sure it'stargeted and correct
interventions and that they'realigned and everyone knows, from
the classroom teacher to thetutor, to any other supports a
(18:23):
child is getting, whateverybody's doing so that it's
aligned and connected.
Jen Gennaro (18:29):
Very smart.
A lot of behind the scenesstuff happening.
Ben Necaisse (18:34):
Great, great job for our teachers and our
supervisors.
This is what they do every day.
They're trying to map that outand work that puzzle.
Jen Gennaro (18:40):
It's amazing so many folks are concerned about
the overpopulation of Zacharyand our schools.
Do you feel like that concernis unwarranted, and why or why
not?
Ben Necaisse (18:51):
And that's a great question.
And that question is whatreally pushed us to do a
demographic study last springthat ran through the summer.
We reported out to our board atthe beginning of the year on
that.
If anyone who drives throughZachary the look and eye test
tell you there's tons of housesbeing built.
(19:12):
We know there's literallyhundreds and thousands of
rooftops that will be built inthe next few years, so we wanted
to see where were we at from astandpoint of population.
What we have seen, and the datais telling us now, is that by
2030, we'll see a fluctuationgive or take within about 100
students and actually downprobably within about 100
(19:35):
students and actually downprobably not up 100 students.
So for a district that's 5,500kids, that's well absorbable, I
guess.
If that's where we can absorbthat, that's not something
beyond the scope of thefacilities we have.
What we do see, though, like Itold you, is we're seeing more
students come in at differentgrade levels, especially at the
middle and upper levels or thehigher elementary levels, so
(19:56):
families moving in, or moremid-career or midlife families.
So we may need to make surewe're covered for space in
certain grade levels.
But then we also see that we'reseeing slow declines in early
grade levels, but then we alsosee that we're seeing slow
declines in early grade levels.
So again, overall not enough ofan impact to be a positive or a
(20:16):
negative.
But it may just require us tomake sure we're monitoring for
space and when we say we mayneed more space, it may just be
converting a room to a classroom, not necessarily building space
.
Jen Gennaro (20:28):
So, with these projections showing stable
enrollment through 2030, itdoesn't seem like the district
is going to need some majoroutput of future infrastructure
or staffing, correct?
Ben Necaisse (20:40):
Right.
And with that said, though, onething interesting is remember
we're now just a little over 20years old as a district, so a
lot of our taxes are tied up inbonds that went to build new
facilities and renovate thecurrent ones we have.
Those are starting to roll off,so we're, in a sense, basically
paying off the mortgage notesand over the next five years
(21:03):
we're going to see a prettydramatic drop, but we'll see
yearly drops as we move forwardand we've already seen some.
So as we continue that, we'llsee taxes roll off this.
However, we also know thatwe're going to have to look for
potential opportunities becausenow that the facilities are 10
plus 20 years old now and movingforward, we're starting to see
(21:27):
renovation needs or just repairneeds, all the simple things
that you know you got to startthinking about as a homeowner
that you've actually got to fix.
Jen Gennaro (21:35):
So now air conditioning, roofs, all those
things we're having to look at,zachary.
Ben Necaisse (21:40):
Very relevant today.
Jen Gennaro (21:41):
Correct Right.
Tell us about the new leadsteacher evaluation program.
How does it work and how is itdifferent from previous teacher
evaluations?
Ben Necaisse (21:51):
So, in addition to brand new accountability
systems, we have a brand newteacher and leader evaluation
system that started this year.
Jen Gennaro (21:58):
And that's statewide or.
Ben Necaisse (22:00):
Zachary Statewide Correct.
And so the leads evaluationsystem is different than what
our previous system was calledCompass.
Compass basically measuredabout five different attributes
in a classroom environment.
So when you went in to observea class you would look at
planning, questioning a student,engagement, a few bigger
(22:23):
pillars, and you would evaluatea lesson on that.
So teachers usually did one ortwo of those a year and at the
end of that there would be apost-conference to talk about,
you know, are there things thatcould be improved?
Or you know, reflections on thelesson.
Leeds is much more detailed.
Leeds, you know, has well over20 indicators and a ton of
(22:46):
sub-indicators included in that.
And it goes beyond just theclassroom.
It even goes into, you know howwell, you know, does a teacher
interact with students outsideof school or extracurricular
activities?
It goes into much more detail.
The other thing it does is itprovides for full support cycles
(23:07):
.
So you go in, you actually, youknow, do pre-observations,
pre-conferences, but the firstone's usually an unannounced
visit, so that wouldn'tnecessarily happen.
So an administrator would go inand observe and then there
would be post-conferences andthen a whole support plan
created thereafter, createdthereafter.
(23:33):
So then it's a support cycle ofnot only just the administrator
, but the teacher workingtogether, doing self-assessments
, identifying areas of growthand things that they could work
on or do better, and so it kindof creates this back and forth
of a support cycle that wouldthen lead to either a second or
third evaluation, depending ontheir classification or, if
they're a new teacher with lessthan three years.
If they do very well on theevaluation the first time and
(23:58):
they're an experienced teacher,then that would be their only
one of the year.
The big change, though, is it'svery time-consuming.
It's good work, it's important.
It follows tenets where ateacher said you know what we
really from a professionalpractice piece?
We want more feedback on ourcraft.
So that was the point of this,but it is definitely time
(24:18):
consuming, not just for theteacher, but could you think
about the administrator, who mayhave 20 or 30 of these teachers
to do, multiplied by two tothree possibly, evaluations.
So, again, very time consuming,but it's very detailed work.
We also have instructionalspecialists and support team
members and supervisors.
(24:40):
We're all pitching in to try tohelp, to provide supports
during those sessions.
Jen Gennaro (24:45):
Now, you kind of touched on this during the
lightning round, but I know thatyou're a big believer in the
whole child philosophy, right,and we've discussed previously
that a lot of districts kind ofjump to cut this or cut that and
put more focus into certaincomponents of academics, right.
So tell us what role do youthink arts and athletics play in
(25:07):
helping students achieve betteracademic outcomes?
Ben Necaisse (25:10):
Yeah, absolutely.
You know, the most importantthing and I think if any of us
think about this and reflectprobably the best experiences
we've ever had in life, thethings that when we look back
and make us who we are, it's notjust the academic piece.
There were interactions, therewere extracurricular connections
, sports, a coach, a teacher,somebody on quiz bolts,
(25:34):
something, something made us whowe were and we can't we can't
forget those experiences.
Now, those experiences are notalways or definitely now have no
measure in a stateaccountability system and they
don't have any, you know,sometimes you know hard to put
an objective number on it, butthere's definitely those
(25:54):
anecdotal experiences that weknow are important.
So we have to continue to holdstrong to that.
Athletics all leaned on eachother to support each other, and
we're going to continue to dothat, you know.
Again, I look back at myself.
(26:15):
I didn't graduate with a verygood GPA.
I had no intent to ever go tocollege.
It wasn't an important thingfor my family, but I excelled in
other areas and that later gaveme the confidence to go to
college and do well there.
So I think it's just importantto remember.
It builds character, it buildswho we are and it makes us great
(26:38):
citizens.
Jen Gennaro (26:40):
You are currently working on a five-year strategic
plan.
What are the top threepriorities of this plan?
Ben Necaisse (26:47):
Yeah, so we're in the middle of this work and so
we've been getting support andfeedback from we did surveys and
focus groups and you know somany other connections.
We're working with boardmembers all the way down to our
staff and then we'll bereconnecting with the fuller
board and stakeholders as wellas we build this out.
(27:08):
But you know, our strategicplan from 2020 to 2025 really
served us well.
It got us through someinteresting things, especially
like COVID, but now we need tolook forward.
So we are still building outpriorities.
But the things that I can saythree things that jumped out
that I definitely think will bebig pieces to this is one
(27:30):
student experiences, academicsuccess.
So we want to again continue todo well, state accountability
wise and compete and do verywell there.
But we also want to make surewe hold tight and we don't
disregard all of the otherthings.
The academics and the are thearts and athletics that make us
who we are.
(27:50):
So the full student experienceand I can say that we do that
way better than most places I'veever seen and that is truly
just from top to bottom, everygrade level, every school, the
experiences we give students arephenomenal.
The second thing is resourcesand supports.
You know, at some point we havefinite resources, and that's
(28:12):
something we're going to have tostart thinking through is how
do we continue to fundeverything?
You know, as inflation hitseveryone?
You know, how do we continue todo those things and provide
supports, and again addressingfacilities that are getting
older, but then still doing allthe work that we do.
And then, finally, employeecompensation considerations.
(28:35):
So again we know teacherseducators deserve to be
well-paid and have a good wageand good benefits.
We do a good job of that as adistrict and we definitely have
the best benefit package around,but we need to think how do we
continue to think creatively andprovide better compensation for
teachers?
(28:55):
There's a lot out there that'scompeting outside of even
education for good people and weneed to think about how do we
support them better.
Jen Gennaro (29:04):
How do you plan to keep parents and the community
engaged and informed as thedistrict works towards these
long-term goals?
Ben Necaisse (29:12):
Yeah.
So we've been doing a quarterlynewsletter so they'll get more
information there.
We've kind of prompted andgiven them information there.
We do a great job on socialmedia, really pushing out a ton
of information.
So again, I know they see a lotthat's happening.
And then we'll have engagementsessions too as we begin to kind
of look how do we finalize andreally prepare the strategic
(29:33):
plan moving forward.
And the most important thing is, just like any strategic plan
is not putting it on a shelf butputting it relevant, out in
front of everyone and using itas success measures moving
forward.
So measuring those keyindicators, measuring those
stakes that we're putting in theground and make sure that we're
doing well collectively.
(29:53):
So we definitely bring to bringit up a lot as we move forward.
Jen Gennaro (29:57):
Is there anything else you want to add?
Pretty much covered a lot ofground, absolutely, absolutely.
All right.
Well, that is it for thisweek's episode of Porching
Parish, the podcast withSuperintendent Ben Necaisse.
Mr Necaisse, thank you for yourtime today and thank you for
your service to our country andto our school district.
I'd like to give a huge shoutout to our community partners,
like the City of Zachary, theEast Baton Rouge Parish Library
(30:20):
System and Breck Parks, whostand with us in our mission to
make Zachary a place where everyresident feels heard and
engaged.
Thanks to the generosity andsupport of our community
partners, the magazine, podcastsand everything you see online
is possible and free because ofthem.
Remember the three T's thatmake up quality of life Pick up
trash when you see it, fostertechnology at any expense and
(30:41):
embrace an attitude of tolerancefor diverse voices to begin to
engage everyone's talents in ourcommunity.
Those diverse voices are thecreative engines that will drive
the future success of oureconomy.
Have a great week, everyone,and Merry Christmas.
I'm Ben Necaisse, superintendent of Zachary
Community Schools, and keeplistening to Porch and Parish
the podcast.
Jen Gennaro (00:11):
What's up, zachary?
We are back with anotherexciting episode, broadcasting
from our headquarters right herein downtown Zachary.
Our team is working hard on thewinter print issue of Porch and
Parish.
While visions of sugar plumsdance in our heads, there's so
much going on in town duringthis holiday season, so make
sure to visit porchandparishcombackslash calendar so you don't
miss a thing.
(00:32):
If you're interested in placingan ad with us in 2025 or have a
fun story, idea or event to addto the calendar, reach out to
editor at porchandparishcom orcall 225-324-9515.
Today we are joined by ZacharyCommunity School District
Superintendent Ben Necaisse.
(00:52):
We'll be talking about therecently released Department of
Education rankings.
In case you missed it, the ZCSDno longer holds the top ranking
, but we're still pretty high upthere.
Superintendent Necaisse isgoing to break it down for us
and explain what this means howthe scores are tallied to begin
with and the upcoming statewidechanges to how schools are
ranked.
I'm Jen Gennaro, founder andeditor of Porch and Parish, and
(01:14):
your host for today.
We bring you the best ofZachary and the Development
North region through candidconversations every Monday from
our headquarters right here onVirginia Street.
This is fortune parish, thepodcast.
Stay tuned, we'll be right backwith the lightning round.
(01:32):
I'm Carrie Godbold, your top producing local realtor here in
Zachary for over 15 years.
If you're looking to buy orsell real estate or just have
questions about the real estatemarket, give me a call or send
me a text 225-936-4898.
Jen Gennaro (01:50):
All right, lightning round.
So what do you want forChristmas?
Ben Necaisse (01:55):
Well, I want the same thing every year, and that
is to have just a relaxingtwo-week vacation.
For school administratorsespecially, but even teachers,
that two-week period atChristmas is truly downtime, as
opposed to, summers are usuallyextremely busy and hectic, so
that two-week period forChristmas is really when we get
a chance to take a break.
Jen Gennaro (02:15):
It does feel like the whole world kind of shuts
down for a minute.
So that's nice, all right.
If you were a student atZachary High, which electives
would you take?
Ben Necaisse (02:30):
That's a great question.
I have a son who's a seniorright now and he's going to be
graduating this year and I'vewatched him and he's been able
to take, honestly, just thiswell-rounded course load
opportunity.
So he's taken everything fromAP classes, but then he also had
a chance to dabble in businessclasses.
He had a chance to go intoculinary stuff.
So I think as a high schoolstudent, I would have done the
same thing, taking advantage of,like, the welding classes, but
(02:54):
also academic classes, andthat's one of the things that
makes Zachary High special.
Is this truly a comprehensivehigh school?
So the whole goal is you're notgoing to be college or career
ready.
You should be college andcareer ready.
Jen Gennaro (03:10):
Cool.
In one of our early interviewswith you, you told us your
favorite hobby is dispersedcamping.
What does that mean?
Ben Necaisse (03:16):
Yeah well, it also goes by the name of primitive
camping too.
You'll see it interchanged, andbasically it means going out
into a national forest or anational wildlife area and just
camping out outside of the camparea.
So you know, you can, you canget approved to do that and you
literally just kind of go off onyour own beaten path.
(03:37):
So there's no hookups, there'sno power, You're literally just
kind of camping out there onyour own?
Jen Gennaro (03:44):
What's the?
What's your favorite meal thatyou've ever cooked in the woods?
Ben Necaisse (03:49):
Probably steak.
Jen Gennaro (03:51):
Simple and easy, yeah.
Ben Necaisse (03:53):
Simple and easy.
Jen Gennaro (03:55):
All right, and our last question for the lightning
round how did your years servingin the Army National Guard
prepare you for a career in theclassroom and later at the helm
of an entire school district?
Ben Necaisse (04:06):
Yeah, there were really a lot of parallels.
I was a platoon sergeantespecially during our deployment
to Iraq and Baghdad was incharge of a platoon, ran combat
patrols and really kind of beingin this almost middle position
of you know you were supportingand leading soldiers but at the
same time you are getting ordersand distilling out information
(04:30):
you know from superiors as well.
So trying to find that balanceof support and also you know
responsibility and I saw thatreally fit well as a principal.
It was the same thing.
You know you have districtstaff or state that's giving
mandates, you're trying tosupport in the trenches with
teachers as well and so reallyjust kind of that same role.
(04:51):
So still see it as directsupport in the trenches but at
the same time being able to youknow, manage and support as well
wonderful.
Jen Gennaro (05:02):
now.
That is it for the lightninground.
We will be right back.
All right, we are back withSuperintendent Ben Necaisse.
And now to get to the meat ofthe interview.
Mr Necaisse, first please givethe audience a brief
introduction to our schooldistrict.
How many schools and how manytotal students?
Ben Necaisse (05:21):
Yeah.
So Zachary Community Schools isreally just what I would call
in a sweet spot of districts.
We're large enough where wehave about 5,500 students.
We have seven schools, so we'reable to scale things that
smaller districts can't do, butat the same time we're also not
too large where you just kind oflose that personal community
(05:42):
school feel.
One of the special things aboutour school district as well is
that students matriculatethrough all the grade levels,
starting at pre-K all the waythrough 12th grade together.
So we have schools that areusually about two grade levels
apiece and so, again, you'llprogress through first, second
grade, Then you'll go to third,fourth, third, fourth, fifth,
(06:04):
sixth, seventh, eighth and thenhigh school.
But it gives you thatmatriculation and you know
you're able to move together andyou're able to have all the
experiences and all the supportsthat come with providing that
to every student.
Jen Gennaro (06:21):
And before delving into the rankings, let's
highlight some of the keyachievements Louisiana schools
have made overall this year.
Ben Necaisse (06:28):
Yeah, so one of the things that Louisiana did is
, you know, especially afterCOVID, louisiana schools had a
chance to go back a lot earlierthan most schools or school
districts in the countrydistricts in the country.
So again, we had a lot ofsafety protocols in place just
yeoman's work from staff toteachers to facility team
(06:50):
members to make sure kids couldgo back safe.
That allowed us to really kindof get a jump in advance.
Even as soon as today there'sbeen reports about NAEP testing,
which is national comparisonsthat show Louisiana really has
accelerated well and came inabout fourth place in 2022 after
COVID, showing that we didn'tsee as much learning loss.
(07:12):
But we still know there's stillissues or things where students
did lose learning or did loseopportunities, especially at the
younger grade levels.
The other thing Louisiana isbeing noted for, and our
districts as well, is studentsare doing better in reading.
So we're starting to reallypush the envelope with the
science of reading philosophy.
(07:33):
That's something that we'veadapted.
We've mirrored a lot of whatactually Mississippi is doing
and they have seen tremendousgrowth in reading based on kind
of going back to the basics andgoing back to phonics
instruction and some more directinstruction, along with several
other supports as well.
So that's been something that'sbeen a great part of Louisiana
(07:53):
and our local school districtsas well.
Jen Gennaro (07:57):
Now tell us, how are school performance scores
tabulated?
Ben Necaisse (08:00):
Yeah.
So the measure at theelementary and middle school
levels is pretty simple.
About 65% of their evaluationcomes from the spring test that
everybody's familiar with, sothe LEAP test.
65% is based on the number ofstudents that hit especially at
those higher levels of masterybands and above.
(08:21):
We also have a 25% component ofgrowth.
So this looks at students notjust where they achieve, but if
they've grown past, either mettheir target or exceeded their
target for growth.
And then there's been a 5%piece that call is called
interest and opportunities,which looks at is the school
(08:42):
offering.
You know, everything from artsor STEM programming or other
opportunities for kids.
So that's pretty basic and it'skind of understandable.
When you get to the high school,that gets much more complicated
.
You have entire quadrants thatare based on ACT index.
You have quadrants based on theend of course test.
(09:02):
You have graduation ratesincluded in there.
You have quadrants based on theend of course test.
You have graduation ratesincluded in there.
You have what's called strengthof diploma, so how many
credentials or dual enrollmentcredits a student earns in high
school.
And then you have a 25 or 20percent piece of the grad cohort
.
Is a kid graduating on time infour years, and then they then
(09:24):
have a 5% interest andopportunity.
So the high school piece ismuch more complicated.
Jen Gennaro (09:30):
Now, in what areas did Zachary schools meet or
exceed expectations in this data?
Ben Necaisse (09:35):
Yeah.
So a lot of things that we saw,especially our graduation
cohort rate is well above 97%,which is great.
So kids who come in orgraduating in four years and
exiting well, we do well instrength of diploma.
So a lot of our seniors, wellover three quarters of our
students, not only get a diplomabut they get a credential.
(09:56):
So they're earning dualenrollment, ap credit,
industry-based certificationswhen they exit, which again
builds that whole child kind ofexperience.
So we see that.
And then we also do really wellin general in the achievement
piece.
Our kids achieve well.
But what we're seeing is atrend of we do have students who
(10:19):
are, you know, kind of cominginto different grade levels,
which I know we'll talk about,and we're having to work with
them quickly to try to get themcaught up.
But we do really well in growth.
So we were number two inkindergarten or third grade to
eighth grade growth.
So when students come into ourdistrict we do a great job of
(10:39):
growing them and getting them toachieve their potential.
Jen Gennaro (10:43):
And explain to us how the waiting system works,
will change next year.
Ben Necaisse (10:48):
Yeah.
So and this is a littlecomplicated because what people
will see is our scores arereported a year behind.
So when we got our score reportin November, that is actually
from the data used the previousyear and in some cases with
graduation data it's actuallytwo years ago.
So it's sometimes it'sconfusing.
(11:10):
So what they will see in nextNovember, november 2005, is the
score report for this year andthat will stay the same.
However, when we go back toschool in August, that starts
the clock on the newaccountability system, and that
system in many ways is good inthe sense that it has gotten
very clean and simple tounderstand.
(11:34):
So, generally speaking, theinterest and opportunities
pieces and all these othercomponents will disappear and at
the elementary and middle level, it will only be achievement.
So how well kids do on the LEAPtest and then growth how well
they grow on those tests.
Leap test and then growth howwell they grow on those tests,
(11:56):
the biggest change being growthbecomes 54% of the score as
compared to 25% right now.
So the majority of the scorebecomes growth.
So the state wanted to put anemphasis on we understand kids
are at different levels and maybe struggling and we can't
necessarily affect multiplegrades of improvement in a year.
But what we can do is get themto their target and above, and
(12:18):
that's where we're going tofocus Now.
The high school is much, muchdifferent.
A lot of the things wementioned the interest in
opportunities, dual enrollment,ap graduation rates, all of
those things ACT will all nowcollapse into 25% Right now.
(12:38):
That's making up 75% of thehigh school score.
It's much more comprehensive.
All that will be folded intojust 25%.
At the high school theend-of-course test will now
become 75% of the high schoolgrade and that's important to
understand because at the highschool there's only six courses
(13:00):
that students have to take forthe state to pass to graduate,
and that is those end-of-coursetests, tests.
That is so.
It's Algebra 1, geometry,english 1, english 2, american
History, which is turning intoCivics for the test, and then
(13:20):
Biology.
So, interestingly, 75% of thecourses will come, or 75% of the
high school score will come,from those six courses, which
make up sometimes only six outof almost 200 courses at a high
school.
The other thing that'sinteresting about that is
students only have to pass oneor the other in those buckets.
(13:44):
So once I pass Algebra 1 withan approaching basic not even a
mastery score, then I've checkedthe box for graduation and I
don't have to pass geometry.
So it becomes contingent onteacher relationship, pushing
students to really do their bestand incentivizing, saying hey,
really this is important forthem to take that next test very
(14:07):
seriously.
So again, lots of changes andthere'll be a lot of emphasis
placed on a handful of teacherswho teach those courses.
So we're having to thinkthrough how do we prioritize and
give those teachers moresupport, even compensation and
things to make sure that they'resupported as they become much
(14:28):
more of an accountability system.
Jen Gennaro (14:31):
And those end-of-course tests.
We're just talking about finalexams.
Ben Necaisse (14:36):
Yeah, it's similar to that.
In fact, in those six EOCcourses it replaces a final exam
, so basically it will count forabout 15% of a student's final
grade.
That's part of the incentive tomake sure students it's still
important.
But basically it's a statestandardized test so they go
into a state testing environment.
(14:57):
It's a locked environment,teachers don't have access to
questions.
Of course we teach thecurriculum and the content, but
it's a standardized test, justlike the LEAP, and then students
take that and compare it totheir peers across the state
just like the LEAP, and thenstudents take that and compare
it to their peers across thestate.
Jen Gennaro (15:18):
How do you think?
Ben Necaisse (15:19):
the shift in weighting from performance to
growth will benefit Zacharystudents and educators.
Again, one of the things that wesee is that we see great growth
at the elementary and middlelevels.
One of the areas we're going towork on is growth at the high
school level.
But part of the challenge thereis through our demographic
study and also through just ourstudent enrollment counts.
What we see is more parents aremoving in at the middle and
high school level.
(15:39):
So when we have a student whomoves in and, for example, we
have a pretty good bit you knowin recent years close to 75
students who may come to ninthgrade for the first time as
Zachary students.
So when they enroll in ninthgrade they're immediately in an
Algebra 1 and an English 1 class.
And so if they havedeficiencies or they're coming
(16:01):
in with struggling to possiblyread or have other deficiencies
in math or other subjects, we'vegot a short amount of time
before that March, april, reallyApril to get them ready for an
end-of-course test.
And so we're thinking about howwe provide more supports for
those students very quickly,identify them if they have needs
(16:22):
and make sure they're ready.
Jen Gennaro (16:26):
So you've mentioned a demographic shift, with more
students parachuting in atdifferent grade levels.
How are you addressing theunique needs of students who
join the district midstream?
Ben Necaisse (16:36):
So one of the things and ideally what you want
is, as students matriculatethrough your school system,
especially if they enter at thelower grade levels, especially
in those grade levels likekindergarten, first, second,
where you're learning to read,you have a lot more chances to
intervene with them.
Moving forward from third gradeup, we call it reading to learn
(16:58):
.
So now the focus shifts fromyour teaching reading to now
students are having to read forcontent.
So I Again, as we see studentsnow starting to matriculate in
at much different grade levels,we're having to identify them
quicker through differentassessments and screeners and
(17:18):
then immediately start doinginterventions.
So we do have strongintervention plans that are
built in during the school dayfor students to either receive
pull-out supports or, in manycases, in-class support.
So you may see a classroom withtwo adults in it and one's
teaching a larger group, one'sdoing smaller pull-outs within
(17:38):
the class and rotating students.
We also are doing part of theSteve Cartering tutor, so we're
supporting parents as they makechoices to go into tutoring with
Steve Carter funds.
And then we also have, you know, outside of that, tutoring and
supports outside of school,after school hours in a lot of
(18:00):
cases, and we're doing supportswith that.
So there's a lot of opportunityfor kids and parents.
But again we want to ensure wefocus on not giving a child
overwhelming supports oroverwhelming interventions.
We want to make sure it'stargeted and correct
interventions and that they'realigned and everyone knows, from
the classroom teacher to thetutor, to any other supports a
(18:23):
child is getting, whateverybody's doing so that it's
aligned and connected.
Jen Gennaro (18:29):
Very smart.
A lot of behind the scenesstuff happening.
Ben Necaisse (18:34):
Great, great job for our teachers and our
supervisors.
This is what they do every day.
They're trying to map that outand work that puzzle.
Jen Gennaro (18:40):
It's amazing so many folks are concerned about
the overpopulation of Zacharyand our schools.
Do you feel like that concernis unwarranted, and why or why
not?
Ben Necaisse (18:51):
And that's a great question.
And that question is whatreally pushed us to do a
demographic study last springthat ran through the summer.
We reported out to our board atthe beginning of the year on
that.
If anyone who drives throughZachary the look and eye test
tell you there's tons of housesbeing built.
(19:12):
We know there's literallyhundreds and thousands of
rooftops that will be built inthe next few years, so we wanted
to see where were we at from astandpoint of population.
What we have seen, and the datais telling us now, is that by
2030, we'll see a fluctuationgive or take within about 100
students and actually downprobably within about 100
(19:35):
students and actually downprobably not up 100 students.
So for a district that's 5,500kids, that's well absorbable, I
guess.
If that's where we can absorbthat, that's not something
beyond the scope of thefacilities we have.
What we do see, though, like Itold you, is we're seeing more
students come in at differentgrade levels, especially at the
middle and upper levels or thehigher elementary levels, so
(19:56):
families moving in, or moremid-career or midlife families.
So we may need to make surewe're covered for space in
certain grade levels.
But then we also see that we'reseeing slow declines in early
grade levels, but then we alsosee that we're seeing slow
declines in early grade levels.
So again, overall not enough ofan impact to be a positive or a
(20:16):
negative.
But it may just require us tomake sure we're monitoring for
space and when we say we mayneed more space, it may just be
converting a room to a classroom, not necessarily building space
.
Jen Gennaro (20:28):
So, with these projections showing stable
enrollment through 2030, itdoesn't seem like the district
is going to need some majoroutput of future infrastructure
or staffing, correct?
Ben Necaisse (20:40):
Right.
And with that said, though, onething interesting is remember
we're now just a little over 20years old as a district, so a
lot of our taxes are tied up inbonds that went to build new
facilities and renovate thecurrent ones we have.
Those are starting to roll off,so we're, in a sense, basically
paying off the mortgage notesand over the next five years
(21:03):
we're going to see a prettydramatic drop, but we'll see
yearly drops as we move forwardand we've already seen some.
So as we continue that, we'llsee taxes roll off this.
However, we also know thatwe're going to have to look for
potential opportunities becausenow that the facilities are 10
plus 20 years old now and movingforward, we're starting to see
(21:27):
renovation needs or just repairneeds, all the simple things
that you know you got to startthinking about as a homeowner
that you've actually got to fix.
Jen Gennaro (21:35):
So now air conditioning, roofs, all those
things we're having to look at,zachary.
Ben Necaisse (21:40):
Very relevant today.
Jen Gennaro (21:41):
Correct Right.
Tell us about the new leadsteacher evaluation program.
How does it work and how is itdifferent from previous teacher
evaluations?
Ben Necaisse (21:51):
So, in addition to brand new accountability
systems, we have a brand newteacher and leader evaluation
system that started this year.
Jen Gennaro (21:58):
And that's statewide or.
Ben Necaisse (22:00):
Zachary Statewide Correct.
And so the leads evaluationsystem is different than what
our previous system was calledCompass.
Compass basically measuredabout five different attributes
in a classroom environment.
So when you went in to observea class you would look at
planning, questioning a student,engagement, a few bigger
(22:23):
pillars, and you would evaluatea lesson on that.
So teachers usually did one ortwo of those a year and at the
end of that there would be apost-conference to talk about,
you know, are there things thatcould be improved?
Or you know, reflections on thelesson.
Leeds is much more detailed.
Leeds, you know, has well over20 indicators and a ton of
(22:46):
sub-indicators included in that.
And it goes beyond just theclassroom.
It even goes into, you know howwell, you know, does a teacher
interact with students outsideof school or extracurricular
activities?
It goes into much more detail.
The other thing it does is itprovides for full support cycles
(23:07):
.
So you go in, you actually, youknow, do pre-observations,
pre-conferences, but the firstone's usually an unannounced
visit, so that wouldn'tnecessarily happen.
So an administrator would go inand observe and then there
would be post-conferences andthen a whole support plan
created thereafter, createdthereafter.
(23:33):
So then it's a support cycle ofnot only just the administrator
, but the teacher workingtogether, doing self-assessments
, identifying areas of growthand things that they could work
on or do better, and so it kindof creates this back and forth
of a support cycle that wouldthen lead to either a second or
third evaluation, depending ontheir classification or, if
they're a new teacher with lessthan three years.
If they do very well on theevaluation the first time and
(23:58):
they're an experienced teacher,then that would be their only
one of the year.
The big change, though, is it'svery time-consuming.
It's good work, it's important.
It follows tenets where ateacher said you know what we
really from a professionalpractice piece?
We want more feedback on ourcraft.
So that was the point of this,but it is definitely time
(24:18):
consuming, not just for theteacher, but could you think
about the administrator, who mayhave 20 or 30 of these teachers
to do, multiplied by two tothree possibly, evaluations.
So, again, very time consuming,but it's very detailed work.
We also have instructionalspecialists and support team
members and supervisors.
(24:40):
We're all pitching in to try tohelp, to provide supports
during those sessions.
Jen Gennaro (24:45):
Now, you kind of touched on this during the
lightning round, but I know thatyou're a big believer in the
whole child philosophy, right,and we've discussed previously
that a lot of districts kind ofjump to cut this or cut that and
put more focus into certaincomponents of academics, right.
So tell us what role do youthink arts and athletics play in
(25:07):
helping students achieve betteracademic outcomes?
Ben Necaisse (25:10):
Yeah, absolutely.
You know, the most importantthing and I think if any of us
think about this and reflectprobably the best experiences
we've ever had in life, thethings that when we look back
and make us who we are, it's notjust the academic piece.
There were interactions, therewere extracurricular connections
, sports, a coach, a teacher,somebody on quiz bolts,
(25:34):
something, something made us whowe were and we can't we can't
forget those experiences.
Now, those experiences are notalways or definitely now have no
measure in a stateaccountability system and they
don't have any, you know,sometimes you know hard to put
an objective number on it, butthere's definitely those
(25:54):
anecdotal experiences that weknow are important.
So we have to continue to holdstrong to that.
Athletics all leaned on eachother to support each other, and
we're going to continue to dothat, you know.
Again, I look back at myself.
(26:15):
I didn't graduate with a verygood GPA.
I had no intent to ever go tocollege.
It wasn't an important thingfor my family, but I excelled in
other areas and that later gaveme the confidence to go to
college and do well there.
So I think it's just importantto remember.
It builds character, it buildswho we are and it makes us great
(26:38):
citizens.
Jen Gennaro (26:40):
You are currently working on a five-year strategic
plan.
What are the top threepriorities of this plan?
Ben Necaisse (26:47):
Yeah, so we're in the middle of this work and so
we've been getting support andfeedback from we did surveys and
focus groups and you know somany other connections.
We're working with boardmembers all the way down to our
staff and then we'll bereconnecting with the fuller
board and stakeholders as wellas we build this out.
(27:08):
But you know, our strategicplan from 2020 to 2025 really
served us well.
It got us through someinteresting things, especially
like COVID, but now we need tolook forward.
So we are still building outpriorities.
But the things that I can saythree things that jumped out
that I definitely think will bebig pieces to this is one
(27:30):
student experiences, academicsuccess.
So we want to again continue todo well, state accountability
wise and compete and do verywell there.
But we also want to make surewe hold tight and we don't
disregard all of the otherthings.
The academics and the are thearts and athletics that make us
who we are.
(27:50):
So the full student experienceand I can say that we do that
way better than most places I'veever seen and that is truly
just from top to bottom, everygrade level, every school, the
experiences we give students arephenomenal.
The second thing is resourcesand supports.
You know, at some point we havefinite resources, and that's
(28:12):
something we're going to have tostart thinking through is how
do we continue to fundeverything?
You know, as inflation hitseveryone?
You know, how do we continue todo those things and provide
supports, and again addressingfacilities that are getting
older, but then still doing allthe work that we do.
And then, finally, employeecompensation considerations.
(28:35):
So again we know teacherseducators deserve to be
well-paid and have a good wageand good benefits.
We do a good job of that as adistrict and we definitely have
the best benefit package around,but we need to think how do we
continue to think creatively andprovide better compensation for
teachers?
(28:55):
There's a lot out there that'scompeting outside of even
education for good people and weneed to think about how do we
support them better.
Jen Gennaro (29:04):
How do you plan to keep parents and the community
engaged and informed as thedistrict works towards these
long-term goals?
Ben Necaisse (29:12):
Yeah.
So we've been doing a quarterlynewsletter so they'll get more
information there.
We've kind of prompted andgiven them information there.
We do a great job on socialmedia, really pushing out a ton
of information.
So again, I know they see a lotthat's happening.
And then we'll have engagementsessions too as we begin to kind
of look how do we finalize andreally prepare the strategic
(29:33):
plan moving forward.
And the most important thing is, just like any strategic plan
is not putting it on a shelf butputting it relevant, out in
front of everyone and using itas success measures moving
forward.
So measuring those keyindicators, measuring those
stakes that we're putting in theground and make sure that we're
doing well collectively.
(29:53):
So we definitely bring to bringit up a lot as we move forward.
Jen Gennaro (29:57):
Is there anything else you want to add?
Pretty much covered a lot ofground, absolutely, absolutely.
All right.
Well, that is it for thisweek's episode of Porching
Parish, the podcast withSuperintendent Ben Necaisse.
Mr Necaisse, thank you for yourtime today and thank you for
your service to our country andto our school district.
I'd like to give a huge shoutout to our community partners,
like the City of Zachary, theEast Baton Rouge Parish Library
(30:20):
System and Breck Parks, whostand with us in our mission to
make Zachary a place where everyresident feels heard and
engaged.
Thanks to the generosity andsupport of our community
partners, the magazine, podcastsand everything you see online
is possible and free because ofthem.
Remember the three T's thatmake up quality of life Pick up
trash when you see it, fostertechnology at any expense and
(30:41):
embrace an attitude of tolerancefor diverse voices to begin to
engage everyone's talents in ourcommunity.
Those diverse voices are thecreative engines that will drive
the future success of oureconomy.
Have a great week, everyone,and Merry Christmas.
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