Reynaud Middle School is expected to remain open for at least another school year, despite last summer’s struggle to survive, a Calcasieu Parish school board member said. The Calcasieu Parish School Board voted 8-7 to close Reynaud in May 2011, but a three-year agreement with the state Department of Education kept the school open. (Brad Puckett / American Press)
Reynaud Middle to stay open another year
Last Modified: Sunday, July 22, 2012 7:18 PM
By Ashley Withers / American Press
Reynaud Middle School is expected to remain open for at least another school year, despite last summer’s struggle to survive, a Calcasieu Parish school board member said.
The Calcasieu Parish School Board voted 8-7 to close Reynaud in May 2011, but a three-year agreement with the state Department of Education kept the school open.
The agreement began with the 2008-09 school year, after Reynaud was issued a failing grade by the state. It said the board could not close the school without consulting with the Department of Education.
The agreement that saved the school last summer ended June 30. But Bill Jongbloed, the District 6 School Board member, said he does not think the board will take up the issue again.
“There has been no talk of Reynaud closing. As far as I know, the school is going to be open again,” Jongbloed said.
The board’s budget committee originally recommended closing the school in early May 2011 as a part of the district’s budget cuts.
“At that time, we were in a bind financially,” Jongbloed said. “We were told that, if we closed Reynaud, we would save $1.4 million. The school only had 125 students, and we could have transferred them to other schools.”
Jongbloed, school board president at the time, was one of the most outspoken proponents of closing Reynaud.
He was quoted in a July 29, 2011, American Press article saying, “At the end of the school year, then that’s it. There’s no doubt about that. I mean, the board has already voted to do that. So, it’s a done deal.”
However, Jongbloed said he has since changed his mind.
“Parents, students, teachers and the community worked so hard to keep the school open, and I’ve changed my mind,” Jongbloed said. “We are no longer in a financial bind and as far as I’m concerned, they can stay open next year and possibly the year after that.”
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