St. Tammany Parish Public Schools, Louisiana

St. Tammany Parish Public Schools
Covington, Louisiana
District details
Superintendent: W.L. "Trey" Folse III
# of school board members: 15 partisan
Website: Link

St. Tammany Parish Public Schools is a school district in Louisiana. In the 2011-2012 school year, St. Tammany Parish was the fourth-largest school district in Louisiana and served 37,058 students.

About the district

St. Tammany Parish Public Schools is located in St. Tammany Parish, Louisiana.

St. Tammany Parish Public Schools lies in southeastern Louisiana in St. Tammany Parish. The seat of parish government is Covington. St. Tammany Parish was home to approximately 242,333 residents according to 2013 estimates by the United States Census Bureau.

Demographics

St. Tammany Parish overperformed compared to the rest of Louisiana in terms of higher education achievement in 2012. The United States Census Bureau found that 30 percent of St. Tammany Parish residents aged 25 years and older had attained a bachelor's degree compared to 21.4 percent for Louisiana as a whole. The median household income for the parish was $60,813 compared to $44,673 statewide. The poverty rate in the parish was 10.8 percent compared to 18.7 percent for the entire state.

Racial Demographics, 2013
Race	St. Tammany Parish (%)	Louisiana (%)
White	84.4	63.5
Black or African American	12.0	32.4
American Indian and Alaska Native	0.6	0.8
Asian	1.4	1.7
Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander	0.1	0.1
Two or More Races	1.6	1.5
Hispanic or Latino	5.2	4.7

Presidential Voting Pattern, St. Tammany Parish
Year	Democratic Vote	Republican Vote
2012	25,728	84,723
2008	24,596	83,078
2004	24,665	75,139
2000	22,722	59,193

Note: Percentages for race and ethnicity may add up to more than 100 percent because respondents may report more than one race and the Hispanic/Latino ethnicity may be selected in conjunction with any race. Read more about race and ethnicity in the census here.

Superintendent

This information is updated as we become aware of changes. Please contact us with any updates.

Historical superintendents
Name	Starting date
Joseph B. Lancaster	September 15, 1900
H. A. Verret	October 19, 1904
W.G. Evans	August 5, 1905
A. B. Peters	February 27, 1909
H. B. Messick	July 9, 1910
Elmer E. Lyon (Resigned)	October 18, 1911
William Pitcher (Died in Office)	July 1, 1937
Cyprian J. "Cyp" Schoen	October 4, 1967
Richard Tanner (Acting Superintendent)	January 30, 1986
Terry J. Bankston (Retired)	July 24, 1986
Leonard P. Monteleone (Died in Office)	August 17, 1995
Gayle Sloan	February 4, 2003
W. L. "Trey" Folse, III	July 1, 2010

The superintendent of St. Tammany Parish Schools is W.L. "Trey" Folse III who began his tenure on July 1, 2010. He is the district's 13th superintendent. From 2003 to his appointment as superintendent, he served as deputy superintendent in the district.

Press [show] on the table on the right to display all the superintendents in the district's history and their starting dates.

School board elections

St. Tammany Parish Public Schools is overseen by a school board comprised of 15 partisan members who are elected to represent geographical districts for four-year terms. The partisan affiliation in the table below represents the affiliation which the officeholder held in his or her most recent election.

St. Tammany Parish School Board
District	Member	Partisan Affiliation	Term Began	Term Ends
1	Neal M. Hennegan	Republican	January 1, 1995	December 31, 2018
2	Elizabeth B. Heintz	Republican	January 1, 1999	December 31, 2018
3	Michael "Mike" J. Dirmann	Democratic	January 1, 2003	December 31, 2018
4	Stephen "Jack" J. Loup III	Republican	January 1, 2007	December 31, 2018
5	Charles T. Harrell	Republican	January 1, 2003	December 31, 2018
6	Michael C. Nation	Republican	January 1, 2015	December 31, 2018
7	Willie "Coach" Jeter	Democratic	January 1, 2011	December 31, 2018
8	Peggy H. Seeley	Republican	January 1, 2011	December 31, 2018
9	Sharon Lo Drucker	Republican	January 1, 2015	December 31, 2018
10	Ronald "Ron" Bettencourtt	Republican	January 1, 2003	December 31, 2018
11	Robert "Bob" R. Womack	Republican	January 1, 2007	December 31, 2018
12	Richard Hursey	Republican	February 2, 2015	December 31, 2018
13	Robin Mullett	Republican	January 1, 2015	December 31, 2018
14	Dennis "Coach" Cousin	Democrat	April 9, 2015	December 31, 2018
15	Mary K. Bellisario	Republican	January 1, 1995	December 31, 2018

This officeholder information was last updated on July 3, 2018. Please contact us with any updates.

Election dates

See also: St. Tammany Parish Public Schools special elections (2015) and St. Tammany Parish Public Schools elections (2018)

The 15 school board members are elected concurrently by district in partisan elections. This means that regular school board elections are held every four years with all members being up for re-election at that time. Additionally, all members are elected by a geographically defined district which they represent. Any member who at the end of his or her term has served more than two and one-half terms in the last three consecutive terms cannot be re-elected in the following term. However, they can be re-elected following the one term break. This term limit first took effect with terms beginning on or after January 2015 and does not apply retroactively to terms started prior to that date.

School board candidates in Louisiana are elected by majority vote, which means the winner must receive more than 50 percent of the votes cast in the general election to win the seat. Runoff elections are held between the top two candidates for races where no candidate receives a majority. Candidates who are unopposed at the end of a candidate filing period are considered elected as of that date.

Fifteen seats were up for general election on November 4, 2014. The special election for District 14 was held March 28, 2015, and a second special election for District 12 was scheduled for October 24, 2015. The District 12 race was canceled as only one candidate filed for the election. The next general election was up for election in November 2018.

Public participation in board meetings

The St. Tammany Parish School Board maintains the following policies on public testimony during board meetings on their website:

“	Addressing the Board Individuals or groups requesting time on the agenda for a Board meeting are recognized at the beginning of each meeting. Individuals wishing to request time on the agenda must submit written notification to the Superintendent by noon on the Monday before the Board meeting. The request needs to state the matter to be addressed. If the request is from a delegation or organization, comments before the Board are made by a spokesperson for the group. Persons making written requests for time on the agenda are given five minutes for their presentations. Also, citizens who have not requested prior approval in writing may address the Board by signing a request to speak sheet no later than 15 minutes before the scheduled meeting time. In this case, speakers may address the Board for up to three minutes. Additionally, citizens may offer comments on the subject of the Board motion prior to any vote taken by the Board. Visitors are recognized at the beginning of each meeting. Board Members have the privilege of having persons in the audience recognized. At the discretion of the Board President, persons who have not requested time on the agenda are recognized at the end of the meeting, after all other agenda items.	”
—St. Tammany Parish Public Schools website (2014)

Budget

From 1993 to 2013, the St. Tammany Parish school district had an average of $303,077,048 in revenue and $305,735,571 in expenditures, according to the United States Census Bureau's survey of school system finances. The district had a yearly average of $210,088,000 in outstanding debt. The district retired $11,538,524 of its debt and issued $26,430,810 in new debt each year on average.

Revenue

The table below separates the district's revenue into the three sources identified by the agency: local, state, and federal.

Revenue by Source
Fiscal Year	Local		State		Federal		Revenue Total
	Total	% of Revenue	Total	% of Revenue	Total	% of Revenue

Click [show] on the right to display the revenue data for prior years.
1993	$51,854,000	40.95%	$67,606,000	53.39%	$7,178,000	5.67%	$126,638,000
1994	$58,308,000	40.91%	$74,733,000	52.44%	$9,471,000	6.65%	$142,512,000
1995	$63,046,000	40.27%	$83,704,000	53.47%	$9,804,000	6.26%	$156,554,000
1996	$70,691,000	42.01%	$87,141,000	51.79%	$10,438,000	6.20%	$168,270,000
1997	$78,966,000	42.01%	$98,044,000	52.16%	$10,944,000	5.82%	$187,954,000
1998	$83,811,000	41.26%	$107,633,000	52.98%	$11,706,000	5.76%	$203,150,000
1999	$90,747,000	41.58%	$115,250,000	52.80%	$12,264,000	5.62%	$218,261,000
2000	$100,076,000	43.03%	$118,502,000	50.95%	$14,003,000	6.02%	$232,581,000
2001	$105,708,000	43.30%	$123,549,000	50.60%	$14,896,000	6.10%	$244,153,000
2002	$109,074,000	42.17%	$130,209,000	50.34%	$19,385,000	7.49%	$258,668,000
2003	$114,391,000	41.12%	$140,792,000	50.61%	$22,994,000	8.27%	$278,177,000
2004	$123,517,000	41.57%	$147,539,000	49.65%	$26,094,000	8.78%	$297,150,000
2005	$136,918,000	42.70%	$156,857,000	48.92%	$26,871,000	8.38%	$320,646,000
2006	$166,358,000	38.18%	$161,864,000	37.15%	$107,468,000	24.67%	$435,690,000
2007	$182,253,000	44.25%	$160,541,000	38.98%	$69,055,000	16.77%	$411,849,000
2008	$193,609,000	45.08%	$186,469,000	43.42%	$49,372,000	11.50%	$429,450,000
2009	$186,539,000	43.33%	$194,709,000	45.23%	$49,247,000	11.44%	$430,495,000

2010	$185,382,000	42.21%	$190,504,000	43.37%	$63,326,000	14.42%	$439,212,000
2011	$190,253,000	42.69%	$203,578,000	45.68%	$51,855,000	11.63%	$445,686,000
2012	$195,427,000	40.79%	$219,363,000	45.78%	$64,343,000	13.43%	$479,133,000
2013	$205,911,000	44.92%	$210,754,000	45.98%	$41,724,000	9.10%	$458,389,000
Avg.	$128,230,429	42.11%	$141,873,381	48.37%	$32,973,238	9.52%	$303,077,048

Expenditures

The table below separates the district's expenditures into five categories identified by the agency:

• Instruction: operation expenditures, state payments on behalf of the district for instruction and benefits, and retirement system transfers
• Support Services: support services, food services, and retirement system transfers for support service staff
• Capital Spending: capital outlay expenditures (i.e., construction, land or facilities purchases, and equipment purchases)
• Debt & Gov. Payments: payments to state and local governments and interest on school system debt
• Other: all other non-K-12 programs, except food services

Expenditures by Category
Fiscal Year	Instruction		Support Services		Capital Spending		Debt & Gov. Payments		Other		Budget Total
	Total	% of Budget	Total	% of Budget	Total	% of Budget	Total	% of Budget	Total	% of Budget

Click [show] on the right to display the expenditure data for prior years.
1993	$71,445,000	51.14%	$44,669,000	31.98%	$19,048,000	13.64%	$4,020,000	2.88%	$510,000	0.37%	$139,692,000
1994	$77,502,000	52.98%	$48,547,000	33.19%	$15,129,000	10.34%	$4,451,000	3.04%	$657,000	0.45%	$146,286,000
1995	$85,897,000	55.45%	$53,237,000	34.37%	$10,340,000	6.68%	$4,665,000	3.01%	$766,000	0.49%	$154,905,000
1996	$91,623,000	54.87%	$56,453,000	33.80%	$13,187,000	7.90%	$4,928,000	2.95%	$806,000	0.48%	$166,997,000
1997	$100,866,000	53.38%	$60,941,000	32.25%	$20,659,000	10.93%	$5,532,000	2.93%	$945,000	0.50%	$188,943,000
1998	$110,838,000	56.55%	$64,581,000	32.95%	$14,048,000	7.17%	$5,545,000	2.83%	$983,000	0.50%	$195,995,000
1999	$118,165,000	54.80%	$69,151,000	32.07%	$20,724,000	9.61%	$6,488,000	3.01%	$1,113,000	0.52%	$215,641,000
2000	$122,441,000	53.67%	$71,763,000	31.46%	$25,554,000	11.20%	$7,124,000	3.12%	$1,238,000	0.54%	$228,120,000
2001	$130,959,000	55.55%	$76,595,000	32.49%	$20,292,000	8.61%	$6,617,000	2.81%	$1,302,000	0.55%	$235,765,000
2002	$142,753,000	55.07%	$83,086,000	32.05%	$25,833,000	9.97%	$6,099,000	2.35%	$1,466,000	0.57%	$259,237,000
2003	$157,177,000	55.01%	$89,782,000	31.42%	$29,575,000	10.35%	$7,580,000	2.65%	$1,598,000	0.56%	$285,712,000
2004	$169,379,000	58.38%	$96,872,000	33.39%	$15,325,000	5.28%	$6,572,000	2.27%	$1,984,000	0.68%	$290,132,000
2005	$188,194,000	55.85%	$108,362,000	32.16%	$31,648,000	9.39%	$6,647,000	1.97%	$2,123,000	0.63%	$336,974,000
2006	$193,410,000	54.05%	$120,557,000	33.69%	$33,200,000	9.28%	$7,212,000	2.02%	$3,432,000	0.96%	$357,811,000
2007	$209,023,000	52.86%	$122,195,000	30.90%	$54,317,000	13.74%	$8,093,000	2.05%	$1,777,000	0.45%	$395,405,000
2008	$221,494,000	50.13%	$140,044,000	31.69%	$71,065,000	16.08%	$7,191,000	1.63%	$2,071,000	0.47%	$441,865,000
2009	$231,285,000	48.80%	$145,776,000	30.76%	$85,574,000	18.06%	$8,831,000	1.86%	$2,452,000	0.52%	$473,918,000

2010	$250,628,000	49.28%	$156,446,000	30.76%	$89,538,000	17.61%	$10,054,000	1.98%	$1,878,000	0.37%	$508,544,000
2011	$251,024,000	51.15%	$163,244,000	33.27%	$64,407,000	13.13%	$10,582,000	2.16%	$1,458,000	0.30%	$490,715,000
2012	$249,830,000	53.06%	$184,885,000	39.26%	$24,123,000	5.12%	$10,657,000	2.26%	$1,391,000	0.30%	$470,886,000
2013	$240,304,000	55.00%	$172,612,000	39.51%	$13,606,000	3.11%	$9,022,000	2.06%	$1,360,000	0.31%	$436,904,000
Avg.	$162,582,714	53.67%	$101,418,952	33.02%	$33,199,619	10.34%	$7,043,333	2.47%	$1,490,952	0.50%	$305,735,571

Debt

The table below shows the amount of debt retired, issued, and outstanding in the district for each year.

Debt
Fiscal Year	Retired	Issued	Outstanding

Click [show] on the right to display the debt data for prior years.
1993	$7,215,000	$19,540,000	$61,035,000
1994	$3,710,000	$13,241,000	$70,566,000
1995	$4,115,000	$13,605,000	$80,056,000
1996	$4,975,000	$0	$75,081,000
1997	$5,630,000	$32,668,000	$102,119,000
1998	$6,215,000	$0	$95,904,000
1999	$7,740,000	$70,003,000	$158,167,000
2000	$8,680,000	$0	$149,487,000
2001	$9,065,000	$0	$140,422,000
2002	$8,965,000	$47,428,000	$178,885,000
2003	$10,170,000	$13,207,000	$181,922,000
2004	$10,245,000	$24,253,000	$195,930,000
2005	$10,290,000	$96,253,000	$281,893,000
2006	$10,405,000	$25,096,000	$296,584,000
2007	$13,420,000	$0	$283,164,000
2008	$12,060,000	$0	$271,104,000
2009	$12,595,000	$87,762,000	$346,271,000

2010	$18,095,000	$31,333,000	$359,509,000
2011	$19,533,000	$20,134,000	$360,109,000
2012	$38,003,000	$40,087,000	$362,193,000
2013	$21,183,000	$20,437,000	$361,447,000
Avg.	$11,538,524	$26,430,810	$210,088,000

Teacher salaries

St. Tammany Parish Public Schools employs 5,532 people including 3,145 certificated employees and 266 National Board Certified employees. Teacher salaries are categorized based on higher education achievement and years of service. A teacher with a bachelor's degree can earn higher salaries by pursuing graduate courses with raises at credit intervals. In the 2014-2015 school year, 47 percent of the district's teachers held advanced degrees. The salary schedule also accounts for graduate degrees by providing higher starting salaries and greater potential salaries. Merit pay can also be given to teachers who are evaluated as "highly effective."

Salaries also vary based on whether employees were hired before or after June 30, 2014 and number of month for which a contract runs. The following table details the salary schedule for teachers for the 2014-2015 fiscal year:

Salary structure
Degree level	Minimum salary ($)	Maximum salary ($)
Bachelor's degree	44,248	79,418
Master's degree	44,559	83,198
Master's + 30	44,843	84,765
Educational specialist	45,109	86,934
Ph.D or Ed.D	45,384	88,964

Schools in St. Tammany Parish Public Schools

Enrollment

St. Tammany Parish Public Schools served 37,058 students in the 2011-2012 school year. The district does not publicly archive enrollment data on its website.

District schools

St. Tammany Parish Public Schools operates 54 schools which are listed below in alphabetical order:

St. Tammany Parish Public Schools
School Name
A-Le	Li-Z
Abita Springs Elementary	Little Oak Middle
Abita Springs Middle	Little Pearl Elementary
Abney Early Childhood Center	Lyon Elementary
Abney Elementary	Madisonville Elementary
Alton Elementary	Madisonville Junior High
Bayou Lacombe Middle	Magnolia Trace Elementary
Bayou Woods Elementary	Mandeville Elementary
Bonne Ecole Elementary	Mandeville High
Boyet Junior High	Mandeville Junior High
Brock Elementary	Mandeville Middle
Carolyn Park Middle	Marigny Elementary
Chahta-Ima Elementary	Mayfield Elementary
Clearwood Junior High	Monteleone Junior High
Covington Elementary	Northshore High
Covington High Pearl	River High
Creekside Junior High	Pine View Middle
Cypress Cove Elementary	Pitcher Junior High
Fifth Ward Junior High	Pontchartrain Elementary
Florida Avenue Elementary	Riverside Elementary
Folsom Elementary	St. Tammany Junior High
Folsom Junior High	Salmen High
Fontainebleau High	Sixth Ward Elementary
Fontainebleau Junior High	Slidell High
Honey Island Elementary	Slidell Junior High
Lake Harbor Middle	Tchefuncte Middle
Lakeshore High	Whispering Forest Elementary
Lancaster Elementary	Woodlake Elementary
Lee Road Junior High

Academic performance

Louisiana administers three main sets of tests to measure the academic performance of K-12 students: DIBELS Next, iLEAP and End-of-Course tests. Additionally, districts are given a letter ranking of A-F based on performance across all grades of students.

DIBELS Next

The Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills test, also known as DIBELS Next, is administered to K-3 students statewide. The test places students into one of three categories. Those who meet the benchmark levels are placed in the "core" category, indicating they only need core reading curriculum going forward. The other two categories indicate students who need "strategic" or "intensive" intervention in reading education. The following chart outlines the percentage of students in the district in each of the categories:

DIBELS Next results
Testing date	Kindergarten			1st grade			2nd grade			3rd grade
	Core (%)	Strategic (%)	Intensive (%)	Core (%)	Strategic (%)	Intensive (%)	Core (%)	Strategic (%)	Intensive (%)	Core (%)	Strategic (%)	Intensive (%)
Spring 2013	59	21	20	61	15	24	67	16	17	69	14	17
Fall 2012	57	18	25	60	13	27	74	10	15	73	10	16
Spring 2012	53	24	24	57	16	28	68	17	15	70	12	18
Fall 2011	56	17	27	52	16	33	70	12	18	73	9	18

iLEAP and LEAP

LEAP and iLEAP percentile ranks
Year		Mastery and above (%)	Basic and above (%)
2014	District	35	34
	Statewide	24	69
2013	District	82	81
	Statewide	23	66
2012	District	N/A	80
	Statewide	N/A	68

Louisiana 3rd through 8th grade students statewide are tested annually in English language arts, mathematics, science and social studies. These tests are called iLEAP and LEAP.

On both tests, students can earn the following scores:

“	Advanced: A student demonstrates superior performance in the subject. Mastery: A student demonstrates competency of challenging subject matter and is well prepared for the next level of schooling. Basic: A student demonstrates only fundamental knowledge and skills in the subject. Approaching Basic: A student only partially demonstrates the fundamental knowledge and skills of the subject. Unsatisfactory: A student does not demonstrate the fundamental knowledge and skills.	”
—Louisiana Department of Education website (2014)

The table on the right compares the percentage of district students scoring either mastery and higher or basic and higher on the iLEAP and LEAP with the statewide averages. The percentage of mastery and higher is not available prior to 2013 results.

End-of-course tests

High school students in Louisiana take end-of-course tests in algebra I, geometry, English II and III, biology and U.S. history. The students receive one of the following four scores on each test:

“	Excellent: A student demonstrates superior performance of the course content. Good: A student demonstrates mastery of course content and is well prepared for the next level of coursework in the subject. Fair: A student demonstrates only the fundamental knowledge and skills needed for the next level of coursework in the subject. Needs Improvement: A student does not demonstrate the fundamental knowledge and skills needed for the next level of coursework in the subject.	”
—Louisiana Department of Education website (2014)

In the 2013-2014 school year, 77 percent of students taking end-of-course tests across all subjects in the district earned a grade of good or excellent. This was up 2 percent from 75 percent in 2012-2013.

District letter grade

Louisiana uses a letter grade system of A through F to describe school performance scores. The table on the right outlines the district's letter score by year. The scores are based on the following measurements:

A-F Letter Grade Results
Year	Performance score	Letter grade
2014	104.9	A
2013	104.6	A

“	Elementary schools (K-6): 100 percent of the school grade is based on student achievement on annual assessments in English language arts, math, science, and social studies. Schools may also earn points for significant improvement with students who are academically behind. Middle schools (7-8): 95 percent of the school grade is based on student achievement on annual assessments with the final 5 percent based on credits earned through the end of students’ 9th grade year. Schools may also earn points for significant improvement with students who are academically behind. High schools (9-12): Half of the school grade is based on student achievement (25 percent on the ACT and 25 percent on End-of-Course assessments). Half of the school grade is based on graduation (25 percent on the graduation index, which rewards achievements like Advanced Placement and International Baccalaureate exam credit, and 25 percent on the cohort graduation rate, the percentage of students graduating in four years). Schools may also earn points for significant improvement with students who are academically behind.	”
—Louisiana Department of Education website (2014)

Issues

Term limits

Terms won in the 2014 election were the first to be affected by the imposition of term limits on school board members in the parish. On November 6, 2012, St. Tammany Parish voters elected by a majority of 84.94 percent to instate term limits.

Ballot text:

“	LOCAL OPTION ELECTION Within St. Tammany Parish School District: Shall the number of terms of office that any member of the school board may serve be limited to three consecutive four-year terms?	”
—Louisiana Secretary of State's website (2014)

Parishwide School District Local Option Term Limits Proposition (2012)
Result		Votes	Percentage
a Yes		87,373	84.94%
No		15,496	15.06%

Starting with terms that began on or after January 1, 2015, any member who, at the end of his or her term, has served more than two and one-half terms in the last three consecutive terms cannot be re-elected in the following term. However, they can be re-elected following the one term break. The limit does not apply retroactively to incumbents, thus allowing them to potentially serve up to 12 more years.

ADA Harry Pastuszek controversy

Spending on legal counsel by the school board to Assistant District Attorney Harry Pastuszek came under criticism following the revelation that the district had paid more than $500,000 for the services in the last year. The practice of assistant district attorneys providing legal counsel to school boards is common in Louisiana. However, the payment for those services is a complicated manner. Whether these deals are seen as a public service that is compensated through the district attorney's office or a private arrangement that is compensated directly with the lawyer providing the services varies.

In the case of the St. Tammany School Board, the school board has paid Pastuszek directly for legal services. The district paid him $440,666 in 2011, $475,194 in 2012 and $545,399 in 2013.

Common Core

See also: Common Core State Standards Initiative

Although the school board approved a resolution calling on the state to drop the Common Core standards in October 2013, the topic was not closed. At the September 11, 2014, school board meeting, 10 people spoke to the school board to express their dissatisfaction with the mathematics curriculum being taught under the Common Core. While Governor Bobby Jindal (R) has sued the federal government over Common Core, Louisiana Superintendent of Education John White has been a strong supporter.

Contact information

St. Tammany Parish Public School System
321 N. Theard St.
P.O. Box 940
Covington, LA 70434-0940
Phone: 985-892-2276

See also

• Louisiana
• Louisiana school districts
• List of school districts in Louisiana
• St. Tammany Parish Public Schools special elections (2015)
• St. Tammany Parish Public Schools elections (2014)
• School board elections portal

External links

Suggest a link

• St. Tammany Parish Public Schools
• St. Tammany Parish, Louisiana
• Louisiana Department of Education
• Louisiana School Boards Association (LSBA)

Footnotes