A member of the East Baton Rouge Parish School Board who will be off the board following its final meeting of the year on Thursday has placed an item on the meeting agenda to discuss and consider approving a contract extension for Superintendent Bernard Taylor.
School Board President David Tatman confirms that Mary Lynch submitted the agenda item request on Monday evening. Tatman says the board will take up the matter because Lynch followed the proper procedures for adding the item, though he noted that he doesn’t support it.
“I’d say I’m a little surprised by it,” Tatman says.
“I just don’t think it’s appropriate for this board to extend a contract when we’re just a couple of weeks away from having a new board,” he adds, noting the board will have four new members in January following the recent elections.
According to Tatman, Taylor indicated that he did not want an extension when his contract last was discussed in July. At that time, the board voted 10-1 not to extend Taylor’s three-year contract beyond its expiration in June 2015, but left open the possibility of an extension at a later date.
“I never try to predict what my colleagues will do, but I would hope that they would let the new board make that decision,” Tatman says when asked if he thinks Lynch’s agenda item has any chance of passing on Thursday.
EBR Schools spokesman Keith Bromery says Taylor had no involvement in the agenda item request. Bromery said Taylor is not expected to weigh in on the matter of an extension, either.
Lynch joined the board in May after filling the seat of the late Randy Lamana and will not be on the new board when it convenes next year. She could not be reached for comment by this afternoon’s deadline on why she wants to discuss a contract extension for Taylor.
Also Thursday, Tatman says the board will take up a proposal to reduce the term limits for board president and vice president from two years to one year. That item also was placed on the agenda late in the process by board member Vereta Lee. Tatman, who will be up for re-election as board president in January, says he opposes changing the term limits before the new board convenes next year.
The board meets at 5 p.m. Thursday at 1050 South Foster Drive. See the full agenda. —Steve Sanoski
