As he nails down his plans, Superintendent LaMont Cole continues to remake the top ranks of the East Baton Rouge Parish school system, including rehiring a former district communications director and demoting the personnel director hired by his predecessor, Sito Narcisse.
In the past two months, Cole has also elevated and demoted a handful of other second-tier district administrators.
Since he was hired in late July, Cole has been composing a new organizational chart to replace what he inherited from Narcisse and Adam Smith, who served as interim superintendent for six months.
Cole initially had hoped to have a new organizational chart ready by October, but he has pushed that back until January, after he concludes the tasks set out in that he issued when he started as superintendent.
Taylor Gast officially took over on Sept. 30 as head of communications. It is a post she held from 2018 to 2021, hired by former Superintendent Warren Drake. Gast left in May 2021, three months after Narcisse arrived. She spent most of the interim leading StudioE, the marketing division of Julio Melara Enterprises.
She said it has been a happy reunion thus far.
“Since returning, I've been telling everyone, 'I'm so happy to be home,’†Gast said. "Once you're immersed in the fabric of EBR Schools — meeting students and connecting with educators, principals, and staff — you can't help but feel inspired by the determination here to change the world.â€
Growing department
A lot has changed since 2021.
While Gast largely ran things by herself, Narcisse’s Communications Department expanded fast. His three communications heads oversaw several employees who churned out a steady stream of social media posts and videos tied to Narcisse’s many initiatives. They created an array of newsletters, revamped a district website as well as launching new school apps and a districtwide app.
The souped-up department also took over family and community engagement, working with and helping to train dozens of newly hired parental liaisons and family engagement aids at the district’s lower-performing schools.
Gast said she is glad to have a bigger staff, especially Perry Robinson, director of communications, who handles many of the public relations duties that took up the bulk of Gast’s time previously.
“Now we get the opportunity to be proactive, and that’s exciting,†Gast said.
Gast’s job does not include the family and community engagement duties that Narcisse added. Those now fall to Marlin Cousin, who is the district’s new administrative director of family and community engagement. Cousin spent eight months as interim head of communications, but his roots are in parent and community engagement, and he said he is “very excited†to once again lead up those efforts.
“It is imperative that our parents and caregivers are actively involved in their child's education,†Cousin said. “Research suggests that when parents are involved in their child's education, academic achievement increases, and behavioral issues decrease."
Gast and Cousin both serve on Cole’s executive leadership team.
More developments
The Human Resources Department is also changing.
In mid-October, Cole removed longtime human resources chief Nichola Hall. Hall has been reassigned to serve in the new role of administrative director of child nutrition, where she oversees food services for the district, including Ellen McKnight Hill, the newly hired director of children nutrition.
Hall’s HR duties are being handled in the interim by Beanka Brumfield-Williams. A longtime human resources administrator, Brumfield-Williams has also taken Hall’s place on Cole’s executive leadership team. Meanwhile, the district seeking a new chief of human resources.
Narcisse hired Hall to take over human resources in November 2021. It has been a rough ride at times. Hall dealt with periodic employee unrest sparked at times by Narcisse initiatives and has had sometimes fractious relations with employee groups. Hall’s department also struggled to fill teaching vacancies, which grew significantly during the pandemic, forcing teachers to routinely cover extra classes.
At the same time, Hall worked on organizing very disorganized employee job descriptions, improving employee compensation generally and lifting pay schedules for employees whom she said were underpaid compared with their peers.
In summer 2023, Hall added school food service to her district portfolio, an area she had worked in previously.
In June, Hall raised eyebrows when she applied unsuccessfully to become superintendent. She was the only other in-house candidate who applied besides Smith, the favorite of many district employees.
Cole has also changed several of his executive directors, a tier of administrators who generally oversee school principals and other district personnel. Here are some of his recent moves:
- Promoted Joni Sam to executive director of school leadership; she was previously director of elementary schools. Sam’s promotion coincides with the departure of Christal Aquillard, herself an executive director of school leadership, who left for a job with the Louisiana Department of Education.
- Promoted James Smith to executive director of alternative education, replacing Larry James, who has since resigned. James was previously a coordinator of special support programs.
- Demoted Tirza Fernandez-Brazier from executive director of school leadership, focusing on school counseling, to become a coordinator of special support programs.
- Promoted Amber Boyd to executive director of school leadership focusing on workforce issues; she previously was director of the district’s Career Technical and Education Center. Boyd replaces Caron Smith who has been reassigned to the relatively new job of coordinator of retention and employee accountability. Smith was one of Narcisse’s first hires, serving as his influential chief of staff, a position that has since been eliminated.
