Robert L. Frye (1927-2011), the Republicannominee for state education superintendent in 1972, was a former member of the Tangipahoa Parish School Board.[1]
Ann Alexander Smith (right) is a retired teacher, coach, principal of Kentwood High School, and Tangipahoa Parish School System supervisor. In 2007 she was elected to represent District A on the Tangipahoa Parish School Board. Here she is shown with Southeastern Louisiana University instructor Dr Birgitta Ramsey. Smith was guest of honor for the 2011 Governor's Cup Banquet of the KentwoodRotary Club, of which she is a former president.
The Board has a long history of racial discrimination in the hiring of teachers. In 1975, it was ordered to ensure one-third of the teaching staff were Black. Both the Board and the Court ignored the mandate for more than thirty years. During the period from 1998 to 2008, the Board hired fewer Black teachers than any other school system in the state. In 2010, a second ruling strengthened the first.[2]
In 1994, the Board adopted a requirement that a disclaimer be read aloud before any instruction on the theory of evolution. Local parents sued. In 2000, the Supreme Court declined to revise a lower court ruling striking down the policy.
