VoTech ethics ruling closed to school board

Terrebonne Parish School Board members were stunned to hear they cannot view the contents of the state Board of Ethics response to the alleged improprieties at the parish’s Vocational-Technical High School.

“We have waited six months for a response and Superintendent Ed Richard received a letter marked ‘confidential’ and we can’t view it. That’s absolutely preposterous,” School Board President Clark Bonvillain said.

School Board attorney Berwick Duvall told the nine-panel board that the contents of the response will not be made available to them because of the “confidential” stamp.

“Why?” Bonvillain asked. “We are the one’s who requested the legal opinion from the ethics review board.”

Duvall acknowledged that he found the Board of Ethics rules “somewhat perplexing.” He called the state agency to clarify what he could tell the board, which turned out to be nothing.

The school board attorney won’t confirm whether an investigation had been completed, or even conducted. He did say he suspects that this is the Board of Ethics’ first and final response on the matter.

Bonvillian said the school board requested a legal opinion from the ethics board because they were trying to take an affirmative stance, allowing the ethics board to comb through policies that have been practiced at the Vo-Tech school for many years.

The voluntary submission to the ethics board came after allegations that School Board members, employees and members of the general public have abused a longstanding tradition of having vehicles, boats and other personal property repaired at the school by students.

Houma Television Broadcast Station conducted an investigation series of the alleged violations at the Terrebonne Vo-Tech. An on-air broadcast showed Tommy Sledge, a carpentry teacher at the Vo-Tech, allegedly transporting lumber and roofing material from the facility.

The parish District Attorney’s office charged Sledge with “unauthorized use of a moveable,” which carries a sentence of up to five years imprisonment if convicted.

For his part, Sledge is suing the Terrebonne Parish School District for the unauthorized release of unspecified “private personnel” documents, which were leaked to the local news station.

According to acting state ethics administrator Kathleen Allen, it is standard policy for the ethics board to review complaints and agency reports of past discrepancies. And if they choose not to take a stance or file charges then the information is sealed.

School Board member Rickie Pitre asked that Richard compile a summary of events that preceded the ethics review, one that would ask the superintendent to give “as much information as he can.”

“We have some accountability issues at the Vo-Tech which need to be addressed,” he said. “The confidential letter doesn’t give us closure, and that’s what we need.”

Pitre’s motion passed 7-2, with board members Hayes Badeaux and Roger Dale DeHart voting nay.