The Beauregard Parish School Board is considering removing the position of assistant superintendent and instead adding a director of auxiliary services into its flow chart of Central Office administrators.

During their regular session Monday night, board members heard from Superintendent Timothy Cooley on how the district would operate without an assistant superintendent, and how responsibilities and duties would be spread out.

The board requested to hear the alternative organization chart after receiving notice from present Assistant Superintendent Marlin Ramsey that he will be retiring effective July 30.

District 1 board member Martha Jackson questioned how the elimination of an assistant superintendent could affect the duties already assigned to other directors, and how Cooley would handle the additional responsibilities placed on him.

“You will be the one supervising each director. You will not have an assistant that kind of helps take care of some of this, so this is going to fall on you,” Jackson stated.

Cooley responded that he was presenting the plan to the board because it was asked of him to do so, and that he was fine with the plan if the board accepted it.

“Whatever way the board chooses to go, we are going to put it in place and we are going to work with it,” Cooley stated.

Whether or not to have an assistant superintendent can vary based on a district’s needs, according to Cooley. Allen Parish does not have an assistant superintendent, while Vernon Parish currently has one and Calcasieu has two.

The potential new director position would be in charge of maintenance and ongoing construction projects throughout the district, as well as other duties including disciplinary hearings and child welfare issues.

With Ramsey’s retirement approaching, Cooley told the board he would like to move forward with putting a director in place soon so that they could learn from Ramsey about the multiple construction and bond projects already underway.

Removing the position of assistant superintendent would also call for a revision within the district’s policy manual and open hiring positions, as they list the assistant superintendent as a seat on the district’s hiring committee.

Board president David Vidrine said he was not opposed to trying the new organization of duties, so long as the board could elect to re-introduce an assistant superintendent in the future.

“I’m willing to try it and leave the door open in case it doesn’t work and go back to the other way,” Vidrine stated.

With only six board members present at Monday night’s session, the panel ultimately agreed to table the item so that more consideration could be given to their decision.

The board is expected to bring it back up for a vote during their May session.