A letter to the Ascension Parish School Board and follow ups to it.
August 5, 2000
Ascension Parish Schools
Superintendents
Mr. Robert Clouatre and Mr. Songy
38210 Highway 3089
Donaldsonville, La 70346-8586
Dear Sirs:
I am making a formal complaint against your school board member Mr. George Valentine.
I have made numerous requests of Mr. Valentine for information about the following issues without answers. As such I believe him to be negligent in his duties as a school board member.
Ø The school boards intentions about eliminating our students at the Dutchtown Middle School from being subjected to inhuman temperatures, in excess of ninety-five degrees Fahrenheit, in the old gym.
Ø The school boards intentions to eliminate our students from being subjected to possible serious injury being forced to carry back sacks that can and do exceed thirty to thirty-five pounds.
Ø The school boards intentions about how to inform parents that the school supplies list sent home at the end of last school year was wrong, in the fact that it prohibited book sacks with wheels, and how to inform those parents not to spend Thirty or so dollars needlessly on something not needed just because one or two Dutchtown School personnel put the considerations of a single school bus driver ahead of that of the students health and safety.
I find Mr. Valentines lack of cooperation totally unprofessional, and as such it is my belief that he at minimum be reprimanded, or, that he be considered removed from the school board all together.
I bring to your attention again that these issues have been on going now for one year without satisfactory remedies. It is no wonder that I hold you and your school board members in such low regard.
Chuck Le Mieux
Cc/Fax to:Ms. Elizabeth Stafford Dutchtown Primary Principle
Ms. Cathy Meredith Dutchtown Middle Principle
Channel 9 TV
Channel 33 TV
Cc/email to:
Mr. Robert Clouatre Ascension Parish School Board
Superintendent
Mr. Songy Assistant School Board Superintendent
Mr. Harold Marchand Ascension Parish President
Mr. R. Anderson Ascension Parish CAO
Ascension Parish Council c/o Mr. R.Loupe
Mr. George Valentine Ascension Parish School Board Member
The Ascension Parish Council c/o Randy Anderson
Ms. Jennifer Sheffield Channel 2 Education Reporter
Mr. J Connelly Channel Two News Room
Ms. Keisha Lacour Channel 2 Two On Your Side
Mr. J. Connelly Channel 2 News Room
Mr. John MacMillan The Advocate’s River Parish Office
Mr. David Young The Gonzales Weekly
Mr. David Young The Community Mirror
Mr. David Young Ascension Parish TV
The Ascension Citizen
Mr. Cecil Picard Louisiana Board of Education
A copy of this letter has been published to the web site In Ascension Parish at http://inascension.com
A response from Mr. Valentine.
Mr. Lemieux,
It is obvious by your last e-mail you sent me you would like some type of
response. Let me remind you that your e-mail dated 8/1/00 stated that I need not reply because of the pending court action that you were going to take against the Ascension Parish School Board. In that e-mail you referred to me as "half baked" along with the other members of the APSB and that we have failed miserably. A direct quote from your e-mail was "Don't need to be any more pissed off than I am already." Mr. Lemieux I have in the past responded to every reasonable request that you have made. Your first request was for a resolution to the DOTD for reduced speed limit on Hwy. 74. It was requested of the APSB and it was sent to the DOTD. After that request was turned down by the DOTD you became angry at the APSB for not getting our attorneys involved. This happened over a year ago and I personally did not hear from you are receive any direct e-mails or correspondence until three months ago. At that time you called me for a face to face meeting to help you with school problems. I invited you to my house and you responded with your daughter at your side spending more that one hour discussing several issues. As we talked on my back porch I shared my effective way of handling constituent issues. I told you that we should work together in a friendly manner rather that an adversarial one. You presented me with your latest letter requesting full time school board members and counsel members. Two issues at that meeting were back pack issues and school supply list (costly). At the very next meeting it was decided that the 4th through 8th grade would be allowed to have book bags on wheels. After informing you of the book bag decision you were not satisfied. You felt that we did not advertise this decision properly. You even asked if you could put it on your web site. I told you to wait a week and you could place that information there. To my surprise you make no mention of the APSB taking action on this issue. The school supplies list is being handled by school board staff and should be in place next year. Temperatures in the Dutchtown gym was also a topic of discussion. I told you that would approach that problem with Mrs. Meredith principal of Dutchtown. Your e-mail later to me stated you would not be satisfied until there were no more classes in the gym. We only use the gym for homeroom purposes and not instruction. In our discussion at my house Mr. Lemieux you made the statement about people that don't acknowledge you e-mails. My reply to one of your e-mails seem to touch a nerve which resulted in another angry e-mail to my address. I simply stated that your e-mail was noted. I apologize if I have offended you in any way Mr. Lemieux by answering your note with that statement but it was only to let you know I read it.Mr. Lemieux my prayer is that the grief you suffered does not turn into bitterness. Isaiah chapter 53 verses 4&5.My response to Mr. Valentines email.
Mr. Valentine,
Sending correspondence back and forth month after month with no satisfactory results is not my idea of cooperation.
I still have no idea as to what, if any, satisfactory remedy has been made to remove all students from the gym permanently until work has been done to make the building habitable. Why don't you and your school board cronies move into that gym for a week and see how fast the environment changes?
I still have no idea as to what, if any, satisfactory remedy has been made to eliminate the excessive weight from book sacks. Why don't you and your school board cronies start carrying back sacks, WITHOUT WHEELS, that weigh a minimum of one third your body weight around, and see how fast a remedy is found?
Calls most every day for the past two weeks to the school board still has me in the dark as to when the caution lights will be installed on highway 74. Why don't you and your school board cronies take the place of the crossing guard at highway 74 and dodge traffic coming at you so as not to become a hood ornament of a vehicle bearing down on you at 50 MPH plus, and see how fast the caution lights and speed limit signs get installed?
A request to give me the names of all the schools in the parish that still do not have the proper safety equipment, i.e. caution lights, speed signs, crossing guard, etc., has still not been given to me. I guess the powers that be feel they are above having to give out such information.
I believe I've tried to work with you on the issues, but I don't see satisfactory results. Answers that it was brought up at a meeting, waiting for a report, and other cockamamie excuses don't get it.
It has never been my intentions to fall into the slow, lackadaisical, don't give a damn attitude that exists in this parish to get things accomplished. Rather my goal is to bring those that I've just described to the attention of parish residents and get rid of them once and for all. That goes for the school board, sheriff department, police departments, and parish government.
As for law suits? I am no attorney, and finding a lawyer who isn't in bed with someone in the parish is going to take some doing. Be advised though, until satisfactory remedies are implemented I will proceed with my plans and take the school board, or any other part of the parish infrastructure, to court. I may not win, but I wont have egg on my face as some will.
In the mean time be prepared to have me as a thorn in the parish' side. I see no other way to get you folks to do anything in a timely manner when it comes to the welfare and safety of Ascension Parish residents.
"Bitter"? Your damn right I'm bitter.
URL: http://inascension.com
URL: http://otool.hypermart.net/
Email clemieux@inascension.com <mailto:clemieux@inascension.com>
Fax/Voice Mail: (225)673-3062
