Highlights

• Lafayette Parish School System Superintendent Francis Touchet Jr. received a $65,000 raise, increasing his annual salary from $235,000 to $300,000
• School board extended Touchet’s contract through December 31, 2029, with performance bonuses potentially adding up to $17,000 annually
• The 27% pay increase follows Touchet’s strong annual evaluation score of 3.8 out of 4 from board members
• Lafayette Parish Association of Educators expressed concerns that teachers would need decades to see similar percentage increases
• School board also selected new leadership and changed auditing firms after disagreement over previous audit findings

Lafayette School Superintendent Gets $65,000 Raise, New Contract Through 2029

School board also picks new officers, hires different auditing firm after dispute.

LAFAYETTE, La. (KPEL News) — Lafayette Parish School Board members voted Thursday to give Superintendent Francis Touchet Jr. a $65,000 raise, boosting his annual salary to $300,000 and extending his contract through December 2029.

The vote came a month after board members gave Touchet a 3.8 out of 4 on his annual evaluation, up from 3.5 the year before.

What Touchet’s New Contract Includes

The raise bumps Touchet’s salary from $235,000 to $300,000—a 27% increase. His contract also covers health insurance for him and his family.

Touchet can earn up to $17,000 more each year through performance bonuses tied to seven district goals. The biggest bonus—$5,000—comes if the district gets an A or B performance score. The other goals each pay $2,000:

• Keep the graduation rate at 80% or higher
• Boost student attendance to 90%
• Increase third-grade reading scores on state literacy screeners
• Increase third-grade math scores on state numeracy screeners
• Make sure 90% of teachers evaluated through VAM score “effective” or better
• Show overall student growth across the district

Why Board Members Backed the Raise

Board members said Touchet earned the raise through his work leading the district. Roddy Bergeron pointed to programs like ACE and construction projects across Lafayette Parish schools.

“The work he’s done, the value he’s put in, ACE programming, new construction, the list goes on and on,” Bergeron said. “We have to support that and we have to make sure that we look towards the future of how do we attract the person to that seat.”

The Lafayette Parish Association of Educators had concerns about the raise percentage. Julia Reed, speaking for the group, said teachers appreciated recent pay bumps and new stipends for student teachers.

“We appreciate the raising of several categories of pay and extending stipends to student teachers so that no teacher ever again has to experience the poverty that I did as a student teacher,” Reed said. “However, a school-based educator would have to work decades to achieve a 27% increase.”

Reed said the comments weren’t personal criticism of Touchet.

New Board Leadership, Auditor Change

The board picked its officers for the next year. Hannah Smith Mason was the only person nominated for president and won the spot.

Three members were nominated for vice president: Roddy Bergeron, Jeremy Hidalgo, and David LeJeune. LeJeune got five votes—from Mason, Chad Desormeaux, Kate Labue, Britt Latiolais, and himself—and won the job.

The board also voted to hire a new auditing firm, EisnerAmper, replacing Kolder, Slaven and Co. The switch follows a disagreement over last year’s audit.

Kolder, Slaven and Co. had audited the district for at least five years and was paid about $2.1 million during that time. Last year, the firm said it found problems with how the district handled federal compliance, including claims the district didn’t properly bid an elevator upgrade project. District officials disagreed with those findings.

The district asked firms to bid on the auditing work, and three companies responded. Four panelists scored each firm out of 100 points. EisnerAmper averaged 92 points.

Board member Jeremy Hidalgo said auditors should help districts fix problems, not create bad publicity.

“These are the people we hire to help us, not to sabotage us,” Hidalgo said during the meeting.