Late Friday afternoon Louisiana Superintendent of Education Paul Pastorek arrived via helicopter to visit with Richland Parish Superintendent Cathy Stockton and BESE Board member Keith Guice.

Richland Parish School Board president Patricia Jordan joined the entourage as they gave Pastorek a brief tour of some Richland Parish schools and crop damage in the area and stopped at Thompson Grocery north of Holly Ridge for an ice cream treat. Another tour highlight, was an interview with Rayville High School Principal Georgia Ineichen who described high school redesign programs that Rayville High School has implemented such as ninth grade academy and dual enrollment.

The purpose of the visit was to acquaint Pastorek with issues that rural systems such as Richland have. Pastorek has been busy during the last few weeks touring storm-damaged systems in southwestern Louisiana. Superintendent Stockton stressed that although Richland school facilities did not suffer major damage from the storm that the system would be affected for the next few years by the heavy agricultural losses since there is little industry base in Richland at the present time.

The Richland tour ended with a visit to the Richland Alternative School. The group shared with Superintendent Pastorek the district’s effort to develop work force development initiatives and the need for more state support in order to expand the program.