The Vernon Parish School Board voted to replace retiring District 8 representative M. Gene Haymon on Thursday.
Haymon's term expires December 31, 2010; however the 15-year veteran of the School Board announced that he was stepping down in January, effective Jan. 31.
The board voted unanimously to accept Kay Willbanks to replace Haymon.
"I feel that I have a lot to bring to the table because of the experience I have with banking and business," said Willbanks in a phone interview. She was not present for the 10 a.m. meeting.
Willbanks, who is also a court-appointed special advocate for foster children, said that she's excited at the prospect of serving the schools and community.
"Children are very important to me," she said. "I believe we need to do more for our children ... I believe that bringing that aspect to our community can strengthen our community and our schools."
Willbanks, who is employed at Merchants and Farmers Bank and resides in Hicks, is expected to appear at the next meeting of the board to officially accept the position.
Earlier this year Haymon cited several reasons behind his decision to resign, including both personal and business interests.
Next meeting moved to accommodate LHS renovation plans
In other business, plans to renovate Leesville High School, which are in the works, are the main reason behind the Vernon Parish School Board's Tuesday, Feb. 9 meeting being changed.
The meeting has been pushed back by one week to allow a few finishing touches to be worked out on the proposed renovation project for Leesville High School. The new meeting date is Thursday, February 18 at 10 a.m.
"We have an addition and remodeling project in the works for Leesville High School and we found that a little more time was needed to get our final plans together from the architect and have a final price estimate to bring before the board," Self explained.
The board expects the plans to be explained at the Feb. 18 meeting.
Board greets 2009 Forestry Festival winners
During Thursday's meeting, the board was also at last able to officially greet the winners of the 2009 Forestry Festival Queens Pageant.
The high school pageant winners were originally expected to appear before the board in November of last year just after their win, but due to extenuating circumstances that appointment was delayed until this month.
Director Raetta Harvey explained to the board that the 2009 pageant broke many records including attendance and participation. The pageant's scholarship program also increased and for the first time ever, all five of the court members will receive a portion of the $3,000 scholarship award.
Leesville, La. —
