Vermilion Parish School Board locked at 4-4 vote for new president

In the first Vermilion Parish School Board meeting of 2019 with three new school board members, a familiar result occurred.
The new school board members could not decide on whom they wanted to be president. After three votes, the result came up 4-4.
Board members Jean Broussard and Kibbie Pillette put their names up to be the new president.
Last year’s vice president Laura LeBeouf did not want the job.
When it came to voting for Broussard, Chris Gautreaux, Jean Broussard, and Jason Roy voted for Jean.
Voting against were Pillette, Dale Stelly, David Dupuis, and LeBeouf. These four voted for Pillette, and the other four voted against Pillette.
When the hour-long meeting was over, the board left with no new board president. The next meeting will be on Jan. 24 and they will vote again. Until then, LeBeouf will act as the president.
Board members explained their vote during board commentary.
“We are trying to elect a president. We need to elect a president who has no controversy,” said board member Chris Gautreaux. “Myself, I have a controversy with me. Other board members have controversy. Mr. Broussard has no controversy. We need a fresh start. We need someone who can work with the central office and the superintendent. That is where Vermilion Parish School Board needs to go.”
Pillette explained to the board members why he wanted to be the new president. He is on his second go around of being on the school board. He was a board member in the late 1980s. In that time, Pillette was president of the school board twice.
He is starting his second term being a school board member, after replacing Charles Campbell.
Pillette said, “When you talk about conflict, it will be challenging for anyone on this board to not have conflict. There has always been conflict. Board members need to talk to each other. Since I been on board, there has been separation which has not been caused by board members.”
New board member Jason Roy gave his thoughts on why he voted for Jean instead of Pillette.
“We need someone impartial,” said Roy. “Whoever is elected has to have a good working relationship with the central office and the superintendent. Picking sides has gone on long enough. We need someone impartial.”