More than 20 Northside teachers displaced, head football coach among those

Posted: Jun 13, 2012 9:42 PM by Elizabeth Hill

26 of Northside High School's 65 teachers won't be returning to the school this fall.

They've been dismissed as part of the final phase of the turnaround plan.

This doesn't mean they're fired, but rather displaced, meaning all 26 will be hired by other schools in the parish.

Northside head football coach Vincent Derouen is among those displaced.

"He was gonna laugh with you, joke with you, he was gonna be hard on you and he was gonna let you know that overall, i just want you to get better as a person and as a player."

School Board Member Tehmi Chassion, says he can't wrap his head around the decision.

"I don't see we're making the school better by getting rid of some of the best people in the school. It makes no sense."

Chassion and many members of the northside community are disappointed to see these longtime, well liked teachers go, but Superintendent Dr. Pat Cooper says it's not a popularity contest.

"As good as they may be, as good as they think they are and as good as they may have been, they're not doing the job."

When the turnaround process began, Cooper gave Principal Melinda Voorhies the task of building a staff she felt would be best suited for northside.

"It doesn't mean the teachers that are being displaced are necessarily poor teachers, but they don't fit into the team that the principal is trying to amass."

The displaced teachers will be hired at other positions within the parish, but Chassion says it just won't be the same.