(New Orleans – August 16, 2022) — Surrounded by family, friends, and current and former students, the Orleans Parish School Board (OPSB) officially swore in Dr. Donaldo R. Batiste as the Interim School Board Member for District 4. Dr. Batiste will be filling in for former school board member, Dr. Jancarlos Wagner-Romero, who recently stepped down from his post.
"On behalf of the board, I'd like to welcome Dr. Batiste to his new role. We are grateful to have someone with so much experience in education, who is well respected in the community, take on this important position. His more than 45 years in education, 26 of them as a speech pathologist, assistant principal, principal, and executive director of curriculum, instruction, and professional development in our city's public schools, will serve him well, as he works to meet the needs of District 4 constituents," said OPSB President Olin Parker. "The board looks forward to working with Dr. Batiste as it seeks to continue to move its vision forward of ensuring all students receive a high-quality education."
"I want to say not only to the boys and girls and families of District 4, I want to say to the boys and girls and families of NOLA Public Schools, that I will come serving on your best behalf. It may not always be the way you might want it, and it may not be the way that I necessarily saw it; but I'm here to serve as an instrument, and I'm willing to work along and serve with and support this Board and the new superintendent of schools," said Dr. Batiste.
Dr. Batiste currently serves as the Nancy O'Neill Endowed Professor of Executive Leadership at the University of Holy Cross in New Orleans in the Depatment of Education. He is a native of Terrebonne Parish and graduated from Terrebonne High School in Houma, Louisiana. He earned a Bachelor of Arts degree (Magna Cum Laude) from Nicholls State University (1975), with a major in Speech, Language and Hearing Therapy, a five-year curriculum which he completed in three years. Four years later, he graduated from Southeastern Louisiana University in Hammond, Louisiana, where he earned a Master of Education in Educational Administration and Supervision. Concurrently with the Master's degree, Dr. Batiste earned 36 graduate hours in Speech Pathology at the Louisiana State University Medical Center in the School of Allied Health Professions (1979). Subsequently, he earned the Doctor of Philosophy degree in Educational Leadership at the University of New Orleans (1993), where he received the coveted recognition as the Outstanding Doctoral Student in 1994. In 1998, he was named best high school principal in the state of Louisiana.
Dr. Batiste's professional experiences have spanned 46 years and have taken him from the classroom to the principalship, to the central office, and ultimately to the Office of the Superintendent of Schools in Waukegan, Illinois (40 miles north of Chicago), a position he held for 10 straight years before retiring from K-12 public education in 2016. Recently, he served on NOLA Public School's facilities renaming initiative.
###
About NOLA Public Schools: NOLA Public Schools (NOLA-PS) is the public school district for Orleans Parish. It includes the district's administration and elected school board, known as the Orleans Parish School Board (OPSB). NOLA-PS currently oversees 71 public schools and is led by Superintendent Dr. Avis Williams, the first woman in the District's 181 years to serve as its permanent superintendent.
For more information, visit www.nolapublicschools.com. For updates, follow NOLA Public Schools on Facebook @NOLAPublicSchools, Instagram @nolaps and Twitter @NOLAPSchools.