Because Every Child Deserves A Quality Education 
​"The best we can do for our children is to give them a good education. That starts with the community and the essential role it plays in making sure our schools have a broad, balanced curriculum, high quality teaching and a stimulating environment. Parental involvement is key and mediocrity is not acceptable.  I will fight for high standards of performance and continuous improvement in District 5 schools. Count on it. 100%."
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-- Derrick Shepherd--
The Jefferson Parish School System is the largest and most diverse district in Louisiana and the 98th largest in the nation.  We are part of an extensive suburban district coming out of a global pandemic that has had an enormous impact on teaching and learning; its effects may take years to quantify.  Already, the national data shows 13-year-olds have fallen back to unprecedented declines in math and reading.  There is much to be done not only to counter and mitigate the effects of the pandemic on our students in District 5 but to expand and enrich their learning environment as we meet those challenges. 

I will work to:
  • Encourage and promote parental involvement, hand in hand with support for our teachers;
  • Ensure that classroom rules and procedures are non-negotiable and enforced. Actions must have consequences;
  • Provide a safe and healthy environment for students, teachers and support staff;
  • Develop and champion programs that identify and provide resources for students' social, emotional, behavioral and mental health needs;
  • Be accountable for transparency and fiscal responsibility in our school system. Oversight is the School Board's responsibility;
  •  Secure the highest standards of operation and performance our schools so richly deserve.