The Louisiana School for Math, Science, and the Arts

1987-88 The school’s achievements were recognized in September when the World Book Encyclopedia’s Science Supplement included 15 pages featuring LSMSA and her two sister schools, NCSSM, which opened in 1980, and the Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy, which opened in 1985. In September, the school took time out to recognize the support it had received from Governor Edwin Edwards. In September, 1987, Edwards visited the school to receive the thanks of a grateful student body and faculty. Speaking at the school, Edwards said, “This school was a noble experiment for the state’s brightest students. Because you are here shows that you have a thirst for knowledge and special talents, much more so than most students. We expect you to go from here to college, wherever that may be, and come back to your communities and help lead the way.” Brown noted that the school had graduated 541 students in three years, and 91 of those were National Merit Scholarship finalists. He said, too, that the graduates had earned more than $9.8 million in scholarships. Pointing to the school’s bright future, Brown cited the news that, for the second year in a row, LSMSA would host a nationally-broadcast live teleconference under the auspices of C-SPAN, TeleLearning would expand thanks to grant funding from BESE... Three other LSMSA instructors were recognized for the publication of their books: Dr. Rodney Allen wrote “Walker Percy – A Southern Wayfarer,” Dr. Terry Jones completed his treatise entitled “Lee’s Tigers – The Louisiana Infantry in the Army of Northern Virginia,” and Dr. Jamie Woods penned “Rebellion and Realignment – Arkansas’s Road to Secession.” That Spring, LSMSA expanded its role in bringing renowned performers to the school when, in February, it hosted the first annual Louisiana Voice Festival. The festival, which was made possible through grants from the Louisiana State Arts Council and the National Endowment for the Arts, was planned along similar lines as the Piano Festival. International opera star Patricia O’Neill highlighted the festival with several songs highlighting the music of Ireland. In April, the school experienced yet another “first” when the Louisiana Supreme Court agreed to conduct a special session at the school...one of the cases on the docket was a murder trial that originated in Natchitoches and had been appealed. The school’s auditorium was selected as the only viable venue, and a backdrop and bench were created to provide for proper decorum for the justices. After hearing the arguments, the justices took the matter under advisement to consider a ruling at a later time. Graduation finally arrived for 189 anxious seniors. The largest number of students matriculating to a single institution opted for LSU-Baton Rouge. However, several students chose to attend the most prestigious schools in the nation including Duke, the United States Naval Academy, Washington University, Boston University, Georgetown, Columbia, Stanford, Yale, Vassar, St. John’s University, Harvard, Princeton, Dartmouth, the American University, and Cornell. Scholarship totals were incomplete but showed a total of nearly $3 million. ----- 1992-93 The year started much like any other with the Junior Recognition Ceremony. The class consisted of 229 students from 110 public high schools and 25 non-public schools. They represented 51 of the state’s 66 public school systems, and they included 30 National Merit Scholarship semifinalists and six Achievement Scholarship semifinalists. The big news at the start of the year was yet another budget cut. In a letter to parents in early October, Williams listed several steps the school would take to address the budget shortfall: All students’ schedules would be reviewed, and courses not required for graduation would be deleted with many courses and sections being canceled; the state-mandated student-teacher ratio of 15-to-1, already exceeded in many classes, would increase further as sections taught by adjunct teachers were canceled; individual music lessons taught by adjunct faculty would be drastically cut; and Special Projects Week would be canceled. The board would have to waive that graduation requirement for both classes. Williams warned that if the budget cuts continued into the next year, it was “probable that we will have to reduce the size of the junior class for 1993-94.” If an additional budget cut occurred in the current school year, “We will face the reality of cutting the school year short, terminating some of the faculty and staff, further consolidating classes, and possibly eliminating upper-level elective courses in languages, math, science, and the arts. “We had hoped that this, the tenth year of the Louisiana School, would be a time for celebration. Instead, it has become a time to take a hard look at the future of the Louisiana School,” Williams said. In an interview with the school newspaper, the Renaissance, Williams commented, “This school’s downfall is that it functions too well. Until our quality starts slipping, they’ll continue to cut our funds. I’m afraid that time is coming very soon.” Williams set the standard for the school: the number of students might be decreased, courses might be canceled, and faculty and staff might be terminated, but the quality of the educational experience given to the students would not diminish. In the face of such dire predictions, the school, once again, functioned under a pall. Morale was at a new low, and something had to be done to brighten the outlook for the future among the students, faculty, and staff. The administration seized on a current event to add some spice to students’ lives. The 1992-93 school year coincided with a presidential election year, and LSMSA would hold a mock presidential election, complete with candidates, debates, and a full-fledged election. To kick off the event, the administration, and a few select students staged an audacious act. On September 11, 1992, a “deranged” LSMSA student “assassinated” the President of the United States, George H.W. Bush.