THE ZACHA Y
ADVOCATE& T H E A D V O C AT E.C O M
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W e d n e s d ay, D e c e m b e r 10, 2025
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12TH YEAR, NO. 9
Zachary moves to a twice a month meeting schedule BY OLIVIA MCCLURE Contributing writer
After years of meeting just one night a month, the Zachary Community School Board will switch to a twice-monthly schedule in 2026. The change was approved at the board’s Dec. 2 meeting. The board’s longstanding practice has been to meet on the first Tuesday of each month for a work
session at 6 p.m. followed by a regular board meeting at 7 p.m. Typically, board members discuss agenda items during the work session and vote on them during the meeting. Starting in January, the board will spread those two gatherings across two dates each month. The first Tuesday of each month will be a committee of the whole meeting — essentially a work session.
The board will meet again on the third Tuesday for a meeting where votes can take place. Just a handful of dates won’t conform to that schedule because of holidays. Both types of meetings will be open to the public and will start at 6 p.m. Superintendent Ben Necaise proposed the change, saying it would promote transparency and allow the public to “see topics as they de-
velop.” It would give board members and school district staff two weeks to follow up on concerns raised at committee of the whole meetings and gather additional information before votes need to be taken. He noted that the East Baton Rouge Parish school board uses this structure. The move eliminates specialized board committees that focus
on policies, resources, academics and other areas. Necaise estimated that 90% of items presented to the board aren’t routed through committees and are introduced at work sessions and regular meetings. Some committees, he added, don’t meet often anyway — maybe only once or twice per year.
ä See MEETING, page 3G
Will schools’ tax proposal to fund teacher pay raises go up for vote again? BY OLIVIA MCCLURE Contributing writer
After their tax proposal that would have funded teacher pay raises was rejected in the November election, Zachary school leaders are thinking about putting the item before voters again — possibly as soon as June. At the school board’s Dec. 2 meeting, Superintendent Ben Necaise said he’s optimistic the plan, which failed by only about 175 votes, can succeed next time around. “A lot of people have reached out and said, ‘Hey, we should think about doing this again,’ ” Necaise said. “We’ve had board members who are interested. We have staff, teachers. We have a lot of public people who have come out and said, ‘Look, I think the neighbors just didn’t understand it.’ ” The proposal sought voters’ permission to reallocate an existing property tax. Instead of school construction, which is what the tax is currently restricted to, Necaise wanted to steer collections toward $10,000 raises for teachers and $5,000 raises for support staff.
ä See RAISES, page 4G
Zachary schools ban skirts for fifth, sixth graders BY OLIVIA MCCLURE
An elf high fives a young girl during the Zachary Christmas Parade on Saturday.
STAFF PHOTOS BY MICHAEL JOHNSON
CHRISTMAS SPIRIT ROLLS INTO ZACHARY
Contributing writer
Fifth and sixth graders will no longer be allowed to wear skirts to school after the Zachary Community School Board voted Dec. 2 to ban the garments, citing complaints from staff about how much time they spend dealing with girls who disobey the dress code. The change will take effect 60 days after the board’s vote. Girls in pre-kindergarten through fourth grades can still wear skirts as long as their hems hit at 3 inches or less above the knee, as stipulated in the school district’s dress code. Skirts are already prohibited in upper grade levels. The board briefly pondered other options, with a couple of members noting that some children may show up to school in too-short skirts because they’ve had a recent growth spurt — not because they’re intentionally breaking rules. But
ä See SKIRTS, page 4G
Riders on top of a Zachary fire truck toss cups to the crowd. ä More parade photos. PAGE 4G
Holiday deadlines set Zachary athletes committing to and shining for college teams Leila Pitchford AROUND ZACHARY
Submissions for the Christmas Eve editions of The Watchman, The Democrat and The Plainsman are due by Dec. 18. Submissions for the New Year’s Eve editions are due Dec. 26. Share your holiday party, celebration and decorations photos at zachary@ theadvocate.com.
Walk the lights at Lane The Lane Foundation invites the community to “Holiday Lights at Lane.”
ä See AROUND, page 3G
The early NCAA signing period was a boon for several Zachary athletes. Senior Ava Raymond, who was one of the leaders of last year’s state championship team, signed with McNeese. Raymond’s work is not done yet ZACHARY SPORTS as she enters her senior season with the Broncos on a tear. The Broncos girls basketball team four straight wins while averagopened the 2025-26 season with ing over 60 points. Team will be
Warren Brady
at home to play Southern Lab on Dec. 16 before a short break for the holidays when they will participate in multiple tournaments. Coach Chris Carrier’s track and field team had two early signees. Sprinter Talar Johnson signed with Louisiana Tech University and distance runner Nala Mitchell signed with Northwestern
ä See BRADY, page 2G