WILDSVILLE &045;&045; NAACP Concordia chapter President Justin Conner called upon the residents of Wildsville, La., to make their concerns known to members of the Concordia Parish school board.

Conner spoke at length during Tuesday’s meeting of the organization.

&uot;Nobody can speak for Wildsville like Wildsville,&uot; Conner said. &uot;Be ready Friday night to ask your questions and we’ll get some answers.&uot;

Conner has arranged a meeting Friday night with members of the parish school board and administration and the Tri-Parish Ministerial Alliance, of which Conner is the vice president, concerning Ferriday schools.

Ferriday Lower, Upper and Middle School all failed to meet recently raised testing standards, forcing the district to allow parents of children in those schools to let them transfer to other Concordia Parish schools. Administrators have encouraged parents not to transfer their students, citing a sharp rise in test scores over the past two years.

Conner said the district needs to do things to address the academic situation in Ferriday schools. Students are forced to wake up too early to go to school and often don’t receive adequate instruction, Conner said.

Conner said Wildsville parents should ask to move their children to Monterey schools as a way to force the district to put more resources into Ferriday schools.

&uot;If you tell them you’re going to move your child to Monterey, you’re going to get those certified teachers in Ferriday,&uot; Conner said.

Conner said he will bring a school bus to Wildsville Friday to transport residents to Ferriday for the meeting.

NAACP meetings for the next three months will be held at Old Daughters Church in Wildsville, on the far western edge of Concordia Parish. Conner said the organization moved the meetings to get a better feel for how residents in the area felt.

&uot;We saw a need to move our meetings where we could visit with some of our brothers and sisters,&uot; Conner said.