VIDALIA — Despite several last-minute resignations, the Concordia Parish school system is fully staffed and ready for the first day of school today.

Superintendent of Schools Paul Nelson said that over the past three weeks the school district has had approximately 10 late resignations, but all of them have been filled with certified personnel.

“The closer you get to the start of school, the harder it is to find certified hires, but we were able to do that,” Nelson said.

Two of those resignations — a special education teacher at Vidalia Lower Elementary and a science teacher at Monterey High School — were Monday.

“We were already into our staff development cycle on Tuesday, so it was kind of tough (to hire replacements),” Nelson said.

“A lot of times when you have these last-minute resignations, you have to start school with substitute teachers rather than certified staff, but that wasn’t the case this time.”

During the meeting the board also voted to approve an addendum to Nelson’s superintendent contract. Nelson was hired July 12 and his contract was approved July 30.

The addendum was to add life and medical insurance benefits to the contract, Nelson said.

“In previous (superintendents’) contacts, the board has provided for basic life and medical insurance,” he said. “When the contract was reviewed by (Business Manager Tom O’Neal), it was discovered that was not included, and so this was just correcting that.”

In other news:

•The board approved the first reading of several new or amended policies.

The new policies were meant to reflect changes in state laws that have recently gone into effect, Nelson said.

•The board approved the sale of a 15 by 18 foot storage trailer at the Concordia Parish Academy of Math, Science and Technology — formerly Ridgecrest Elementary — for $303.

The sale was awarded to the highest submitted bidder.

Nelson said the trailer was approximately 30 years old and had been used for storage in recent years.

•The board received bids for pest control and duplicating paper.