Dr. Donaldo R. Batiste

District 4

Dr. Donaldo R. Batiste will continue as the District 4 Orleans Parish School Board member, as he was unopposed in the March 2023 election. A 47-year career educator, Dr. Batiste has served with distinction in public education as a classroom teacher, speech pathologist, elementary school assistant principal, an award-winning elementary and high school principal, having been named Louisiana Best High School Principal in 1998.  It was that honor that catapulted his rise to central office administration, where he was among the first cabinet members to serve under the first non-traditional chief executive officer of the district as the executive director for curriculum, instruction and educational support programs for the New Orleans Public Schools, where he amassed 28 years of his 41-year K-12 career.  Immediately following that assignment, Dr. Batiste moved to Illinois, where he served concomitantly as the associate superintendent for teaching and learning, and deputy superintendent of schools in Waukegan, Illinois.  After a two-year stint in this role, he was named superintendent of schools, a position that he held with distinction for 10 years, and was named Lake County Superintendent of the Year in 2012.  During his tenure in Illinois, Dr. Batiste was responsible for overseeing a $332,351,072 budget, winning annual awards for Distinguished Comprehensive Budget, Government Finance Award, and the Meritorious Budget award.  The school district was also recognized for closing the achievement gaps for its English-Language Learners and Special Needs populations, while successfully developing and implementing the District-led transition to neighborhood schools; thereby reducing spending for transportation costs by $6 million annually since 2008.  Today, Dr. Batiste serves as a full endowed professor of executive leadership at the University of Holy Cross, where he leads the Doctorate in Executive Leadership Program (DIELP).  This program is responsible for training and grooming transformative leaders for this generation and beyond.  A native of Terrebonne Parish, Dr. Batiste attended Vandebilt Catholic High School and was graduated from Terrebonne High School, having earned a Bachelor of Arts degree (Magna Cum Laude) from Nicholls State University, with a major in Speech, Language and Hearing Therapy, a five-year curriculum which he completed in three years. He was later graduated from Southeastern Louisiana University in Hammond, Louisiana, where he earned a Master of Education in Educational Administration and Supervision with a perfect 4.0 GPA. Concurrently with the master’s degree in administration, he was able to earn 36 graduate hours in Speech Pathology at the Louisiana State University Medical Center School of Allied Health Professions. He earned the Doctor of Philosophy degree in Educational Leadership at the University of New Orleans, where he received the coveted recognition as the Outstanding Doctoral Student and Dissertation of the Year awards.