Purpose of the Migrant Education Program
Funds support high quality education programs for migratory children and help ensure that migratory children who move among the states are not penalized in any manner by disparities among states in curriculum, graduation requirements, or state academic content and student academic achievement standards. Funds also ensure that migratory children not only are provided with appropriate education services (including supportive services) that address their special needs but also that such children receive full and appropriate opportunities to meet the same challenging state academic content and student academic achievement standards that all children are expected to meet. Federal funds are allocated by formula to SEAs, based on each state’s per pupil expenditure for education and counts of eligible migratory children, age 3 through 21, residing within the state.
Excerpt from the Office of Migrant Education Website results.ed.gov
Identification and Recruitment (ID&R)
The goal of the Migrant Education Program (MEP) is to ensure that all migrant students reach challenging academic standards and graduate with a high school diploma (or complete a GED) that prepares them for responsible citizenship, further learning, and productive employment.
Louisiana MEP staff will coordinate statewide ID&R activities in order to ensure identification of all eligible migrant children in the state. Professional development and training in key areas of ID&R, data collection and reporting will be provided, along with assistance for all recruiters. Relevant up-to-date training will be provided through on-site face to face training, webinar conferencing, and other forms of professional development. All training will be relevant to Louisiana with helpful resources from reputable sources.
Meet our Staff
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Melanie Mayeux
State Director of Migrant Education
Melanie Mayeux has been with the Louisiana Department of Education (LDOE) for 14 years. A native of Baton Rouge, she returned home after 31 years in Houston to coordinate the LDOE’s newly funded GED/ESL grant program for 16-21 year olds in 2007. In the summer of 2008, she moved into Federal Programs as a member of the Migrant Education Program and later became the State’s Title III coordinator. In the fall of 2012, she was named State Director of Migrant Education and also serves as a section Manager in the Federal Programs Office.
As a current member of the Federal Programs staff, she continues her leadership roles in Title III and Migrant Education and was named Point of Contact for Foster Care in the fall of 2016. In these roles, Melanie has had the opportunity to participate in several important initiatives, including serving as a current member of the LDOE’s diverse learner’s academic strategies policy work group, serving as the State Superintendent’s representative on a legislative task force to develop a proposal to raise the age of children served in foster care to 2, and the revision of the LDOE’s ESL Administrators Handbook. Nationally, she serves on the National Title I Board’s English Learner Subcommittee, served as the representative for the Office of Migrant Education’s southwest regional workgroup for 3 years, and served as Chair of the planning committee for National Association of State Directors of Migrant Education (NASDME) annual meeting, held in New Orleans in May 2019. Melanie has a BA in History and a Master’s in Education from the University of Houston.
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Pamela McEowen
Recruiter
Pamela McEowen is a Regional Recruiter with the Louisiana Migrant Education Program. She also provides field services that include lessons in Hydration, English book usage, Basic Laws, Pesticide Safety, and Basic Hygiene. In the summer she loves teaching OSY Summer School in the field for the state of Arkansas.
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Ray Melecio
Consultant
Ray Melecio is a consultant for the Louisiana MEP that provides ID&R and eligibility training to staff. He also consults with the state in issues regarding migrant program administration, reinterview of migrant families and quality control, among others. He has managed ID&R and provided MEP program expertise in multiple states, including Florida, Pennsylvania, Missouri, Tennessee and others. He holds a Ph.D. from the College of Education at Pennsylvania State University, with an emphasis in Bilingual Education.
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Clare Ortiz
Recruiter
Clare Ortiz is a Regional Recruiter/Advocate for the Arkansas MEP where she coordinated the OSY Summer School during the Summer of 2020. Clare also recruits migratory children and youth during her spare time for the Louisiana and Missouri MEPs.
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Blanca Perez de Espinosa
Recruiter
Blanca Perez de Espinosa is a Regional Recruiter with the Louisiana Migrant Education Program. She recruits in different parishes across Louisiana, mostly in the south. Prior to her current position, she worked as a paraeducator translating for ESL families.
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Ively C. Pride
Recruiter
Ively Pride is a Regional Recruiter for the Louisiana Migrant Education Program. In her previous position, she worked as a Migrant Education Recruiter and Advocate for St. Martin Parish School District since 2021.
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Lorena Andrea Roberts
Recruiter
Andrea Roberts is a Regional Recruiter with the Louisiana Migrant Education Program. She is responsible for conducting in-the-field ID&R activities across the state. Prior to her current position, she was a Recruiter and Advocate for St. Martin Parish.
(225) 372-0419 -
Gina Sassau
English Teacher
Gina Sassau has great experience teaching. She is bilingual and enjoys teaching, engaging, providing educational services, and promoting higher education. As an educator, she is highly proficient in working with adults and children and enjoys teaching all levels of education.
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Mary Speyrer
Migrant Program Support
Mary serves in a district support role for the Louisiana Migrant Education Program, advising and assisting with Parent Advisory Councils (PACs), summer programs, ESL classes, Out-of-School Youth (OSY), and district evaluations. As Migrant Coordinator for the Lafayette (Louisiana) Parish School System (LPSS) for seven years Mary recruited and provided services to eligible migrant students and OSY, managed program data and grant funding, and coordinated the statewide services of the OSY Center. She previously served LPSS for 17 years in the Homeless Education Program where projects she spearheaded won two national awards. Mary holds a Masters Degree from the University of Louisiana-Lafayette and has volunteered as a cellist for over 30 years with the UL-L Orchestra. She serves as Secretary on the board of Family Promise of Acadiana, a nationally-affiliated program for homeless families, and is on the board of The Shining Light Foundation which provides funding for students who, otherwise, would not be able to participate in school-associated academic and enrichment programs.
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Laurie Stewart
State Migrant Coordinator
Laurie Stewart is the State Migrant Coordinator for the Louisiana Migrant Education Program. She is responsible for coordinating the processes and procedures for ID&R for all Migrant students in the state. She also coordinates the procedures and processes that ensure delivery of services to all eligible migratory children in Louisiana. Laurie has served as Louisiana’s Technical Support Team (TST) Member for both the IDRC and iSOSY consortiums since 2020. Prior to her position as State Migrant Coordinator, Laurie was State Services Coordinator and, before that, was both a district and statewide recruiter for the Louisiana Migrant Education Program.
(225) 369-0560
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Traci Tucker
LA Data Manager
Traci Tucker is the Data Manager for Louisiana Migrant Education Program. She is responsible for working with all districts in the state to ensure that all data is correct and reported in a timely manner. She also works with the state and OME databases to constantly enhance the programs which gather and report the data for the Migrant Education students in the state. As Data Manager, she assists in providing data for use in all state and federal reporting.
