ERIK SANZENBACH / L’Observateur / June 27, 2000

RESERVE – Felix Boughton, director of Business Operations for St. JohnSchool Board, said that despite lower sales tax collections and a lower Minimum Foundation Program grant from the state, the school board is doing well financially.

At Thursday’s school board meeting, Boughton asked for the board’s approval for the amended budget for the school year 1999-2000, the proposed comprehensive budget for school year 2000-2001 and the new salary schedule for school employees.

Boughton said for this school year the system was still in the black.

“We have an ending balance $2.4 million in the general fund, which is thestate-mandated 5 percent of the budget,” Boughton told the board. “Thelunch fund also has a ending balance of $32,000.”The board passed the amended budget unanimously.

Boughton also presented the 2000-2001 salary schedule to the board.

“Nobody loses or gains money with this schedule,” Boughton told the board.

The board approved the salaries by a unanimous vote.

The budget for 2000-2001 will officially go into effect on July 1, and Boughton said that with conservative budgeting the system should end up with a balance of $1.2 million.Before the board voted on the comprehensive budget, Herman Clayton, president of the St. John Parish Association of Educators, said the SJAEreserves the right to take issue with certain budget items at a later date.

Clayton did not say what those budget items were.

Again the board unanimously approved the 2000-2001 comprehensive budget.

In other business: The board accepted Boughton’s recommendation that Regions Bank be the school board’s fiscal agent for 2001-2002. Boughton said Regions Bankwill earn the board over $1.5 million in interest in two years and that thebank has loaned money to the board with zero interest. Bank One andHibernia National Bank were also looked at, but Boughton said his analyses showed that Regions Bank would earn the board the most money.

Board attorney John Diasselliss informed the board that the St. JohnParish government is interested in buying the Second Ward High School building on the west bank. Leroy Mitchell said he had talked to ParishPresident Nickie Monica and Councilmen Duaine Duffy and Lester Rainey, and the parish wants the school for a recreational facility. Diassellissasked that the board vote to put the building up as surplus so that it could be sold. After the board voted unanimously to do so, Diasselliss then askedthe board to give him the authorization to negotiate with the parish for the sale of the school. The board voted unanimously in favor of the motion.Now the school board and the parish will survey the property and get it assessed for fair-market value before the sale is finally completed.

Clarence Triche made a motion to put a half-cent sales tax on the ballot for the October elections. Triche warned the board that local revenueshave to increase in order to give teachers a “living raise.””Our backs are against the wall again,” Triche said. “We need to dosomething. At the rate we are going, will not have any certified teachers.”Triche was talking about St. John teachers leaving the parish for highersalaries in surrounding school districts.

However, Leroy Mitchell said that the board didn’t have the legal authority to raise taxes at this point without legislative authority.

A motion was made to waive policy in order overrule the legislative authority. However, the motion died due to lack of a second, and as aresult, Triche’s motion also died.

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