By David Vitrano

L’Observateur

LUTCHER – The St. James Parish School Board called a special meeting Tuesday to discuss an ordinance proposed by the parish council regarding Nucor’s exemption from parish sales taxes.

Board members were presented a resolution clarifying some of the language in the original ordinance. Although school system officials believed the intention of the ordinance was merely to exempt Nucor from the 1-percent sales tax paid to the parish, the resolution was created to take out any vagueness in the matter, thereby ensuring Nucor would still be responsible for the 2.5-percent sales tax that funds educator salaries and helps maintain educational facilities in the parish.

The board also asked that the ordinance, were it passed by the council, not be enacted until Jan, 1, 2011, at the earliest. Board Vice President explained the delay would be necessary to get all paperwork in order with the state.

The School Board approved the resolution unanimously.

Superintendent Alonzo Luce said the school system met with parish and Nucor officials for preliminary talks about an agreement among the three bodies in June 2008, when the School Board declared their support for the project, but in its final form the cooperative endeavor agreement somewhat changed the amount of money the school district would receive as a result of the Nucor project. After the resolution passed, Luce seemed confident the parish council would alter its ordinance to agree with the board’s resolution.

“We appreciate everybody working with us on that,” said Luce.

Also Tuesday, the board authorized the funding of the truancy program for grades K-6 in the parish.

The program was previously funded through Louisiana State University, but budget cuts eliminated the funding for the program. The program will cost the district $22,300.

Lastly, the school system has been granted $6.5 million in Qualified School Construction Bonds by the state Department of Education. The bonds act as interest-free loans and can be used for capital improvement projects in the parish.

The School Board has until Dec. 31 to accept the offer, but Luce is seeking an extension because voters will go to the polls in April to decide whether or not to renew existing millages in the parish that provide funds for the school system.

“What we don’t want to do is borrow these monies and pay them back out of operational dollars,” said Luce.

Possible projects that may benefit from the QSCB funds include renovations to the stadium at Lutcher High School, which was recently damaged by fire, as well as the stadium at St. James High School. The Building Committee will meet Monday at 9 a.m. to discuss these and other projects.

The School Board is expected to make some sort of decision regarding the bonds at their Dec. 14 meeting.

Neighboring St. John the Baptist Parish recently accepted $10 million in QSCB funds to help fund facility renovations in that parish. Those bonds replaced the scheduled sale of interest-bearing bonds.