By Kimberly Hopson
L’Observateur

RESERVE – The mutterings of a frustrated audience created a contant hum as the St. John the Baptist Parish School Board discussed the possible suspension of all Hurricane Isaac-related reconstruction activity by CSRS, a Baton Rouge-based consulting firm, on Thursday night.
Attendees eventually voiced their dissatisfaction at the lack of progress in repairs at East St. John High School and Lake Pontchartrain Elementary and the failure of board members to communicate the delays in completion of the projects with the public, among other things. Individual squabbles also caused the meeting to become a lengthy affair.
The meeting began on a positive note — the board commended local bus driver, Jerry Jake, for excellent service based on two letters received from the parents of children who ride with him. Also, board member Patrick H. Sanders received a gavel award from Clarence Triche for his past years of service as the school board president.
After the awards were presented, board member Albert A. Burl III recommended that CSRS be reverted to its “original” contract with the board, saying “there is no more emergency” and in passing the two schools he has noticed no actual work being done. Burl also said the company has added three additional jobs to the project after claiming they had reduced project management by 30 percent.
CSRS representative Frank Lacourse rose to defend the company’s work, with some hesitation, after prompting by board member Russ Wise. Lacourse argued that negating the hurricane recovery contract amendment would cease all recovery work being done and cause FEMA negotiations to fall through, leaving the school to pay out-of-pocket for any work needed.
“If we were to eliminate that amendment, all the design work would stop, the negotiations with FEMA would stop — nothing would happen. We would risk FEMA walking away from the table, leaving the district hanging for months on end. The additional temporary facilities we discussed on Tuesday would not be completed in time for the next school year. There would be no funding to put those in place,” he said.
“The work would stop, and we as a school system could wind up having to pay every penny to restore and replace these schools?” asked Wise, for clarification.
“You’d wind up having to pay a significant portion of it. Much more significant than you’re having to pay today,” said Lacourse.
“But the reason why we went to that contract is because we wanted to get in. You said school was going to be back up in January, so that’s why we hired those extra people. So now, when you come back on Tuesday you say we won’t be able to get back in school until January 2014,” said Burl, to much audience approval. “Then we just found out on Thursday that there’s no timeline on Lake Pontchartrain. I’m saying, we hired your company to come and speed up the process but it has been dragging on since you stepped foot in the building.”
“Mr. Burl, we have on your behalf, negotiated with FEMA for over $60 million dollars. That is a significant number. We are dealing with the federal government. One of the issues we have is delay in funding, and this is happening everywhere, it’s not just here. We provided a schedule for Lake Pontchartrain and what the estimate would be for the new facility, but we are currently in negotiation with FEMA on whether that’s going to be funded. We can’t start down the road of building a new building without that being negotiated first,” said Lacourse.
The motion ultimately failed when put up to vote. Several council members abstained from voting, saying that they would like to know whether or not doing away with the hurricane recovery amendment would really affect FEMA funding before they made any decisions.
Finding a new superintendent in time for the new school year was also a notable topic of discussion. The board has received four applications from hiring firms interested in aiding the search for an applicant, but no selection has been made thus far. Board member Keith Jones recommended that the board save money and advertise statewide for the position on its own. Wise, however, said the board members do not have the time or ability to choose a new superintendent on their own and added there would be a better chance of finding a suitable candidate using a hiring firm, which would advertise nationally.
In other discussion topics, board member Rodney Nicholas recommended the board re-award the hurricane recovery contract to both CSRS and Lutcher-based HGI Environmental Services, proposing that CSRS work only on East St. John High School while HGI would work on Lake Pontchartrain Elementary. Nicholas said this would expedite the recovery process and eliminate the problem.
Kelly Aldridge, a teacher at Lake Pontchartrain Elementary, asked if anyone had considered the community’s feelings when making these decisions, and added she and the other teachers were clueless about what was going on with the schools because of lack of communication.
“I know that you’re talking about considering awarding the contract to certain people. As a teacher at Lake Pontchartrain, we’re back here wondering, ‘What is that plan? what are you doing with us?’ I’d like to know what the actual plan is and I know I’m not the only one from the community who would like to know.”
“The board doesn’t know,” said one audience member, drawing laughter.
“If the board doesn’t know, then I’d like to know what you’re voting on,” continued Aldridge.
Further audience commentary elicited a response from superintendent Herbert Smith: “It really was the intent of the administration to have a meeting with the parents. I want to go and meet with parents and give them something definite because what they’re going to say is, administration is saying this today and that tomorrow,” he said. “We have not had a clear-cut direction in terms of what we will be doing because things are changing on a daily basis. If you think they’re angry now, just imagine what would’ve happened if I’d gone to them three times and changed it every time. I understand the frustration, but I want to be accurate when I give the information.”
Again, no definite decision was reached. The board agreed to reconvene before the end of the school year to create a new policy on student fighting as well. The next St. John Parish School Board meeting will take place on Thursday, Feb. 21, at Emily C. Watkins Elementary School.