By David Vitrano

L’Observateur

LUTCHER – Compared to just a few months ago, the future at Lutcher Elementary School is looking bright as the St. James Parish School Board Building Committee approved plans to replace the roof at the facility, which faced possible closure earlier this year.
Complaints about leaks at the school have been persistent since at least the beginning of the 2012-13 school year. And despite several visits from Debra Bartley of the NAACP, Superintendent Alonzo Luce and at least two School Board members admitted Tuesday they were not aware of the severity of the problem until very recently.
The roof received several patch jobs during the last school year, but these seemed to just shift the problem to other areas of the school rather than fixing it.
But it seems the end of temporary fixes may be in sight for the facility as the Building Committee approved architect Perry Segura to design plans for a new roof at Lutcher Elementary School.
Although at least three evaluations of the facility have been performed already, Segura asked for time to perform his own evaluation.
“We think your problems are from the flat roof,” he said. “You may not have to do the whole building.”
Administrative Director of Business Services Jim Mitchell added that he would also like to take a look at the facility as a whole to figure out how to best use the space available.
“Right now we’ve got too much building for the enrollment,” said Mitchell.
At 154, Lutcher Elementary School’s student population fell below projections and is the lowest of any public school in the parish.
Building Committee Chair George Nassar was concerned, however, that all these evaluations would slow down the repair process.
“We need to move on something pretty quick,” he said.
But no matter how quickly the evaluations are completed, the replacement work will likely not start until summer 2014, when students will not be at the school.
To counter this, Nassar suggested some temporary measures be taken immediately.
“We will have some recommendations to give you immediate relief,” said Segura. “Give us a couple of weeks, and we’ll get it done.”
Other changes may be coming to the school, as well. Luce said he has been meeting with Lutcher officials and community members to develop a plan for the facility that could include expanded afterschool and community outreach activities.
He added that the atmosphere at the school for the start of the 2013-14 school year was quite different than what has been seen recently.
“We had a completely different start of school than we’ve had recently,” he said. “I look forward to where we’re going with that.”
Local NAACP Education Chair Charles Kirklon Jr. was in attendance Tuesday, and he seemed pleased with the School Board’s seeming about-face regarding Lutcher Elementary School.
“I’m really quite pleased with what the Building Committee and the School Board are saying right now,” he said. “Now I have to wait and see if you go ahead and follow up.”