LAPLACE — Lake Pontchartrain Elementary School students can return to class Thursday after School District officials declared their temporary facility safe to use.

Lake Pontchartrain Elementary students will attend classes in portable buildings on the East St. John Elementary School campus while Lake Pontchartrain Elementary is rebuilt at its U.S. 51 location in LaPlace.

Students of East St. John and Lake Pontchartrain Elementary Schools have not attended classes since Aug. 13, following a fire that  greatly damaged East St. John Elementary’s main campus.

The portable buildings were not damaged, Superintendent Kevin George said.

Teachers report back to the school today.

A parent and community meeting concerning East St. John Elementary took place Tuesday, where parents learned more about the relocation plan, transition timeframe and relief efforts.

East St. John Elementary School students are tentatively set to return to class on the Leon Godchaux Junior High campus in Reserve Aug. 31. However, school officials said they hope to have students back in school prior to that date.

In the interim, the school district partnered with New Wine Christian Fellowship and Marathon Petroleum Corporation to provide a camp for East St. John Elementary School students.

Parents can register their children for the camp from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. today at New Wine Christian Fellowship, 1929 W. Airline Highway in LaPlace.

The camp begins Thursday and takes place from 7 a.m. to 2:40 p.m. Monday through Friday as needed. Bus transportation provided by the school district is available.

Before and after care is also available beginning at 6 a.m. and ending at 6 p.m. for parents providing their own transportation.

“The amount of support we are receiving is unbelievable,” George said. “My phone has not stopped ringing since Friday with people offering to help. I would like to thank each and every person who has reached out to us and offered their services. I have no doubt, with this many people working together, that we will still make this a successful school year for our students from East St. John Elementary.”

The cause of the fire is under investigation.

Shock, help

Natasha Williams, mother of six, including East St. John third graders Robert and Rashaad Williams, said the family is still a “little shocked” following the devastating fire.

“So soon, school just started (Aug. 10,) and we just brought the school supplies in with the boys,” Williams said. “Apparently, all that is gone.”

Williams said she has a lot of educational books at home for the boys’ grade and she plans to keep up with their education until school begins again.

Many in the River Region have jumped to action to help the St. John the Baptist Parish School District in its time of need.

Lutcher High School is taking donations from students and teachers through Aug. 27, and those interested can also bring school supplies to Lutcher’s football scrimmage Thursday and an open house Saturday.

Students will receive a free dress down day Aug. 28 for donating.

Bombshells of LaPlace, located at 1421 W. Airline Highway, is accepting school supplies all day Saturday and offering patrons who bring in any school or teacher supplies a free well drink.

A Storage Inn, with two locations in St. John Parish, has served as a donation location for school supplies since last week.

Melynie Wright said storage facility employees have seen an outpouring of love from the community.

“Retired teachers have come and donated some of their old things,” she said. “We have gotten notebooks, rulers, decorations, bulletin boards and more.”

Aftermath

District 8 School Board Member Russ Wise said the School Board was fortunate to have secured the proper insurance coverage for East St. John Elementary, relieving some financial pressure and speeding up the process of getting students taken care of.

“We are waiting on the final word from the insurance company now,” Wise said. “From what I understand, the school will be fully covered by our insurance.”

Wise said he would not speculate how much money it would take to rebuild.

Wise said he believes a $500,000 rider the School Board secured will be used to transform Leon Godchaux into a suitable place for elementary students.

“Under the law, I think we can get free quotes in an emergency situation and I think the School Board will declare an emergency at our next meeting (today),” Wise said. “We don’t have to go through the bid process, which could take months to complete. We can get free quotes from individual companies on what we need to do at Leon Godchaux.

“We have overcome plenty of obstacles. Our kids are dedicated to learning. Our teachers are dedicated to teaching. I’m completely confident that we’ll come out of this even stronger then when we went in.”

— By Raquel Derganz Baker