By David Vitrano

L’Observateur

RESERVE – The St. John the Baptist Parish School Board addressed many concerns still hanging over the heads of educators, parents and students as the district recovers from Hurricane Isaac, which caused flooding at two school facilities as well as an extended loss of instructional time for students.

The board passed a resolution at its Thursday meeting requesting the state freeze the district’s MFP funding at pre-Isaac levels and to give the district a special exception regarding missed school time.

Executive Director of Business and Finance Felix Boughton said the district was already facing a decrease of $1.5 million in state funding because of the loss of students participating in the state’s voucher program. Now the district could be facing another $1.5 million loss because a number of students have not yet returned following Hurricane Isaac. In all, the district’s student population is down by nearly 240 students compared to this time last year.

Furthermore, with about $25 million in damages assessed so far, if FEMA only funds 75 percent, the district could be facing an even larger financial hurdle.

“The fiscal situation we could be in because of Isaac could be worse than the storm,” said Boughton.

He said next year the district will also face an additional $900,000 in teacher retirement cost as well as a 20 percent increase in health insurance premiums.

Boughton noted that following Hurricane Katrina, the affected parishes received 100 percent reimbursement, and their MFP funding was frozen by the state.

“We’re going to need help from Baton Rouge, and it’s going to take more than this resolution,” he said.

Regarding the loss of time, a revised calendar that extended the school year for East St. John High students until June 14 and included extended school days starting Jan. 14 was presented to the board. The district, however, is hoping the state will grant a special exception regarding instructional time when the Legislature meets in the spring.

Other problems the district is facing on its road to recovery is the transportation issues caused by having to bus students from Lake Pontchartrain Elementary to various campuses throughout the parish.

Interim Superintendent Herbert Smith said, “We are trying to keep all the families together.”

He also said the administration is constantly making tweaks to the system to reduce travel times, especially for the younger students. He said that while travel times have decreased, ”it’s not where we want it to be.”

He said the bus fleet has been increased — including two buses loaned to the district from St. Bernard Parish — to alleviate overcrowding but added that the available transportation resources are now at maximum levels.

As far as the students returning to their own campuses at East St. John High and Lake Pontchartrain Elementary, a report from CSRS representative Frank Lacourse dimmed hopes that either school might be ready by January. He said to do so would require a costly three-shift construction schedule that would likely not be funded by FEMA.

Rushing the job comes with other perils as well.

“There’s a real risk of a high rate of change orders,” he said, adding, “The repairs will not be as comprehensive as they need to be.”

He said to reopen in fall 2013 would still require a bit of expediting but added CSRS will try to secure some temporary classrooms from FEMA so East St. John students would no longer have to attend classes on a platoon schedule, with some going from 7 a.m. to noon and others going from noon to 5 p.m.

The school board is expected to call a special meeting next week to decide its course of action.

Regarding the more distant future of students in the parish, the school board agreed to establish a committee to study the educational needs of the district.

Board member Rodney Nicholas encouraged his colleagues to think beyond next year when considering what action to take regarding East St. John High and Lake Pontchartrain Elementary.

“They’re not going to want to bail us out again in three years,” he said. “I want the board to think long and hard and deep about doing things right the first time. St. James and St. Charles parishes are building infrastructure.”

St. John teachers’ union representative Iona Holloway added, “I think it’s a good idea. We need to do something.”

Not everyone was on board, though.

“I think we need to think about feasibility,” said board member Russ Wise. “We are not going to be able to do this for at least five years.”

While he did not necessarily disagree with Wise’s assessment, Board President Patrick Sanders said, “We have to start somewhere. You can call it whatever you want, but let’s just start.”

Also at Thursday’s meeting, the board voted to seek proposals from firms to assist in the search for a new district superintendent.

While board member Albert Burl III thought the district should take on the task themselves to save money, Wise said the purpose of hiring an outside firm is to take politics out of the equation.

In the end four board members — Burl, Nicholas, Russell Jack and Keith Jones — voted against the measure.

The board also accepted a resolution to seek buyers for $11.6 million in general obligation bonds. According to bond attorney Hugh Martin, bids will be opened Dec. 6 and the district should get the money Jan. 9.

Lastly, West St. John Athletic Director Robert Valdez informed the board of the poor condition of the football field there.

“If we had a game tomorrow night, it would be embarrassing,” he said.

He urged the board to look into the possibility of installing artificial turf both there and at Joe Keller Stadium on the east bank, noting both St. James and St. Charles parishes have installed the man-made surface at their high schools.

“We are stuck in a rut where we are behind the times,” said Valdez.