By CHRISTOPHER LENOIS

LAPLACE – St. John the Baptist Parish public school students are on spring break this week, and school board members are scheduled to vote on an issue Thursday that would impact the majority of students currently in school – not to mention future generations.

The board will vote on resolutions calling for a special public election on two issues. The first being the renewal of the 10.57 mills property tax which expires in 2003. The second is the authorization for the school district to use its $5 million borrowing capacity to restructure the elementary schools into a K-8 configuration, as well as construct a gymnasium at Garyville/Mt. Airy Math and Science Magnet School.

Several parents recently voiced strong support for the plan during a public forum with Superintendent Michael Coburn at LaPlace Elementary School. Coburn will hold a second public forum tonight to answer questions about the proposal at West St. John Elementary School.

The meeting is scheduled for 7 p.m.

Reaction from school board representatives has been less unanimous. Some have raised questions about the feasibility of certain aspects of the plan, as well as its legality in the face of the 1992 state courts ruling on integration. Coburn has said that all such issues have been cleared by administration’s legal counsel.

Dist. 8 Rep. Russ Wise praised the plan during the public forum at LaPlace Elementary, but asked the parents to consider that there are other options besides the one Coburn is presenting.

“We continue to build our way out of temporary problems,” Wise said during the meeting.

Wise would like to implement the first part of the plan, which calls for temporary structures to be built at LaPlace, Fifth Ward, West St. John and John L. Ory Magnet Elementary Schools to hold 7th grade classes during the 2002-03 schoolyear.

Meanwhile, a panel comprised of school board members and administration officials, as well as business and community leaders in St. John, would consult with education experts across Louisiana and the United States to develop a comprehensive 10-year plan to improve the school system.

Wise said he plans on making a substitute motion introducing this idea during Thursday’s school board meeting.

“We need to be sure we’ve examined other possibilities to get the best possible plan for our schools over the next 10 years, and for the kids,” said Wise, who emphasized that he is not opposing Coburn’s plan, but would like to “modify” it.

The reconfiguration plan has its roots in a 1999-2000 parent survey conducted by the previous superintendent, Chris Donaldson, which indicated “strong parental support for the K-8 structure” according to Coburn’s proposal.

Coburn’s presentation at the forum outlined a two year time line which would add seventh- and eighth-grade students at LaPlace Elementary, East St. John Elementary, Fifth Ward Elementary and John L. Ory Magnet School. Each school would add seventh-graders in 2002-03, then eighth-graders the following year. Trailers would be used to house the additional classrooms until permanent structure could be built for the 2003-04 schoolyear. The plan also includes funds for the construction of a new gymnasium at Garyville/Mt. Airy Magnet that could serve junior high students across the parish, much like the gym at Glade School on the opposite end of the parish.

Pre-kindergarten students at Fifth Ward Elementary would also be affected, moving to the St. John Child Development Center. While kindergartners at the center would switch to Garyville/Mt. Airy.

Coburn presented a cost estimate of $4.9 million for the changes, which would be funded by the schools current borrowing capacity of $5 million. He has emphasized that no new taxes would be necessary.

Thursday’s public meeting will be held at the Godchaux Grammar School cafeteria in Reserve. The meeting is scheduled to begin at 6 p.m.