LAPLACE — There are many factors that impact how well students learn in a classroom, but Kevin George stressed the biggest is having effective teachers.

“When you lose them and have to replace them constantly, it makes that job more difficult,” George said.

The St. John the Baptist Parish Public Schools superintendent said revenue from a proposed .25 percent sales tax increase in the parish would be used to offer competitive salaries to local school staff, thus helping the District maintain improving test scores, which the state recently rated at B-level districtwide for the second year in a row.

“Teachers are very mobile,” George said. “St. Charles is close. St. James is close. Ascension is close. They can still live wherever they are living and move school systems. If I’m paid $40,000 to teach a seventh grade class in LaPlace and I’m paid $50,000 to teach it five, 10 minutes away, teachers make those decisions.”

School district officials said St. John ranks at the bottom in teacher pay for River Parishes educators and has not been able to fund a raise in approximately six years. Consequently, District officials said St.  John loses seven to 10 of its best teachers each year to surrounding school systems.

Early voting is underway through Saturday and is open from 8:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. at the Percy Hebert building, 1801 W. Airline Highway in LaPlace, or the West Bank courthouse, 2393 Highway 18 in Edgard.

Election Day voting takes place from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. Dec. 10 across the parish. Residents can check their voting precinct by visiting sos.la.gov or calling the Registrar of Voters Office at 985-652-9797.

School Board members and St. John Public Schools administrators are facing a tough challenge to raise the local sales tax after a similar attempt failed in April.

According to numbers released by the Louisiana Secretary of State’s Office, 1,501 people (52 percent) voted against the measure, while 1,372 were in favor of the new tax.

The 2,873 total votes cast represented less than 10 percent of available voter turnout.

Former Sheriff Wayne Jones used social media to encourage residents to vote against the tax in April, later telling L’OBSERVATEUR he is wary of additional taxes after a new one-cent sales and use tax took effect April 1, increasing the state sales tax to five cents. That combined with the 5 percent local sales tax brought the current sales tax to 10 percent in St. John the Baptist Parish.

The River Region Chamber of Commerce, citing a survey among St. John members and discussions with business owners within the parish community, came out in opposition to the tax increase two weeks ago.

“Many business owners are concerned that the raise may cause people to shop in other parishes rather than locally,” Chamber Public Policy Chair Henry Friloux said. “For example, home builders in the parish are having difficulty selling homes now and feel adding another $1,000 to new homes will make them even harder to sell.

Friloux also said the business community feels additional sales taxes are “regressive,” impacting low-income individuals disproportionately.

“Ultimately, sales taxes are not a good option for financing public education,” he said.

George said he understands the response from businesspeople, adding they are looking at their bottom line.

“My bottom line is children, and so I’m not ashamed to go to the voters and ask for these additional dollars, because I know what it is going to be used for, which is to make sure our children have a first class education and are taught by the best teachers in the best building facilities,” George said.

Tax notes

If approved, the .25 percent sales tax increase is expected to generate approximately $2.4 million per year. Currently, the system generates approximately $22 million from 2.25 percent in dedicated sales and use tax revenue.

Half of the new revenue is earmarked for salaries and benefits to permanent school employees, while the other 50 percent is designated for maintaining and repairing school buildings.

George said many school facilities have critical needs when it comes to roofs and air conditioning systems.

He cited the lack of a dedicated revenue source for building maintenance as a problem that needs fixing.

“It is at a crisis level, but we still do what we have to do to teach our kids,” George said. “Why should our kids have to be in a place where one day a week the air conditioning unit is going to go out? I don’t accept it for my own children and I won’t accept it for anyone’s children.”