Lafourche picking up the pieces after school tax vote fails

H.L. Bourgeois senior earns $1 million in scholarships
May 10, 2017
Bridge Saga Continues
May 10, 2017
H.L. Bourgeois senior earns $1 million in scholarships
May 10, 2017
Bridge Saga Continues
May 10, 2017

“Unfortunately we’re in a time and space today that we are going to have to look at things that no one wants to look at, no one wants to touch.”


Those were the words Lafourche Parish School District Superintendent Jo Ann Matthews said to a packed house at last week’s school board meeting.

Matthews was setting the tone before listing the impending cuts to next year’s budget the district will be undertaking.

Educators, administrators, parents and students braved Wednesday’s brutal thunderstorms to attend the board meeting and make a case against the proposed cuts. Some advocated for finding other savings without layoffs while others advocated for specific programs they wished to salvage.


The budget cuts Matthews laid out would save the LPSD nearly $6 million next year, enough to cover up its sizeable budget deficit. The cuts were recommended after the April 29 election that saw Lafourche voters narrowly vote against a one-cent sales tax for the school district. The tax revenue, defeated by a 19- vote margin, would have raised about $14 million and paid to both cover the deficit and give raises to the district’s teachers.

The cuts proposed at Wednesday’s meeting were a bit different from the original plan for cuts proposed at the April 12 school board Finance Committee meeting. The current plan, approved by the board, calls for eliminating 11 general education teachers, down from 24 in the original list of cuts. The number of elementary counselor positions eliminated was also more than halved, as eight counselors instead of 17 will be cut. However, the LPSD’s music program takes on a greater hit, as the number of music teachers cut increased from two to six in the approved plan. The new budget plan does cut fewer music teacher assistants, but the overall dollar value of cuts to music teachers and assistants increased.

LPSD Spokesperson Floyd Benoit said the specific positions to be cut have been identified and many of the affected individuals have been informed, although the notification process is still ongoing.


The approved proposal found other places in the budget to cut to make up for fewer personnel reductions. The LPSD is eliminating its spending on Teacher Advancement Program Master/ Mentors program, saving $691,000. It is saving another $250,000 by closing its Central PASS Site and $338,000 in deficit sharing to Virtual Academy Lafourche and Bayou Charter Academy, the two charter schools in the parish. The LPSD also had continuing budget cuts for the 2016-17 school year, including a freeze on step pay raises for teachers and a reduction in evaluation stipends, that amount to more than $1.1 million in savings.

Cody Blanchard, representing the Thibodaux Chamber of Commerce, spoke at the school board meeting about the impending cuts. Blanchard said the people who voted against the tax were not against educators or the schools but instead did not want an additional burden on a business community during this current economic downturn. He said the chamber and the wider business community would be more amenable to a sales tax increase if the LPSD first exhausted all options before proposing a tax. Blanchard recommended rededicating millages to the district’s general fund to give the LPSD more flexibility in dealing with deficits.

Lafourche educators and administrators have already taken to finding workarounds to save programs. South Lafourche High School Gaye Cheramie announced at the board meeting that the parish’s three high schools would be reducing the number of coaches so some could work with and support middle school athletics programs, which were on the chopping block in the original budget cut proposal. Cheramie said the election results felt like a “slap in the face” to Lafourche educators, who would nonetheless continue on in the face of such challenging times.


“We do love our children and we will make the best of it,” Cheramie said.

Matthews said the budget cuts were devastating for her, as they are for each of the people in the room. She said the cuts are a band aid solution that would last only six to 12 months and said the district must go back to the voters for another sales tax

election. According to Benoit, the process for another election usually takes between eight to 12 months. However, Matthews said in the meantime, even in the face of increased retirement costs, unfunded mandates and cuts from the state, the district will stand and keep the system going.


“I’m going to tell you one thing about Lafourche Parish: I’m a fighter, and you all are fighters,” Matthews said. “We show resilience. So, we come back and we will make sure our children are taken care of.” •

Jo Ann MatthewsKARL GOMMEL | THE TIMES