Lafourche school board facing $7.1 million deficit

Lafourche Parish Public Schools Superintendent Jo Ann Mathews announced the school system will face a $7.1 million deficit entering next school year.

This shortfall could lead to the release of 82 teachers, according to school board member Jon Callais.

The school board will hold a Finance Committee meeting April 21 at which time it will announce its plan to cope with the deficit. Matthews said this meeting could result in a reduction in force. Employees who are let go would be eligible to continue working until the beginning of next school year.

“We will do everything in our ability to ensure that our student services continue and that we can move folks around so they can have decent employment in Lafourche Parish,” said Matthews. “Although we are very confident that we will be able to do that, there may be some cuts at the end of the road that we cannot fulfill. But it will be only because we have no other choice. We have no other place to put them.”

Callais said teachers choosing not to return would reduce the number of cuts that would have to be made.

“Hopefully, we will be able to make the cuts where people who want to keep their job will keep their job,” he said. “They may not be able to stay in the same position they’re in now. They may have to move to a different school. But we never can lose focus of what our objective is here, and that’s to educate children. If we take away the classroom teacher, you’re losing something there.”

Callais said if cuts need to be made, uncertified teachers and teachers who have come out of retirement to resume teaching would probably be the first to be let go.

“You have to keep your young, highly-qualified teachers that are in our system,” he said. “You don’t want them to move to other parishes.”

According to Callais, there are about 20 uncertified teachers in Lafourche Parish.

Matthews noted one of the reasons for the difficulties is because Gov. Bobby Jindal’s budget will increase the cost of retirement pay.

“That is something that the state of Louisiana should take care of, however that cost has been passed onto school systems across the state,” said Matthews. “The net effect of increasing from 15.5 to 20 percent in the teachers retirement system and from 17.6 to 20.3 [percent] in the employees retirement system will cost us approximately $2.9 million.”

She added other economic concerns stem from a 14 percent cut the state made to non-public transportation, increased cost of employee health care and an 11 percent decrease in parish sales tax money received.

Also, Matthews noted school employees have done a good job working with students, causing fewer to be placed in special education. Although this shows teachers are doing their jobs well, she said this will cost the parish $763,000 due to its new weighted count.

“That’s a little bit of a hard pill to swallow, but I’m certainly happy that we’re doing a great job with our kids even if we have to take the hit,” said Matthews.

In the face of a budget deficit, the school board is looking for other means to generate revenue.

That’s why the school board voted unanimously to appoint a committee to discuss charging for campsite leases on its 16th Section lands.

These areas are state-owned land donated to school boards who can use this land for their own purposes or lease it out for profit.

However, people have been building camps on these lands for more than 30 years without paying a lease to the school board.

The school board leases some of its land to oil and gas companies, but a majority of the residents living on these lands have not paid leases.

“Now we’re finally getting to put our arms around the situation and finding out who the camp owners are and trying to recoup some of the moneys that we’re losing for not leasing the properties,” said Callais.

He said the lease payments will not be retroactive.

Callais added every camp owner he has spoken to is in favor of the lease payments so they will no longer be in danger of losing the land on which their camp is built.

“It gives them an ease of mind to say, ‘This is mine. No one can come and take it from me,'” he added.

Callais is not sure if camp owners would simply receive leases on the land their camp is on or if the school board would auction off the campsites every few years.

“If I were a camp owner and I put in 30 years in building a camp and my money, sweat, blood and tears into putting a camp on this site and then you could come behind me and out bid me for that site and I lose my camp, that would be a hard pill to swallow,” he noted.

Callais said camp owners do not favor auctioning leases.

The school board will decide at a later meeting which route to take, if any, to recoup some of its monies on campsite leases.