LPSB rejects consolidation proposal

The Lafourche Parish School Board rejected the consolidation of its representative districts from 15 to nine last week and, immediately after, declined to support a referendum later this year that would give voters the opportunity to consolidate the districts.

For the first time during the month-old process, opponents of the move fluently stated their cases. Five board members spoke out against the move, mostly citing an increased workload, the subsequent belittling of the committee process and an easier incubation of factions.

The opponents also said they had not heard from constituents who favored the move. Two residents, a former City of Baker superintendent and a former LPSB member, spoke out against consolidation. No resident spoke in favor of eliminating the six board positions.

Marian Fertitta, Stella Lasseigne, Ronald Pere, Larry Pitre and Greg Stall voted in favor of consolidation. Al Archer, Richmond Boyd, Julie Breaux, Rhoda Caldwell, Dennis Chiasson, Joey Duplantis, Gary Foret, Lawrence Mounic, Ann Sanamo and Louis Thibodaux opposed it.

The voting lines were nearly identical on the referendum issue. Only Stall changed his vote.

“I respect the decision of the board,” Stall said afterward. “If constituents are unhappy with any decision made by board members, there is a process to voice that. I did not want us to be fragmented due to a pending election. It’s time to move on to other issues.”

At the heart of the consolidation debate is the savings.

For the past two years, the board has authorized using a reduction in force to help balance its budget, which is strained by what officials call unfunded mandates from the state and increases in the system’s retirement liabilities.

Fifteen teachers, including five certified teachers, were laid off prior to the 2011-12 school year, as the board eliminated 67 teaching positions. One year before that, the board eliminated 23 positions, filled solely by paraprofessionals and teachers who did not meet certification requirements.

Fertitta has estimated that consolidating six board positions would save $72,000 each year in salaries and benefits.

Chris Bowman, a Cut Off resident, former substitute teacher in the LPSB system and former superintendent of the City of Baker, spoke passionately against consolidation.

Bowman, when reciting the savings figure, held up a one-dollar bill and ripped off a piece of the corner. “This is what you would save,” he said, referencing the system’s $147 million annual budget.

“Superintendent Mathews was able to do what I had dreamed of doing in Baker,” Bowman continued. “She has established a system of positive board governance with the help of a willing and open board. You have a committee structure that is superb when it comes to efficacy, efficiency and expediency.”

Pitre said the teachers have suffered more than board members as it pertains to budget woes, and board members should ensure they do all they can to offset the strains.

“I feel as though I could represent more people, and I feel like everyone could,” Pitre said. “The employees have no choice. When there were cuts, they were cut.”

Boyd said he would spearhead an effort, starting at the board’s next finance committee meeting, to eliminate all board members’ salaries and travel reimbursement. “We should serve voluntarily,” he said.

The finance meeting is scheduled for May 16.

Breaux said saving money “is and should be” the board’s top concern. For two years, board members did not travel out of state in an effort to help quell budget woes, she said. Breaux has foregone claiming mileage reimbursement for her board-related travels, she added.

However, the board’s vice president went on to say that the savings were not worth the harm that would befall the board, particularly the committee system, where most issue-related discussion takes place throughout the month. “These important meetings would cease to exist,” she said.

The school board has eight committees, each of which have between five and seven members.

Pere, who proposed both motions, said 96 percent of school boards in the state and 99 percent of school boards in the nation have less members than Lafourche’s. “They have committees,” he said.

Fertitta said the proliferation of cell phones and email make 15 board members redundant. Less oversight is needed, she reasoned, because “communication is instantaneous.”

“Everyone can be reached in a matter of seconds,” she said.

Caldwell, the board’s president, said she has not heard one resident ask for a smaller board. She also referenced the committee argument and added that oversight on the annual budget would lessen. “More eyes are better than less,” she said.

The board has the opportunity to lessen its districts through the redistricting process, done every 10 years after the U.S. Census. The board has yet to vote on one of three plans that would shape its governing regions through the 2020 election.