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June 23, 2015
The Terrebonne Parish School Board is looking to “take quick and immediate action” to improve Southdown Elementary.
Board President Roosevelt Thomas requested the aging school, located at the corner of St. Charles Street and Tunnel Boulevard, be considered for renovations.
Because of the significance of the move, Thomas opted to introduce the referendum himself. Vice President Brenda Babin temporarily presided over the meeting.
“It’s been one complaint after another, about things like the sewer leaking next to the cafeteria. We’ve stalled too long on this. The situation at Southdown requires immediate attention”, he said, and “the timing is critical here.”
For nearly two years, the board has discussed the need for a facilities study and a plan to address the parish’s problems with buildings, such as deteriorating conditions at some schools, like Southdown, and overcrowding at others.
Southdown Elementary, now more than 60 years old, still has its original windows and is not usable in its current deplorable state, Thomas added.
Board member Roger DeHart agreed, saying the school is in the “worst shape of any school in the parish,” and that the only thing that has been done to the building since it was built was a roof repair job about 10 or 12 years ago, and that job was “just a patch.”
“The school was built cheap, and that’s the reason for the problems we’re having now,” board member Gregory Harding said. “Other schools were built better and there are older schools in the parish that are in better condition.”
Thomas, who himself attended Southdown in grades 4, 5 and 6, asked Superintendent Philip Martin to conduct an assessment of the situation at the school and report back to the board in August, ahead of the Facility Study and Action Plan, which Martin has been asked to present the following month.
Board member Vicki Bonvillain said if she had to work in a place like (Southdown) that she would feel uncomfortable. “No school should have to look like that, “ she said, “let alone have to send your children there.”
Martin said the building has structural issues, and a fairly long list of repairs. One section of the building has not been used for quite some time because of water penetration. There was concern, he said, about mold and mildew; so on the “side of caution,” the area isn’t used. Regular air testing has not revealed any of those problems and a temporary fix has stopped the water, Martin said. If the patch holds, he said, the area will be reopened this school year.
The 2005 facility study, Martin said, showed that Southdown needed about $7.9 million in repairs, and that figure doesn’t include a new roof, which is definitely needed. The cost for those repairs he said, have certainly increased because “things haven’t gotten any better.” Martin said he’s already talked to engineers and architects about Southdown for his August report.
The building that houses Southdown Elementary and its nearly 500 students has a long history in Terrebonne Parish. It was built as a high school for African-American students prior to desegregation. The building was repurposed as an elementary school when Terrebonne High was integrated in the late 1960s. “The building has some historical significance for this area,” Martin added.
Thomas told The Times the school should be replaced.
“Really the school should have been rebuilt long ago,” he said. “As it is now, it’s not conducive to education because there are so many problems. To renovate the building would cost millions and millions, probably more than it would cost to just build a new one. Everything in the school needs to be updated, technology, classrooms, even the rest rooms are out of date.”
To pay tribute to the school’s history and its alumni, Thomas explained that a replica of the old building will be featured in the front hall of the new building. “I’ve talked to some of the alumni of Southdown High, and they welcome the idea of a new building,” he said. “We’re trying to beautify that corner with a new school.”
A sign outside Southdown Elementary School welcomes students and visitors.
