St. Mary institutes gold seal diploma

St. Mary Parish high school seniors, starting in 2010, can get a gold seal on their diploma if they earn 25 units of credit, following action at a recent school board meeting.

Currently, the state Department of Education requires that students statewide obtain 23 Carnegie units to graduate from any Louisiana public high school, in addition to passing the Graduate Exit Exam.

In 2012 and thereafter, the state DOE is raising the necessary credit units for graduation to 24.

However, in anticipation of the new state requirements, the St. Mary Parish School Board voted to raise its requirements to 25.

In fiscal matters, the St. Mary Parish School Board is facing a $300,000 reduction in state Education Department Minimum Foundation Program funds when it begins the 2009-10 school year, due to a parish-wide drop in enrollment of roughly 100 students.

The school board is also experiencing a $167,720 reduction in sales tax collections since the close of the month of April.

The board originally was budgeted to be at $14.9 million, but is at nearly $14.8 million.

The board also awarded a $42,461 bid for a new freezer-cooler at Hattie Watts Elementary School in Patterson to Restaurant Supply of Morgan City.

In other matters, Schools Superintendent Donald Aguillard is currently sorting through several inquiries regarding the possible purchase and intergovernmental title transfers of G.W. Hamilton, Baldwin, Mary Hines and Thomas Gibbs elementary schools.

The board closed the schools this month after they were consolidated into Raintree Elementary, a newly constructed facility slated to open this fall.