St. Mary students to get BP’s help with supplies

Nearly 600 St. Mary Parish students impacted by the oil spill will soon receive school supplies courtesy of BP.

The company donated $7,129 to the parish school board last week to help buy supplies for those hardest hit by the recent Deepwater Horizon disaster.

“On behalf of BP, I sincerely apologize for this incident and the harm it has done to St. Mary Parish and the children who attend school here,” said Tom Mhire, coordinator of the BP Response Team. Mhire and other BP representatives set up shop at the beginning of summer in Bayou Vista.

School Superintendent Donald Aguillard said that principals at each of the parish’s public schools supplied the names of students in need of help.

The St. Mary school board allocates $17.50 per child for student fees and supplies and $5 per student for science materials – a total allocation of $22.50 per student.

The monies have been set aside for the past three years.

Aguillard said within the district’s east-side schools, the oil spill has directly hurt 21 students at Aucoin Elementary in Amelia; five at Bayou Vista Jr. High; 178 at Berwick Elementary; and 12 at Berwick Jr. High. No students at Berwick High School have been negatively impacted, he said.

In Patterson, 11 students at Patterson Jr. High; 57 at Patterson High; and 12 at Hattie Watts Elementary have felt the impact of the spill. And in Morgan City, 153 Maitland Elementary; eight Morgan City Jr. High; 48 Morgan City High; six M.E. Norman Elementary; six Shannon Elementary; and six Wyandotte Elementary students were identified.

Among the west-side schools, Aguillard said 14 J.P. Foster Elementary; 10 Franklin High; six Hernandez Elementary; 34 LaGrange Elementary; 128 Raintree Elementary; 12 B.E. Boudreaux Jr. High; and 12 West St. Mary High students have been impacted.

The BP money will be distributed based on each school’s need, with each student receiving approximately $20, Auguillard said.

The superintendent said the funds will be dispersed by the following:

Aucoin Elementary – $421

Bayou Vista Elementary – $100

Morgan City Jr. High – $152

Morgan City High – $989

M.E. Norman Elementary – $120

Patterson Jr. High – $190

Patterson High – $285

Wyandotte Elementary – $100

J.P. Foster Elementary – $280

Franklin Jr. High – $200

Hernandez Elementary – $111

LaGrange Elementary – $760

Raintree Elementary – $2,981

West St. Mary High – $440

Mhire said he first met with Aguillard about two days after school started.

“We wanted to do what we could, within our budget constraints for this project, and for this area,” Mhire said.

Unfulfilled, however, is a request for an additional $4,912 to purchase school uniforms for roughly 300 needy students, according to board member Marilyn LaSalle.

“At the time we made our request, it was difficult to ascertain what your needs might be,” Mhire said. “Unfortunately, it was also at a time that we were ending our community outreach program and transitioning to the Gulf Coast Recovery Program.”

“Also, the community outreach program for this area spent its entire budget for programs like this when me made our initial request to Dr. Aguillard,” he added. “But this is something we feel passionate about, so we will forward this request. We feel like these children fell in the crack, and so we’re going to continue to do what we can in the future.”