T’bonne school board tackles school construction funding

The Terrebonne Parish School Board unanimously passed several measures at last Tuesday’s meeting to facilitate school construction projects.

The board approved applying for $30 million in interest-free federal bonds. Qualified School Construction Bonds, authorized through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, provide federal tax credits in lieu of interest to reduce an issuer’s cost of borrowing for public school construction projects

To pay back the bonds, the board is asking voters to pass an Oct. 17 ballot initiative to rededicate a portion of the 1-cent sales tax.

Currently, 83 percent of the tax goes toward teacher salaries and benefits. Seventeen percent is evenly split between technology upgrades and school maintenance. The school district would use some or the entire 17 percent portion to repay the bonds.

“This provides a foundation and a source for the future of Terrebonne Parish schools – not just today or tomorrow, but indefinitely,” said Superintendent Philip Martin. “It’s very critical to the future of education in terms of facilities and educating children in Terrebonne Parish.”

The board also accepted the recommendations of the superintendent’s study group on the 1-cent sales tax rededication.

The group listed five priorities to be addressed if voters pass the proposition- remove portable classrooms, make high schools ninth through 12th grade, replace and relocate flood-prone schools, ease overcrowding, and acquire land as needed.

“The public needs to know this is just the beginning,” said board member Roger Dale Dehart. “Whatever dollars we have, we’re going to continue doing more and more improvements.”

“I have sensed very strong support and widespread unity from all branches of the community for this initiative,” Martin said.

The board also passed a $12,000 budget for signs, fliers and brochures explaining to the public the 1-cent sales tax rededication and the school maintenance millage renewal, also on the Oct. 17 ballot.

If approved, the school district would continue to levy a 5.41 mills property tax from 2011 to 2020.

The 15-member study group would not be disbanded, according to Martin. Instead, he wants to make it an advisory group on other school-related matters.

“I don’t want to lose a very valuable resource of knowledgeable people from business and civic backgrounds, citizens, parents and professionals,” he explained. “I’d like to hold to them as long as I can.”

In other news, the board accepted the superintendent staff’s recommendations to readmit 11 of 23 students to regular school next month. The remainder of the students will continue attending one of the alternative schools, Andrew Price or East Street.

Board members Rickie Pitre and Clark Bonvillain criticized Martin for not giving them the details surrounding the students’ removal from their previous schools until just prior to the board meeting.

“We addressed this issue with the last superintendent and it’s the same staff handling the process,” Pitre said. “I think we need to work with your staff to ensure this information is presented to the board in a more timely fashion.”