T’bonne school system seeks CDBG funds

The Terrebonne Parish School Board is seeking a voice in how the parish government allocates $120 million in federal money dedicated to hurricane recovery.

The board unanimously adopted a resolution at last Tuesday’s meeting. Roger Dale Dehart was absent.

The money comes from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Community Development Block Grant program. The parish is guaranteed $65 million with a chance at $55 million more.

Usually CDBG money is used to fight blighted housing and benefit low- to moderate-income residents. This is the first time the parish has received CDBG specifically for hurricane recovery, according to parish officials.

“In the guidelines describing how these funds can be used, it identifies K-12 schools as eligible recipients,” said School Superintendent Philip Martin. “It’s one of the few specific items that the guidelines highlight.”

In a letter sent to Parish President Michel Claudet, Martin approximated that the public schools suffered $9 to $10 million in damages from hurricanes Gustav and Ike.

Martin said the figure was based on the hurricane recovery costs paid and still outstanding, which was compiled by the system’s finance department.

Claudet did not indicate whether he supported putting CDBG funds toward the school system’s recovery efforts, but said those needs would be taken into consideration.

“We are getting many, many requests for funds that far exceeds the $120 million that we are expecting to receive,” he said. “We will be prioritizing projects in the near future.”

A committee including Claudet’s senior staff members will create its list of priority projects and submit that to the parish council. If approved, the action plan will be given to the state’s Office of Community Development for approval.

Claudet hopes to present the administration’s list of projects to the council by its March 25 meeting.

If the system receives CDBG funding, Martin said the money would help repair the schools that flooded during Hurricane Ike – Grand Caillou, Point-Aux-Chenes and East Houma elementary schools.

“I can’t speak for the board, but obviously high on the list would be the Grand Caillou community,” he said. “This money is coming as a result of hurricane impacts and, obviously, that community has been as severely impacted as any because of hurricanes.”

A proposal to relocate Grand Caillou Elementary students out of flood-prone Dulac was not supported by parish residents at a Feb. 12 public scoping meeting on how to spend the CBDG money.

In other board meeting news, Martin is implementing a moratorium on hiring and a spending freeze on all unnecessary purchases for the remainder of the school year.

Martin said he is taking the action because of the national economic recession and the state’s projected $2 billion budget shortfall next fiscal year. He emphasized that the move would not cause any setback to students’ quality of education.

“We (the school system) are not in a financial crisis. We have to be prepared for any financial fallout we may encounter because of what’s going on in the country and the state,” he explained. “I hope I’m wrong. I hope a year from now, people say, ‘You did all that for nothing.'”

The board also approved the superintendent’s plan for distributing $275,000 in donations made by ConocoPhillips and Apache Corporation to assist in hurricane recovery.

East Houma and Grand Caillou elementary schools will receive $50,000 each to replace their libraries. South Terrebonne and Ellender Memorial high schools will get $5,000 each to replace items lost to the storms.

Classroom teachers at Bayou Black, Coteau Bayou Blue, East Houma, Grand Caillou, and Point-Aux-Chenes elementary schools and Caldwell, Dularge and Grand Caillou middle schools will get $800 each to replace instructional supplies.

“We wanted something that would be tangible, visual and not just wrapped in the budget that no one would recognize,” Martin said.