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With a budget cut of approximately $2 million this year, the Terrebonne Parish School Board addressed three significant financial issues.
The board opened its agenda last Tuesday by accepting an already established millage rate of 3.86 mills as a constitutionally-backed regular school tax and 5.41 mills for an existing school tax to cover maintenance costs.
The board’s action came on the heels of a parish-wide reassessment that found property values had increased by an average 10 percent. The result actually reduced school millage calculations to an adjusted 3.71 mills on the constitutional tax and 5.2 mills for the maintenance tax.
Terrebonne Parish Assessor’s Office millage expert Evelyn Pellegrin explained that the difference resulted because of state Tax Commission guidelines. With an increased value on property, the amount needed to tax was reduced to maintain the same revenue level. In turn, this reduced required millage amounts.
However, taxing districts, including the school board can vote to adopt a higher millage to essentially increase taxes, provided the amount does not exceed the previous year’s level.
“The board would have to adopt this by a two-thirds majority vote,” Pellegrin said. Decisions made on both taxes were secured by unanimous consent.
“The board had to first adopt the adjusted millage and then increase rates by rolling them forward to the existing level,” TPSD Finance Director Henry Harris said. “If you don’t roll forward you could lose revenue.”
Harris said by keeping the existing millage rates and without considering exemptions, for example, the total school tax on a $150,000 home in Terrebonne Parish would be $69.52 per year. Had the board adopted and kept the adjusted millage, that collected tax would have dropped to $67.20 annually.
A second financial issue, which drew the attention of most people in attendance, was a proposal by the school board’s executive committee, and included in its monthly report, to increase Superintendent Philip Martin’s annual base salary from $143,500 to $155,000.
The measure was headed off, in part, due to a letter submitted to the board by Martin, requesting they not consider a pay increase for him.
“I am requesting that the issue relative to superintendent compensation be pulled from consideration,” Martin said in the letter.
School Board President L.P. Bordelon explained that since Martin’s letter was not part of the agenda, the case, according to parliamentary procedure, would have to die for lack of support to approve the executive committee report.
Board member Donald Duplantis moved to accept the executive committee report, which included the recommended pay increase, but was unable to secure a second, thus killing the matter.
Retired teacher Karen Ellender, who was in attendance for this matter, said she appreciated Martin’s decision following the failed recommendation. “I have no idea why he did it,” she said. “I’m just glad he did.”
Martin, who was absent from the meeting due to the death of his father, Eldon Martin, told the Tri-Parish Times later that evening that the school district had too many other financial and educational concerns at present for him want to consider a pay increase.
“I really had not thought about it [prior to submitting the letter to the board],” Martin said. “We have too many things we need to take care of that I did not want this to become a distraction for anyone.”
“[Martin] wants to stay focused on the school and student achievement,” Bordelon said. “He wants to make sure students get a proper education and not have to deal with outside things like this.”
“I think it was a smart thing to do,” board member Brenda Babin added regarding Martin’s action. “He did the honorable thing by trying to restore morale [among teachers].”
As a major financial commitment, the board approved spending $517,500 from previously budget technology funds to purchase a secondary instructional software program during the next three years from Scottsdale, Ariz-based Education 2020.
“[During] the past five or six years, the secondary comprehensive technology program was NovaNet,” Assistant Superintendent Carol Davis said. “NovaNet’s contract expired and we knew last year that we would have to go out … to get another system or renew what NovaNet has to offer.”
Davis said that with technological advances, it was determined following a year of evaluation that Education 2020 better fit the school district’s educational goals.
“Education 2020 is the only vendor that is 100 percent aligned with the new [state] curriculum,” Davis said.
“When this came through the education committee there wasn’t a soul [from the public] at the meeting,” Duplantis said. “We are spending [more than] $500,000 over the next two or three years and nobody commented. This is one of those items that’s routine and mundane, and we take up every meeting. We spend lots of dollars and nobody ever questions us. So they trust us on the big issues, but sometimes they don’t trust us on the little issues.”
The board accepted the software purchase without objection.
As a matter of personnel appointments the board announced placement of nine individuals with new jobs. They include: Kanika Smith as assistant principal at Southdown Elementary School, Tonia Guidry as assistant principal at Grand Caillou Elementary School, Valerie Hebert as master teacher at Southdown Elementary School, Nathan Cotton as curriculum specialist in the school district’s central office.
Extracurricular appointments included Chelsea Carlos as Raindance sponsor, Kyle David as assistant football coach, Toney Linn as boys’ soccer coach, Michael Melancon as girls’ soccer coach and Christine Vitter as assistant girls basketball coach all at H.L. Bourgeois.
Terrebonne Parish School Board President L.P. Bordelon, left, with board members Dale DeHart and Brenda Babin review adjusted millage rates, returning to 2011 levels, which were adopted by the group of education decision makers. Taxpayers will be paying the same level to support public education that they have during the past four years.
