School Board Faces Key Decisions

School Board Faces Key Decisions

BOBBY ARDOIN

Editor/Consulting Writer

A budgetary meeting scheduled this Thursday could help St. Landry Parish School Board members determine what direction the District takes financially over the next several years.

During the meeting which begins at 4 pm, Finance Director Shaun Grantham will display key features of a projected 2024-25 budget and apprise board members about what they expect to afford during the current budgetary year.

There could be a few important topics – short term and long range – for board members to review.

Grantham recently told board members that despite a continued rise in parishwide sales taxes the school system might begin facing serious financial questions in fewer than five years.

Transportation costs are spiraling upward as are active employee insurance and expenses for retirees. 

Also perhaps woven into the conversation will be school population numbers. Student attendance primarily determines the amount of state and federal funding St. Landry public schools receive.

Board members have concerns about St. Landry demographic trends that could decide whether there is a need to close any of the current 32 campuses in order to save money.

Questions About The Budget

According to 2024 parish sales tax records presented during a July Finance Committee, $17.148 million was collected in sales for the 12 months ending June 30.

That amount represents an 11.16 percent increase over the same period beginning July, 2023, sales tax records indicate.

Will collected property millages and sales tax revenues be enough to support offset rising costs?

While board members have complimented parish residents for buying more frequently in St. Landry, Grantham has warned that the District cannot continue to rely primarily on the spike in sales tax revenues to offset expenditures.

Demographics

After two lengthy discussions at separate meetings, board members remain unsure whether they want to pay a demographer $19,900 for providing them with a five-year student projection report that would include charter school data and an analysis of student locations.

Superintendent Milton Batiste III is in favor of paying for the demographic study, but some board members are pushing back on the projected costs for the study and whether the information will actually be used for future zoning decisions.

What About The New Classrooms?

It’s no secret that the District is losing students to charter schools, located inside St. Landry and on the north side of Lafayette Parish.

The District has dedicated a final round of ESSER III federal funds for building new classrooms at many school campuses.

Brick classrooms are being completed at Opelousas Junior high, Eunice Junior High and elementary schools in Lawtell, several Eunice elementary sites, Palmetto, Cankton, Krotz Springs, Port Barre Elementary and Port Barre High, Arnaudville and Palmetto.

Ironically completion of the classroom projects also represents a problem for board members.

Will some of these new buildings be necessary if there is more school consolidation or if students leave for new charter schools?

That question has not yet been seriously discussed and that’s what a demographic snapshot might ascertain. Are board members afraid of what a demographic study might conclude?

Some board members seem to feel the new classroom initiative might keep students and teachers in District schools.

Director of Operations Claudia Blanchard has said parents parishwide appear generally excited about the new classroom construction, but how many students will actually be seated in those state-of-the art buildings in the next several years?