Change is coming to schools in Eunice and across St. Landry Parish regardless of whether two tax propositions pass on March 24, according to Mary Ellen Donatto, a Eunice School Board member.
After months of hours-long meetings, Donatto said the Board is likely to vote on a final plan for the school system at its meeting on Thursday in Opelousas.
“We are going to meet one more time before the 8th because on the 8th we have to actually do a final vote so that the district will know exactly what it is we are going to with the money if the tax passes,” she said.
The School Board has called an election on two tax proposals. One proposal is an 11.3 mill, 10-year tax to pay for salary increases. The other is a 12.1 mill, 20-year tax to fund a $99 million bond for capital improvements.
Both proposals have to pass to take effect.
The Board has decided certified employees would get $3,000 raises and other employees would get a $2,000 raise if the proposal pass.
The tough decision for the Board is what to do with aging buildings and school enrollment that may drop by about 900 students in the next five years.
“I think there are several areas of the parish which includes Eunice, that we’ve pretty much narrowed down,” Donatto said.
If the propositions pass a new elementary is planned on the Highland Elementary campus.
There are about 200 students at Highland Elementary and they would be moved to other campuses during construction, she said.
“If that tax doesn’t pass, we still have to do something not only in Eunice, but in other areas to generate a little money of our own,” she said.
The savings would come from closing facilities, she said.
“We have too many facilities not filled near to capacity ... pass or not there are going to be some changes,” she said.
“No one is going to lose a job. They will be in a different place...” she said.
Donatto pointed out the superintendent is the sole authority on hiring and firing in the district.
If the tax does not pass, Highland will remain open.
“We are going to take the fifth graders on to all four campuses because the plan is to not have a middle school,” she said.
Sixth graders would attend Eunice Junior High School, she said.
The plan is to close Central Middle School whether the tax proposals pass or not, she said. If the tax passes, it may allow closing one of the elementary schools because a new elementary school would be in place on the Highland campus.
Donatto said the plan for Eunice was more settled than in other areas of the parish.
“We don’t have an academic issue in Eunice. We do well academically. It’s not like we need to figure out what is wrong academically,” she said.
Issues have yet to be settled in Opelousas and on the south side of the parish, she said. The grades may be split into pre-kindergarten to third grade schools and fourth- to fifth-grade schools.
The North Central High School area may feed its pre-kindergarten through 12th grade to the school, she said. Palmetto Elementary would close in the scenario.
Port Barre may get a new high school if the taxes pass.
Washington Elementary is another school facing closure. The school has about 150 students in pre-kindergarten to eighth grade, she said.
In the Northwest High School area the plan, if the tax passes, would be for a new facility and renovations at Lawtell Elementary.
The Beau Chene High School feeder schools are serving an area of the parish where growth is occurring. A new junior high school on the Beau Chene campus may be in the plan if the taxes pass, she said.
The School Board has yet to set a plan in concrete.
“The public wants it carved in stone,” she said of a plan.
Donatto said she is going to ask what happens if the facts change and the plan needs to be altered.
The decisions about to made are going to have long term consequences for children for the next 40 or 50 years, she said.
