The St. Landry Parish School Board will ask the attorney general to define how a 1% sales tax fund must be budgeted.
The Board also may ask for a ruling from the Legislative Auditor.
Mary Ellen Donatto, Board president, suggested the Board seek an interpretation of the tax language approved in 1999.
Randy Wagley, an Opelousas Board member, said an opinion from the attorney general or legislative auditor “would put it to rest.”
The issue is how much of the nearly $12 million collected must be spent annually.
The School Board has been adjusting the balance in the Employee Compensation and Benefits Fund with a target of $2,775,000. As of Sept. 30, the fund had a balance of $4,138,472.
The target balance of $2,775,000 has been urged by the Board’s accountants.
The fund was passed to provide a $3,800 raise for certified employees and $1,800 for non-certified employees.
The issue now is about using the balance for a Christmas bonus.
The School Board has approved $500, but is asked by the Louisiana Federation of Teachers to increase the bonus to $1,000.
Willie Guillory, Federation president, said the $1,000 bonus would reduce the balance to $1.7 million.
Employees have been left behind for 14 years and there is no imminent danger to the school system’s finances, Guillory said.
“We have been loyal in the parish. We feel like you guys don’t care,” she said at Monday’s meeting of the Finance Committee in Opelousas.
Guillory said 548 employees have signed a petition asking for a $1,000 Christmas bonus.
“We feel disrespected when you say you have to be good stewards over our money. If that is our money then let us be good stewards of it and if we spend it all today and have nothing tomorrow that’s our business. That’s not the business of the Board,” she said.
Guillory also said, “We are full-fledged union and we don’t want a fight. We’d rather be in agreement, but if we have to fight, we will.”
Donnie Perron, a Port Barre Board member who served as interim superintendent during a fiscal crisis, said the fund helped the School Board meet its payroll.
Superintendent Patrick Jenkins said the Board can make whatever decision it wants.
Good financial practices are critically important to keep the school district solvent, he said.
Jenkins said the school district has had three years of end-of-the-year surpluses.
“If we have financial difficulites it is not because of Patrick D. Jenkins,” he said.
Joyce Haynes, an Opelousas Board member, noted the Board’s fiduciary responsibility. “We can’t just please everybody and give them everything right now.”
