Morgan City Council OKs lease for charter school

The Morgan City Council voted Thursday to approve a lease agreement that is expected to bring a K-8 charter school to the old Shannon Elementary building.
In a special meeting that lasted just over half an hour but contained an unusually long debate, the council voted 3-2 to authorize Mayor Lee Dragna to sign a lease agreement with Blended & Online School Solutions LLC of Florida. BOSS, as it is known, wants to operate the charter school independently of the parish School Board and as a “pod” campus for an existing charter school in Vermilion Parish. The charter school would still be subject to the standards of the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education.
The debate didn’t just center on the educational impact of the school, which would be eligible to receive per-student state funding that would otherwise be directed to traditional public schools. It also included disagreements on the potential effect on city finances.
The city will take on the job of upgrading a portion of Shannon to accommodate the charter school. That work is estimated to cost $1.2 million.
Officials are hoping to cover the cost with money from the 3M hazardous chemicals settlement, plus about $300,000 in historic preservation tax credits.
The lease itself requires BOSS to pay Morgan City $1,000 a year per student. The minimum number of students set out in the lease grows from 80 students in year one to 150 in year five for a total of $590,000 over the first five years.
Councilman Steve Domangue, who had objected to possible negative impacts on Central Catholic at an earlier meeting, opposed the lease agreement again Thursday. He spoke after a budget workshop earlier in the week that includeddiscussion of significant upgrades needed at Municipal Auditorium.
“That $1.2 million is sorely needed in Morgan City,” Domangue said.
Another opponent, former principal and current educator Tim Hymel, joined Domangue in asking what will happen if the bids for the Shannon upgrade come in higher than expected.
“I’d like to entertain another way to spend it instead of gambling on a charter school,” Hymel said.
On the other side, Councilman Thomas Hutchinson questioned the importance of the financial impact on a government with an accumulated surplus of $35 million.
Nor does Hutchinson think the loss of funding would drastically harm the School Board, which has already lost 113 students since 2019.
“I’m not looking at this as an expense,” Hutchinson said. “I’m looking at it as an investment.”
Charter schools are coming, like it or not, he said.
The National Alliance for Public Charter Schools says Louisiana has 146 charter schools serving more than 87,000 students.
Councilwoman Bonnie Leonard said being in favor of the lease agreement doesn’t mean St. Mary doesn’t have good schools or teachers.
“I have listened to all of you, your hopes, your dreams, your concerns, what we want for Morgan City …,” Leonard said. “The thing before this council tonight is whether to lease a building.”
Even so, Hymel said, BOSS is a for-profit enterprise that will take $6,500 per student away from public schools.
“I don’t think the City Council should stick a knife in the public schools’ back,” Hymel said. “And that’s what this will do.”
The deciding vote in favor of the lease agreement came from Councilman the Rev. Ron Bias.
“Most of the people I’ve spoken to wanted to do something different other than private or parochial,” Bias said. “I had more people who favored a charter school than did not.”
The final vote was Hutchinson, Leonard and Bias for the agreement, with Domangue and Hymel against.
Prissy Davis, the longtime public school educator who first contacted Charter Schools USA about a Morgan City charter, expressed satisfaction after the council vote.
“I’m relieved,” Davis said. “What needed to happen is what happened.”
In an email after the meeting, St. Mary Superintendent Dr. Rachael Sanders described herself as a product of public schools.
“I do feel the need to fight for us, but to do so, I will not denounce Charters USA. Rather, I will express that in St. Mary Parish Public Schools, we will continue to work hard, educate all students, and provide rich experiences and opportunities for our students.”
Sanders said the public schools offer a variety of programs with a variety of accomplishments.
“We have honored a national Support Staff Person of the Year, a Louisiana State Principal of the Year, two NOAA Ocean Guardian Schools, students who are national competitors in FFA, BETA, and ED Rising, and 30 teachers with a VAM score of four or better,” Sanders said.
“We are a strong B-rated district and have been for years. We were tied for second-highest district in the state for student academic growth in 2025-26. We have so many reasons to be proud of our public school system.
“If the application is approved, and this pod comes to town, we will work with this charter the same way we work with our St. Mary neighbors in our parochial schools, our current charter, and our Chitimacha school. All of us call St. Mary home, and our children need us to be partners.”