New School Board member takes oath; 2022-23 budget passes

CENTERVILLE — Debra Roberson Jones took the oath of office Thursday as the newest St. Mary Parish School Board member, just in time to help approve the 2022-23 budget and the sale of the elementary school where Jones once taught.

Jones was appointed at a special meeting Aug. 23 to fill the District IV seat vacated by Pearl Rack, who resigned because her presence on the board prevented her daughter from seeking management positions in parish schools.

Jones, who lives in Franklin, has more than a decade of experience as a special education teacher. She currently teaches at Westgate High in Iberia Parish, where she became a teacher after J.A. Hernandez Elementary closed in 2016.

On Thursday, the board accepted the highest of three bids for purchase of the Hernandez building, 1400 Willow St. in Franklin.

Donald A. Foulcard of Baton Rouge submitted the winning bid of $58,000.

Mt. Zion Faith Ministry in Franklin bid $45,000, and the St. Mary Community Action Agency bid $40,000.

Foulcard is the nephew of board member Joseph C. Foulcard, who recused himself from voting on the motion to accept the $58,000 bid.

The board closed Hernandez and Morgan City’s M.D. Shannon in 2016 as a response to declining enrollment. The board sold Shannon to the Morgan City government earlier this year for $100,000.

Also Thursday, the board followed the practice in recent years of adopting a budget two months into the fiscal year.

The 2022-23 budget calls for total spending of $141.1 million and revenue of $139.5 million. The budget will balance with $1.4 million from a healthy beginning fund balance of $46 million.

The bulk of the shortfall comes from maintenance funds, where expenses will exceed revenue by $809,000 on revenue of $8.1 million, and in food services, where expenses outstrip revenue by $645,000 on income of $6.4 million.-

The School Board’s general fund, which funds day-to-day operations, has anticipated revenue from local property and sales taxes of $32.7 million, or about 9% less than the actual figure for 2021-22.

Minimum Foundation Program funding from the state government is expected to be $50.4 million, up 1% from 2021-22.

The School Board anticipates receiving $37.2 million from federal sources, led by about $29 million in stimulus funding known as Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief, which Congress approved during the COVID pandemic.

The school system has three maintenance districts: District 1 in west St. Mary, District 2 in the Berwick-Bayou Vista-Patterson area, and District 3 in Morgan City and Amelia.

All three are anticipated to spend more than they receive in 2022-23: $2.9 million in spending in District 1, $2.7 million in District 2 and $3.4 million in District 3.

Even after the 2022-23 fiscal year, the fund balances will still total $1.5 million in District 2 and $3.2 million in District 3. The District 1 fund balance will be smaller at $451,000.

One category where the School Board got a break was in property insurance.

The school system is one of about 30 districts that participate in the Louisiana Risk Management Association as a way to band together and reduce costs.

The limits on LARMA coverage for bus liability coverage had led the board to buy insurance from a commercial carrier. But LARMA changed its coverage, raising the cap to $400,000.

The board voted Thursday to drop its previous bus liability coverage and go with LARMA. The system’s total cost for liability insurance will be $447,000 for a savings of about $60,000.