School Board gets new member, new mentoring program

CENTERVILLE -- The St. Mary Parish School Board has a new member, a new mentoring program for students and a new audit report that gives the board good grades for financial management.
The new School Board member, sworn in at Thursday's regular meeting, is Guienzy Brent of Franklin, whom the board appointed as an interim member to succeed District I member Joseph Foulcard. He died Dec. 9 after serving 28 years on the board.
District Judge Curtis Sigur administered the oath of office for Brent. She was accompanied at the lectern by nephew Dallas McClarty Jr.; cousin William Brent, the CEO of a health care clinic in Lake Charles; and her pastor, the Rev. Allen Randle.
Brent retired after working for the School Board for more than 30 years. The board last month called a special election for Nov. 5, the same day as the presidential election, to elect a member to serve what will then be the remaining two years of Foulcard's term.
The mentoring program results from a memorandum of understanding, approved Thursday, between the School Board and 100 Black Men of St. Mary Parish.
Under the agreement, 100 Black Men will provide mentors who have undergone training with the national 100 Black Men organization as well as background checks. The school system will indentify students who could benefit from the mentoring.
Mentoring opportunities outlined in the memorandum are:
--A Saturday Academy one Saturday each month at the 100 Black Men office in Patterson. Topics would include conflict resolution, bullying, gun violence, stress management, self-care, knowing and understanding the law, money management, and entrepreneurship.
--School-based sessions for discussions requested by school administrators.
--A Summer Science, Technology, Engineering and Math program for students who have been referred by school administrators.
--A yearly CAP carpentry program.
Patterson attorney Ed Jones told the board that the philosophy of the mentoring program is "what they see is what they'll be."
A 100 Black Men carpentry project has already resulted in construction of a ramp at the home of a disabled St. Mary resident at no cost to him, Jones said. And the STEM program will introduce young people to robotics, civil engineering concepts and aeronautics, Jones said.
The audit report from Darnall Sikes & Frederick covers the budget year that ended June 30, 2023.
Chris Miller of Darnall Sikes & Frederick said the audit resulted in an "unmodified opinion," which he said is the highest possible rating.
The audit examined internal financial controls, a specific set of controls ordered for examination by the legislative auditor, and a sample of controls governing two federal programs. No significant problems were found, Miller said.
The report says the School Board took in $133.7 million in 2022-23. The biggest sources were $37 million from local sales and property taxes, $50.8 million in state funding and $23.8 million from the federal government.
The board spent $121 million, boosting the year-end fund balance by about $12 million to $63.9 million.
The board also:
--Agreed to hire Louisiana School Equipment Co. LLC of Baton Rouge to provide 175 new student lockers at Franklin Senior High for $53,950. The lockers will be installed during the summer break, which begins May 27. The company was the only bidder.
--Heard a caution from bond counsel Jason Akers about renewals for School Board taxes.
The board levies two parishwide property taxes totaling 20.65 mills; three district maintenance taxes of 12.42-12.73 mills each in the parish's three school maintenance districts; and three property taxes to fund bond issue repayment.
The bond issue taxes remain in force as long as debt remains unpaid. None of the others require renewal until 2025 at the earliest.
The board also levies five sales taxes, four of which remain in effect without renewal. The fifth is the 0.45% sales tax for teacher and staff pay that voters approved in 2021. It requires renewal in 2026 to remain in effect.
Although renewals won't be an issue until 2025, Akers warned that meeting the Secretary of State's Office deadlines and getting approval from the State Bond Commission require an election call three to four months before the balloting date He urged the board to plan for the upcoming renewals.