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CENTERVILLE — The St. Mary Parish School Board will have a new member next month.
The board voted Thursday night to appoint Lawrence Guillory to fill the District VII seat left vacant by the resignation of Murphy Pontiff, which was announced at the September meeting.
Also Thursday, a lower than expected renewal offer led School Board members to renew its employee health insurance coverage with Blue Cross Blue Shield of Louisiana. And members learned that public school enrollment continues to trend downward.
Guillory will serve on an interim basis until a special election March 29. If a runoff is necessary, it will be May 3.
Guillory was one of seven applicants for the interim post. The others were former Parish President David Hanagriff, who withdrew from consideration; former Parish Council member Peter Soprano; Almetra Franklin; Carla Broussard-Pellerin; Craig Pellerin; and Glenn Pellerin.
An initial vote narrowed the field to Guillory and Glenn Pellerin. Guillory was chosen by a 7-3 runoff vote.
Guillory is a married father of two who lives in Centerville and works in the energy industry.
“I think it’s important to have people on the board who have safety and quality in mind,” Guillory said outside the meeting room.
Guillory will take the oath of office at the next regular second-Thursday School Board meeting Nov. 14.
He becomes the fourth interim appointment to the board since October 2021, two because of the deaths of board members and two due to resignations. The 11-member board, which not long ago was dominated by members who had held seats for decades, now has only two members who have served more than two four-year terms: Marilyn LaSalle and Ginger Griffin, both of Patterson.
Insurance
A renewal offer with an increase of only 2.4% for the coming year persuaded the board to stick with Blue Cross Blue Shield of Louisiana for health coverage of its employees.
Insurance consultant James Perez told the board that he’d expected a renewal offer with a premium hike of 7%.
Group insurance coverage has been a source of red warning flags in recent years. In the 2019-21 period, when the coverage was with UHC, the ratio of claims to premium payments was about 111% in two years and 143% in the third.
After switching to Blue Cross, the ratios were 80% in 2022 and 97% in 2023.
Through the first nine months of 2024, the losses have been equal to about 98% of premiums.
Perez has asked the board in recent years to consider switching to a self-funded system, in which the board would pay claims from a reserve fund and hire an insurer to administer the plan. A self-funded plan would give the board flexibility in setting a benefit structure.
The gold coin in a self-funded plan would be that the plan would receive $750,000-$1.1 million in prescription drug rebates that now go to Blue Shield and Blue Cross.
The relatively low renewal offer from Blue Cross led to quick board approval for another year of conventional coverage.
Enrollment
St. Mary Parish public school enrollment as of Oct. 1 was 7,221, Superintendent Dr. Buffy Fegenbush told the board.
That’s down by 280 students from last year and 740 from 2021’s enrollment, Fegenbush said.

The following are the radio dispatch logs from the Morgan City Police Department. To report unlawful or suspicious activity, call the Police Department at 985-380-4605.
Wednesday, Oct. 9
7:49 a.m. 100 block of Glenwood Street; Medical.
8:10 a.m. 700 block of Louisa Street; Telephone harassment.
9:26 a.m. 500 block of Everett Street; Animal complaint.
9:43 a.m. Fourth Street/Brashear Avenue; Animal complaint.
9:49 a.m. 700 block of David Drive; Complaint.
9:51 a.m. 900 block of Spruce Street; Medical.
10:14 a.m. 2000 block of Keith Street; Medical.
10:46 a.m. 3000 block of Allison Street; Complaint.
10:58 a.m. 50th block of Aycock Street; Alarm.
12:05 p.m. 100 block of Montana Street; Animal complaint.
12:27 p.m. 1500 block of Front Street; Complaint.
12:30 p.m. La. 70; Hit and run.
12:44 p.m. 2400 block of Tiger Drive; Disturbance.
2:08 p.m. Sixth/Sycamore streets; Animal complaint.
2:34 p.m. 700 block of Martin Luther King Boulevard; Removal of subject.
3:25 p.m. 3200 block of Lake Palourde Road; Animal complaint.
4:24 p.m. 700 block of Everett Street; Vehicle Accident.
4:26 p.m. 3000 block of Allison Street; Complaint.
4:39 p.m. 1600 block of Chestnut Drive; Medical.
5:27 p.m. 2400 block of Cypress Street; Medical.
6:03 p.m. 6300 block of La. 182; Medical.
6:37 p.m. 1100 block of Brashear Avenue; Suspicious subject.
6:47 p.m. 3000 block of Allison Street; Complaint.
7:21 p.m. 600 block of Bowman Street; Discharge firearms.
7:28 p.m. 7100 block of Park Road; Animal complaint.
7:37 a.m. 500 block of Aucoin Street; Medical.
10:18 p.m. 500 block of Aucoin Street; Medical.
10:24 p.m. Aycock Street; 911 hang up.
10:38 p.m. U.S. 90 West; Assistance.
Thursday, Oct. 10
2:51 a.m. Sixth/Greenwood streets; Suspicious subject.
3:44 a.m. Morgan City area; Building checks.

Early in Wednesday’s St. Mary Parish Council meeting, Chair Gwendolyn Hidalgo asked participants to remain civil. Her call was less than successful.
Morgan City Mayor Lee Dragna and Councilman the Rev. Craig Mathews of Jeanerette swapped accusations at the meeting, the fallout from a September argument over who had access to government aid after Hurricane Francine.
At that Sept. 18 meeting, a week after Francine caused widespread home and street flooding in eastern St. Mary, Parish President praised the local response to the hurricane. But Mathews said he’d heard constituent complaints that they had been turned away when seeking goods aid in Patterson and Morgan City, where the state government set up a point of distribution for food, water and other items in the weekend after the storm.
Dragna responded in a Facebook video that no one was turned away from the Morgan City point of distribution based on where they live. And he repeated that assertion in person Wednesday.
“No one was ever asked for ID,” Dragna told the council. “No one was asked where they live or anything like that.”
Talking directly to Mathews, Dragna said the assertion that people were turned away from Morgan City’s distribution point was “a stone cold lie.
“There’s always something that drags Morgan City into this,” the mayor said.
“All you’re doing,” Mathews said later, “is beating your chest, which is what you do every time you come here.”
At the end of Dragna’s allotted time, he was escorted away from the lectern by the sheriff’s deputy who is on duty at all Parish Council meetings.
Dragna began his comments with a recap of events leading up to the creation of the point of distribution. He said his first attempts to acquire generators for the city government failed.
But Gov. Jeff Landry called to ask what Morgan City needed, and Dragna’s reply was food, water, generators and the military to help distribute the aid. The state quickly responded, sending in 10 trucks. The Purple Lemon and Walmart sent in two more 18-wheelers, Dragna said.
Officials from Berwick and Patterson also sent trailers to pick up goods for distribution in their municipalities.
On the Friday after the hurricane, the search turned to tarps for damaged roofs. Dragna said the city came up with a list of 2,000 people who needed assistance, but didn’t get the tarps.
Homeland Security Director Jimmy Broussard had been recommending that residents register damage by using a QR code publicized by the state.
Dragna said that as a result of the local registrations, 700-800 tarps were delivered.
Hidalgo asked Dragna why he went to the governor instead of following procedure by going through the parish homeland security office.
Dragna replied that the governor called him, and that he’d been in touch with Broussard.
“Nobody’s going around anybody,” Dragna said. “Jimmy asked me to distribute (aid) and that’s what I did.”

This story was edited to remove the implication that Broussard recommended registering through the QR code specifically to apply for tarps. Registration in general tells emergency response officials where the damage is and is a guide to allocating resources.

Virginia Cross, 88, a native of Oaklawn Plantation and resident of Patterson, died Saturday, Sept. 28, 2024, at Patterson Healthcare.
Visitation will be Saturday from 9 a.m. until services at 11 a.m. at Jones Funeral Home in Franklin. Burial will follow in Macedonia Baptist Church Cemetery in Ashton.
She is survived by a son, Jerry Cross of Patterson; two brothers, Ivory Spain and Loyd Spain, both of Jeanerette; sister, Lucille Spain of Broussard; six grandchildren; and eight great-grandchildren.
She was preceded in death by her parents, husband, two sons and siblings.
Jones Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements.