Tax part of parish’s desegregation plan
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HAMMOND — Tangipahoa Parish public school officials announced Tuesday that they are working on a plan that will include putting a new parishwide tax before voters as a way to comply with its 50-year-old federal desegregation lawsuit.
The one-page statement was issued after a lengthy closed-door session of the School Board on Tuesday where members discussed the active Moore v. Tangipahoa Parish School Board desegregation lawsuit.
“They have been meeting in executive session off and on for more than a month,” school system spokeswoman Cindy Benitez said. “This is a progress report and a direction of what is coming.”
The written statement says the School Board is working on a plan to get the system back in compliance with its desegregation orders that will include enhanced programs, such as magnet programs, new schools and major renovations.
However, this plan is subject to voters approving a parishwide tax and will include “minimal changes” to school attendance boundaries.
“This plan is an ambitious one, but is preferable to forced busing and closure of one or more of the school system’s existing schools,” Superintendent Mark Kolwe says in the statement.
The statement also says that the school system will not be considering an overhaul of school attendance boundaries or forced busing as part of its plan to send to the court.
No other details were offered about the plan, including how much the tax would be, when it might appear on the ballot and whether it would replace the school system’s system of multiple bonding districts used to raise funds to build and improve schools.
Part of the desegregation case alleges that the school system’s smaller taxing districts create an unequal education because some schools receive more funding than others.
The plan will be submitted to U.S. District Judge Ivan L.R. Lemelle of U.S. District Court in New Orleans for approval sometime in June. After being submitted to Lemelle, it will be available for public inspection on the school system’s Web site, the statement says.
The school system also plans to have community meetings to discuss the plan, the statement says.
The statement was issued by the Tangipahoa Parish School Board late Tuesday afternoon. Benitez referred questions seeking more details of the plan to the school systems’ attorneys.
Attorneys for the school system and for the plaintiffs could not be reached for comment at their offices late Tuesday.
The one-page statement was issued after a lengthy closed-door session of the School Board on Tuesday where members discussed the active Moore v. Tangipahoa Parish School Board desegregation lawsuit.
“They have been meeting in executive session off and on for more than a month,” school system spokeswoman Cindy Benitez said. “This is a progress report and a direction of what is coming.”
The written statement says the School Board is working on a plan to get the system back in compliance with its desegregation orders that will include enhanced programs, such as magnet programs, new schools and major renovations.
However, this plan is subject to voters approving a parishwide tax and will include “minimal changes” to school attendance boundaries.
“This plan is an ambitious one, but is preferable to forced busing and closure of one or more of the school system’s existing schools,” Superintendent Mark Kolwe says in the statement.
The statement also says that the school system will not be considering an overhaul of school attendance boundaries or forced busing as part of its plan to send to the court.
No other details were offered about the plan, including how much the tax would be, when it might appear on the ballot and whether it would replace the school system’s system of multiple bonding districts used to raise funds to build and improve schools.
Part of the desegregation case alleges that the school system’s smaller taxing districts create an unequal education because some schools receive more funding than others.
The plan will be submitted to U.S. District Judge Ivan L.R. Lemelle of U.S. District Court in New Orleans for approval sometime in June. After being submitted to Lemelle, it will be available for public inspection on the school system’s Web site, the statement says.
The school system also plans to have community meetings to discuss the plan, the statement says.
The statement was issued by the Tangipahoa Parish School Board late Tuesday afternoon. Benitez referred questions seeking more details of the plan to the school systems’ attorneys.
Attorneys for the school system and for the plaintiffs could not be reached for comment at their offices late Tuesday.
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