Vote on school plan set for Monday

• By DAVID J. MITCHELL
• Advocate Florida parishes bureau
• Published: Apr 22, 2009 - Page: 3B

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HAMMOND — The Tangipahoa Parish School Board will vote on the final version of its multi-million-dollar school desegregation plan at 6 p.m. Monday, school officials said.

Board President Danny Ridgel made that announcement Tuesday night after members met in closed session to discuss proposed revisions to the plan that have arisen since the plan became public last month.

The school district held a series of community meetings during the weekend but it also has been meeting with groups for weeks.

The plan is due to U.S. District Judge Ivan L.R. Lemelle April 30 in New Orleans. School officials have called for $183.4 million in school construction and renovation and $11.5 million in operations for new magnet programs to settle a school desegregation case that dates from 1965.

The plan also calls for an unspecified teacher and support staff pay raise.

School officials are seeking voter support for a combination of sales and property taxes to pay for the plan, if Lemelle gives his approval.

On Tuesday night, a School Board spokesman provided a copy of the revisions.

Among other changes, they spell out how students would transfer if they did not want to participate in magnet programs, a parent magnet program agreement and revised priorities for magnet enrollment.

The proposed changes also would boost the cost estimate of magnet programs by about $521,000 to nearly $11.99 million after discussions with magnet and other academic experts.

The board also took comments from the public. Kentwood Town Councilman Michael Hall said he commended school officials for the plan and said he would supported it.

Loranger resident Mindi Campbell, 33, took issue with comments School Board attorney Charles Patin Jr. made at a meeting in Loranger Saturday, when he compared the relative cost of a proposed property tax to that of cigarettes, wine or whiskey.

“The School Board’s disdain for the parents and children in Loranger is apparent in the dismissive and condescending attitude displayed in the Saturday morning meeting,” Campbell said.