Ascension board delays action on projects list

• By C.J. FUTCH
• Advocate River parishes bureau
• Published: Jul 7, 2009 - Page: 1B

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DONALDSONVILLE — The Ascension Parish School Board opted Monday to take no action on a list of proposed projects to be funded from the proceeds of a bond initiative that may be slated for the Oct. 17 ballot.

The board’s Strategic Planning Committee met before the regular meeting Monday and made some changes to the final draft of the projects.

Chad Lynch, director of Planning and Construction for the school system, told the board at its regular meeting that the list had to be honed from its $104 million total to an even $100 million. In addition, Lynch said, some projects were shuffled to fit in more-urgent priorities.

One of the main changes would be the addition of security cameras and controlled-access systems for all campuses, not just high schools, public information officer Johnnie Balfantz said after the meeting.

Lynch told the board the money for the security upgrades would likely come by paring some of the planned upgrades to the school system’s technology data system originally included in the project list.

Another possible change involves rethinking some interior work to St. Amant High School. Balfantz said the original plan called for relocating the school’s main office to the front of the school, making the office easier to find. Lynch said the school can address that problem, instead, by adding cosmetic changes — a canopy — to designate a clear front entrance to the building.

School system officials are also considering eliminating from the project list the removal of temporary buildings at East Ascension High. That task would be funded, instead, from the school system’s current maintenance budget, Lynch said. The plan now is to add bathroom renovations at the school to the bond proposal’s project list.

The board decided last month to ask Ascension voters to extend an existing property tax to fund these projects, and a list of renovations and upgrades to 17 other schools.

School officials will be gathering estimates on the projects added to the list for the July 21 School Board meeting, when the board is scheduled to vote on the new list, Balfantz said.

The proposal will go before the state Bond Commission on July 23. The bonded debt would be repaid, if voters approve the measure, through a four-year extension of an existing 15.08-mill property tax.