Project list available at July 6 meeting

• By JOHN MCMILLAN
• Advocate River parishes bureau
• Published: Jun 25, 2009 - Page: 1B

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DONALDSONVILLE — Ascension Parish School Superintendent Donald Songy said Wednesday a comprehensive list of renovations and improvements planned for the parish’s public schools will be announced after a special School Board meeting July 6.

At the special meeting, the board is scheduled to vote on the final list of projects to be funded by a proposed four-year extension of a 15.08-mill property tax.

“The list we put out after the special board meeting will say specifically what the projects are. They will be identified and itemized,” the superintendent said. “We don’t want to put out a list until it is final because we don’t want to promise the voters something that we don’t deliver. I don’t want to lose the trust of the voters.”

On Tuesday, the board approved a resolution to extend a property tax by four years to repay up to $100 million in bonds to renovate or rebuild the district’s oldest schools.

The public will be allowed to speak on the proposal at the July 6 meeting and the board will hold public meetings to explain the proposal, said Johnnie Balfantz, the school system’s public information officer.

If the proposal is approved by the voters in an Oct. 17 election, there would be no increase in the 15.08-mill property tax, which runs until 2025, but the tax would be extended to 2029, Songy said.

“What we’re going to do,” he said, “is to try to get the older schools up to speed. If someone lives on one side of a street, he may go to a new school and if he lives on the other side, he may go to an old school in need of repairs. We just want to make the schools more equitable.”

Numerous projects have been identified and discussed, Songy said, but they are not final until the board votes on the list at its July 6 meeting.

Among the major projects planned are:

• Construction of a new G.W. Carver Primary School in Gonzales.
• Replace nearly every building on the Prairieville Middle School site.
• Renovate Gonzales Primary School and replace older buildings at the rear of the school.

Other proposed projects include expanding campuses to eliminate the need for temporary buildings; providing major electrical upgrades to older schools; upgrading the district’s data network; and providing security cameras for all campuses.

The board’s resolution to extend the property tax would go to the state Bond Commission July 23. If approved by the commission, the proposition would go before voters in the Oct. 17 election.