Groups focus on schools

• By MARSHA SILLS
• Advocate Acadiana bureau
• Published: Jul 1, 2009 - Page: 1BA

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LAFAYETTE — Dilapidated school buildings and the need for a comprehensive after-school program for the parish’s schoolchildren aren’t issues that should be addressed only by the School Board.

So said city-parish officials Tuesday at the quarterly joint meeting of the Lafayette Consolidated Council and Lafayette Parish School Board.

Members watched a video of conditions at schools: water-damaged ceiling tiles, air-conditioning issues, poor drainage in parking lots, absence of covered walkways from portable buildings to other buildings on campus, lack of lab facilities, and a restroom that doubles for storage and a time-out room.

There is no easy fix and change will take a commitment from the entire community, council member Don Bertrand said.

“We know we’ve got some problems and we need to deal with them,” Bertrand said. “I think it’s deplorable what we have allowed some of our structures to come to over the years and I’m not blaming anyone. It doesn’t do any good. … We all want the best, but none of us want to pay for it and I think that’s part of the problem.”

The video was presented by the League of Women Voters and the Community Coalition for Lafayette Schools, whose efforts led the School Board to hire master planner CSRS Inc., of Baton Rouge, to address facility issues.

CSRS senior project manager Chris Pellegrin and local planning partner Steve Oubre, of Architects Southwest, said assessments have been completed at the parish’s six high schools and site visits have been made to 15 elementary and five middle schools so far.

The “backbone” of the effort will be input from the community, Oubre said.

Those meetings will begin after Labor Day, Pellegrin said. The master plan is expected to be completed by mid-May.

Both bodies approved resolutions to create a joint 12-member planning committee to improve coordination among the School Board, the council and municipal leaders.

City-parish planner Mike Hollier suggested homework for the new committee: inventory after-school programs and develop a comprehensive after-school program.

The school district’s extended learning programs will likely be reduced in the coming school year because of funding issues, said Burnell Lemoine, school superintendent.

Members also heard about the Safe Routes to Schools program, which provides 100 percent federal funding for projects that promote students walking or bicycling to school. The projects may include sidewalk construction or repair, bike paths, traffic-calming devices and non-infrastructure projects such as bike safety training. The program is limited to K-8 schools.