Terrebonne school board OKs $197M budget

The Terrebonne Parish School Board unanimously approved a $197 million budget for the 2009-10 fiscal year at last Tuesday’s meeting.

The plan is about $3.4 million less than last year because of state budget cuts and 300 fewer students projected to be enrolled in the school district beginning August 10.

The district purged 81 positions by not replacing retirees, filling vacant jobs or renewing one-year contracts of non-certified teachers to make up the state shortfall.

“We have a budget that continues to provide a very high level of service to children,” said Superintendent Philip Martin. “Our instructional programs won’t suffer. I think the board was very astute in designing this budget.”

The biggest budget hit was a $2.3 million cut from the Minimum Foundation Program, where the state allocates money to school systems based on enrollment. With state-funded program cuts and an expected drop in the school system’s tax collections, Martin said the district will be scrambling to find additional revenues.

“The state eliminated many monies for remediation, LaTAP (Louisiana Teacher Advancement Program), LEAP tutoring and other programs that we’re going to struggle with to plug those holes.”

The board unanimously passed a pair of money-saving measures.

First, 12 master teachers’ salaries have been removed from next year’s operating budget. Their salaries will be paid from grants received from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act or the stimulus package.

Also, 20 of the district’s 170 bus driver jobs will become 40-hour a week positions. Currently, all drivers have a five-hour workday. On extra routes, such as field trips and transporting teams to games, drivers are paid $8.50 an hour.

“Doling out those extra trips to the drivers became a financial and logistical nightmare,” Martin explained. “With these 40-hour drivers, whatever we tell them to do for eight hours a day, there’s no extra pay for it.”

The district will select full-time drivers from the current staff who apply for the jobs.

Nancy Crochet, a 16-year driver with the school system, said she would apply because the full-time jobs offer better pay.

“The starting salary of a 40-hour a week driver is going to be between $27,000 and $30,000 a year,” she said. ” My contract, right now, is just over $18,000.”

The board deferred by a 6-3 vote adding $35,000 to the budget to purchase equipment needed to broadcast on the parish government’s public-access channel, TPTV, until the total cost is known.

Board member L.P. Bordelon said the move would have allowed the board to televise meetings and highlight parish students and faculty.

However, board members Roosevelt Thomas and Rickie Pitre raised concerns about finding the money to pay for the necessary video equipment and questioned who would control programming content.

The last time the board researched the matter two years ago, Martin estimated the cost at between $60,000 and $75,000.

In other action, the board approved hires for the final four principal vacancies and the assistant superintendent position.

The new principals are Glen Breerwood at Terrebonne Vocational Technical High School,

Cory Butler at Ellender Memorial High School, James Champagne at Grand Caillou Elementary School and Dawn Lafont at Oaklawn Junior High School.

Former federal programs supervisor Carol Davis was approved as assistant superintendent for curriculum and instruction. The post, previously held by Martin, had been unfilled since he was promoted to superintendent in January.