St. Mary Parish School Board

BY: HOWARD J CASTAY JR

A St. Mary Parish School Health Facilitator said Thursday 600 students parish wide have been absent so far with “flu like symptoms”.

Lydia Duval said this type of absence normally starts around early October, and not in August.

“I’m not saying they all had the flu. I just know they were sick,” Duval said.

The registered nurse elaborated on how parish schools are prepared for any possible epidemic, following a brief presentation to the School Board, where she explained that any child with fever is not allowed to remain in class, and is sent home until they are “fever free, which in some cases, could result in a child being absent for as much as seven days.”

Also at all schools, Duval said students who appear to have flu-like symptoms are separated from others, they are given a mask, and they are placed in a holding area, until they can leave the building.

“What we’ve been experiencing is a dress rehearsal, but it has allowed us to go through a much needed process which has allowed us to get acclimated to what could be a serious situation,” Duval said. “The best advice I can give is to wash your hands.”

During the meeting, board members reviewed a parish wide attendance report which showed 12 percent or slightly more absences in late August, at West St. Mary High, B.E. Boudreaux Middle, Patterson Jr. High and Patterson High.

Within the past week, Berwick High and Berwick Jr. High appear to be experiencing a 12 percent absentee rate.

Duval said a complete outline of how the school system is currently treating sickness is available at http://www.stmary.k12.la.us/, the parish’s school website.

In other matters, board members learned parents will have to dig a little deeper for the price of breakfast and lunch, which is now $1.85 and $3.75. These prices are also the same for a second full meal and a visitor meal. A visitor is anyone that is not affiliated with the St. Mary Parish School Board.

In other business, the board agreed to advertise for sale its four closed west end schools, following recent appraisals of each property.

The move comes in the wake of the board opening the new Raintree Elementary School last month, one school that consolidated the enrollments of Thomas Gibbs, G.W. Hamilton, Mary Hines and Baldwin Elementary Schools.

The board agreed to close the four schools almost three years ago, as each is in need of improvements that total $500,000 or more.

Also, the construction of Raintree Elementary will save the board an annual $600,000 starting this school year. In years prior, the board spent at least this amount on repairs, among other things, at each of the other schools.

Though the board agreed to advertise each property for sale, they also gave Schools Superintendent Donald Aguillard and his staff an open window on how they could advertise for each property.

Board Member Mary Lockley offered this suggestion, because of the portable buildings that are on each school campus. Lockley said because the buildings are movable, this could allow the board to receive additional, maybe higher revenue, or perhaps allow the board to sell the buildings for use within the community.

Nonetheless, initial price discussed for each school (including land and building) were:
Thomas Gibbs Elementary, without the portable buildings, $741,200; with the buildings, $760,400.

G.W. Hamilton Elementary, without the portable buildings, $707,600; with the buildings, $744,350.

Mary Hines Elementary, without the portable buildings, $705,600; with the buildings, $779,100.
Baldwin Elementary, without the portable buildings, $567,600; with the buildings, $596,200.

There are six portable buildings at Gibbs, four at Hamilton, eight at Hines and three at Baldwin.