Funds are critical, state provides no capital revenue
By KEVIN CHIRI
Slidell news bureau
SLIDELL – The St. Tammany public school system has shown a strong comeback in the past four years since Frankie Jabbia was named superintendent in 2020.
After a number of years when school scores had been declining, Jabbia and his team heading one of the largest public school systems in the state has turned things around, recently posting the number one ACT average scores in the state among other public schools.
Now, Jabbia is asking the public to continue supporting the St. Tammany system by backing a millage renewal on Saturday, May 3, that provides the only funding the schools get for capital improvement projects.
The 20-year millage will provide $351 million in funds for Jabbia to tackle over $251 million in construction and campus needs throughout a system that includes 55 schools and over 36,000 students. The rest of the money will go to technology, security and other needs the system has.
Jabbia reminds the public that “this is not a new tax, merely continuing the property tax millage you already pay.”
But the money the public school system needs is critical, he has told nearly 70 organizations and groups he has spoken to. That is because the state provides no funding for public schools to do construction or upgrades.
“We would have to find money in our general fund to do these projects, and believe me, there are many needs when you consider 55 schools,” he said.
But Jabbia said the millage will also provide several other important needs for the system that has shown improving scores in recent years, following nearly a decade of slipping scores.
The new 20-year plan will spend $32 million on security and technology initiatives; $30 million for healthcare and STEM (Science Technology, Engineering, Mathemathics) advancing learning initiatives; $12 million for transportation; and $251 million for additions and renovations to 23 schools.
Among the projects planned are:
–Continuing a change to a bus system that St. Tammany schools will eventually own, a switch that is saving between $3 million and $5 million a year. Previously, parish buses were owned by the drivers, which required high costs for benefits, milage and operation. Jabbia said that St. Tammany is one of only four districts in the state that is making the change, and he is halfway to the goal of completing the new system.
–Upgrades and purchasing expensive filters to protect privacy through the 43,000 e-mails that must be sent out to students and over 6,000 employees every time there is an important notice needed.
–Upgrade all school intrusion, fire alert and intercom systems, and expand security cameras, as well as expand and replace electronic storage for security camera network.
–Building a STEM center next to the Northshore Technical Community College in Lacombe, which will increase opportunities for students to gain college credit while still in high school. Jabbia said St. Tammany leads the state in offering dual enrollment to high school and college courses, and students are now graduating high school with an Associates Degree, making them already prepared to enter the workforce or go to college.
–Provide new teacher and school office computers district wide. WiFi upgrades for all schools, plus replacement and upgrades for Chromebooks and Google Workspace licenses.
“Nobody can touch what we are doing for our kids,” said Jabbia. “But we need the support from the public to continue. I believe we have delivered on our promise to improve scores, but we need to keep pace with improvements to our facilities and other areas of operation.
“Plus, you can see from our plans that security and safety is critical in all we are doing,” he added.
Jabbia also noted that the District Performance Scores for St. Tammany Parish increased in recent years from an average of 85.2 to 87.5 in the most recent 2024 school year.
“When our kids graduate, we have them set up for success, and especially with the new STEM building we can increase the opportunities for kids to graduate high school and be ready for work or college. It’s part of trying to keep our kids here by building relationships with them in St. Tammany Parish,” he stated.
Jabbia said the St. Tammany school system is so highly rated that they continue to deal with parents who try to illegally get their child enrolled here, even if they live out of the parish. To address that situation, the school system has a private investigator who checks if students really live where they say they do.
“We have had plenty of families from Tangipahoa and Washington parishes enroll kids here and say they live somewhere in St. Tammany,” he explained. “But it does say something about our school system to see that people are trying to cheat the system to have their kids here.”
Early voting will be held April 19 to 26 before the official May 3 voting day.