SLIDELL – St. Tammany Schools Superintendent Frankie Jabbia is hoping the improvements shown by the public school system in recent years will be enough to gain voter approval of an important millage renewal the electorate will face at the polls this Saturday, May 3.
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.
Most important for voters to realize, said Jabbia, is that the state provides no funding to public school systems for capital improvements and without the millage that voters approved nearly 20 years ago, the hope for school building improvements or new construction will be virtually impossible.
“Please realize this is not a new tax,” Jabbia said. “We would love to find money in our general fund to do these projects, and believe me, there are many needs when you consider 55 schools. But without this millage, we could not come close to doing all the things we have planned.”
The new 20-year plan will spend $32 million on security and technology initiatives; $30 million for healthcare and STEM (Science Technology, Engineering, Mathematics) 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 Associate’s Degree, making them already prepared to enter the workforce or go to college.
–Provide new teacher and school office computers district wide. Wi-Fi upgrades for all schools, plus replacement and upgrades for Chromebooks and Google Workspace licenses.