LMSD Building Proposal Public Meeting Draws Animated Crowd

A crowd of roughly 200 attended the LMSD Meeting
on new building proposal

Monday night's public meeting concerning a proposed building program by the Louisville Municipal School District was animated but civil as the LMSD Board and Superintendent presented information about the proposal and its cost and financial structure. A crowd of roughly 200 people gathered in the Noxapater school auditorium - many with questions and opinions for the board.

LMSD's proposal encompasses maintenance and new construction projects at all district schools with a total  estimated cost of $5,420,000.  Combined with existing debt of $1,800,000, these projects would result in a total debt of  $7,220,000. The proposal presented to the public calls for the District to use available money from the District Maintenance Fund ($500,000) and the 16th Section Fund ($2,500,000) to reduce the amount financed to a total of approximately $4,220,000. LMSD Superintendent Wade indicated that the yearly revenue needed to repay the loan ($390,000) was available  and well within the District's capability by renewing the existing 3 mil tax and from projected timber sales over the next 10 years.

Wade addresses the crowd

Wade stressed that the District's intent was to accomplish these needs without placing an undue burden on taxpayers. He indicated that the administration had discussed the needs of each school with principals and staff and considered factors such as: health and safety concerns, promotion of student achievement, space requirements for program expansion (as required by legislation) and the standing desegregation order.

The major components of the proposal include:

• Physical education buildings at Fair and Louisville Elementaries - to provide 50x70 and 70x70 structures on each side of Columbus Ave. to allow physical activities for students particularly in poor weather.
• Roof repair, painting and floor repair at Eiland Middle School.
• Repair work to the gym at Noxapater, floor repair and additional lighting to the south end of the football field.
• Convert the existing Tech Prep building at Nanih Waiya to an updated cafeteria and build five additional classrooms to replace those lost by the cafeteria conversion.
• Improve lighting and drainage issues at the Louisville High softball field.
• Build canopies at every school for weather protection at drop-off points and as needed

Wade indicated that some re-configuration may be needed at the elementary schools for additional Pre-K and alternative third grade classes in the future.He also presented the current and expected grade make up of each school as follows:

• Fair - Pre-K thru 2nd grade
• Louisville Elementary - 3rd thru 5th grade
• Eiland Middle - 6th thru 8th grade
• Louisville High - 9th thru 12th
• Noxapater - Pre-K thru 12th
• Nanih Waiya - Pre-K thru 12th

After the presentation, members of the public were allowed to comment and ask questions of the Board and the Administration.  A dozen different citizens came to the podium and most discussion centered around academic concerns for funding and ideas to improve the schools' ratings. Nancy Jordan was the first to comment as she advocated for smaller class sizes," This is not a Board of Beautification but a Board of Education... Buildings are fine but education should be your priority."

Barbara Colson questions the Board

Multiple issues were raised during the meeting, often not directly related to the building proposal -  including parent's involvement and access to the classroom, problems with state testing, the desegregation order, the use of consultants by the district and possible school consolidation.

Addressing the consolidation issue, Board President Bobby Moody indicated that the current school structure was established more than fifty years ago by court order and was not something that could be changed by a direct Board or public vote. Given the resistance to such a change, the legal battle required to challenge the current structure would be extremely costly and was not something that the Board was considering.

Linda Humphries expresses concern about class size

The general consensus among the speakers and the audience was that building needs may need to be addressed but funding and effort needed to be placed on academic improvement. Reducing class size was a major issue as Linda Humphries provided statistical information on area class sizes and the advantages of reducing the number of students per class. Other ideas suggested included; the use of retired teachers as tutors to help struggling students, peer tutoring programs, certification programs for substitute teachers in the District, the use of floating teachers between schools for college prep classes and increasing pay to find higher quality teachers.

As the meeting came to a close, Board member Cathy Edwards addressed the crowd and urged them to attend Board meetings - "show concern not just at meetings like this , but all the time." Member Betty Byrd thanked the crowd for their input, "This is what we wanted.. we will take this information and address some of these things. We have a concerned group of citizens - that thrills the Board." 

The proposal is under consideration by the Board and LMSD Administration and no decisions have been finalized. The Board will meet tonight (Tuesday- Dec 11) at 5:30 pm at the administration offices on S. Columbus in Louisville.

W. McCully