Panel to discuss use of master plan

LAFAYETTE — The Lafayette Parish School Board’s executive committee will meet at 11 a.m. Tuesday at Central Office to discuss the future use of the district’s facilities master plan.

Last month, the board voted to organize a small committee to review the master plan and give recommendations on how it should be used when making decisions about repair and construction spending.

Executive committee members are board President Shelton Cobb; Vice President Hunter Beasley; and past President Mark Allen Babineaux. The review committee also includes Kyle Bordelon, district facilities director, and Sarah Walker, master plan oversight committee chairwoman.

The executive committee also will discuss the role of the oversight committee, a 21-member advisory group appointed to make recommendations related to the implementation of the master plan.

The advisory group suggested that the board ask the public to support a property tax bond issue to fund about $560 million in school construction and major repairs. Voters rejected the bond issue in October.

Some board members have said they view the public’s vote as a rejection of the plan and the board is not obligated to follow it. Other board members have said the plan is a guide that should be followed because it takes the politics out of decisions about facilities.

The board paid $900,000 for CSRS Inc., of Baton Rouge, to analyze school facilities across the district. Consultants in 2010 presented a plan to the board outlining $1.1 billion in facility needs and prioritized projects.