ERIK SANZENBACH / L’Observateur / September 30, 2000

LAPLACE – Personnel issues were the cornerstone of arguments for two 1/4-cent sales tax proposals presented at a public forum Thursday night at Belle Terre Country Club.

The St. John the Baptist Sheriff’s Office and the St. John Parish SchoolBoard are asking voters to approve two 1/4-cent sales tax increases to fund more deputies and certified teachers.

If voters approve both proposals, St. John residents will end up paying aneight and three-quarters sales tax.

Both Sheriff Wayne L. Jones and schools Superintendent Chris Donaldsongave 20-minute speeches which was followed by questions posed by a panel made up of Helen Banquer, Jim Anthony and Bob Warren.

Citing a decrease in crime and an increase in patrol officers, Sheriff Jones said to maintain the present level of protection he will need more manpower.

To pay for that, he will need more revenue.

The quarter-cent sales tax will raise a revenue of $1.1 million annually, andthe sheriff wants to use the money to: Give all of his officers a $100 a month raise.

Hire eight more deputies.

Increase the salaries of his correctional officers at the parish jail from $1,350 a month to $1,500 a month.

“I have to offer incentives and increase salaries to keep these guys,” said Jones.

Under a federal Universal Hiring grant, Jones has hired 14 extra deputies. Atthis time the federal government is paying 75 percent of the officers’ salaries. However, when the grants are phased out in December 2000 andJune 2001, the sheriff will have to absorb those costs. He needs the salestax to keep the officers.

Jones said that because of the growth of the parish there is an increase in the number of calls to the sheriff’s office. In 1991 there were 30,000 callsto 9-1-1. By the end of 2000 the sheriff predicts the number will be over40,000 calls. He also said new subdivisions has made it harder for hisdeputies to cover such large areas.

“I want to increase the number of patrol officers on the street from 11 to 12 per shift,” said Jones. “And I want to keep our response time to underfive minutes.”Under questioning from the panel, Jones said he has a fund balance of $3 million dollars to take care of payroll and pay for upkeep of the jail.

In case the proposal fails at the polls, Jones said he will have to look at where he can cut expenses in his department.

“I will have to eliminate part-time positions, adjust the salaries of the resource officers that are stationed at the schools and start charging for traffic details at football games,” said the sheriff. “I may also have to lookat things like charging for escorting weddings and funerals.”Right now the sheriff’s office is funded by a 35 mil property tax and the income from fines and traffic tickets. The last time voters were asked for arevenue raise was in 1981 when Sheriff Lloyd B. Johnson asked for a 5 milincrease in property taxes.

“I don’t think I am asking for a foolish amount,” said Jones. “I think a salestax is a fair way to go. As the parish grows so does the sales tax, andeverybody needs police protection. We have a good department, but we haveto keep improving.”Donaldson’s presentation didn’t pull any punches.

“Our situation is critical,” Donaldson said. “The success of our schools iscritical to the well-being or our community.”What is critical is the lack of certified teachers in the classrooms of St.

John Parish schools.

“Twenty percent of the teachers in St. John Parish are not certified,” saidDonaldson.

Following Jones’ lead on crime, Donaldson stressed the importance of education.

“Crime is a negative consequence of a poor education,” Donaldson told the forum. “Eighty-three percent of our students are considered at-risk becauseof economic factors, and 40 percent of our students will end up in jail.

Education is the only real way to break this cycle.”With the emphasis on accountability and performance on the LEAP tests, Donaldson said hiring and keeping certified teachers is more important than ever for the children of the parish.

“Teachers are the greatest impact on a student,” said Donaldson.

“Technology won’t solve the problem. Education is only as good as theteacher that is in the classroom. In order to raise test scores we needteachers.”Unfortunately, the pay scale for teachers in St. John Parish won’t attractany new certified teachers. According to Donaldson, St. John Parish is last inteacher pay in this region. Teachers are being attracted to other parishes byhigher salaries and incentives.

Donaldson is hoping a quarter-cent increase in the sales tax will help the school board attract more certified teachers and keep the ones it has.

Recently, under the new union contract, teachers did get a 3 percent raise, but this still leaves them below the region’s norm. With the sales taxteachers would get another $2,000 a year, raising their salary to $27,000 a year.

“This is still not the highest,” said Donaldson, “but it would move us up to number four in the region.”Compounding the problem of teacher pay is the general shortage of teachers across the state and the country.

“It is hard to compete for a limited pool of teachers when we can’t offer the incentives,” said Donaldson.

Alfred Donaldson, director of Human Resources for the St. John SchoolBoard, said students are not going into teaching anymore.

“It used to be we would go to the LSU School of Education and interview 300 candidates. Now we are lucky if we can get 30,” said Alfred.Despite a fairly healthy budget and a large fund, St. John schools are stillstrapped for cash. Felix Boughton, director of Finance and Business, told theforum they have a balance of $3.8 million, but it is made up mostly of grantsand the reserve from two very good sales tax years.

“But we can only use this once,” said Boughton. “This is not a recurringbalance.”Donaldson assured voters the sales tax increase would only go to giving raises to teachers.

“This money is dedicated to all the teachers and nothing else,” said Donaldson. “Our current teachers deserve the pay. We need money to retainthe good teachers and attract other certified teachers. My goal is to have acertified teacher in every classroom.”

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