AMY SZPARA

RESERVE – The first day of school for St. John the Baptist Parish Public Schools came and went without a hitch, according to Superintendent Michael K. Coburn. Starting classes Thursday, 4,267 students said “goodbye” to summer to begin a new school year, though East St. John High School freshman and kindergartners in the parish did not start until Friday. “We thought that the first day of school was outstanding,” said Coburn, adding the turnout was slightly higher than last schoolyear’s first day. There are still those students who they will “have to go out and get,” he said, but overall, he was satisfied with the numbers. In preparation for the year, many new hires were made, including a total of 132 new teachers. There are currently only three positions left unfilled at the start of the 2001-02 school year, which are a teacher of the hearing impaired, a band director and a French/Spanish teacher. Two major projects that were set to be completed by the start of the new year were very close to completion Thursday when students returned to school and are expected to have their finishing touches added within days. The addition of a metal building at East St. John High School was completed and had met all required standards set, except for a fire marshal inspection that was scheduled to take place Friday. According to Alton Darby of Mestayer, Darby and Partner, the school board’s architect, it took the contractors five months to construct the building, which will house freshmen at the high school. Darby said the building passed its architectural inspection, but the fire alarm system was not yet in. A “walk through” was planned for Friday, and according to Darby, the alarm would be ready by 11 a.m. Darby added they were still waiting for three items to arrive for installation in the building. Two special doors for special education students, infrared handwashing units and a hood to be placed above the cooking area for the special education home economics department were expected to be in shortly. “It’s really first class in appearance,” said School Board Member Dowie Genderon Thursday at a board meeting. “I hope its endurance is as good as it looks.” According to Darby, all that was left to be done were touchups, which the contractors would be able to complete by working around the students. Another item expected to be completed by the start of school was repairs to the playgrounds at the elementary schools. Many of the playgrounds were determined to be not up to standards at the close of last school year, and though many of those repairs have been made, there are still a few items that need to be remedied before children can use the areas. According to Coburn, the place where the school board was purchasing required wood chips ran out of their supply. “Never in my wildest dreams did I think that wood chips would cost $30,000,” he said. Because of the expense of the wood chips, the board is looking into other forms of playground cushioning that might be less expensive. One option, according to Coburn, is using shredded tires, which are also absorbent to impact. He is currently trying to locate a company that sells the tires, which he said will hopefully be less costly and will probably be more durable. Because there are still some playground areas that are off limits to children, Coburn said he will get the project completed as quickly as possible. “We don’t want to delay this anymore,” he said.