By Kimberly Hopson
L’Observateur

RESERVE – The climate of the St. John the Baptist Parish special school board meeting was somewhat tense on Tuesday morning as board members heard from CSRS regarding the progress at the district’s two flood-damaged schools.
The Baton Rouge-based consulting firm is still working under an interim contract with the school board, and no decision has been made yet regarding a firm to permanently oversee the recovery work.
Many board members, however, have recently questioned the work the firm has performed in the wake of Hurricane Isaac as well as some of the projects the firm oversaw before the storm.
“One of the complaints of this board is that we don’t hear enough from you on specific issues. You come to us once a month or once a quarter and tell how we’re progressing on some things,” said board member Russ Wise, speaking to CSRS District Project Manager Chris Pellegrin. “But what are you doing, who are you doing it with, and when will it be accomplished?”
In response, Pelligrin said all of the projects that fall under the Hurricane Isaac recovery effort are due to be completed as scheduled, but that the firm cannot continue to work indefinitely.
“In programs such as the one we’re managing, we’re there, we’re on site, and we’re doing the work. Things come up, and you need our assistance. We have always said yes,” Pellegrin said.
“We can’t work forever. We have an incentive to get all this work completed and through warranty periods, and then our contract ends. The original contract had a duration. The one that we’re operating under for Hurricane Isaac does not have a duration because it was intended to be on an interim basis anyway,” he continued.
The school board will have the chance to discuss the matter further when it meets for its regularly scheduled meeting Thursday at 6 p.m. at Emily C. Watkins Elementary.
The board has several items of discussion on the agenda, but a proposal to suspend all reconstruction activity by CSRS at East St. John High School and Lake Pontchartrain Elementary may be the most pertinent, given the atmosphere at Tuesday’s meeting.
Also on the agenda is the re-evaluation of the student fighting and arrest policy.
The policy was discussed at the school board’s Jan. 25 mini retreat. St. John Parish Sheriff Mike Tregre spoke at the meeting, saying the system for handling students who fight in school should be tweaked. Tregre suggested principals separate the brawling students and have the parents pick them up instead of immediately arresting them, thus tying up officers that are also needed on the streets.