Poor Parish Seeks QSCBs

Trustees of the St. Landry Parish School District last week voted to seek authorization for $10 million of federal qualified school construction bonds from the Louisiana Department of Education.

Superintendent Michael Nassif said the district would use the proceeds to replace all 65 of the portable school buildings currently being leased for a total of $30,000 a month.

Replacement of the portable units with permanent facilities has been recommended by the U.S. Department of Justice. It said elimination of the buildings would comply with a pending federal desegregation lawsuit that was first filed in 1969.

Finance director Randy Manuel told the school board that the district has not had a capital project in at least 20 years due to a lack of funding.

The district would receive a direct, 100% subsidy of interest costs from the federal government for the bonds.

Louisiana received an allocation of $140.5 million of QSCBs in the $11 billion, nation-wide program for 2010. Four large school districts in the state received direct allocations of QSCBs totaling $104.4 million.

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