St. Tammany Parish Schools Superintendent Gayle Sloan announced a new plan for Brock Elementary Thursday night, calling for the renovation of the school's Olde Towne campus and for an addition to be built to accommodate more students in the future.
The addition to Brock's campus will be a two-story building offering 30 more classrooms and giving the school room to grow.
 Corey Prestenbeck, president of the Brock Elementary PTA, addresses the School Board at its meeting Thursday. (Staff Photo by Stephen Maloney) |
The board will have to pay $1.1 million to restore Brock's original buildings, bringing the cost of the entire project to an estimated $4.6 million.
In 2004, the board was contemplating closing Brock, using it as a School Board facility and building a new elementary school to replace it. This new school would also have handled an overflow of students from nearby Abney Elementary that was expected at the time.
When Hurricane Katrina struck last August, swamping Brock, Abney and Salmen High School, these plans were no longer appropriate.
Attendance dropped across St. Tammany and especially in south Slidell area schools after the storm as the surrounding population drained away.
While students and residents have returned, Abney is no longer approaching maximum capacity as it once was, and the Brock community is ready to return to its cherished Olde Towne campus, having spent the last seven months at Florida Avenue Elementary.
On March 30, the School Board held a public hearing to gather input about the future of Brock's original campus, which the Federal Emergency Management Agency determined to be eligible for the national historic register.
That meeting was attended by a large portion of the Brock community, including parents, students, faculty members and former students, all of whom expressed their desire for the board to reopen their beloved school.
At issue was whether the board should vote to use $10 million collected from a 2004 bond issue to restore Brock and rebuild Salmen entirely.
The $10 million was originally set aside for the construction of the new elementary school in Slidell.
Thursday night, the board voted to approve a proposal to allow the $10 million to be used on Brock and Salmen. The proposal will be put to a final vote at the board's next meeting on April 13.
Many of the same concerned members of the Brock community who attended the public hearing were at the meeting Thursday night, this time thanking the board members after the new plan was announced.
Corey Prestenbeck, the president of Brock's PTA, thanked the board for saving the school he and his family have grown to love.
"Brock is a physical anchor in the Olde Towne area, as well as a family." Tish Casey, a pre-kindergarten teacher at Brock for the past nine years, told the board. "Thank you for your support."
"Brock is history. I believe we have a board member who attended Brock," board member Dr. E. Roth Allen said, referring to fellow board member John Lamarque.
"I was there when Mr. Brock was still principal," Lamarque said.
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Margaret Tardo wrote on Aug 21, 2009 9:24 PM:
Example: wrote on Mar 18, 2008 4:22 PM:
Buell has been police chief here for about 30 years. He didn't use bad judgment once, he admits to it for the past several years.
Tom - fall on your sword and resign since you've disgraced your office and position. "
Go Figure wrote on Mar 13, 2008 4:53 PM: