Monteleone zone chosen for new school

Months of deliberation came to an end Tuesday night when the St. Tammany Parish School Board voted on the attendance boundaries for the new high school on Louisiana Highway 1088, built to relieve overcrowding at Fontainebleau High School, the largest public high school in the state.

The Monteleone Junior High School District will comprise the bulk of the student population of the school, a proposal set forth by School Board member Don Villere on Oct. 16.

The board voted 8-4 to approve the plan, with member Mary K. Bellasario abstaining and Ray Alfred, Charles Harrell, Jody Palmer and Ron Bettencourtt voting against the map. Daniel Zechenelly and Ronnie Panks Sr. were absent.

Bellasario had attached a friendly amendment to the attendance boundary motion that the boundary be re-examined in two years to determine if it needed changing to populate the $47 million school. The amendment passed by a vote of 12-1, with Villere voting against the amendment.

The decision was met with mixed reaction by parents, who had earlier given reasons and opinions for and against various options. The main contention was between parents of the Lonesome Road area off Louisiana Highway 59, who live about 1.5 miles from Fontainbleau High School, and parents in the current Monteleone Junior High district, who say the school will lack the critical mass population to guarantee the same educational, athletic and extracurricular opportunities their students currently enjoy at Fontainebleau High School.

A committee was formed in the summer to come up with attendance boundary options, and the group developed two, then voted on one. It presented its choice as well as the second option to the School Board this month.

Many Monteleone parents had lobbied for the first map option, which included the Lonesome Road area, the plan the committee recommended.

Upon hearing the motion, parents claimed Villere was bowing to his constituents rather than listening to their opinions and deciding the issue based on what is best for students.

Residents of Lonesome Road subdivisions had previously submitted petitions signed by more than 1,500 people to remain in the Fontainebleau High School attendance zone. One resounding cry by parents was that Fontainebleau is their neighborhood school, and they should not have to travel six or seven miles to the new school when they can travel two miles to FHS.

Both groups agreed Abita Springs students should stay at FHS to avoid long commutes in mileage and time. With the approved boundaries, the school should have 881 students in three years compared to 1,652 at FHS.

Demographics show a 19 percent black population at the new school compared to 9 percent at FHS, and free and reduced lunch of 36 percent at the new school compared to 26 percent at FHS.

Free and reduced lunch figures were used as a precursor to test scores by parents, although the actual relationship between the two are debatable and were not linked to student performance by School Board officials.

The new school was placed on Louisiana Highway 1088 because of projected growth of the area as well as a planned interchange off Interstate 12 and a new north/south roadway that would provide easy access. The interchange, originally set to open before the school opened, has been delayed due to funding, but it is currently scheduled to be completed in 2011. The fate of the planned north/south road is undetermined.

Superintendent Gayle Sloan said six people have applied for the principal’s job, with a recommendation to the board set for November. The principal will begin work in January to prepare for the school’s opening in August 2009.

Deputy Superintendent Trey Folse said the $37 million building is scheduled to be substantially complete in January or February with the $11 million athletic fields and facilities ready for the school’s opening. Total cost of the school is $47 million, including Astroturf for the football field, said School Board spokesperson Meredith Mendez.

The school will offer an extended broadcast academy supported by the staff of Channel 13 that will include not only broadcast news but film-style video shorts and documentaries, said Assistant Superintendent for Curriculum and Instruction Cheryl Arabie.

Also, Arabie said several programs currently available at FHS will also be available at the new school, including the ProStart culinary program, robotics, a focus on science through the NASA fellows program and laptops for in-class student use.