To All St. Bernard Parish School Board Employees:

October 21, 2005 Update


Things are finally beginning to happen – we think. I have met this past week with the Governor and all of the members of our legislative delegation requesting that they address our specific concerns in the November special session of the legislature. These issues include health insurance for our active employees and retirees, operating expenses for our school district to remain open, and the possibility for employees to buy this year’s service credit from their respective retirement systems. Please remember to contact all of the legislators and ask them to support our needs.

Also, we were able to receive our October funding from the state. The Board has asked that I take those funds, along with money from various other sources that has become available, and pay insurance for employees through December 31 st. We pay Louisiana State Office of Group Benefits in excess of $1 million per month for insurance for our active and retired employees, but I am confident now that I have the money to project that far into the future. We wanted to give everyone a comfort level as much as we can, and this will get us through the waiting periods for the state, through its special session, and the federal government to decide whether or not they will help us. It also gives our employees more of an opportunity to find other employment with benefits if possible. If you have found employment with benefits elsewhere and can be taken off the insurance rolls, please let us know as soon as possible. This reduction in numbers may allow us to continue insurance even longer for those without.

We are in the process of moving trailer-style classrooms onto Chalmette High School’s parking lot where we will open school for students as soon as possible. We hope to host a registration for students during the first week of November, and then we can make determinations about classes and courses we must offer. We also are in the process of ordering two modular school buildings, a Pre-K-8 school and a high school. These will provide classrooms, a library, a gymnasium, and a cafeteria for students until repair and/or rebuilding can completed on permanent structures. It is just the beginning of the rebuilding of our school district.

Many of you have indicated that you wish to return to work for the school system as it reopens. We believe that all of our employees want to continue to be a part of our school system and certainly will take that into consideration as we are able to see employees return to their jobs. Truthfully, we may have 2 children, or we may have 200. We have no idea at this point, and cannot begin to project our staffing needs. As that picture becomes clearer, we will keep you posted as to how we will proceed with staffing.

Finally, some of you have asked about entering your schools to retrieve personal items. Next Thursday and Friday, October 27 and 28, employees will be able to enter Chalmette High, Andrew Jackson, Lacoste, Gauthier, and Sebastien Roy. Please do not go into any other buildings until such time that you are cleared to do so. We are very concerned about the structural soundness of buildings and cannot allow people into the other buildings at this time. As they become cleared, we will post entry dates for you.

I know this has been a tough month for you, as payroll has stopped. I hope you have been able to find employment and/or filed for unemployment. Please know that we are doing everything that we can to sustain you through this horrific time. If we are successful in the special session and with the federal government, our situation will improve. But we remain optimistic that the spirit that was so high among our employees will carry us through these tough times. Please continue to stay in touch, and stay safe.

Doris Voitier

And as always, if you need to contact us please do so by emailing:

• Paul Granberry – Personnel issues – paul.granberry@la.gov
• Bev Lawrason – Other issues – beverly.lawrason@la.gov

October 10 th update for our family – the St. Bernard Parish School Board employees:

Again, this week finds us without any real news, except to assure you that negotiations with every possible agency are continuing. A few items may be of importance to you:

• You may want to contact your legislator with regard to the need to keep health insurance going for our retirees and for our active employees who have not found jobs elsewhere. Those legislators include:
  
  Representative Nita Hutter – larep104@legis.state.la.us
  Representative Ken Odinet – larep103@legis.state.la.us
  Senator Walter Boasso – (225)342-2415 – boassow@legis.state.la.us
  
  Also, contact other state representatives and senators, as it takes a majority vote to get assistance. Contact information is found at http://www.legis.state.la.us/

• You may want to contact US Senators Mary Landrieu and David Vitter and US Representative Charlie Melancon about the urgency of federal assistance to keep the school district going and the necessity of continuing insurance coverage for our employees. Their contact information is:
  
  Senator Mary Landrieu – http://landrieu.senate.gov – BR – 225-389-0395
  Washington – 202-224-5824
  Senator David Vitter – http://vitter.senate.gov – BR – 225-383-0331
  Washington – 202-224-4623
  Representative Charlie Melancon – www.melancon.house.gov –
  Gonzales – 225-621-8490 – Washington – 202-225-4031
  
  Also, you may wish to contact other federal senators and representatives to express the need for urgency. We have been informed that Congress will take a week off next week. This seems to indicate a lack of a sense of urgency for all of us on the Gulf coast. Please do what you can to assist us in our cause.

• The credit union has moved. The new phone number is 985-893-0040. The new address is 1200 Business 190 – Unit 20, Covington. It is housed inside the Post Office Employees FCU in the Rouse Shopping Center. The email – stbsbefcu@yahoo.com remains the same.

• The prospect of opening school on a limited scale, probably in January, continues to move closer to reality. Please understand, however, that we will employ teachers and other staff in very limited numbers based on need. Unfortunately, we cannot expect to return to what we had prior to Katrina.

• If you are in contact with seniors who are trying to locate senior rings for AJ, CHS, and St. Bernard Highs, give them this contact number: 866-559-2022. The email address is balfourno@yahoo.com.

• We are working on establishing a series of dates when employees will be able to return to their schools and secure personal property. This will be done with those school sites that we know to be structurally sound. We will post those dates on the web in the very near future.

• We will be meeting with the School Board on October 12 in Baton Rouge to review these same issues.

We are trying desperately to access some federal funds that will allow us to return a larger corps of employees to work cleaning and completing inventory in our buildings. That will take a federal appropriation of dollars to assist school districts in their recovery efforts, as FEMA will not pay for employees’ salaries. They will give us the equipment we need and all of the supplies…just not the people to get it done.

The school system has three sources of revenue: sales taxes from businesses in St. Bernard, of which there are none, property taxes in St. Bernard, which are collected in January and which will probably be zero since property is now greatly devalued, and state MFP dollars based on the number of children we are serving, which is now zero. We used every dollar available to pay our employees during the month of September, despite the fact that they were not working, and to continue health insurance through October 31 st. We have some limited federal dollars available, and these are what we will use to keep our system minimally functional.

We are trying to do everything that we can to keep our school system running, with the greatest possible benefit to our employees. The reality is, however, that no more funds are available for paychecks. We have, through various funding sources, determined that we may be able to extend insurance now through November 30 th but, again, further extensions will be difficult without state or federal intervention. More on that in the next update. Please try and seek other employment so that your family will not continue to face undue hardship or uncertainty. Our thoughts and prayers are with each of you. May God bless you and your family.

Doris Voitier

For information or questions, please contact Bev Lawrason at beverly.lawrason@la.gov.

September 28th update for our forever loyal St. Bernard School Board Employees:

Things are still inching forward for us as we work to secure a brighter future for our school district and our employees. While, there really isn’t any “new” news to report regarding benefits, etc., I did not want the week to go by without an update.

• We continue to work with the Office of Group Benefits to secure continuing health insurance coverage for our employees and retirees. We know that this is a priority for each of you, and we have made that point to state and federal officials in numerous meetings. Rest assured that it is our priority, also. As of today, insurance coverage will terminate on October 31, 2005.

• Please remember that Sept. 30 th, unfortunately, will be your last paycheck for this school year. At that point, employees will all be on a disaster-related leave without pay. Please put the needs of your family first and secure whatever type of employment that you can. DROP payments will not be affected if you file for unemployment, as we are not terminating any employee! We will rebuild, and we will call our employees back to work as our school system grows.

• In our meetings with FEMA and other agencies, we are now vowing to provide education to the first child who returns to live in St. Bernard. We are pushing to open school in temporary facilities as soon as an infrastructure, i.e., water, sewerage, electricity, will allow that to happen. Trailers are coming into St. Bernard to house firemen, policemen, refinery workers, etc., and in some instances, their families. We will be there for those children, and that is another of our immediate goals for the coming months.

• Also, we want to put some of our employees to work completing inventories and cleanup of our schools. Funding for salaries to do this work has also been among the assistance we have asked for from the federal government. Keep your fingers crossed that our congressmen and senators are listening.

• At the bottom of this post is a contact list for those insurance companies through which you may have carried supplemental policies with our flex plan. Since we are no longer taking deductions for those companies, please contact them directly about paying your premiums if you wish to continue coverage.

Remain positive and resolute in the power of unity which is the St. Bernard Parish Schools. We will return and rebuild, and we want you as a part of that effort.

Doris Voitier

For information, please contact the school district at beverly.lawrason@la.gov.

Supplemental insurance information:

AMERICAN FIDELTY – 800-323-3748

P O BOX 25523 (CANCER)

OKLAHOMA CITY, OK 72125

AMERICAN HERITAGE – 318-390-5660 Chris Ayers

1776 AMERICAN HERITAGE LIFE DR (CANCER)

JACKSONVILLE, FL 32224

COLONIAL LIFE – 800-256-7004

P O BOX 1365 (LIFE & CANCER)

COLUMBIA, SC 29202-1365

DELTA DENTAL - 800-521-2651

MEMBERSHIP SERVICES, M/S 12B

P O BOX 7564 (DENTAL)

SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94120-7564

DENT-ALL – 800-999-5842 or 504-324-9967

P O BOX 23708 (DENTAL)

NEW ORLEANS, LA 70183-3708

JEFFERSON PILOT FINANCIAL – 800-423-2765 ATTN: CARROLL STEINER

P O BOX 0821

CAROL STREAM, IL 60132-0821 (DISABILITY)

September 19th update for the loyal employees of the St. Bernard Parish Public Schools:

First of all, let me say to each of you how much your e-mails of support and your prayers mean to us. Your uplifting spirits certainly give us the strength to go on each day. Never before have I been more proud of our employees and to be a part of our school system. Your promises to return and rebuild show the courage and unity that have made our school system more than a place to work – it makes us a family. And fighting for our family is what we will continue to do.

While the tunnel remains long and dark, I continue to feel optimistic that we are heading in the right direction. Promises from FEMA, the US Department of Education, the State Department of Education, the Retirement System, and the Office of State Group Benefits continue to be just that – cooperative and supportive promises. However, real guarantees still elude us. We await answers on a daily basis to more long term, permanent solutions for our employees and our schools, but we still must wait as bureaucracy does its job.

Some good news! We have put paper to pencil and we will be able to make one more payroll on September 30 th before all of our funds are depleted. I have made a personal commitment to share the dollars as we have with all of our employees, but this will definitely be your last paycheck for this year from the St. Bernard Parish Public Schools unless further assistance comes from state or federal officials. I wish I could do more; however, this will deplete our revenue.

Additional good news! The Office of State Group Benefits has agreed to cover our employees’ health insurance benefits through October 31 st. I realize, again, that this is not the best case scenario. However, it does buy us more time to negotiate even further on your behalf.

Just this morning, we posted with the groups mentioned above a proposal for assistance to our school district. Number 1 on the list was open lines of communication with the authorities who can make decisions and provide answers to our questions. Number 2 was the continuation of health insurance benefits for our employees. We would anticipate some answers to our requests within the next few weeks, and certainly well before October 31 st. So, hang in there, keep praying, and know that we are giving it our best. Just as you have made the memories and pride of the St. Bernard Parish Public Schools your number one priority, so have we made your welfare our priority.

Doris Voitier

Reminder: Please fill out the form posted on this web site so that we have current contact information, and, if you have questions, please contact us at beverly.lawrason@la.gov.

September 14, 2005

To each of our wonderful and outstanding employees:

This is an incredibly trying time for each of us, both personally and professionally. Our district is at its darkest hour, but through the efforts and prayers of each of you, I am confident that we will return stronger and better than before!

To give you an update on some of the issues about which you are most concerned:

• We continue to meet with state and federal officials regarding the continuation of health insurance benefits for employees who have not been able to secure employment. As you know, State Group Benefits has agreed to provide coverage for employees through the end of September, but we are beginning to hear positive things about coverage into October. The district must rely on state and federal officials for assistance to continue coverage past September.

• The St. Bernard School Board Employees Federal Credit Union is up and operational in Denham Springs. You may contact the credit union regarding your savings or your loan payments through the following means: phone: 225-408-0134 – email: STBSBEFCU@yahoo.com – mailing address: St. Bernard Parish School Board Employees’ Federal Credit Union, c/o La. Department of Transportation Federal Credit Union, 1620 S. Range Avenue, Denham Springs, 70726 – website: www.geocities.com/stbsbefcu.

• We will issue a payroll check on September 15 th. In order to assist employees further at this time, we have taken no deductions from pay, except for health insurance, which will continue coverage, and taxes, which must be paid by law. Direct deposit holders may receive their checks on the 16 th due to delays in getting the computer system operational. Those without direct deposit will have their checks mailed to their new location addresses. All employees without direct deposit should check in through the state department website in order for us to reroute your checks to your new locale.

• We have met with FEMA officials and are positive about their assistance in rebuilding our school district.

I am very concerned about keeping in touch with each of you and want everyone back as we open schools, site by site. If you have not been in touch and given us contact information, please do so. Please stay in touch with us, and pray for the day that we can all be together again. You are in my prayers, as are all of our students and their families.

Monday, September 12, 2005

For further information contact: Superintendent of Schools Doris Voitier at doris.voitier@la.gov or Associate Superintendent Beverly Lawrason at beverly.lawrason@la.gov

An Update on the Rebuilding of the St. Bernard Parish Public Schools:

The process of rebuilding the St. Bernard Parish Public Schools is beginning in Baton Rouge, as Superintendent of Schools Doris Voitier calls on federal and state authorities to assist the school district and its employees in the rebuilding effort. The school district is temporarily housed in offices at the State Department of Education.

“As hard as it is to believe, I cannot foresee the district being fully operational this school year. However, my priority at this point is the safety and welfare of our employees and our students until such time that we can all return to our homes and schools together,” said Voitier.

The Superintendent has assured employees that they will be paid through September 15 th, and that she has secured a commitment from the State Group Benefits program to provide health insurance for all employees through the end of September. “I understand, however, that this is not the best case scenario for our employees, and I am working each day to impress upon state and federal authorities the urgent needs of our employees. I am hopeful that those authorities will step forward and want to assist our employees in their greatest hour of need,” Voitier said.

Voitier also urged parents to enroll St. Bernard students in school. “It is important for all of our students to continue in school. It will return to our students a sense of normalcy and that is important for their general welfare. The employees contacting us have inquired as to the welfare of our students, and that is indicative of the caring and nurturing environment that is the St. Bernard Parish Public Schools.”

Voitier said that she has met with members of the School Board and their joint vision is to open a least one site as soon as possible and to reopen schools as needed as individuals return to the community to live. “We want our schools operational as soon as possible. To open a school will be a very difficult task, but we need to re-establish our identify soon to assure our employees and students that we will be back, even better than before.”

The Superintendent said that in light of the severe and devastating losses within our community and subsequent loss of funding for the school district, she would expect employees to seek employment elsewhere. “Our employees are what make us an exceptional school district, and I am truly personally distressed at the loss of so many of our outstanding administrators, teachers, and support employees to other school districts. However, I understand the needs of family and certainly expect our personnel to secure a future for their families first. I just hope that when we are ready to re-open, our employees are ready to return and rebuild our schools. We cannot let this disaster quell our spirit and our drive to reopen one of the finest school districts in the state. We will come back stronger, as will our entire community.”

Questions from employees, parents, and students can be directed to the school district by contacting Voitier at doris.voitier@la.gov or the district’s Associate Superintendent, Beverly Lawrason, at beverly.lawrason@la.gov.

September 7, 2005


Almost all of our schools have been underwater, and we will not, in all likelihood, be fully operational this school year. Therefore, if you can find employment, secure it. If not, file for unemployment benefits.

Those of you who have direct deposit should have received your August 31 paycheck already and will receive an additional payroll check on September 15. If you do not have direct deposit, call the Louisiana State Department of Education at 1-877-453-2721. Be prepared to give us your name, address and social security number, and we will forward your paycheck to you.

At this time, we cannot answer questions concerning additional payroll, insurance benefits or credit union issues. However, we do hope to have answers for you within the next two weeks and an e-mail address for direct contact.

Stay tuned and we will keep you updated as soon as we have additional information.

WE WILL REBUILD OUR SCHOOL SYSTEM. PLEASE KNOW THAT WE ARE MEETING WITH STATE AND FEDERAL OFFICIALS IN AN EFFORT TO SECURE THE FUNDING NECESSARY TO TAKE CARE OF OUR EMPLOYEES AND OUR CHILDREN.

God bless you and your families. Pray for strength, confident that if we all pull together, we will emerge from this challenge as stronger people building a better and stronger community. We have the VISION; we will put forth the EFFORT; and we will be SUCCESSFUL.

God bless us all!
Doris Voitier