St. John the Baptist Parish School Board approves budgets, authorizes $11M loan payment and one-time staff stipends

The St. John the Baptist Parish School Board voted on several major financial items at its Aug. 7 meeting in Reserve, approving both the 2024–25 amended budget and the 2025–26 proposed budget, authorizing a large loan payment and agreeing to one-time staff stipends.

The board approved the 2024–25 amended budget on a roll-call vote, with seven yeas and one nay (Burl) and three members absent. A separate procedural motion to question that approval recorded a 5–4 roll call vote on the procedural item. The board later approved the 2025–26 proposed budget on a 9–0 roll call with two members absent.

On debt service, the board authorized the superintendent to process an $11 million principal loan payment from the account set aside for repayment of a previously authorized $30 million loan. The motion, moved by Triche and seconded by Mamou, passed on roll call with nine yeas and two absent.

Board members also debated compensation measures. After several motions and substitute motions, the board approved a one-time stipend of at least $2,000 for teachers and $1,000 for support staff, with a commitment to review the amounts in November 2025. That motion passed 5–4 (yeas: Holden, Burl, Triche, DeFrancesch, Schum; nays: Frizzell, Mamou, Wallace, Vicknair). "I voted no because of the cuts at the student level and not at the top administrative levels," board member Burl said for the record. Board member Mamou said the stipend levels were too low and that staff "deserve more."

The board also considered the 2025–26 salary schedule. A substitute motion to approve the schedule with the athletic trip policy removed passed on roll call with nine yeas, one nay (Burl) and two absent.

What happened next: per the board agenda, staff will implement the approved budgets and payroll actions; the stipend amounts will be revisited in November 2025 as the board directed.