St. Landry Parish School Board members remain deadlocked in ongoing negotiations with state officials as they attempt to purchase a bio-medical classroom complex located adjacent to Opelousas High School.
Operations Director Claudia Blanchard told a Building, Lands and Sites Committee earlier this week that officials with the State Department of Education, which owns the building, are currently asking a $370,000 purchase price for the bio-medical academy which includes about nine acres of property.
Blanchard and the state have been trading potential price offers for several years, but have failed to reach an agreement to complete a sale.
During the meeting, Blanchard did not discuss any of the counter offers made to the state by the District.
Currently, the state and the district have agreed to a cooperative endeavor which indicates the District can use the building for the bio-medical program as long as the District absorbs the maintenance costs.
The apparent poor condition of the roof that covers classrooms, administrative offices and a gymnasium for the 30,000-square-foot building is an issue that has affected previous purchase negotiations, said Blanchard.
Blanchard said the district, which pays for the maintenance of the building in return for using classroom and office space, estimates that it will cost approximately $1 million to replace the roof.
“The attorneys for both the state and (the district) have been going back and forth. They (the state) know the condition of the roof. We (the district) can’t afford right now to fix the roof. Instead, we have been patching it in order to keep it from leaking,” said Blanchard.
Despite being cognizant of the roof condition, Blanchard said the state has indicated it will not consider reducing the asking price for the academy at this point.
Blanchard also did not indicate any appraisal prices that the district may have previously received to reach a potential agreement about the purchase cost.
No representative from the state addressed the committee about proposed negotiations as Blanchard presented the issue as part of the lengthy agenda.
Blanchard added that state officials are cognizant that the bio-medical program, which was created nearly 20 years ago following a federal desegregation order, is important to the parish-wide curriculum.
“They (the state) know that we are using the building. We have the bio-med students there in addition to some other students,” Blanchard said.
The bio-medical school, located at 1202 Linwood Drive, is detached from the Opelousas High school campus, but students are within walking distance of both facilities.
A website that features the school curriculum offerings said the academy students are provided with a hands-on, problem-based program and projects which prepare the students for the real world of medicine.
Although the bio-medical academy is housed at Opelousas High, any student that lives in any of the district school zones is eligible to enroll in the program.
Blanchard described the bio-medical academy property as a valuable ancillary asset.
“The property is located on about eight or nine acres. Some of that is wooded and leads down to a ravine at the rear of the building. The campus itself uses about five acres for the classrooms and the other structures,” Blanchard said.
Board member Donnie Perron said the state is using district-owned buildings at a trade school site several miles away from Opelousas High.
Perron suggested that the state would consider a “swap out” deal, which would give the state property owned by the District in return for the bio-medical property.
Hazel Sias, another board member, said if the district and the state cannot complete a deal for the bio-medical building then it will require school officials to create classroom space at Opelousas High for the bio-medical students.
During a 2019 Committee meeting that discussed the possible purchase of the building and the roofing issues, board member Mary Ellen Donatto said the District should consider leaving the bio-med property since the repair costs appear too prohibitive.