BPSB approves final projects from 2023 Bond
January 2025
The voters of Beauregard Parish approved a $26,000,000 bond proposition on the April 29, 2023, ballot for the construction, renovation, and improvements to schools and related facilities throughout the parish. The bonds are payable from ad valorem taxes with no increase in the millage rate. The board voted to address thirty-one projects for the 2023 Bond covering all schools in the parish.
“The Beauregard Parish School Board has quickly addressed the needs identified in the 2023 bond,” said Superintendent Larry Hollie, “and we are moving toward bidding out the final projects on the list less than two years after the funds became available to the board.”
At the July 2023 school board meeting, the board approved the sale of the bonds to Robert W. Baird & Co. The bonds were sold at a lower-than-expected interest rate due to the board maintaining an S & P “A+” rating. In addition, a bond insurance premium allowed the board to realize an additional $1.4 million in funds which became available in August 2023, and work on projects began.
The projects were addressed according to a priority list set by the board. Projects which have been completed include kitchen and office renovations at KRH, metal detectors and walk through at BAP, upgrading the heating system at DJHS, replacing the DHS chiller, an oxidation pond at SB, playgrounds at SBUE and MHS, a weight room/field house at EBHS, new buses parishwide, and furnishings for projects from the 2019 bond.
Projects which are currently in process include a cafeteria renovation at SHS, repair and upgrades to the SBHS athletic complex, renovations to restrooms at DJHS and PWE, baseball and softball field improvements at MHS and EBHS, band hall renovations as DJHS, ag shop and auditorium renovations at DHS, a four-classroom wing at SBE, and LED lighting for selected athletic fields at all high schools along with A/C updates parishwide.
Projects which are in the planning stages include parking/entrance and restroom renovations at SHS, bleachers at KRH, bus drop-off cover at MHS, football field turf at DHS, auditorium renovations at SB, and career & technical buildings at SBHS and DHS.
All 31 projects originally proposed for the 2023 bond have been completed, are in process, or have been voted on by the board to be addressed in the near future.
“Every school in the parish is benefiting from the capital improvements and upgrades which are funded by the 2023 bond,” said Hollie. “These bond projects allow our school system to provide new construction and improvements at our schools so that our students have the facilities needed to thrive.”
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