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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT:
Beverly Lawrason
GLOBAL NON-PROFIT RETURNS TO HELP ST. BERNARD OFFICIALS REOPEN ANOTHER SCHOOL BUILDING
Efforts will help provide needed space for returning high school students SCOTTSDALE, ARIZONA — An international non-profit school planning association is contributing more than $1 million in donations, products and services to the St. Bernard Parish School District in New Orleans to hasten the reopening of one of its Katrina-ravaged schools to keep pace with enrollment increases. The Council of Educational Facility Planners International (CEFPI) and the CEFPI Foundation & Charitable Trust are sending a volunteer team of architects, planners, engineers, contractors, educators and suppliers to perform a facility assessment on the damage to Lacoste Elementary School, and help district officials develop plans for the school's reconstruction. Lacoste, 1101 E. Judge Perez Drive, will reopen as the 9th grade campus of Chalmette High School, located across the street from Lacoste. The assessment will be conducted March 29-30. A news conference will be held at 10 a.m. Thursday, March 29 at the Lacoste site to announce the scope of the work that will be performed. The St. Bernard Parish School District had 8,800 students before the storm in 2005. Currently, enrollment is about 3,800 and this effort, spearheaded by the CEFPI Southern Region, is expected to enable the district to address the space needs created by returning students. "Never before in history has an entire school district been destroyed by a storm," said St. Bernard School District Assistant Superintendent Beverly Lawrason. For people to come forward and lend a helping hand is more meaningful than words can describe. It not only helps us provide an education for our children, it also helps us take a giant leap toward bringing our community back." More than a dozen architectural firms will provide a variety of services including planning, design and project management. Participating vendors will supply items such as roofing, classroom and gymnasium flooring, HVAC, Lighting controls, shelving, library and classroom furniture and insulated windows. None are being reimbursed for their travel or other expenses. The team is being assisted by two CEFPI programs: the Paragon Project and the Katrina-Rita Task Force. The Paragon Project, under the aegis the CEFPI Foundation, was formed to design, renovate and return existing needy schools to their communities as high-performing, sustainable schools. The Katrina-Rita Task Force was formed by CEFPI to assist school officials throughout the Gulf Coast locate professionals willing to donate their services and materials to help rebuild the storm-ravaged school districts. The team's findings will also be used to by the CEFPI Foundation to attract additional contributions to help the district comply with the required 10 percent match for FEMA funding. Baton Rouge architect Chris Pellegrin, the Louisiana State Director for CEFPI and an officer in the Southern Region, said the project holds a special significance for him. "We've been here before and we will continue to identify and obtain the resources this school district needs to provide its children with safe, healthy learning environments to come back to." Pellegrin said. "Healthy schools also solidify their communities, so this effort by these very dedicated professionals is undertaken with the entire parish in mind." The CEFPI Southern Region also performed facility assessments on the former Andrew Jackson High School, which reopened as Andrew Jackson Elementary School last August along with Chalmette High School, and Trist Middle School, which reopened in January. The group also helped the district hire an architect, provided grade-alignment information to open Andrew Jackson as an elementary school, and provided information on designs for new transportation centers. "CEFPI has been wonderful," Lawrason said. "Chris and his group have been a tremendous asset to the district. We would not have been able to hit the ground running like we did without their help."
About CEFPI
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