St. Martinville – St. Martin Parish Supervisor of Early Childhood /Head Start Program Director Nicole Angelle spoke to the St. Martinville City Council about the parish’s Early Childhood Network and asked council members to support providing access to high-quality early childhood centers for all families in the parish.
The school district coordinates the parish’s early childhood and Head Start network, though not all are run by the school system.
Angelle said that the system is important because working parents of young children need childcare centers to look after their children while they are on the job.
“And so right now, why am I here at the city council meeting?” Angelle asked. “What difference does it make to you in regards to early childhood? It makes a huge difference because the workforce behind the workforce means parents need childcare. If you don’t have childcare, they don’t have places to put them, they’re going to miss work, which means that’s going to affect business.”
Every dollar spent on early childcare produces $13 in return, she said, by reducing remedial education, healthcare and the justice system. It also has longterm effects on development for the children because 90 percent of brain development occurs before the age of 5.
Towns that have robust early childhood systems attract higher income families and new business investments, she said.
“We have programs that are no cost to a lot of our families that qualify,” Angelle said. “A lot of families don’t realize that that’s out there, so we need to build a stronger network of advocates to help us get the word out (about) what’s available in St. Martin Parish and then to continue to push the Legislature to continue to add funds into the early childhood (programs).”
Low income families can apply for f i n a n cial assistance for early childhood care. There also is a Head Start program in the parish, and the school system has pre-K programs as well.
There are six pre-K classrooms at the St. Martin Early STEAM Academy in St. Martinville, six at Breaux Bridge Primary, eight at Cecilia Primary, two at Parks Primary and one at Stephensville Elementary.
Childcare
There also are Type III child care centers in the parish, which are statelicensed, regulated facilities that often accept Child Care Assistance Program (CCAP) funding and require compliance with high health, safety, and academic standards, including Tier 1 curricula and class observations.
Two such centers are located in the St. Martinville area, Angelle said, St. Martinville also has a Head Start and an Early Head Start center.
“Our focus is really about awareness, increased funding and then that much-needed collaboration” Angelle said.
Since the state began pushing school performance scores in 2018 for early childhood centers, the parish has improved its scores from 5.26 on a scale of 7 in 2018 to a 5.83 now, 16th highest in the state, Angelle said.
“Which is really, really good, and we’re proud of that,” Angelle said. “We’ve also outscored any other network in the Acadiana region.”
In St. Martin Parish, 629 students are receiving Early Childhood care at no cost to their families. That includes 431 students in the 4-year-old range. The numbers go down for ages 3, 2, 1 and infants, she said, so the parish is looking to increase the number of spots available for those age groups in early childhood and other care facilities.
The school system is no longer the Early Head Start grantee, she said, but another non-profit agency is likely to apply for that status in the next couple of years.
Police vehicles
The council approved the purchase of four police vehicles from the City of New Iberia for $5,000 apiece and will amend the budget at year’s end to reflect the purchases.
Dilapidated structures
The council considered action on three properties with dilapidated structures, opting to declare the property at 440 S. Vivier a nuisance as a public safety and health matter because people have continued to break into the house and police have been called after fires have been lit inside the house to keep those people warm in cold weather.
The city plans to board up the doors and windows and place a lien on the owners for cost of materials and labor.
The property at 215 Honore has had a couple of estimates placed for demolishing the structure, with one of the demo companies planning to buy the property, the owner said. The council granted time for a sale or demolition to take place.
The property at 211 Hyacinth has had some work done including cutting down the tree that had fallen on the structure. The council granted another 90 days to continue clearing the property.
In other business
The council adopted a resolution accepting responsibility for providing matching funds for the Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development grant through its Transportation Alternatives Program to begin work on the sidewalk widening that will include purchasing benches and decorative lighting. The program will continue with additional phases, Mayor Jason Willis said.
The council also adopted a resolution to enter into an intergovernmental agreement with the parish government for Phase II of the Durand Subdivision drainage improvement project. The state granted $200,000 in capital outlay funds that will be used to cut down trees along the drainage canals. Further clearing of the drainage canals will be done under a future $1 million grant.
The mayor also addressed high electric bills this past month that were a result of the cold weather in January, which led to higher fuel costs and increased energy costs nationwide, he said.
Willis said the city will include the city’s energy rate on the bills so customers can use it to calculate the costs on their bills.
