THE ZACHA Y
ADVOCATE&
THURSDAY MARCH 12, 2015
P R O U D LY O W N E D I N L O U I S I A N A
Stacy Gill AROUND ZACHARY
SGILL@ THEADVOCATE.COM
Special Olympics athletes compete
H
THEADVOCATE.COM
1st Year, No. 22
School Board to adopt sales tax ordinance BY STACY GILL
Board attorney Ricky McDavid said. After lengthy discussions If voters approve a 1-cent tax at recent Finance Committee proposal on the ballot March 28, meetings and workshops, disthe Zachary Community School trict staff and board members Board intends to levy and col- have said they feel comfortlect a portion of that amount, able the revenue generated by board members said during a the three-quarter cent amount would be sufficient to address March 3 meeting. The board has the authority anticipated budget shortfalls in to collect sales tax revenue on the 2015-16 fiscal year. “It’s a number we feel coma quarter, half, three-quarter or 1-cent increments, School fortable with,” board President
sgill@theadvocate.com
Hubie Owen said. District officials said the additional 3/4-cent tax would generate an estimated $3.37 million annually, while the full 1-cent tax would bring in $4.5 million each year. McDavid said the board also would have the authority to change the sales tax collection amount up to four times a year. If the proposition passes, board members would establish a procedure for regularly
reviewing the tax revenue to determine whether the revenue being generated from the tax is sufficient to meet the district’s financial needs but not excessive, Owen said. The district has held meetings answering questions and seeking community feedback regarding its finances and the sales tax proposition. Owen said polls open at 7 a.m. March 28, and if the tax measure is authorized by voters,
Zachary’s Jerry Boudreaux to be honored
BY STACY GILL
sgill@theadvocate.com
Lane Auxiliary jewelry sale
äSee AROUND, page 6G
INSIDE Police bookings...... 2H Sports .................... 1H
äSee TAX, page 4G
Building to be named after former principal
The Special Olympics track meet for middle and high schools was March 4 at Woodlawn High School, with more than 200 athletes competing from Ascension, East Baton Rouge, West Baton Rouge and Iberville parishes and Central and Zachary school districts. The athletes were successful in all of their events, according to Debra Toney, Zachary adapted physical education teacher and Special Olympics coordinator. Irvan Richard, of Zachary High, recited the athlete’s oath to start the games. Toney said several events had outstanding results but the most exciting was Northwestern Middle School’s Deohalen Pierre, who threw the shot put more than 7 feet. “With the joint effort by ZHS student volunteers, teachers, paraprofessionals, bus drivers and APE teachers, our athletes were able to experience the joy of this competition,” Toney said. The Lane Regional Medical Center Auxiliary will host its $5 Masquerade Jewelry and Accessories sale from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. on March 19, and from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. on March 20, in the West Wing Conference Room on the first floor of Lane. A variety of quality jewelry and accessories for men, women and children, including rings, bracelets, necklaces, earrings, jewelry sets, wallets, watches and more, will be on sale. Everything is $5. Cash, checks and credit cards are accepted. All proceeds benefit auxiliary projects and educational scholarships. For information, call the Lane gift shop at (225) 658-4309.
the board will canvass the returns and vote to levy the tax at the specified rate at the April meeting. In other School Board news: Michelle Clayton, director of academics, provided a testing update for Zachary schools. Clayton said testing dates and schedules for ACT, PARCC, LEAP and iLEAP exams as well as other tests have been estab-
Advocate staff photos by STACY GILL
ABOVE: Zachary senior Bo Myers demonstrates for classmates how he performed CPR on his 7-year-old nephew, Carter Fancher, on Feb. 18 following an accident at Myers’ home in Zachary. Myers learned the life-saving skill two weeks prior to using it on his nephew. RIGHT: Carter stands behind the 600-pound steel tabletop that pinned him on that day.
Senior’s CPR training comes to rescue of his younger cousin, making him
A life SAVER BY STACY GILL
sgill@theadvocate.com
Seventeen-year-old Bo Myers doesn’t wear a cape or a mask, but to his nephew, Carter Fancher, 7, Myers does have superhuman strength. “He’s my hero, and he saved my life,” said Carter, a second-grader who lives in Central and attends Tanglewood Elementary School. At the time, the seemingly inconsequential decision to leave his friends at a Zachary restaurant and head home early following baseball practice Feb. 18 is something Myers says he cannot explain. “We stayed late at baseball practice to hit some balls like we always do then grabbed a bite to eat. Then I just decided to go home,” said Myers, a senior at Zachary High School. When Myers arrived at his parents’ house, his youngest nephew, Clay Fancher, 4, was crying in the backyard. “I thought one of my nephews had stubbed their toe or something, but then the youngest ran up to me and said, ‘My brother’s dead,’ ” Myers said. “That’s when I saw Carter lying äSee CPR, page 4G
The Zachary Athletic Foundation has announced its first major fundraising effort for 2015. The fund drive is in support of renaming the Academic Athletic Building on Zachary High’s campus to the Jerry Boudreaux Athletic Building in honor of the late Jerry Boudreaux who died at age 81 in October, John Stagg, ZAF president, said. Principal of ZHS from 1970 to 1995, Boudreaux was a community and church leader, educator, volunteer, Air Force veteran, Baker Jaycee, Zachary Rotarian and Louisiana High School Athletic Association Hall of Fame member as well as a father, grandfather and greatgrandfather. “His legacy of caring for students and for the many people served by the organizations he was a part of are reasons we have chosen Boudreaux to honor him,” Stagg said. A native of Grand Point, Boudreaux graduated from Baker High School in 1952 and Southwestern Louisiana Institute, now University of Louisiana at Lafayette, in 1956. He worked as a teacher, coach, assistant principal, principal and, briefly, as the first superintendent of the Zachary school system. Boudreaux served on numerous boards and committees and was a member of many associations, clubs and organizations throughout his lifetime. He was named an East Baton Rouge Parish Principal of the Year and Zachary Citizen of the Year. “Mr. Boudreaux was a very well-liked and very respected äSee BOUDREAUX, page 4G
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