School bill will be withdrawn, St. Gabe mayor says

St. Gabriel Mayor George L. Grace said he has asked state Sen. Rob Marionneaux to withdraw a bill proposing a separate school district for the City of St. Gabriel.

Grace said he was satisfied that the Iberville Parish School Board intended to go through with the construction of a new $9.6 million Math, Science and Arts Academy building on the East bank.

“In government, you have to take people at their word,” Grace said in an interview Monday. “...They did their part. I did mine.”

Grace asked Marionneaux to file the proposed constitutional amendment to create a separate school district for his city because of indications he had had from the board that it would renege on the promised school building.

He said the School Board's 14-1 vote to advertise for bids on the new magnet school convinced him the action was unnecessary.