VIDALIA &045; The Concordia Parish School District has one of the highest numbers of evacuee students in the state, Superintendent Kerry Laster told the board Tuesday night.

The new students &045; 492 as of Tuesday’s count &045; are among 20,880 displaced students who’ve enrolled across the state.

&uot;(It’s) an unbelievable number,&uot; Laster said of the parish enrollment. &uot;It’s stretching us really thin.&uot;

Administrators are looking into buying new desks and textbooks and leasing school buses. New teachers and support staff are also being considered. Thirty new desks have been donated, but more are needed, she said.

&uot;We’ve been told to go ahead and hire,&uot; Laster said. &uot;But we are a little nervous about that until we know about money.&uot;

Laster said she was still waiting to hear what money would be coming the district’s way to handle the new students.

&uot;We’ve got to get some help on that or else we won’t be able to do it.&uot;

The greatest increase is at Ferriday Lower Elementary School where 81 new students have enrolled. District-wide, second-grade has the highest number of new students at 52.

The greatest need for new teachers is at the middle school and high school levels. Laster said Vidalia High and Ferriday High may share some teachers. The district has received several applications from displaced teachers looking for work. Evacuee teachers will be hired first.

Laster said the State Department of Education has warned districts to be cautious about making long-term changes, since the numbers might change. Some of the students are expected to stay throughout the year, though, maybe longer.

Buses are overcrowded too, bus driver James Cockerham told the board.

&uot;There are 10 drivers here, and eight of us are severely overloaded,&uot; he said. &uot;I’m making two trips and getting some home quite late in the afternoon.&uot;

If the district decides to lease buses from another location, substitute drivers will be hired.

Six districts in the state have enrolled more than 1,000 students. Ascension Parish has 2,012 new students.

Superintendents from parishes in north Louisiana voted this week as a whole to ask the state to relieve the accountability standards each school is required to meet. Laster will speak at a meeting later this month explaining why the enrollment of evacuee children will affect test scores and the district as a whole.

In other business:

4The board voted to maintain property taxes as they are. The school board receives nearly 18 mills that are split between three district funds. The board also passed a $36.5 million budget for the coming year. Business Director Tom O’Neal told the board that last year was a successful budget year.

4The board opened three bids for the construction of the new library and science lab addition at Vidalia High School. The bids ranged from $1.4 to $1.5 million for the base bids. O’Neal said original estimates had the project costing between $1.3 and $1.4 million, but said he felt the adjustments could be made. The bids were taken under advisement.

O’Neal said the project should start within the next month and be complete by the start of the school year next year.

4The board also discussed changing the pay schedule of allotments to bus drivers to help them cope with rising gas prices. Pending calculations from the business office, the drivers may receive the money more often.