JONESVILLE, La. — Catahoula Parish residents will head to the polls today to decide whether or not to authorize an almost $11 million school bond.

The $10,900,000, 20-year general obligation bond will be to benefit the Catahoula Parish School District.

The school bond will help fund the building of a proposed consolidated high school for the area.

The Catahoula Parish School Board voted Tuesday night to purchase a 52-acre tract of land near the Wallace Ridge area.

The purchase will cost approximately $200,000.

Funds for the purchase will come from a board-sanctioned insurance fund set up after a tornado destroyed the Enterprise school several years ago.

Board officials said architects recommended the property as a site for the consolidated school.

The location of the site is elevated approximately 60 feet, and so officials said it is unlikely the school board will have to have much extra dirt moved into the area for the school’s infrastructure to be built above the area’s 100-year flood plain.

Consolidated schools will include Jonesville, Harrisonburg, Larto and Sicily Island.

The proposed consolidation will be help save money by saving on personnel and facility costs and will address the dwindling population of some of the smaller schools, officials said.

Voters will also decide today the fate of a proposed 10-year, $30,000 annual parcel fee for acquiring equipment, maintenance and operation of precincts in Fire Protection District No. 4.