Caddo Parish committee backs purchase agreements with Louisiana Tech and Shreveport Chamber for new career center

A Caddo Parish School Board building-and-grounds committee on the meeting’s agenda recommended that the full board be authorized to execute purchase agreements with Louisiana Tech University and the Greater Shreveport Chamber of Commerce for land intended to host a new career and technology center.

Committee presenters said Lot 1, the Louisiana Tech property, is about 29.67 acres and was appraised at $1,940,000; the district submitted a final offer of $775,000 plus in-kind services. The adjacent Chamber property—Lots 2 (26.13 acres), 8 (12.13 acres) and 4 (0.45 acres)—totaled about 38.71 acres and was appraised at $1,686,207; staff reported an offer of $850,000 that the chamber’s board had accepted.

Mister Greer (S5), who led the presentation, summarized the Louisiana Tech arrangement and described two components of the in-kind package: staffing support and branding. "We will be willing to provide up to three years of salary and benefits subject to an established annual cap for Louisiana Tech staff supporting district pathways, dual enrollment, and workforce development initiatives," Greer said, adding that the three-year staffing support would begin when the new facility opens. Greer also described mutually developed branding and visibility in program spaces and events as part of the partnership.

Committee members asked how the district would pay for land acquisition and eventual construction. Unidentified staff (S9) said the district planned to target proceeds from the prior sale of the Queensborough facility and that the district has set aside about $65,000,000 in surpluses in recent years to cover capital needs. "We have set aside 65,000,000 from our surpluses for the last several years to pay for ... we don't know an exact cost of the facility yet," S9 said.

Board members pressed site feasibility. Staff said roughly 60% of district schools would be within about 15–20 minutes’ drive to the proposed Louisiana Tech site and that the property is largely buildable. On environmental and mineral-rights questions staff said the site is not considered wetlands and that mineral rights had been sold three years earlier.

Committee members also raised workforce and human-resources concerns about partner-employed instructors. Board member (S2) asked whether the district could be left with a problematic employee placed by a partner. Mister Burton (S3) said the agreement would include HR safeguards, background checks and principal approval; "we will not allow this to be a dumping ground," Burton said.

Staff offered a schedule estimate: several months to develop design and programming, a year to complete preliminary design for a full facility, and a minimum of two years before bidding, with construction staged over additional time (estimated at roughly 1.5–2 years per building phase).

The committee voted its recommendation to authorize staff to execute purchase agreements and to advance the negotiations to the full board. The transcript records a voice vote of "yay" responses; a numerical roll call or formal tally was not provided in the committee record.

Next steps: staff and district negotiators will proceed with the purchase agreement language and present the recommendations to the full Caddo Parish School Board for final action and any further approvals required by Louisiana Tech and the chamber.