VIDALIA — Passion, tears and a little bit of frustration met at the Concordia Parish School Board Thursday night at its regular meeting when a group of parents from Monterey came to get answers on how to reinstall a second pre-kindergarten class at Monterey High School.

Superintendent Loretta Blankenstein said when President Obama passed his stimulus package in 2009, the CPSB received money that they spread throughout the 11 schools in the parish.

At MHS, part of the money they received went toward creating a new pre-k class, because the school had too many students for just one classroom, Blankenstein said.

The second pre-k class was at MHS for two full school years, but Blankenstein said the stimulus money is no longer available to the school board so the second pre-k class has to be removed.

Blankenstein said there are currently 40 students who are eligible for the pre-k class, but only 20 of them will be allowed in.

“The students are screened to see who gets in,” she said. “And those who are deemed the most needy, whether it be academically or financially, are the ones who get in.”

Blankenstein said since students are not required to attend pre-k, and federal funds are used to pay for the classes, the school board cannot do anything to help pay for the second class.

“If we gave money to MHS to start a second class, we would have to stop using federal funds at (Ferriday Lower Elementary School) and (Vidalia Lower Elementary School) and pay for their classes with school board money also,” she said.

Sarah Duncan, who is a parent of MHS students, said something needs to be done so that the children who are not allowed into the pre-k class will not be behind.

“The children at MHS are getting split and they don’t deserve it,” she said. “If some of them get to go, then all of them should get to go.”

Blankenstein said FLE and VLE also turn away pre-k age students, and that the ratio of students who get to attend versus those who don’t in Vidalia and Ferriday is the same as Monterey.

“There are children on the waiting list at those schools too,” she said.

Blankenstein said the school board is currently working with a federal agency to see if something can be done about adding the extra class, and until the board hears back from the agency, there is nothing much the CPSB can do.

“This is all run with federal money and there are strings attached to it,” she said. “We have to follow their rules and regulations to receive the money.”

CPSB President Gary Parnham said the board supports the parents 100 percent, and that he hopes the issue will be resolved.

“We really hope we can find something for you to get the class back,” he said.

In other news:

4 The board voted to approve the adoption of the 2011 tax millages.

Business Manager Tom O’Neal said the millages, which consist of three different categories, have been the same since 2008, and that adopting the new millage is something they have to do every year.

The general operations millage was approved at 23.08 mills, the constitutional millage was approved at 2.84 mills, and the construction and additional maintenance millage was approved at 12 mills.

4 The board also voted to reject a proposal they received from the Mardi Gras Bingo Group to work with the school board.

Board member Fred T. Butcher said that there were too many questions unanswered in the group’s proposal to approve it.

“At this point and time I don’t think it would be wise to invest in this,” he said.

4 The board voted to approve and continue the contract with the Concordia Parish Sheriff’s Office to provide school resource officers in each of the parish’s schools.

4 The board voted to approve financial statements for the month of May in the amount of $3,925,985.