Starbase Louisiana and k-12 funding
Money-wise, SpaceX pays $25M a year, rising 2% every year, which comes to more than $800M over 25 years. There’s also $20M up front to help get ready. Superintendent Tommy Byler told us it’ll be split between the school board, the police jury and the sheriff, and the schools expect about $10.2M a year.
Our schools are already strong. Vermilion is an A district, ranked 11th in Louisiana and top in Acadiana, and 6th in the state on this year’s LEAP tests. They’ve still been squeezed by falling oil and gas money and fewer students, and the parish has roads, bridges and water projects waiting on funding. This money builds on a solid base, and he told us the first of it is planned for teacher bonuses. 🎉
3,000 permanent jobs averaging about $92,600 a year, plus up to 34,500 construction workers at the peak. This is massive for our area. Between Lafayette and Vermilion parishes, we’ve lost over 11,000 oilfield jobs since 2014. That’s more than 6 in 10. And it’s not just promises. The deal includes penalties if SpaceX misses its job goals, and they’re on the hook for repairing our roads.
This is a huge change for a quiet corner of Louisiana, but Freshwater City is no stranger to heavy commerce. Once the lock opened in 1968, crew boats, supply boats and jack-up barges poured through. From then until 1992, it averaged over 34,000 big boats a year. That’s around 90 a day.
