The Vermilion Parish School Board wants to know what its marsh is worth now that SpaceX owns the land around it.

Board members voted last week to have roughly 4,000 acres of school-owned land appraised, The Advocate reported. The property sits in the marsh near White Lake, north of Pecan Island, and borders the roughly 125,000 acres SpaceX has gathered for its planned Starbase Louisiana launch site, according to Superintendent Tommy Byler.

“How do you appraise marsh land that has a $100 billion industry next to it?” Byler asked, in comments to the newspaper.

What the land earns today

Right now the acreage pays the school system modestly. Hunting leases bring in about $20,000 to $30,000 a year.

Oil and gas once paid far more. Mineral income from school lands topped $6 million in 2014 but fell to about $150,000 in the 2024-25 fiscal year, The Advocate reported. Because that money swings with the market, board policy keeps it out of the general fund that pays for day-to-day operations.

Byler said the parcels would not work as future school sites. “Where it’s located is more advantageous for SpaceX to have it than for me to have it,” he said.

How a deal could work

The acreage is Section 16 land, set aside so it can host a school or earn money for public education. Louisiana law does not let a school board sell it without approval from the Legislature, but a board can sign some leases on its own or trade the land for property of equal value.

Byler said the appraisal will take several weeks. Once the figure is in, the board plans to talk among its own members first and then pass the number to SpaceX to open negotiations. He said nobody has discussed yet which properties might be part of a trade, and any final terms would need a vote of the board.

The aim, the superintendent said, is to raise revenue for parish schools. He said that could mean “better pay for our teachers.”

Another school property in the picture

SpaceX already rents the old Pecan Island School site for $1 a year. That property belongs to University of Louisiana at Lafayette Ragin’ Cajun Facilities Inc., according to The Advocate.

The Vermilion Times will report the appraisal figure and any School Board vote on a trade or lease when they come.