BusinessReport.com

Posted on March 5 at 1:32 p.m.

I just took the opportunity from an extremely busy schedule to read your article, and half of the comments, before I became thoroughly disgusted. It seems that most of the residents of EBRP fail to recognize that at least THREE COMMUNITIES have recognized the failures of the EBRP School Board and have chosen to remove themselves from the EBRP School System. Let me remind them – Baker, Zachary, and Central. It’s also been rumoredthat there is another “section” of the Parish that is looking into “removing themselves” from the EBRP School System because the same failures.
Financially, the EBRP School System manages its monies poorly or they horde it. So why do they keep asking for more? Why do the citizens of EBRP not look into the financial reports of the EBRP School Board? Although your figures state that there is approximately $78 Million in surplus, I have seen that the figure was actually much higher.
The declination in enrollment may be somewhat affected by Katrina evacuees returning, but not entirely. Families leaving the Parish, not necessarily out of the State as suggested by another commentator, are another factor. Most of the young families I have spoken with, including my own son who has two sons of his own, do not want to move but move for the sake of their children’s education. Yet another item affecting the declination is the separation of communities who have recognized the failure of the EBRP School System. See the THREE COMMUNITIES above.
I have two sons, both of who went through the public school system here in Baton Rouge. The only reason why I kept them there was because they both fell under the “Special Education” criteria – one was dyslexic and ADHD and the other was gifted – and received the education every child desires because of their special designations. Average students fall through the cracks in EBRP and it is time we hold the EBRP School Board accountable for their failures.
Until the EBRP School System corrects its mistakes either by the citizens of EBRP replacing the School Board Members with ones that will actually work toward improving the system, we are doomed to fail. Ask yourselves this, if you were the head of a corporation and the corporation was run similar to the EBRP School System, would it succeed? I have no doubt that it will not, at least not under its current administration. I plan to vote AGAINST the tax propositions this weekend. Our elected officials, and I mean the EBRP School Board, need to be held accountable for the monies they already spend and/or have in their possession. When the system improves, then maybe I will begin wanting to vote for their tax propositions.

On Vote ‘no’ on school taxes