The East Baton Rouge Parish School Board next month could approve an agreement with the Recovery School District that would chart a path for struggling schools in the parish. EBR spokeswoman Susan Nelson says talks between the two sides have been constructive.
Under the agreement, both groups would sign off on charter operators for seven RSD-run schools, using a common, independent evaluator for charter applications. How such an arrangement will work in practice remains to be seen, since EBR sees charter schools as complementary to the system, while the RSD wants to charter all of its schools.
RSD Superintendent Patrick Dobard says there’s “mutual respect” between the two sides, despite the different philosophies. “I’m always working to try to find areas where we can coexist, [while] mindful of why RSD is here,” he says. “It’s because schools have been academically unacceptable.”
School Board Vice President Tarvald Smith touts improvements made by charter schools run by Community School for Apprenticeship Learning, which was selected by EBR, in contrast to the student flight from north Baton Rouge schools when the state brought in Advance Baton Rouge, to argue that EBR’s approach to charters works. “If [the RSD approach] was working,” he says, “why is it that their populations went down by more than 50 percent when East Baton Rouge Parish was not running the schools?”
EBR officials say the abandonment of state takeover schools in north Baton Rouge leads to busing students to crowded schools throughout the district. But Dobard says that’s partly a self-inflicted problem.
“When the state announced that it was giving the schools to Advance Baton Rouge, [students] were encouraged to go to other options within East Baton Rouge,” he says. “Families weren’t told that they could stay.” He says the same thing happened when the state took over Istrouma High School last year.
Smith says he has personally informed parents of all of their options at public meetings, but says it’s not EBR’s job to promote RSD schools, especially when EBR stands to lose funding.
“If I’m GM, am I doing advertising for Ford?” he explains.
Still, Smith echoes Dobard’s willingness to work together, and says he doesn’t think the RSD’s work will interfere with reorganization efforts proposed by EBR Superintendent Bernard Taylor.
One point of contention is Prescott Middle, which the RSD has taken over and is using for office space, says school board President David Tatman. EBR would like to reopen Prescott and alleviate overcrowding in other district middle schools. Tatman says it’s all about providing the best programs for students through a mix of traditional, charter and magnet schools.
“There are a lot of needs in East Baton Rouge Parish that charters don’t traditionally address,” he says.
The RSD, for its part, continues to talk about a Baton Rouge Achievement Zone, which Dobard describes as an “education ecosystem” built on autonomy, choice, and accountability.
“I think the zone should be as large as the parish,” he says.
The EBR school board’s “committee of the whole” is expected to take up the RSD agreement April 4, with a possible vote during the regular board meeting April 18.
