The K-12 educational system in Baton Rouge is at a pivotal moment, according to the head of New Schools for Baton Rouge, because of two hot issues: the upcoming election on the incorporation of St. George, which could lead to the creation of a new independent school district, and the school board’s search for a new superintendent.
At a breakfast meeting, New Schools for Baton Rouge CEO Chris Meyer said while his organization is closely watching what happens on the St. George issue, it’s more concerned about the selection of a superintendent to replace Warren Drake, who is retiring at the end of the school year.
The East Baton Rouge Parish School Board is expected to select a national search firm later this week to begin recruiting and vetting candidates.
“The decision we make on the next superintendent will define education in Baton Rouge for years to come,” Meyer said. “The superintendent is everything because that defines whether we are a city where this is collaboration between charters and the district, or whether we have a lot of new schools that are high performing and a lot of district schools that are underperforming.”
New Schools for Baton Rouge was created in 2012. In the seven years since, it has recruited and helped establish 19 charter schools currently serving some 7,000 students in East Baton Rouge Parish. All of those schools have seen performance improvements, even though many are still only at a C level, while 43 of the district’s 108 schools remain at a D or F.
The school board has authorized enough charters in Baton Rouge to accommodate up to 20,000 students—about 50% of the district’s total school population—but for one reason or another, the administration has not enabled those schools to come into the district, a source of frustration for Meyers and his organization.
“There has not been a deliberate attempt to use all the charters that have been approved to help meet the needs of our district,” he said.
The need for higher quality public schools has been one of the driving forces behind the St. George incorporation effort. If voters approve the move on Oct. 12, Meyers said charter schools currently operating in the footprint of St. George—like the BASIS school that opened on the campus of Woman’s Hospital earlier this year—will continue to operate.
But his organization would focus on finding locations for new charters in underserved areas of the parish.
“We like the footprint of the city the way it is now,” he says. “So we would want to create schools that any kid could go to, not just those in one part of town.”
