The recent amendments to legislation that would create a new public school district in southeast East Baton Rouge Parish do not fully address concerns raised by the Baton Rouge Area Chamber, chamber CEO Adam Knapp says. BRAC and the Baton Rouge Area Foundation have engaged economist Jim Richardson to perform what Knapp calls “a more detailed analysis of the infrastructure and legacy costs issues of multiple independent school districts to determine their feasibility based on potential revenues, liability infrastructure capacity, and student demographic perspectives,” and argues that decisions about new districts should not be made until Richardson’s report is complete. A date on which the full Louisiana House of Representatives will vote on the measure has not been set. If approved, the measure would go before voters in the fall. Supporters of the new district say amendments to the legislation, which include provisions to pay legacy costs associated with the district and to reimburse the parish system for school construction bonds, address concerns raised by BRAC and parish system leaders. —David Jacobs
Editor’s note: This story has been changed since its original publication.
