Teachers’ calls prompt system to close EBR schools Wednesday

All schools in the East Baton Rouge Parish System will be closed Wednesday, a decision the interim-superintendent’s office made this morning after nearly one-third of the teachers in the system called in to report they won’t be at work tomorrow, says system spokesman Chris Trahan. A number of school boards across the state have closed schools Wednesday or Thursday so teachers can protest Gov. Bobby Jindal’s proposed education reforms at the Capitol. Trahan says the day off—a so-called professional development day—was not called to enable teachers to protest, but was due to the fact that too many educators will be absent. “We are not doing this to promote anything,” says Trahan. “We are just doing this in reaction to the situation.” Calls started trickling in yesterday morning, Trahan says. So far, 942 out of the 3,290 teachers in the district—about 28%—have called in to say they’ll be absent Wednesday, and more calls are likely as the day goes on. The decision means that bus service will also be canceled to the private and parochial schools that contract with the parish for this service. “Anytime we cancel school, we also cancel bus service,” Trahan says. —Stephanie Riegel