2 Baker schools with ‘F' ratings to close, superintendent says
BATON ROUGE, La. (Louisiana First) — Two schools in Baker will be closing after both were designated as 'F' schools in Louisiana.
City of Baker School System Superintendent JT Stroder explained the closure of Baker Heights Elementary and Baker Middle School in a letter to parents after a Wednesday night special board meeting.
Both schools were included on a list of 20 Louisiana schools identified as 'F' schools after the Recovery School District reconvened in the spring. The Baker school system was approached in August regarding the two schools being subject to Recovery School District takeover.
Stroder said plans were prepared and submitted as requested by the Recovery School District to redesign the schools for educational improvements.
'The plan further sought assistance from the State Board in implementation and additional resources. Despite our efforts, we have received little to no feedback from the state regarding our proposed turnaround plan,' Stroder said.
Superintendent calls for policy changes after fights, guns in East Baton Rouge schools
The board decided to close Baker Heights Elementary and Baker Middle School for the 2025-26 school year on Wednesday night. Stroder said students at these schools will attend Parkridge PreK-8, reassuring parents that Parkridge has not been identified as low-performing by the state.
'We are committed to ensuring a smooth transition and are working internally to redesign the K-8 school, implementing a system that fosters student success and leaves no child behind,' Stroder said. 'Turning around a school and a district takes time, but please know that I am fully committed to providing Baker students with the best possible educational opportunities.'
Modi is meeting with Trump in a visit meant to boost the US-India relationship and avoid tariffs
Louisiana crawfish prices go down for Valentine's weekend
'We are talking about the gods of racing': Hélio Castroneves talks going from Indy to Daytona
LSU law professor blocked from teaching again as appeals court grants stay
NASCAR legend Jimmie Johnson returns to racing's grandest stage
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
44 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Air India chairman says crash should drive effort to build safer airline
By Aditya Kalra NEW DELHI (Reuters) -Air India's Chairman N. Chandrasekaran on Monday told staff that last week's plane crash that killed at least 271 people should be a catalyst to build a safer airline, urging employees to stay resolute amid any criticism. In a town hall held at the headquarters of the Tata Group-owned airline near New Delhi and attended by 700 staff, Chandrasekaran said the crash was the "most heartbreaking" crisis of his career, a spokesperson told Reuters. "I've seen a reasonable number of crises in my career, but this is the most heartbreaking one," he said, according to a Tata Group spokesperson. "We need to use this incident as an act of force to build a safer airline," Chandrasekaran told the meeting. The Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner with 242 people on board bound for Gatwick Airport south of London began losing height seconds after take-off in Ahmedabad on Thursday, and erupted in a huge fireball as it hit buildings below. All but one on board were declared dead in the world's worst aviation disaster in a decade, and around 30 people died on the ground. The airline and the Indian government are looking at several aspects of the crash, including the plane's engine thrust, flaps, and why the landing gear remained open as the plane took off and then came down. "We need to wait for the investigation ... It's a complex machine, so a lot of redundancies, checks and balances, certifications, which have been perfected over years and years. Yet this happens, so we will figure out why it happens after the investigation," Chandrasekaran, 62, said during the staff meeting. He is also the chairman of the Tata Group conglomerate. The crash poses a new challenge for both Air India which has for years been trying to revamp its ageing fleet, and Boeing, which is trying to rebuild public trust following a series of safety and production crises. After taking the carrier over from the government in 2022, the Tata Group unveiled its investment plans to create a "world-class airline" after years of financial losses, persistent flight delays and poor maintenance under government ownership. On Monday, an Air India Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner plane bound for New Delhi returned to its origin of Hong Kong shortly after takeoff following a technical issue. "It's not easy to face criticisms," Chandrasekaran said. "We are going to get through this. We need to show resilience." In Ahmedabad, dozens of anxious family members have been waiting to collect bodies of relatives killed in the crash, as doctors worked to gather dental samples from the deceased and run identification checks. Only 99 samples have been matched so far, and 64 bodies have been handed over to the families, Rakesh Joshi, Medical Superintendent of a civil hospital in the city, said. Authorities late on Sunday also said both the flight data recorder and cockpit voice recorder have been located and secured, which will be key in the investigation. Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
India's unemployment rate rises to 5.6% in May as farm jobs decline post-harvest
By Manoj Kumar NEW DELHI (Reuters) -India's unemployment rate rose to 5.6% in May from 5.1% in April, partly due to a drop in farm activity after the end of the harvest season, the statistics ministry said on Monday. This was the second monthly release of India's labour force data covering both urban and rural areas. Previously, the government published employment data on a quarterly basis for urban regions and annually for both urban and rural areas. Asia's third largest economy, which expanded 7.4% year-on-year in the January-March quarter, is expected to grow 6.5% in the current fiscal year beginning April - broadly in line with the previous year's pace. The female unemployment rate stood slightly higher at 5.8% in May, compared to 5.6% for males, the data showed. Unemployment rate among urban youth aged 15 to 29 years rose to 17.9% in May from 17.2% in April, while in rural areas, the youth jobless rate increased to 13.7% from 12.3% over the same period. In rural regions, employment shifted away from agriculture to manufacturing and services as the share of workers in the farm sector fell to 43.5% in May from 45.9% in April, largely due to a post-harvest decline in agricultural activity. The decline in farm activity also impacted work opportunities for women in rural areas, with the labour force participation rate among women falling to 27.8% in May from 28.8% in April, the data showed. India's manufacturing growth slowed to a three-month low in May as demand softened amid price pressures and geopolitical tensions, a survey showed earlier this month. Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
New York Times
an hour ago
- New York Times
WhatsApp Introduces Ads in Its App
When Facebook bought WhatsApp for $19 billion in 2014, the messaging app had a clear focus. No ads, no games and no gimmicks. For years, that is what WhatsApp's two billion users — many of them in Brazil, India and other countries around the world — got. They chatted with friends and family unencumbered by advertising and other features found on social media. Now that is set to change. On Monday, WhatsApp said it would start showing ads inside its app for the first time. The promotions will appear only in an area of the app called Updates, which is used by around 1.5 billion people a day. WhatsApp will collect some data on users to target the ads, such as location and the device's default language, but it will not touch the contents of messages or whom users speak with. The company added that it had no plans to place ads in chats and personal messages. 'Thinking through the lens of privacy was incredibly important for how we thought about bringing these features to market,' said Nikila Srinivasan, a vice president of product management at WhatsApp. 'Your personal messages, calls and statuses, they will remain end-to-end encrypted.' In-app ads are a significant change from WhatsApp's original philosophy. Jan Koum and Brian Acton, who founded WhatsApp in 2009, were committed to building a simple and quick way for friends and family to communicate with end-to-end encryption, a method of keeping texts, photos, videos and phone calls inaccessible by third parties. Both left the company seven years ago. Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
