Louisiana Senate committee approves bills for St. George school district; EBR warns of $140M hit

Yahoo

24-04-2025

BATON ROUGE, La. (Louisiana First) — A Louisiana Senate committee approved two bills Wednesday that would pave the way for the creation of an independent school district and board in the newly incorporated city of St. George.
Sen. Rick Edmonds (R-Baton Rouge) authored the legislation, Senate Bill 234 and its companion measure, Senate Bill 25—both of which cleared the Senate Committee on Education. SB 234 outlines the structure and transition for the proposed St. George Community School System, while SB 25 is a constitutional amendment that must be approved by voters statewide to grant the district full authority.
St. George Mayor Dustin Yates told the committee the proposal fulfills one of the city's core promises: providing stronger educational options for families. 'This has always been about putting our kids first,' he said.
SB 234 would create the legal framework for a new school system and school board within the city limits of St. George, which became Louisiana's fifth-largest city after winning a 2024 Louisiana Supreme Court decision to incorporate. If passed, the school system would begin operations on July 1, 2027, following a multi-year transition process.
The bill proposes the governor appoint an interim superintendent and a seven-member interim school board, drawn from local nominations by legislators. That board would draft district maps and establish governance plans before the first election of board members.
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SB 234 also outlines how students, buildings, school buses, funding, and other resources would be transferred from the East Baton Rouge Parish School System to the St. George system. The two systems would be required to enter agreements allowing continued access to magnet and charter programs and ensuring state and local education funding follows the student.
SB 25, the constitutional amendment, would appear on the Nov. 15, 2025 statewide ballot. If approved by voters, it would give the St. George district the same constitutional authority granted to parish school systems, including the ability to collect property taxes and receive state education funding through the Minimum Foundation Program.
But not everyone supports the move. Dadrius Lanus, who represents District 2 on the East Baton Rouge Parish School Board, warned of the potential financial blow to EBR Schools. He said the system could lose $140 million in local revenue to St. George.
'We have done everything possible to fix a lot of concerns and the problems that you've heard today for the very reason why St. George wants to break away,' Lanus said, pointing to the district's ongoing realignment plan that includes school closures and consolidations affecting over 10,000 students. The plan is scheduled to go before the school board in May for final approval.
The St. George school system proposal has been years in the making. A similar plan was proposed more than a decade ago but failed to move forward due to challenges with funding and the inability to pass a constitutional amendment. The latest proposal resolves many of those past concerns, according to Edmonds, including issues with district boundaries.
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