City of St. George begins process to create independent school district
ST. GEORGE, La. (Louisiana First) — St. George is moving forward with its plans to establish an independent school district, city and state leaders announced Thursday. The proposed legislation, set to be introduced in the upcoming legislative session, marks a significant step toward fulfilling one of the city's core promises.
'Today's the first step in the process of doing the first thing we ever promised. When we create that initiative to create a city, and that's to create a school system,' said St. George Interim Mayor Dustin Yates.
Yates stressed that creating a school district has been a key goal since St. George became a city.
'The thing that excites me the most is that for the first time in a long time, we're going to put our kids first. We're going to put our priorities where they need to be,' he said.
State Sen. Rick Edmonds confirmed that plans for the St. George School District are already in motion. He said that discussions have taken place with the East Baton Rouge Parish School System, and a bill will be introduced during the legislative session in April. The proposal includes a funding measure that will be presented as a constitutional amendment.
According to Edmonds, the amendment could appear on the ballot as early as this November.
'That means a statewide people will have to approve this and East Baton Rouge Parish as well. So both of those instruments will be introduced in the next few weeks,' he said.
The bill will set the boundaries for the new school district. It will also create a school board and a superintendent. Plus, it will tackle important issues around charter and magnet schools.
'In the bill will state that if you are already a part of a magnet school in East Baton Rouge Parish and you'd like your child to continue in that in that magnet school, there will be a already a cooperative diver agreement between Saint George Community School System and East Baton Rouge Parish that that parent doesn't have to worry about that and the same will go for charters,' Edmonds said.
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If voters say yes to the proposal in November, the governor will then appoint interim leaders for the new school system. These leaders will oversee the transition and determine a timeline for full implementation.
'They would begin the groundwork of trying to implement with all these things that have to go involved. These are legacy costs, retirement cost, buildings, transportation plans, and we'd have to coordinate that with East Baton Rouge Parish and that board would decide whether they were ready or they had to wait another year,' Edmonds said. 'They would make that ultimate decision, along with making the decision of getting on the ballot so that we would have a permanent board or and or election for those things.'
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