Baker residents ask for more clarity on their kids' education, two schools set to close this year
BAKER, La. (Louisiana First) — Community members in Baker are still seeking clarity at a town hall meeting for the future of their kids' education after the Baker School Board voted to close two of their public schools.
Baker Heights Elementary School and Baker Middle will be closing for the 2025-2026 school year.
'The board voted to close two schools, which are F schools, Baker Middle School and Baker Heights Elementary,' said Baker School Board Superintendent JT Stroder.
Over 1,000 students from the schools will now attend Parkridge Middle School for Pre-K through 8th grade, which is next door to Baker Middle. Stroder said they want to address as much as possible with parents and the community to help keep their kids in the school district.
'We want students in the City of Baker to remain students within the City of Baker School System and not be students that belong to the state under the recovery school district,' he said.
Stroder said it's been a hard decision, but they had to act fast. He said the Louisiana Board of Education hasn't sent them a response on the plans they submitted to them in September of last year. With time running out, he said they had to make a quick and hard decision. Stroder said he hopes this creates a positive reset and can be a huge benefit to the community.
'This kind of gives us an opportunity to just to take those campuses, take those students, reset it [with] new administration and really see if we can put some things in place to make a difference for these kids,' he said,
Both schools are set to close by the end of summer 2025.
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