East Baton Rouge Parish public schools could lose more than 5,500 students and $100 million in state and local funding if the City of St. George forms its own school district, according to EBR Schools.
The district published an FAQ page on its website last month detailing the projected impact to schools if voters approve the split in a statewide vote on May 16. A majority of voters in Louisiana and the parish are needed to approve the constitutional amendment.
EBR school board member Carla Powell-Lewis said she’s worried a funding drop could impact the district’s ongoing initiatives, like salary increases for teachers or improving test scores.
“ This could cause quite a bit of a halt in the work,” Powell-Lewis said.
Meanwhile, St. George PAC also launched its own website and Facebook page last month to encourage voters to support the amendment. The political action committee was created during St. George’s incorporation vote in 2019.
The website says a St. George school district will deliver “more dollars” to the city’s classrooms and teachers, provide local control and “expanded opportunities for every child to thrive academically.”
In a video posted to the campaign’s Facebook, St. George councilman David Dellucci tells voters to approve the amendment, “so we can send our money directly where it belongs: the classroom.”
The new district would be called St. George Community Schools, using the same language as prior EBR breakaway districts, Zachary and Central.
In Louisiana, most school districts are drawn along parish lines. These systems pool tax revenue across communities — some are more well off, others less so — effectively redistributing wealth to schools in lower-income communities.
When a wealthier community, like St. George, breaks away, it has an outsized effect because the new school system no longer shares its local tax revenue.
St. George’s mayor, Dustin Yates, said in a statement that the city’s push to create its own school system “isn’t an attack on the EBR School System.”
“It's an investment in local excellence,” Yates said. “While the opposition fights to maintain their grip on power, we are fighting to put books in hands and hope in classrooms. It’s time to move past the politics of fear and into an era of educational freedom.”
EBR details financial impact
Schools remaining in the parish’s school district will lose roughly $90 million in local revenue if St. George forms its own, according to EBR Schools. Of the local taxes, property taxes make up the lion’s share of St. George’s potential funding.
That loss actually means the state will send EBR schools more money, since Louisiana’s school funding formula accounts for a district’s ability to raise revenue, but not enough to make up the gap.
Ultimately, EBR schools could lose roughly 5,800 students and receive about $17.6 million less from the state, according to the district.
EBR Schools would save money, about $40 million in operating costs, since the district would transfer several facilities to St. George and no longer have the expense of educating the thousands of students zoned for the new district.
There are five traditional schools, two EBR Schools authorized charter schools, one closed school and three parcels of land that would be handed over to St. George Community Schools.
Employees at the traditional schools would have to request a transfer to a school in the EBR system or apply to the new St. George-controlled school. Salaries and benefits account for the largest share of operational cost savings for EBR Schools, totaling about $33.5 million.
A spokesperson for EBR Schools said they could not say how many staff from impacted schools could be retained if the split happens, as they don’t know how many vacancies the system will have.
The two charter schools can choose to renegotiate their contract with St. George Community Schools or apply for a state-held charter.
Students zoned for St. George Community Schools who currently attend a school remaining in the EBR system can remain enrolled until they graduate.
Students in EBR schools and St. George Community schools can also enroll out of their district to attend charter or magnet schools. Or if a student’s assigned school requires an hour or more trip, they may apply to attend the other district.
Active capital plans, including the recent $40 million bond and the 2018 tax plan, will proceed as planned, according to EBR Schools
The school board is moving forward with a project to build a new school in St. George, but they would not be able to spend funds if the separate district is established. Funds spent on school improvements in St. George would need to be refunded to EBR Schools.
Voters statewide and in East Baton Rouge Parish must approve the creation of the district during the May 16 election.
