The great divide – Six things you need to know about the proposed “breakaway” school district in East Baton Rouge Parish

1. The schools in the proposed “breakaway” district, coined Southeast Baton Rouge Community School System, are a mixture of high-performing and low-performing schools. Local Schools for Local Children, the main advocacy group for the proposed school district, believes moving away from the EBRP School System is a vital step in raising the scores of low-performing schools.

2. Local Schools for Local Children has a goal of competing in the top 10% of schools statewide and eventually becoming the state’s leading school system, and says accomplishing this will boost the local economy.

3. The schools impacted would include Cedarcrest Elementary, Jefferson Terrace Elementary, Parkview Oaks Elementary, Shenandoah Elementary, Southeast Middle, Wedgewood Elementary, Westminster Elementary, and Woodlawn Elementary, Middle and High Schools.

4. Many Baton Rouge parents have united to oppose the efforts of Local Schools for Local Children through an organization called One Community One School District. A bigger district, they argue, enables fringe students—special needs as well as gifted children—to be better served.

5. If the proposed new school district becomes a reality, government funding will likely go up for EBRP students. But this would be the result of an increase in the poverty level that will take place in EBRP Schools if schools in the proposed breakaway school district become restricted to local children only. The logic? It takes more money to educate poverty-level students. A spike in poverty at schools equals an increase in funds. But it’s hardly seen as a boon for educators.

6. The breakaway district could have lasting implications for the EBRP system and the city of Baton Rouge. Some concerns raised by the members of One Community One School District include financial woes for the existing public school system, increased chances for another desegregation lawsuit in Baton Rouge, increased taxes and the possibility that the “breakaway” school district area will have to become its own incorporated city to accomplish its goals.