House panel OKs bill to shrink EBR School Board

House panel OKs bill to shrink EBR School Board

The following bills can only be viewed as a coordinated attack against the East Baton Rouge Parish School System.
HB 1177
SB 636

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Provides for governance and administration of large school systems.

Defines a large school system as any school system serving any parish with a population in excess of 440,000 persons according to the latest federal census and serving more than 40,000 school students according to the latest La. Dept. of Education Oct. total enrollment count.

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So, they single out EBR. Let me remind you that Jefferson Parish has a larger student count, but it wouldn't qualify because there is not enough people living in the parish.

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Requires the school system annually to retain up to three percent of the total per pupil amount established for each student in the system for expenditure for school system costs, excluding retiree legacy costs and bonded indebtedness

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EBR's annual budget is about 400 million, so Central Office would at max be able to have 12 million to operate. Yet, look at what they are required by the bill to do with that 12 million.

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Financial operations and adoption of a school system budget, including development and adoption of a central office budget.

Collection and monitoring of all school system revenue.

Construction of new schools and other appropriate facilities and maintenance of schools and facilities, except routine maintenance, but including major repairs to the physical plant of any local school, including electrical, plumbing, HVAC, and roofing.

Preparation for and response to emergencies and disasters.

Create and manage a common enrollment system.

Establish enrollment zones

Review local school budgets for fiscal accountability and compliance with governmental and accounting regulations and law.

Processing and reporting data for state accountability system purposes.

Providing legal representation for the school system.

Providing communications and public relations for the school system.

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How does anyone provide all these services for 12 million a year? Just maintaining all the building would eat up most of the money, can't imagine how you would build new schools.

Look at what would then be new responsibilities for principals.

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Provides that the principal of each school is the school's chief executive officer and requires that the school board require each principal to have, as a minimum, responsibility for:

(a) Development of a school budget for submission to the superintendent.

(b) Personnel management, including recruiting, hiring, reviewing, and removing of personnel necessary for school operation and instruction. Requires the principal to make all employment-related decisions based upon performance, effectiveness, and qualifications. Provides that effectiveness as determined pursuant to state law relative to evaluation of school personnel shall be the primary criterion for personnel decisions and that seniority or tenure shall not be the primary criterion in decisions regarding the hiring, assignment, or dismissal of teachers and other school employees.

(c) Student discipline.

(d) Student health and safety.

(e) Ensuring a safe workplace environment for teachers and other local school personnel.

(f) Preparation and maintenance of a daily school schedule.

(g) Development of the school curriculum and provision of related training.

(h) Instruction methods, instruction materials, and instructional support.

(i) Examinations and assessments not required by state law.

(j) School operations including resource management and procurement.

(k) Professional development.

(l) Compliance with district enrollment policies.

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I am sure a principal would love to come to EBR so they can be responsible for all of this garbage when they can just go somewhere else in state and not have to deal with any of this.

Just think of all the hidden problems this will create.

There would be no centralized bus system, so catholic schools and public schools would have to buy their own buses or pay a private firm for the service.

I guess they would have to get into the food service business or they will have to negotiate contracts for that service at an individual school level. And remember the prices for 90% of the students are fixed by the federal government since they qualify for free lunch. And the federal government has required guidelines on the food being served. You are no longer negotiating prices buying food for 40,000 but rather 500. Good luck not losing your arse off.

Principals would have to negotiate their own benefit packages and insurance deals for teachers. If a school has less the 50 employees do they just not offer insurance? I guess they would have that option. Since they are their own HR department do the teachers even need a degree?
If they kick a kid out of their school where does that kid go? There is no alternative school, so I suppose they will hang out in our neighborhoods.

You went from high volume pricing on textbooks to retail pricing because you have lost your buying power.

What happens if a school goes broke in December? This is possible since their isn't any oversight. Many charters and private schools have closed their door because they where unable to make it, so there is no guarantee stuff like this will not happen. There is no real Central Office to bail them out.

How does any of this make education, the parish or the state better?