re: St. George organizers submit petition with signatures

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What was your stat last thread? 5k students would be removed from their school. Remember that BS stat?

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There are far more students in the proposed city limits than could be served by the existing school buildings..

St. George area includes eight buildings that have a capacity of 5,000 seats, but there are 10,327 East Baton Rouge Parish school system students currently living in the area.

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LINK

I rounded to 5,000 students who would have to transfer into SG. It's actually 5,327. Thanks for forcing me to be more specific.

So you agree that my point is valid. I wrote 5,000 students (I've already posted a link to that) would have to transfer to SG against their will and the link you posted said 6,200 students would have to transfer.

So WTF is your point? That it's not just magnet/gifted students that would have to transfer into SG and leave their current schools? Is that your idea of a 'gotcha' statement??

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I see no way of determining that with the facts given.

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You don't use facts.

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You don't use facts.

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That is all I used. The article stated 6200 students would be moved. I haven't seen an article breaking down how many would be moving to better schools, or in some cases worse schools.

No doubt there are some magnet kids in there, I just don't see how to determine that number.

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I thought they had stated yesterday that the vote comes down to just people residing in StG

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This is correct...

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I thought they had stated yesterday that the vote comes down to just people residing in StG.

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The link you provided to my post 3 weeks ago was discussing a new SG ISD, not the incorporation vote. Your lack of reading comprehension makes it very difficult to communicate with you.

Just like Baker, Zachary and Central had to do, a new SG school district would require approval by voters on a statewide and EBR basis to amend the state constitution to set up a new ISD. That also requires a 2/3 majority of the legislature to put such an amendment on the ballot.

Bodi White claims he has some super-clever way of avoiding a constitutional amendment but every attorney who has commented on his "no amendment needed" plan that I've seen (with the exception of Woody Jenkins who I'm not even sure is still a practicing attorney) disputes his opinion.

Basically if SG doesn't need a constitutional amendment to set up an ISD then why did Baker, Zachary and Central need an amendment?

I think the 6,200 also includes students who attend schools within St. George (either neighborhood zoned or cross district like I referenced earlier) who would be displaced, not just kids attending magnet schools.

There are also non-magnet students who live outside the city limits but whose neighborhood schools are inside the city limits based on neighborhood zoning.

She talks, but she may or may not be talking for the city-parish. It's hard to say.

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Councilman questions attorney's role in city-parish's fight against St. George

Metro Councilman Buddy Amoroso is raising questions about the role attorney Mary Olive Pierson is playing in the city-parish's legal attempts to fight the proposed incorporation of the city of St. George. Earlier this year, Pierson was hired—at $175 per hour, not to exceed $17,500—to defend the city-parish in a case filed by Woody Jenkins challenging the annexation of the Mall of Louisiana and other properties. Annexing property has become a key strategy in the city's efforts to fight St. George, and Pierson, so far, has been successful in defeating the Jenkins' suit.

But Amoroso says Pierson is going too far.

In published statements Monday, Pierson said the city would file suit to challenge the legality of an incorporation petition submitted to the Registrar of Voters by St. George organizers. She has also recently said she traveled on her own dime to Kansas City to meet with officials of L'Auberge Casino & Hotel to persuade them to sign a petition requesting annexation into the city.

"It is my understanding that Ms. Pierson's contract is limited only to the Jenkins' litigation …" Amoroso writes in a letter to Assistant Parish Attorney Lea Ann Batson. "It would appear that Ms. Pierson is expanding her contract as our lawyer without our authority."

Amoroso says he has heard from multiple constituents in his generally pro-St. George district that share his concerns.

Pierson tells Daily Report that while she technically does not have a contract with the city-parish to file a legal challenge to the incorporation petition, a legal challenge will be filed—even if she does it herself.

"I will file a challenge on behalf of somebody," she says.
—Stephanie Riegel Read the full story.

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Stephanie Riegel

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Even after all these years Stephanie.#unrequitedlustmakesmesad

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So to recap, there is a possibility we could get a "St. George" city without getting independent "St. George" schools?

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Yes. I personally don't think the legislature would get a 2/3 majority to put an amendment on the ballot. White has had difficulty even getting his St George bills out of committee. His attempts last session all failed and all he needed was a majority vote of a committee. His SG transitional legislation bill failed 4-1 in committee.

And after all the hard feelings from the incorporation effort, I can't foresee a majority of EBR voters wanting to see the EBR school system split up.

But I have not seen any polls on how a school split vote would go.

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Would most proponents of "St. George" still favor a "St. George" city without "St. George" schools?

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I honestly don't know. I think the organizers are being disingenuous not discussing that possibility now, before any incorporation vote.

But based on what I know of three of the principals who are leading the effort (all but Norman Browning) they don't give a crap about getting a new school district. All they want is a new city which they can sell their services to or for which they can become a city fire chief over a consolidated fire department.