Vote on Baton Rouge Independent School District May Occur Today

Pivotal vote on breakaway EBR school district is expected in House

After 10 consecutive legislative victories, backers of a new school district in Baton Rouge face their biggest hurdle: how to get a daunting two-thirds majority in the state House of Representatives, which is 70 votes.

The proposal, Senate Bill 73, is a constitutional amendment and already has passed a state Senate committee, the full Senate and two House committees.

A Louisiana House vote is possible Monday.

A companion measure, Senate Bill 199, has won final approval after clearing four committees and the full Senate and House.

But the whole package will die for the second consecutive year, and at the same point in the legislative process, unless backers can figure out how to gather 70 votes in the 105-member House by the session’s end Thursday.

Norman Browning, president of Local Schools for Local Children, the key group behind the push, said the tally on the first bill was about what he expected — 58-35, or 12 votes short of the total needed for the second measure.

Browning said his side is relying on face-to-face meetings, emails and telephone calls before the next vote.

"Our tack is to make sure to continue and speak to those individuals that either voted against it or didn’t vote at all to make sure they have a clear understanding,” he said.

Belinda Davis, president of the anti-breakaway group One Community One School District, said her side will rely on the same strategy that worked in 2012, when the ballot measure fell four and nine votes short in two tallies.

"We are doing exactly what we did last year: lobbying legislators, providing legislators with information to allow them to make informed decisions about it,” Davis said.

Backers say an overwhelming majority of parents in the proposed district favors a more compact school system, and one that can show higher academic achievement than the East Baton Rouge Parish School District, which is rated C by the state.

Opponents contend the move would cause massive financial problems and leave behind a school system with students overwhelmingly from poor families.

The vote on Senate Bill 199, which spells out details of the new district in state law, gives both sides a map on how lawmakers are lining up.

Opponents need 36 votes to keep backers under the 70-vote threshold.

Supporters have several paths to get there, but all are politically treacherous.

Republicans generally back the new district, and Democrats mostly oppose it.

On the Senate Bill 199 vote, seven Democrats and one "No Party” House member joined GOP lawmakers behind the new school system.

They are Democrats James Armes, of Leesville; Mike Danahay, of Sulphur; Jim Fannin, of Jonesboro; Jack Montoucet, of Crowley; Vincent Pierre, of Lafayette; Harold Reynolds, of Dubberly; Major Thibaut, of New Roads; and Dee Richard, a No-Party lawmaker.

But four other Republicans joined Democrats to oppose the measure.

They were Greg Cromer, of Slidell; Franklin Foil, of Baton Rouge; Frankie Howard, of Many; and Mike Huval, of Breaux Bridge.

Four other GOP lawmakers missed the vote.

Even if backers got all eight Republicans who opposed the bill or were absent, and the initial 58-vote majority remained intact, they would be four short.

If every House member who missed the vote on Senate Bill 199 joined backers of the new district, they would have 70.

But seven of those absentees are Democrats, which makes that scenario unlikely, and all 105 House members are rarely on hand for any vote.

The two-bill package would pave the way for a new setup called the Southeast Baton Rouge Community School System.

It would include 10 schools that are part of the East Baton Rouge Parish School District.

The boundaries would extend from the Interstate 10/12 split, south of I-12 and east of I-10 to the parish lines.

The debate of the past two years shows how arguments over new school districts have changed.

In 2006, state Sen. Bodi White, R-Central, who is sponsoring this year’s plan, sponsored the two-bill package that created a new school system in Central.

It passed the state House 100-0 and 91-3.

Make your voice heard on this important issue affecting our children and their children.  Contact your legislature now.

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Source: The Advocate