For the third year in a row, the East Baton Rouge Parish School Board may change who serves as its president and vice president.
The board is having  to hold its annual leadership vote.
President Carla Powell-Lewis and Vice President Patrick Martin V have both served a year in their current roles, and both have shown interest in staying in leadership. But neither are speaking publicly about their plans for 2025.
Powell-Lewis has presided over the board through a year capped by a tumultuous superintendent search.
Powell-Lewis was one of four board members in favor of making district veteran Adam Smith permanent superintendent, a stance that helped lead three other finalists to drop out. The impasse ended only after Smith threw his support to friend, veteran educator and Metro Councilman LaMont Cole. Cole was hired for the post in late July.
At the board’s Dec. 19 meeting, Powell-Lewis described 2024 as the “highlight of my educational career.†She did not say, though, whether she will seek the presidency again or seek to be vice president, a job she held in 2023, or leave leadership entirely.
“Whether it be me or anyone else sitting in this seat or the seat to my right (the vice president’s seat), we will continue the initiatives that have already begun, with new or renewed, amazing projects that lead to positive student outcomes,†Powell-Lewis said cryptically.
Powell-Lewis did not return several messages Tuesday seeking comment on her current plans.
Martin, for his part, is staying mum.
“We’ll just have to see how the meeting Thursday turns out,†Martin said Tuesday, declining to say whether he plans to be promoted to president or stay as vice president.
Board member Mark Bellue said Tuesday that he is supporting Martin for president. Bellue said that Martin is the only board member who has reached out to him seeking the presidency, and that no one so far has expressed interest in being vice president.
Bellue, who is in his third term, and is the longest-serving member of the board, has never served in board leadership. When asked if he is interested now, he said simply, “No.â€
Both Shashonnie Steward and Dadrius Lanus say they are not seeking a leadership position, nor have they had colleagues requesting their support. Both have served or sought leadership positions in the past, but not this year.
“It doesn’t surprise me,†said Lanus, who served as president in 2023. “I don’t know if anyone has any interest in doing it.â€
Board member Nathan Rust declined to comment, saying he “nothing to report.†In addition to Powell-Lewis, board members Cliff Lewis and Emily Soulé did not respond Tuesday to Advocate messages seeking comment.
Martin and Powell-Lewis joined the board in January 2023. They were among six new members, a big change for a board with only nine seats.
Both immediately sought leadership posts. Powell-Lewis narrowly defeated Martin for the vice presidency. Lanus, who was one of the three incumbents, was unanimously selected as president, with no one else seeking the job. He replaced David Tatman, who had just lost to Martin in his bid for a fourth term.
That year, all of the leaders of the school system — superintendent, board president and board vice president — were Black.
After that year, Lanus bowed out early.
Lanus lost points with his colleagues after he led the negotiations that resulted in a proposed new, four-year contract with then Superintendent Sito Narcisse that came with a $55,000 pay raise and would have made Narcisse the highest-paid school superintendent in Louisiana.
Powell-Lewis and Martin were among the five board members who not only rejected that contract, but voted against renewing Narcisse’s contract entirely. A week after Powell-Lewis and Martin became board president and vice president, Narcisse agreed to a voluntary buyout.
The whole process, though, was often ugly and contentious.
Board member Mike Gaudet scolded his colleagues last January for the poor quality of the debate in selecting board leadership.
“I must say I’ve never been more disappointed with our board than I am tonight,†Gaudet said.
On Tuesday, Gaudet declined to comment on this year’s upcoming vote.
“I’m going to just leave it blank. I just believe it would be the best thing to do,†Gaudet said. “Stirring of the water is not helpful to anybody. We’ve got a lot of things to do.â€
