As it races to meet a self-imposed March 17 deadline to draw up new election districts for itself, the East Baton Rouge Parish School Board will hold three public forums this month in addition to two previously planned special board workshops.
The new public meetings were announced Tuesday.
The board last month to finish its redistricting work over the objections of some members of the public who wanted more time so that the board could consider more options. One proposal is to add more seats to the nine-member board to reverse a controversial 2014 decision to reduce the size of the board from 11 to its current nine members.
The new maps for the School Board are necessitated by the 2020 U.S. Census.
After months of waiting and delays, residents of East Baton Rouge Parish this week will get their first look at the first draft of required ma…
Demographer Mike Hefner of Duson got a late start. He took over the remapping job in late November, two weeks after the first consultant hired by the board, Strategic Demographics, LLC, withdrew, citing lack of cooperation from three board members who failed to sit down for one-on-one meetings to discuss their ideas for their respective districts.
Here are the dates for the three public forums and two board workshops
- Saturday, 9 a.m., Woodlawn High, 15755 Jefferson Hwy.
- Thursday, Feb. 10, 5 p.m., Professional Development Center, 3000 N. Sherwood Forest Drive.
- Saturday, Feb. 19, 9 a.m., Park Elementary, 2680 Bogan Walk.
- Thursday, Feb. 24, 5 p.m., Professional Development Center, 3000 N. Sherwood Forest Drive.
- Saturday, Feb. 26, 9 a.m., Instructional Resource Center, 1022 S. Foster Drive.
Hefner on how the redistricting process is going.
The School Board has a deadline of June 20 to submit maps to the Louisiana Secretary of State’s Office. That’s the latest to be in time for Nov. 8 School Board elections. Qualifying is July 20-22.
