District zone plan advances
by Will Sentell - Advocate (excerpt)

A legislative plan that would pave the way for a breakaway school district in southeast Baton Rouge cleared its first hurdle Thursday. The proposal, which includes two bills, won approval after a controversial last-minute change in the Senate Education Committee.

Backers said parents are clamoring for new options, and have given up on the East Baton Rouge Parish school system providing answers.“The East Baton Rouge Parish school system has failed our children,” said Norman Browning, one of the leaders of the effort. “It’s that simple,” said Browning, a local businessman and president of Local Schools For Local Children, a group of neighborhood residents who are pushing the legislation.

One of the measures, Senate Bill 563, spells out details of the plan. The other one, Senate Bill 299, is the proposed constitutional amendment. They are sponsored by state Sen. Bodi White, R-Central. Under the original plan, the proposed district would extend southeast from the Interstate 10/12 split, south of I-12 and east of I-10 to the parish lines. But the committee approved an amendment 3-2 by state Sen. Dan Claitor, R-Baton Rouge, that would redraw those proposed boundaries.