Breaking away
On May 16, East Baton Rouge Parish voters will decide whether to amend the Louisiana Constitution to allow the City of St. George to establish its own independent school district—one of the most consequential education votes in the region's recent history.
The amendment requires majority approval both statewide and within EBR Parish. If it passes, the St. George Community School System would begin operations in July 2027, becoming the fifth independent public school district in the parish, joining EBR, Baker, Central and Zachary.
What's at stake: Six public schools and two charter schools fall within St. George's city limits. A new district would absorb those campuses under a governor-appointed interim board. EBR schools, meanwhile, would lose an estimated $140 million in annual per-pupil funding. Legacy costs—primarily retiree health care obligations—are estimated between $40 million and $200 million, with the two sides already publicly disagreeing over St. George's required share.
The case for: Proponents argue EBR schools have had decades to improve and haven't. They point to Zachary and Central as proof that locally controlled community districts outperform large parish systems, framing the vote as a matter of parental accountability and educational self-determination for a city built specifically to achieve this outcome. St. George Mayor Dustin Yates has also pledged that for every $2 the new district spends on public education, at least $1—and eventually more—will go directly into the classroom—a pointed contrast to what supporters characterize as EBR's top-heavy administrative spending.
"We've got to get out of the mindset that government is about jobs. It's about providing services—and in this case, it's what's best for the education of our children."—Yates tells RedEye.
What it looks like: Exactly what a St. George school district would look like isn't yet known—Yates acknowledges final details still need to be worked out. It would likely include charter schools alongside traditional public campuses.
The case against: Opponents argue the breakaway deepens racial and economic segregation in a district already nearly 90% students of color—the vast majority of them Black—and where most students qualify as economically disadvantaged. They warn it won't be the last secession attempt, each one leaving the remaining district poorer and less able to serve its most vulnerable students.
"If the St. George district passes, you are going to see more dollars taken out of our students' classrooms in order to pay for what the wealthiest school district in the state walked away from."—Belinda Davis, PULSE panelist and former Louisiana BESE member.
The turnout wild card: A heated U.S. Senate Republican primary—President Donald Trump and Gov. Jeff Landry backing U.S. Rep. Julia Letlow against incumbent Bill Cassidy and John Fleming—will drive significant conservative turnout on the same ballot, a dynamic that likely advantages the yes side. The parish vote is the closer call. Opponents, organized under PULSE, are banking on the broader EBR electorate outvoting a smaller but highly motivated city whose incorporation passed just 54-46 in 2019.
