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East Baton Rouge school board selects LaMont Cole as next school superintendent

Keymonte Avery
9 min read

Editor’s note: This story has been corrected to reflect the count of a vote to only interview LaMont Cole for the position. The board voted 8-0 with one abstaining.

BATON ROUGE, La. (BRPROUD) — The East Baton Rouge School Board unanimously selected Mayor Pro Tem LaMont Cole as the new superintendent on Wednesday, July 25. They also chose Adam Smith as deputy superintendent.

The search for the new superintendent had come to a halt after interim superintendent Smith was not selected as a finalist, and the final three candidates withdrew from the search.

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According to a letter from Louisiana State Superintendent Cade Brumley, the parish had until Wednesday to select a new superintendent per state law.

The school board opened the application submissions back up on Monday, July 22, and met on Wednesday to make a final determination.

They only interviewed Cole during the meeting.

Brumley released the following statement on the school board’s decision to select Cole as the next superintendent.

“I’m encouraged by the board’s decision to come together around a new superintendent. Choosing a system leader is a core responsibility of a board, but the true work lies ahead. Too many students lack a basic education and graduate without the skills to lead a productive life. Too many teaching positions go unfilled. Too many families are trapped in failing schools. For Louisiana to succeed, we need East Baton Rouge to succeed. The Louisiana Department of Education offers its full support to the board and new superintendent as they take up the critical mission of improving academic outcomes for the 40,000 students of East Baton Rouge Parish Schools.

Louisiana State Superintendent of Education Dr. Cade Brumley

Who were the candidates?

The board released a list of candidates who had applied for the superintendent position before the Wednesday meeting.

According to the list from the school board, Smith withdrew his name from the selection process. Former EBR superintendent Sito Narcisse also withdrew from the selection process, according to EBR officials.

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Related: Mayor, council members endorse Mayor Pro Tem LaMont Cole for superintendent job

Applicants for the superintendent position going into the meeting included:

  • Fabby Williams

  • Corwin Robinson

  • James Finney

  • Verna Ruffin

  • Donald Green

  • James Kador

  • LaMont Cole

  • Rochelle Washington-Scott

  • Sean Thorpe

  • Robin Harris

Related: Sito Narcisse sends letter of interest for East Baton Rouge Schools superintendent job

Candidates who had withdrawn or were not selected as finalists:

  • Andrea Zayas

  • Kevin George

  • Adam Smith

  • Patrick Jenkins

  • Krish Mohip

  • Adrian Hammitte

  • Angela Domingue

  • Bernard Taylor

  • Dallas Lee

  • Jerry Gibson

  • William Murphy

  • David Hardy

  • Nichola Hall

  • Sito Narcisse

East Baton Rouge school board votes to interview one candidate

During the meeting, Mayor-president Sharon Weston Broome thanked interim superintendent Smith and said he has been the “glue that has held this system together for quite some time.” She also said Cole, who she has publicly supported, would bring the leadership that is needed in the school system.

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Patrick Martin, the school board’s vice president and District 9 representative, made a motion to alter the procedures and only interview Cole.

Carla Powell Lewis, the school board’s president and District 3 representative, said she agreed with the motion and hopes “leaders will take the opportunity and at least consider what parts those individuals may be able to play in our community of education.”

Nathan Rust from District 6 said although he disagreed with only interviewing Cole, he would do his best to get to know the new superintendent.

The motion passed 8-0 with Rust abstaining.

During his introduction, Cole said he has been in education for 25 years.

Cole interviews for the superintendent position

“Twenty-two of which I’ve served as a school leader. I’ve been a teacher, I’ve been a curriculum specialist, I’ve been an assistant principal. I have been a chief academic officer. I’ve been a principal again. I’ve been a principal four times because wherever I’ve been needed, I’ve chosen to serve. I’ve chosen to serve our children. No job in education is too small, and so if I’m needed in the classroom, I’ll teach. If I’m needed on campus to clean up an accident. I’ll sweep, whatever it takes to serve our children. I’m willing to do it,” Cole said.

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Cole said there are a few key things to think about moving forward:

  • Student safety.

  • Supporting teachers in the classroom.

  • Making sure money is being spent on teachers and classrooms.

  • Partnering with Southern University, LSU and Baton Rouge Community College to give students opportunities.

During the first line of questioning, Mark Bellue from District 1 asked how Cole would create a culture that motivates educators to stay in the school system. Cole said to make sure they are appreciated.

“And I think if we begin to tell our own story, we begin to create a culture of excellence because no one wants a story told about them that is not excellent. So when we make sure teachers understand, we’re going to come in and we want to see you at your best, and after we see you at your best, we’re going to celebrate you at your best through various media forms and outlets. I think that’s how we create a culture of excellence,” Cole said.

Cliff Lewis from District 8 asked about buildings no longer being used.

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“That’s a really, really tough conversation because ultimately, we’re going to be having conversations about institutions that mean a lot to communities,” Cole said. “So we have to be willing to have the hard conversation with the community, with the people who those buildings mean so much to. But in the end, we have to come back to the original question, how is it serving and helping our children?”

Rust asked about teacher vacancies and Cole’s plan for attracting strong education and operational talent to Baton Rouge. He also asked Cole to list some barriers currently holding the district back.

Cole said teacher pay was one of the biggest barriers holding the district back.

“We have to be about the business of treating our teachers well. And again, that doesn’t require us to spend a whole lot of money, but it does require us to sell return, very simply, very easily,” Cole said.

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Rust also asked Cole if he would help the board develop a multi-year executable strategy for raising teacher pay.

“We have to get it done. We have to be smart. We have to have honest, transparent conversations. We have to engage our teachers in the process. What I firmly believe that we engage our teachers in the process of creating a compensation plan that is worthy of excellence. They will help us to make those decisions, and they will say to their colleagues, this has to be cut, and this has to be done for us,” Cole said.

During the second line of questions, Lanus asked about school consolidation. Cole said it has to be a decision that is made together.

Shashonnie Steward from District 4 asked about support systems for students with special needs.

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“We have to talk to the parents to work with them and work with our health care professionals to evaluate how we better serve we do have an exceptional student services department where evaluations are done to determine how best to serve students, but oftentimes families have outside doctors who can offer other insights on how we can better do this work. I think again, the keyword that you’ll see throughout my 100-day entry plan is collaboration. We have to be willing to have conversations with all of the stakeholders around the child to ensure we have systems in place to provide the services, and where we don’t have those systems in place, we have to work with our adults to, again, professionally develop them to do the work,” Cole said.

Rust asked Cole how long he intended to stay in the superintendent position if elected. Cole said it was his dream job and would stay in it for the rest of his life.

Micahel Gaudet from District 7 asked if Cole would resign from the city council as mayor pro tem and Cole said he would. Gaudet also asked about the City of St. George. Cole was one of the plaintiffs in the lawsuit that tried to prevent it from splitting from the city parish and incorporating.

“I would ask those on this board who represent any part of St. George to do the same so we could listen to see the first thing is, I don’t want to go there and tell them they’re welcome. I want to go and listen to their concerns, and then have a very, very candid conversation about how we address those concerns together,” Cole said.

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Emily Soulé from District 8 asked about how the superintendent would address “highly charged issues” such as race, religion, sexual orientation and public health.

“We’re all just people. We all want the same thing. We want to live in safe communities with access to opportunities, and we all want our children to get high-quality education so they have options in life. And so I think we follow the letter of the law and then encourage adults and encourage our young people to be respectful of people’s choices, to be respectful of people’s thought processes, and to keep an open mind as it relates to how people choose to think about their lives, and I think when we do that, we will find that we’re more like than we’re not, and we want the same things. And I think that’s how we do that,” Cole said.

The board votes on the next superintendent

Martin motioned to switch items and vote for the superintendent position first. Martin motioned to select Cole as superintendent and authorized board leadership and legal counsel to negotiate an employment contract to be presented for consideration by the board at a special meeting next Thursday. Lanus seconded the motion.

The board went back and forth over a substitute motion of who would be a part of the negotiation team about the superintendent contract. Rust, Bellue and Martin voted against the motion. During public comment, Stewart withdrew her motion.

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Ultimately, they selected Cole as the superintendent with Smith slated to work as assistant superintendent.

A news conference with Cole is set for Thursday morning.

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