Division between East Baton Rouge School Board, community about superintendent candidates
BATON ROUGE, La. (BRPROUD) — Division among the East Baton Rouge School Board and the community continues to surround the appointment of a new superintendent.
The two finalists, Kevin George and Andrea Zayas, have been interviewing for the superintendent position this week, but there is no guarantee that those two finalists will be chosen.
The board voted five to four for the final three superintendent candidates on June 28. The move eliminated interim superintendent Adam Smith, which caused outrage in the community.
Three unions are calling for a sickout if the board does not choose Smith and petitions with thousands of signatures are calling for Smith’s appointment.
Krish Mohip backs out as finalist for East Baton Rouge Schools superintendent
A few scenarios could take place Thursday night when the board votes on a new superintendent.
They could force a vote to appoint Smith, in that case, five votes are needed. If that doesn’t work, a board member could abstain from voting on the two finalists, which would cause the whole search process to start over again.
“Are you planning on abstaining your vote?” asked BRProud investigative reporter John Rupolo.
“I’m not saying I’m going to abstain my vote. I’m going to listen to the voice of my community and what my community is saying right now is they want somebody who is of the district, from the district, somebody who they trust,” said Dadrius Lanus, EBR School Board member.
Angela Reams-Brown, president of the East Baton Rouge Federation of Teachers, said she is working to get Smith appointed as superintendent.
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“We’re hoping that the members of our board search their souls. We’re hoping that they look at the statistics, the things that Mr. Smith has done in both instances when he was appointed interim,” said Reams-Brown.
Smith has been passed up for the superintendent’s job after serving as the interim in the past. He’s been with the district for 27 years.
The EBR School Board meeting starts at 5 p.m. Thursday, July 11.
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