Louisiana state superintendent requests meeting after no vote taken on new EBR Schools leader
BATON ROUGE, La. (BRPROUD) — The State Superintendent of Education is requesting a meeting with East Baton Rouge School Board members as the parish’s school district remains without a permanent superintendent.
After a lengthy meeting that stretched into early Friday morning, the board took no action in the ongoing superintendent search. When the meeting began on Thursday afternoon, the selection of a superintendent was first on the agenda. Early in the meeting, the board voted to move the superintendent selection to the end, to allow the board to discuss other business.
When the board finally took up the issue of the superintendent, some board members floated the idea of extending Adam Smith in his current position as interim superintendent. Other board members asked for time and to schedule another meeting for next week.
The board met Thursday without board member Emily Soulé. A day and time for next week’s meeting has not been set.
In a letter from the state superintendent, Cade Brumley said, “With less than three weeks before the school year begins, you have been unable, or unwilling, to select a leader for one of the state’s largest school districts – our capital system, which, by location, holds a special place for Louisiana.”
He reminds school board members that they have until Wednesday, July 24 to appoint a permanent superintendent before they fail to comply with state law.
“Your stalemate has created uncharted territory for students in EBR and Louisiana. While I have remained silent concerning your process and opportunity, I am prepared to exercise authority as State Superintendent of Education should you not resolve your impasse,” said Brumley.
According to the letter, Brumley wants to meet with the EBR School Board’s president and vice president in the next 72 hours.
The EBR Schools superintendent search was left with no finalists after Andrea Zayas, the lone finalist for the position, withdrew before Thursday’s meeting. Her decision came days after Kevin George, another finalist for the position, also withdrew.
“Unfortunately, the conditions for success are near non-existent in this governance tableau. What should matter most is creating a district culture that drives life-changing, equitable outcomes for the city’s children. Tragically, this is not the current focus and given that misalignment, I am withdrawing my name from consideration,” stated Zayas in her withdrawal letter.
Gov. Jeff Landry was CC’d in Brumley’s letter.
Read the full letter below.
Dr.-Cade-Brumley_EBR-School-Board-MemoDownload
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