§ 17:68.1 — St. George Community School Board and school system; creation; membership;

Louisiana § 17:68.1

• Jurisdiction: Louisiana
• Title 17: Credit Union Law

Text

NOTE: §68.1 eff. upon adoption of a const. amend. which authorizes the St. George
Community School System. See Acts 2025, No. 455.
§68.1. St. George Community School Board and school system; creation; membership;
qualifications; apportionment; election; powers, duties, functions; and system
operation
A.(1) Notwithstanding any provision of law to the contrary, upon the appointment
of members of the interim school board as provided in R.S. 17:68.2, there shall be
established a separate school system and school board for the city of St. George within the
boundaries of East Baton Rouge Parish. The school board shall be designated as the St.
George Community School Board. The board shall be composed of seven members, one from
each of the single-member districts as provided for in Subsection B of this Section, who shall
be electors and shall meet the qualifications for office provided in R.S. 17:52.
(2) The geographic boundaries of the school system shall, at all times relevant, be
coterminous with the city of St. George.
B.(1) The interim school board shall, within one hundred eighty days of appointment
of the interim members, develop and adopt a plan of governance and shall divide the
geographic area encompassed by the St. George Community School System into seven
single-member districts and each district shall elect one member to serve on the St. George
Community School Board. The districts shall be drawn in such a manner so that each
member of the St. George Community School Board represents the same number of persons
as nearly as possible, using population figures from the latest federal decennial census.
(2) Prior to the final adoption of the apportionment plan required by Paragraph (1)
of this Subsection, the interim school board shall order a public hearing on the proposed
plan and shall cause the notice of the public hearing to be published in its official journal,
at least twenty days prior to the date of such hearing, and the notice shall include all of the
following:
(a) The time and place of the hearing.
(b) A general summary and map of the proposed apportionment plan.
(c) The times and places where copies of the proposed map and apportionment plan
are available for public inspection.
C.(1) The initial members of the St. George Community School Board shall be
elected at the time and place as provided by law and the election shall occur prior to the
date that the St. George Community School Board begins the actual operation of educating
students within its jurisdiction as a separate school system.
(2) The initial elected members shall take office and their duties shall be generally
provided by law for elected parish school board members.
D. Vacancies on the board shall be filled as generally provided by law for parish
school boards.
E.(1) The organization of the St. George Community School Board as well as the
board's powers, duties, functions, and responsibilities shall be as provided by law for local
public school boards. Compensation for board members and reimbursement for expenses
shall be as provided by law for city, parish, and other local public school board members.
(2) The St. George Community School Board shall adopt rules, regulations, and
procedures consistent with law to effectuate this Section and to administer the duties,
functions, and responsibilities of the board.
F.(1) The St. George Community School Board shall begin actual operation of
providing for the education of students within its jurisdiction on July 1, 2027.
(2) Pursuant to the duty and responsibility placed with the legislature by Article VIII,
Section 1 of the Constitution of Louisiana to establish and maintain a public educational
system and pursuant to the authority granted to the legislature by Article VIII, Section 10(A)
of the Constitution of Louisiana to enact laws affecting parish school board systems in
existence on the effective date of the constitution, all lands, buildings, improvements,
facilities, and other property having title vested in the public and subject to management,
administration, and control by the East Baton Rouge Parish School Board for public
education purposes that is located within the geographic boundaries of the St. George
Community School System or used to provide student transportation services to such
facilities, or both, shall be transferred to the St. George Community School Board not later
than June 30, 2027. Once transferred, all property shall thereafter be managed,
administered, and controlled by the St. George Community School Board. The provisions
of this Subsection shall supersede any other provision of law to the contrary.
G. The St. George Community School System and the East Baton Rouge Parish
School System shall develop a transportation plan or develop a plan for transferring school
buses from the fleet owned and operated by the East Baton Rouge Parish School System to
the St. George Community School System.
H. The East Baton Rouge Parish School System shall provide extended school year
services through August 31, 2027, to public and nonpublic school students residing within
the geographic boundaries of the St. George Community School System who qualified to
receive such services prior to June 30, 2027.
I. The East Baton Rouge Parish School System and any taxing district created by the
East Baton Rouge Parish School System shall be the recipient of all sales and use taxes
levied for school purposes collected within the geographic boundaries of the St. George
Community School System and remitted by the tax collector through June 30, 2027.
Beginning on July 1, 2027, the sales and use tax collector shall remit all sales and use taxes
levied for school purposes collected within the geographic boundaries of the St. George
Community School System, including delinquent payments, to the St. George Community
School System.
J. The East Baton Rouge Parish School System shall receive all ad valorem and
property taxes levied for school purposes that are collected within the geographic
boundaries of the St. George Community School System and that are remitted by the tax
collector through June 30, 2027. Beginning on July 1, 2027, the tax collector shall remit all
ad valorem and property taxes levied for school purposes collected within the geographic
boundaries of the St. George Community School System, including delinquent payments, to
the St. George Community School System.
K. With respect to students attending charter schools that are located within the
boundaries of the St. George Community School System and the East Baton Rouge Parish
School System, all of the following shall apply:
(1)(a) On July 1, 2027, the St. George Community School Board shall assume the
jurisdiction over the existing charter schools located within the boundaries of the St. George
Community School System that were authorized by the East Baton Rouge Parish School
System prior to the effective date of the Act.
(b) An existing charter operator, at their option, may renegotiate the terms of the
contract with St. George Community School System or petition to the State Board of
Elementary and Secondary Education to become a Type II charter after the effective date of
the Act. If the existing charter chooses not to renegotiate the terms of the existing charter,
then the terms of the charter which were authorized by the East Baton Rouge School System
prior to the effective date of the Act shall remain in effect until the expiration of the charter.
(2) After the effective date of the Act, all applications for a new charter school to be
located within the boundaries of the St. George Community School System shall be made to
the St. George Community School Board or as otherwise provided by law.
L. As required of all municipal and other school systems pursuant to Article VIII,
Section 13(D)(1) of the Constitution of Louisiana, no state funds shall be used to
discriminate or to have the effect of discriminating in providing equal educational
opportunity for all students.
M. The East Baton Rouge Parish School System and the St. George Community
School System shall enter into an agreement with respect to the transfer of students between
the school system that does all of the following:
(1) Allows any student who is domiciled in the city of St. George to enroll and attend
a school in the adjoining school system of East Baton Rouge Parish, pursuant to R.S.
17:105.1.
(2) Provides that any student who resides within the boundaries of the St. George
Community School System or the East Baton Rouge Parish School System may enroll in any
charter school located within the geographical boundaries of East Baton Rouge Parish.
(3) Provides that any student who is living within the geographic boundaries of the
St. George Community School System shall be allowed to attend any magnet program at a
school with selective enrollment that is located within the boundaries of the East Baton
Rouge Parish School System, without regard to attendance zones, so long as the student
meets the selective admission's requirements and maintains the academic standards of the
magnet program.
(4) Provides that any student who is living within the geographic boundaries of the
East Baton Rouge Parish School System shall be allowed to attend any magnet program at
a school with selective enrollment that is located within the boundaries of the St. George
Community School System, without regard to attendance zones, so long as the student meets
the selective admission's requirements and maintains the academic standards of the magnet
program.
(5) Provides that any new applicant to a magnet program or a charter school shall
not displace any student who is already on the waiting list to attend that magnet program
or charter school, regardless of where the student resides in East Baton Rouge Parish.
(6) Provides that the school which accepts a student that is transferred in
compliance with the agreement shall receive the local per pupil and state Minimum
Foundation Program funds, pursuant to R.S. 17:105, so that the money follows that student
to the chosen school.
N.(1) Except as provided in Subsection M of this Section, nothing in this Section
shall be construed to interfere or circumvent the rights of either school system that are
established by law as it relates to attendance zones.
(2) Nothing in Subsection M of this Section shall prohibit the East Baton Rouge
Parish School System or the St. George Community School System from creating enrollment
preferences that may prioritize qualified students who reside within the district boundaries
of its school system.

Legislative History

Acts 2025, No. 455, §1, eff. See Act.