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Superintendent outlines start-of-year diagnostics, security upgrades, internships and staffing progress
Summary
Superintendent Cole reported on fall diagnostic assessments, a $50,000 band-instrument grant, SRO hiring progress, school security grants, weapons detectors and internship expansion across the East Baton Rouge Parish School System.
Superintendent Cole opened the Aug. 21 East Baton Rouge Parish School Board meeting with a wide-ranging update on the new school year, touching on assessments, fine-arts investments, safety upgrades, staffing and work-based learning.
Cole said the district is conducting beginning-of-year diagnostic literacy and numeracy screenings required by state policy and will use diagnostic and common formative assessment data to establish baselines for student progress. The superintendent said the board previously approved $50,000 in grant funding to purchase new band instruments across the district and that he plans to form a committee to raise funds for band uniforms; he asked Miss Soule to chair the band-uniform fundraising committee.
On safety, Cole said the district has hired 15 new school resource officers and that about 75% of campuses have a resource officer assigned or access to one. He listed schools awarded $50,000 each from a security grant for visitor management systems, door alarms, fencing, cameras and other enhancements. Cole also said evolved weapons detector systems have been deployed at multiple high and middle schools and that the Navigate360 visitor-management system is pending board approval.
Cole also reported that about 300 students completed summer internships and an additional 315 are planned for fall and spring, and he thanked the mayor’s office and business partners. On staffing, he said the district has about 4,076 staff, with roughly 3,967 positions filled and 97% of staff filled; HR reported 68 teacher vacancies and 41 support-staff vacancies. Cole highlighted a district “Let’s Talk AI” portal that had logged more than 5,400 dialogues, most related to transportation, and that staff had closed most tickets.
Ending: Cole said the district will continue monitoring instructional implementation, student health and attendance initiatives and security deployments and requested board support for upcoming campaigns, including suicide-prevention awareness activities in September.
