Six of the nine members of the East Baton Rouge Parish School Board say they are seeking reelection this fall to oversee the state’s second-largest traditional school district for four more years.
All six face an uncertain number of challengers when voters head to the polls on Nov. 3.
Some rival candidates will likely be alumni of training programs organized by the Baton Rouge Alliance for Students, a well-funded, pro-charter school education reform group founded in 2021. Other possible contenders include traditional public education advocates, many of them recruited by local teacher organizer Storm Matthews.
A handful of candidates have already formally announced. More are expected to sign up in time for qualifying, Aug. 5 to 7.
In addition to competitive seats, two or three seats will be open this fall thanks to incumbents not running again.
This election will be held using new district maps the School Board approved in May 2022, but which were then held up by a court challenge that has since ended.
The new maps, when they were drawn, were designed to maintain a White majority on the board, with five White members and four Black members. But it is possible the parish’s racial balance has shifted enough since 2022 to elect a majority Black school board.
“I'm going to stay here so that I can continue the work that has started, see that it can really fully be implemented in the way that we all want to see,” said , board president and representative for District 4, which includes the Belaire and Park Forest communities.
“I’m now getting a chance to see some of the vision that I've had for our (school) district and District 3 be able to come to pass,” said , who represents District 3, which includes most of Scotlandville, where she lives.
All six of the incumbents seeking reelection are finishing their first terms. Three of them — , , — had defeated incumbents in difficult, costly elections, capitalizing on a sour electorate.
Now, like those they replaced, they are trying to persuade voters things are going well enough that they should remain in office.
The , via its campaign arm, was the biggest spender in fall 2022 to change the board — nearly $1 million. It is once again planning to interview, endorse and finance independent campaigns for favored candidates.
Adonica Duggan, CEO and co-founder of The Alliance, sees a much better environment education-wise in Baton Rouge than four years ago.
“We are excited at this time to continue in the direction we are heading,” Duggan said. “We think that the superintendent and the board are making tough decisions that are benefiting students, and the proof is in the data.”
Cole and the board have pushed through several big changes in the past two years: closing low-enrollment schools, changing school start times, beefing up security and, most recently, approving significant employee pay raises. Standardized scores grew this past year, keeping pace with the state, improving in almost every grade and subject.
As controversy has waned, board meetings are shorter and less contentious, with fewer speakers and lower temperatures.
While the mood is more upbeat, Duggan notes that the school district still has a lot of issues, including thousands of children who are reading below grade level. She said her organization wants to make sure voters don’t lapse into complacency and elect people who change course.
“I am focused on making sure we don’t lean back and say, ‘We got it,’ and go on cruise control,” Duggan said.
Open seats, new faces
The uncertainty about whether there will be two or three open seats rests with incumbent .
The 38-year-old Lanus has represented District 2 since 2019. He said he is not sure if he will seek a third term; he plans to decide within the week. He said his job as executive director of the Louisiana Democratic Party, which he assumed in spring 2025, has kept him busy criss-crossing the state.
“I hate missing school board meetings, because these are decisions that we are making for kids,” Lanus said.
District 7 representative , who narrowly won reelection in 2022, fending off heavy spending by The Alliance, announced long ago he won’t seek a third term. He reiterated that stance last week.
, who joined the board in 2015, is barred by state law from seeking a fourth term in District 1.
is running again for that district. Bainguel, who is Black, came within 22 votes of defeating Bellue, who is White, despite being outspent by a 20:1 margin.
“Our district has strengths worth protecting — and gaps worth closing,” said Bainguel, a licensed social worker with three children in public schools.
Centered in the Broadmoor area, District 1 has shifted racially over the past four years, adding 1,300 Black voters and losing about 1,000 White voters. The racial balance of the district, however, is unclear moving forward. The Louisiana Secretary of State won’t be updating its voting registration to the new East Baton Rouge Parish School Board maps until qualifying, said a spokesman for the state agency.
Several traditional public education advocates have announced their candidacies for school board.
, a physical therapist with two children currently attending district schools, announced months back that she is running to replace Gaudet to represent District 7. Amoroso is best known for her work pressing for new school start times. She points to her years of experience dealing with the district.
“Through these experiences, I’ve seen both the strengths of our schools and the real challenges they face,” Amoroso said.
More recently, , a former Spanish teacher at Westdale Middle, announced a few weeks ago that she plans to run against Nathan Rust to represent District 6. She says she is campaigning to “bring classroom insight, honest accountability and a deep belief in public education to the decisions that affect District 6 students and families.”
Thomasina Joseph has announced she is running against Carla Powell-Lewis for District 3. Joseph is a former clerk at Scotlandville High and mother of a graduate from the high school. She has long been civically active. She is currently neighborhood director of Clean Green Neighborhood Alliance.
Tebbe Jackson, a school administrator who spent a decade working in East Baton Rouge public schools, is running again for the District 4 seat held by Steward. She placed third in 2022 when she ran for that same seat.
Storm Matthews said she has more candidates who will be announcing soon. She said she had more luck recruiting than she thought she would. She credits the highly charged state of current politics, from fights over immigration to the St. George school vote.
“It was all the crap that’s been happening,” Matthews said.
District 1 is the only district where Matthews said she is still looking for someone willing to run.
“All of the people are either educators or they are present. You know them,” Matthews said. “They are at board meetings. They are fighting for community issues every day.”