Louisiana voters will decide on May 16, 2026 whether to amend the state Constitution to create a separate St. George Community School System in East Baton Rouge Parish — the fourth breakaway from the parish-wide EBR school system in twenty-five years. The amendment originated as Act 218 of 2025 (SB 25), authored by Sen. Rick Edmonds (R-Baton Rouge) and co-sponsored by Rep. Emily Chenevert (R-Baton Rouge). East Baton Rouge Parish School System estimates the split would remove approximately $94 million in local sales and property taxes and up to $20 million in state funding from the remaining district, which is currently approximately 12% white. The new St. George district is projected to be approximately 70% white. Opponents — organized under the WE the People — Louisiana coalition — argue the amendment is a constitutional enshrinement of re-segregation, following a federal desegregation order that was not lifted until 2003.
This is re-segregation with a fresh coat of paint. The federal desegregation order on East Baton Rouge Parish schools was lifted in 2003. Since that moment, three breakaway districts have carved majority-white enclaves out of a majority-Black parish. Amendment 2 would make it four. The remaining EBR students — 12% white, the poorest children in the parish — would be left to operate schools on the scraps.
When someone tells you a political project "costs nothing," ask who signed the last check. East Baton Rouge's own school system estimates that Amendment 2 strips $94 million a year from the district. That is not theory. That is the textbook budget, the counselor budget, the teacher budget. Somebody is paying. It is the children who don't get to choose.
Louisiana is not Mississippi. Baton Rouge is not Jackson. But the arithmetic that produced Jackson's water crisis is the arithmetic Amendment 2 accelerates. When the tax base walks away from the people who need it most, the infrastructure those people depend on fails. That is not an ideology. That is a spreadsheet.
East Baton Rouge voters are not bystanders in this election. Amendment 2 requires a dual majority — statewide and EBR. If EBR votes NO, the amendment dies. That is a real veto held by real voters. We are asking them to use it.
The St. George plan poses significant risks to our education system, threatens the continuity of critical programs, and challenges community representation. — Baton Rouge Chapter, NAACP, formal position
If St. George were to incorporate, the general fund would be further reduced by $48 million … leaving the city of Baton Rouge with a 45% cut in its budget. — Judge Martin Coady, 19th Judicial District Court, 2022 ruling (subsequently reversed 4–3 by La. Supreme Court)
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