Education
Gov. Edwards appoints nephew, former law partner to UL System board
Gov. John Bel Edwards named his nephew and former law partner Bradley A. Stevens to the board of supervisors for the University of Louisiana System, a move that a legal expert says is allowed in Louisiana law and that Stevens himself says is based on his qualifications. Stevens has been a partner at Edwards & […]
LSU ordered to release records in football star Derrius Guice’s case
LSU has been ordered to release records without most redactions of a university police investigation into former college football star Derrius Guice, who was accused of taking a semi-nude photo of a fellow student without her consent in 2016. A Baton Rouge state court also ordered the university to pay a $100 per day fine […]
New Orleans Public Schools will shift to virtual instruction only
On the same day that Louisiana students returned to school from winter break, NOLA Public Schools announced that, beginning Thursday, all its students will be required to do distance learning because of the rising number COVID-19 cases in New Orleans. A press release from the school system sets Jan. 21 as a date that students […]
‘They’re so weary’: Louisiana teachers recover from back-to-back hurricanes during the pandemic
This story was originally published in Southerly magazine with The Hechinger Report. It is second in a three-part series supported by the Pulitzer Center about how southwest Louisiana is recovering from Hurricanes Laura and Delta amid the pandemic. Read the first story here. Every weekday morning, Dr. Lisa Morgan wakes up at 3:45 a.m. at […]
65 percent of students back to in-person learning by end of fall semester
By the end of public schools’ first full semester in the pandemic, 65% of students are back to face-to-face learning, 21% are virtually learning, and 13% are learning in an in-person/virtual hybrid model, Louisiana State Superintendent Cade Brumley reported to the Louisiana House Committee on Education. Younger students made up a bigger chunk of students […]
Folgers tax breaks survive another month with New Orleans City Council
To the disappointment of many residents, the New Orleans City Council on Thursday postponed a vote on controversial tax exemptions for Folgers Coffee Company to give it time to explain why it should be exempt from paying an estimated $5.4 million in back property taxes and roughly $14 million in future taxes over 10 years. […]
LSU official who didn’t report domestic violence confession resigns from presidential search committee
An LSU athletic administrator who failed to report a football player’s confession of domestic violence to the police or university authorities has voluntarily stepped down from the search committee for LSU’s new president after media organizations raised questions about his role in picking the university’s next leader. His decision came about 30 minutes after he […]
LSU official who didn’t report domestic violence confession remains on presidential search committee
Update: LSU officials say the athletic administrator mentioned in this story, Verge Ausberry, stepped down from the search committee for LSU’s next president on Thursday afternoon after the story was published. Ausberry attended a virtual meeting of the search committee about 30 minutes before resigning from the group. LSU spokesman Ernie Ballard said Ausberry made […]
Attending LSU basketball games more dangerous than attending football games, epidemiologist warns
An announced plan to limit the stands at LSU basketball’s games to 25 percent capacity is not restrictive enough to adequately prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus, an infectious disease expert says, but interim LSU President Tom Galligan said the actual capacity will likely be between 16 to 18 percent when social distancing rules […]
Education Secretary Betsy DeVos heads for the exits, leaving a legacy of turmoil
WASHINGTON—In four years in office, U.S. Education Secretary Betsy DeVos failed to broaden her appeal beyond the moment she won a wild Senate confirmation fight by the closest of margins. She didn’t even try. Instead, the billionaire Michigan native and Republican megadonor championed private and charter schools, often trying to funnel federal funding toward them. […]
2 BB gun suspensions, 2 lawsuits filed against the Jefferson Parish School Board
The father of a Grand Isle 6th grader sued the Jefferson Parish School Board Monday, claiming that the board’s decision to suspend the 11-year-old for possession of a BB gun while he was logged on a virtual class followed a series of lies from school system officials and multiple violations of the school board’s written […]
In the case of Ka’Mauri Harrison, it’s the Jefferson Parish School Board versus everybody with sense
The most powerful elected officials in Louisiana rushed to defend 9-year-old Ka’Mauri Harrison when the Jefferson Parish School System suspended him for inadvertently making a BB gun visible as he virtually took a test assigned by his 4th-grade teacher. Gov. John Bel Edwards, Louisiana Attorney General Jeff Landry and every Louisiana lawmaker who voted on […]