Nine public schools in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, are closing, four are relocating, seven are getting new grade configurations and 12 will have redrawn attendance zones under sweeping action taken by the East Baton Rouge Parish School Board.
The Advocate reports that the East Baton Rouge school board, without opposition, approved Superintendent LaMont Cole's realignment plan.
The 7-0 vote was a strong show of support for Cole, who is in his ninth month leading the district.
The closures, consolidations and other changes have been a long time coming for the school system, which has capacity for 60,000-plus students but is now educating fewer than 40,000.
A total of 28 schools will see change. More than 10,000 children and 1,400-plus staff are affected.
Much of the discussion Monday centered on the impending merger of Capitol High and Capitol Middle schools. It will mean the high school will leave the campus where it has operated for more than six decades.
Of the nine schools closing when the school year ends May 23, three were previously approved: IDEA Bridge, IDEA Innovation and J.K. Haynes elementary school.
In addition to Capitol Middle, here are five more schools being closed or consolidated:
Bernard Terrace Elementary. Its students are being reassigned to Dufrocq elementary.
Eva Legard Learning Center. The 70 students in that specialized environmental education program are relocating to Glasgow Middle and McKinley High.
Ryan Elementary. Its 200 students are being reassigned to Progress Elementary.
Westminster Elementary. Its 200-plus students are being reassigned to Wedgewood and Highland elementary schools.
Winbourne Elementary. Its 290 students are being reassigned to Capitol and Melrose elementary schools.
Here are other notable changes in the realignment plan:
Melrose and Merrydale elementary schools are shifting from traditional elementary schools to grades K-2 schools, becoming "foundational learning centers" with two teacher in every classroom.
Capitol and Glen Oaks Park elementary schools are shifting from traditional elementary schools to upper grade schools, grades 3-6 in the case of Capitol and grades 3-5 in the case of Glen Oaks Park.
Scotlandville Middle will expand from 200 to almost 400 students, taking in middle-school aged students from nearby Crestworth Elementary.
