Louisiana’s BESE Delaying A Decision On Chopping Mandates

Louisiana's Board of Elementary and Secondary Education has voted to hold off on a decision to possibly get rid of mandates that are required of Louisiana's local school districts.

Louisiana's Superintendent of Education, John White, has been looking for a way to cut down on the amount of red tape and outdated regulations that all schools in the state must follow.  He proposed to the BESE board that many of these regulations should be removed from the list of requirements that schools have to follow.

White suggested making changes to 150 policies that dictate certain guidelines to schools.  Some of the things White suggested getting rid of included the statewide school calendar and getting rid of the state requirements that dictate how many librarians and school counselors each school has to have.

BESE board members that are part of a committee looking into the suggestions decided to wait on making a decision so that more time can be given to looking into each of the recommendations.  Lafayette BESE board member Holly Boffy said she felt the decision should be postponed until January, and members voted 6 to 3 to do that.