EBR School Board working to finalize location for new high school in south Baton Rouge

BATON ROUGE, La. (WAFB) - The East Baton Rouge Parish School Board is scheduled to discuss where the school system will construct a new high school in the southeast area of the parish during a meeting Thursday, Dec. 17.

The school board has narrowed the possibilities down to four locations, spread across three current school zones, for where the new school will be built.

One proposed location is near Gardere and Nicholson Drive, the second option is along the Innovative parkway near Burbank Drive, a third is at Perkins Road and Siegen Lane, and the fourth location is Rieger Road near Siegen Lane.

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There are some concerns if the site of the new school is on Reiger Road near Siegen Lane. Mainly being traffic conditions in an already busy area of Siegen Lane.

The school will be surrounded by several businesses, restaurants, and right off the interstate. Some believe it could be a traffic nightmare.

“We’re really trying to see to look at and see what is the best spot for kids and not so much worried about district it’s in,” District 7 school board member Michael Guadet tells WAFB.

He says this decision has been long overdue after the board and parish voters voted back in 2018 on a tax plan to build a new school.

“We really need another public high school down here in the southern part of the parish because we just have students who are riding way too long [far] on busses and crowded at Woodlawn High,” Gaudet says.

The graph below illustrates the distance between the proposed sites and several public schools closest to students in the southeast area.

“We’re trying to really provide them with a quality education and get back to the concept of neighborhood schooling,” Gaudet says.

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