Our Views: Spruce up local schools
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When you invite someone over, it’s always good to make sure the house is straight.
We hope the East Baton Rouge Parish School Board keeps this in mind as it launches a new public relations campaign aimed at getting more parents to give the local public schools a second look.
The school system has a number of troubled schools, but some success stories, too, including National Blue Ribbon schools and some first-class facilities. The marketing campaign plans to tout these accomplishments, and the hope is that more parents will consider sending their children to schools within the system.
Many parents, of course, will want to visit these schools before enrolling their children. What these parents will find, in terms of maintenance and upkeep, is a decidedly mixed bag.
At the better end of the spectrum is Dufrocq Elementary School, a south Baton Rouge campus that’s just undergone an impressive $20 million renovation. By stark contrast, nearby Bernard Terrace Elementary, home to a stellar gifted and talented program, suffers from peeling paint throughout the campus. Such maintenance challenges exist in many other schools throughout the system.
Great learning can and often does take place in the humblest of surroundings. Schools need not be fancy to succeed. But basic maintenance communicates to parents and children alike that a school’s mission is important. When that basic maintenance is absent, parents of prospective students are likely to be turned off.
John Dilworth, the new school superintendent, has pledged to make maintenance a higher priority. We hope that pledge bears fruit.
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