In a rare and unexpected defeat for Superintendent LaMont Cole, the East Baton Rouge Parish School Board failed to approve contracts with two local nonprofits, one that teaches young children how to play music and another that helps hundreds of teenagers each year improve their chances of getting into college.
Voting along racial lines, the board was unable to muster the needed five-vote majority to approve the $445,000 contract with Kids’ Orchestra and the $786,000 contract with the Baton Rouge Youth Coalition, or BRYC.
The 2025-26 school year begins Aug. 7, less than three weeks from now…