For the second year in a row, the East Baton Rouge Parish school district is starting classes with far fewer students than the year before.
East Baton Rouge Parish schools had 36,026 students enrolled at 74 schools as of Sept. 1. That compares to Sept. 1, 2025, when the district started with 38,244 students enrolled at 77 schools. That is a decline of 2,218 students, or 5.8%.
These numbers are not final. Official enrollment counts for public schools in Louisiana occur twice a year — on Oct. 1 and Feb. 1. Each student gone equates to thousands of dollars in lost state education funding.
Last year saw a 3.6% year-over-year decline. If declines continue at the current pace, East Baton Rouge will lose, perhaps this year or next, its longstanding perch as the second-largest traditional school district in Louisiana…