Twenty days after rejecting them , the East Baton Rouge Parish School Board reversed course Thursday and approved contracts with two 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.

Without discussion, the board voted unanimously to suspend its rules and approve the $445,000 contract with Kids’ Orchestra and a $681,000 contract with the Baton Rouge Youth Coalition, or BRYC . Board member Dadrius Lanus, one of three board members who had previously been critical of the two contracts, was absent.

Thursday’s vote coincided with the start of the 2025-26 school year.

Patrick Tuck, executive director for Kids’ Orchestra, credited the changed vote Thursday to a wave of suppor

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