BATON ROUGE, La. (WAFB) - With school entering its second full week, East Baton Rouge Parish School Superintendent Lamont Cole has a priority this year, which includes redefining truancy and how those figures are calculated.

The Louisiana Department of Education defines truancy as five or more unexcused absences or tardies per semester.

East Baton Rouge is one of the largest school districts in the state. According to the most recent data from the 2023-2024 school year, EBR Schools logged a total of 24,875 students as truant. Capitol High and Istrouma High both had around 85 percent of their student bodies listed as truant during that time frame.

However, Cole said the way the state defines truancy does not accurately reflect who is attending school.

“If I’m in school 180 days and I’

See Full Page