Coming back from the Labor Day holiday, student enrollment in East Baton Rouge Parish schools has declined by about 3.7% compared to a year ago.

If that holds, it would be the biggest enrollment decline for the state’s second-largest traditional school district since the first year of the COVID pandemic. And it would amount to a 14% drop over a six-year span.

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.

Tuesday was the 18th day of school since summer break ended Aug. 7. The East Baton Rouge Parish school system had 38,244 students overall on its rolls Tuesday. That is 1,452 students fewer than were on its rolls the day after Labor Day 2024. Last yea

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