New Board Member Pushes for Change

 After a landslide victory for a seat on the Central Community School Board in a special election Nov. 13, Kim Powers was sworn in by Louisiana Attorney General Jeff Landry.  The ceremonies were held Saturday, Nov. 20 at the lake at Revolution Square, 9530 Blackwater Rd.

Ms. Powers won with 62 percent of the vote over Mr. Phil Graham, who was appointed to the seat in February to fill a vacancy left by the resignation of long-time school board member Will Easley.

She will represent School Board District 4, which is bounded on the south by Hooper Road, on the west by Joor Road, on the north by Denham Road, and on the east by Greenwell Springs Road. 

Ms. Powers began her work last Monday with a series of requests of Central schools Supt. Jason Fountain, designed to address the issues she ran on in the election.

Last Thursday, she and Supt. Fountain visited Central High, Central Middle, and Central Intermediate schools, and she met the principals and some of the key staff.  On Friday, she visited Tanglewood Elementary and Bellingrath Hills Elementary and also met the principals and staff there.

Ms. Powers said she appreciated the wonderful reception she received from principals and staff and she plans to return often.

During the election campaign, Ms. Powers was critical of the Central School Board’s decision to roll forward property taxes without a vote of the people.  

Last Tuesday, Ms. Powers requested that Supt. Fountain prepare a resolution to roll back property taxes to their prior level.  The roll back would be effective Jan. 1, 2023 if approved by the board, she said.  She asked that she have all necessary information to make sure than the roll back meets all requirements of the Louisiana Constitution and state law.

She said she will introduce the proposal after there has been enough time to evaluate the effect of the tax increase and the fiscal impact of a roll back.  She expects to bring it to a vote closer to the fall elections, so that voters can make their opinions heard on the matter.

Other major issues in the school board campaign were mask mandates for students and vaccine mandates for teachers and students.  Ms. Powers has strongly opposed both types of mandates for the past two years and has a suit pending against the Louisiana Board of Elementary and Secondary Education for refusing to allow parents to testify unless they wore a mask, in contravention of Louisiana Constitution, Art. 12 Section 3.

The Central School Board imposed a mask mandate on students in the system throughout the 2020-2021 school year and well into the 2021-2022 school year.  Ms. Powers was the leader of a group of parents who challenged the mask mandate.  They said Gov. John Bel Edwards’ mandate was unconstitutional and illegal.

Central School Board president Dr. Jim Gardner said the governor’s mandate was “the law.”  However, parents challenged that idea and cited two Attorney General’s opinions that said the governor had no authority to order masking of the public or students.

Dr. Gardner repeatedly said that the school board was acting on the advice of legal counsel, but the board’s attorneys never appeared to answer questions from the public.

Ms. Powers said, “The Governor has clearly defined powers under the state’s Emergency Powers Act, and those powers do not include closing businesses, mandating masks for the public or students, or mandating vaccines.  Much of what the Governor has done is unconstitutional and illegal, and local governments such as the Central school system need to stand up and refuse to bow to his illegal edicts.  This is a conservative state being governed by a left wing governor.  We need to make sure the mandates end, especially as we face the Omicron variant and every new disease or variant that comes along.  They are no excuse for Americans to be stripped of our constitutional rights!”

Last Monday, Ms. Powers requested that the Central school system supply her with copies of the school board attorney’s Letter of Engagement and billing records for 2020 and 2021.

She also requested all communications between the attorneys and the superintendent on the mask mandate and parents’ requests for religious exemptions to the mask mandates.

She also asked that the school board’s attorney appear at the Dec. 13 school board meeting and answer questions from the board and the public about their advice on the mask mandate.  She said she is also asking that the school board invite the Attorney General’s office to send a representative to speak on the issue and answer questions.  She said the AG’s office has tentatively agreed to appear.

During the summer, Ms. Powers asked the school board to adopt a policy prohibiting any staff member from being dismissed for failing to wear a mask or take a vaccine.  The board considered that proposal but took no action.

Ms. Powers said that measure still needs to be passed because of pressure from the White House attempting to force employees in the public and private sectors to be vaccinated or lose their jobs.  “We should send a strong message that forcing our employees to take a vaccine is unacceptable in Central,” she said.

At her swearing in ceremonies at the lake at Revolution Square, Kim Powers was sworn into the Central School Board by Louisiana Attorney General Jeff Landry.

Rep. Valarie Hodges (R-Central), who had strongly supported Ms. Powers for school board, also spoke.

The other major speaker at the event was Clerk of Court Doug Welborn.  Welborn, who served Central as Metro Councilman for 12 years before being elected Clerk of Court, has served the community in elected office a total of 40 years.

At the end of the ceremony, Welborn presented Ms. Powers with a special gift, a photo of Welborn and T. H. Montgomery, who represented Central as a member of the East Baton Rouge Parish School Board for 42 years and was the longest serving school board member in history.

Welborn said Mr. Montgomery was a model public service whom Ms. Powers should strive to emulate. 

More information on the Central Community School System can be found at the

website, www.centralcss.org