Jon Glover speaks about the Caddo Parish School Board’s Pupil Progression Plan at a recent meeting.
Jon Glover speaks about the Caddo Parish School Board’s Pupil Progression Plan at a recent meeting.
SHREVEPORT, La. — A debate over one word — must or should — is raising questions about how Caddo Parish schools decide whether students should be promoted to the next grade.
At this week’s board meeting, resident Jon Glover said she printed all 31 pages of the district’s proposed pupil progression plan and came away confused.
“On page 6, the document says students should pass certain courses to be promoted. But in your discussion, you said must,” Glover told members. “So is it a must, or is it a should? That is a clarification that needs to be done.”
Glover also pointed to new red-lined edits in the plan.
“On page 7, in red — does that mean we’re discarding this, replacing it, or what does that really mean?” she asked.
The 2025-26 plan also folds in the state’s new Louisiana GATOR Scholarship Program, signed into law this year by Gov. Jeff Landry. It sets up education savings accounts for families to use on private school tuition, tutoring, textbooks and more .
Glover challenged why the district would highlight the controversial program at all.
“What I understand is we’re diverting taxpayer dollars from public education to support whatever a parent decides to do with those dollars,” she said. “Why would we support even advertising this program?”
School Board member Terence Vinson also pressed for details. He questioned how the GATOR provisions were added and raised concerns about how the district approved design projects tied to the plan.
Glover echoed that concern. “When you all were discussing the designers for those projects, I wondered when it was that you actually discussed those projects altogether — and when was the approval given for the dollar amounts? That went over my head as well.”
The board has not yet taken final action. By law, local school systems must submit their progression plans to the state Department of Education each school year .
The Louisiana Department of Education has begun notifying eligible families that they will receive a LA GATOR Scholarship for the 2025-2026 school year. Families who did not receive a notification should check the Odyssey platform or contact the Department of Education for more information.
Key takeaways
The Louisiana Department of Education has started notifying eligible families that their scholarship has been approved for the 2025-2026 school year. ‘
Despite setbacks and reduced funding requests during the legislative session, program funding was eventually approved.
The approved funding was significantly less than what was requested, meaning many families who applied for the LA GATOR Scholarship will not receive one for this school year.
Parents who were expecting to receive a scholarship but did not should check the Odyssey platform or the Louisiana Department of Education website for updates.
Background
The program was created to provide educational savings accounts for Louisiana students to choose their school, use for tuition at nonpublic schools, tutoring, and other approved educational resources.
During the legislative session, the governor’s request for over $90 million for the program was reduced, with lawmakers ultimately approving only about $44 million. This amount was only enough to fund the program at its original capacity, not to meet the high demand from the record number of applications received.
The LA GATOR program is a relatively new initiative, and the state is working to ensure it operates correctly moving forward.
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