On May 28, the Shreveport city council voted to reduce the city’s crossing guard budget by $75,000. This was after much publicity and a voted delayed until the school year ended.
On June 18, The Caddo School Board adopted its 2019-2010 budget without any additional compensation to the city for the payment of school crossing guards ($11 grand). This despite the fact that the board received an additional $1.3 million in unexpected funds from the state. The board did, however, authorize $240 grand for teacher sabbaticals.
On June 22 Shreveport Mayor Adrian Perkins advised the Shreveport city council that Caddo Superintendent Dr. Lamar Goree had called requesting a meeting on crossing guards. Goree was unable to attend any meeting until the week of 9 July because of travel plans.
Seemingly Goree does not understand and/or appreciate how Shreveport government operates regarding its budget. Specifically, the fact that the budget cut for crossing guards was initiated by council president Jerry Bowman and passed unanimously by the Council.
Perkins did not request the budget cut. Nor did he endorse it.
Goree should be meeting with the Council’s public safety committee chaired by councilman Grayson Boucher. Other committee members are John Nickelson, James Flurry and Bowman.
Funding of crossing guards is an council issue, not a mayoral one. Goree and his staff have continually ignored the council, with the exception of sending a teacher from a charter school to the June 25 council meeting to make a pitch on behalf of Goree for full funding of crossing guards.
Goree and the school board initially played “ostrich” by ignoring the funding question---putting their heads in the sand. Then they played a game of “chicken” by ignoring the city council—in effect daring the council to cut the funding.
Now it appears that Goree is playing the “run to daddy” card---calling on the mayor to bail out the school board. Its time for Goree to play “adult”—and have a sit down with the group that controls the purse strings.