Jefferson Parish Students Grill School Board Hopefuls Over No-Show Buses, Rookie Teachers

By Gregory Lee

Source: Hoodline

October 12, 2026

The Story

Jefferson Parish high schoolers attended a student-organized town hall this past Saturday to press school board candidates on three problems they say shape their daily lives: buses that never show up, classrooms led by inexperienced or absent teachers, and long security lines caused by the district’s clear-backpack rule. Of the 14 candidates running for the parish’s nine open school board seats, only one, John Cunningham, showed up to answer questions directly from students.

BGR’s Role

Money remains the backdrop to the staffing fight. Jefferson Parish voters narrowly rejected a 10.89-mill property tax in December 2024 that would have raised $48 million a year and lifted certified teacher starting salaries from $51,800 to $60,100, per the Bureau of Governmental Research. A 5% raise was tied to savings from school consolidations.

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