BAKER — The Louisiana Board of Elementary and Secondary Education may have violated state law by not properly notifying the public that it was taking over two low-performing schools in Baker, an appellate court found. 

According to the appellate court ruling issued on Tuesday, four members of a five-judge panel said that the wording of BESE's meeting agenda was not clear enough about what would be discussed to comply with the Open Meeting Law, opening the case up to further proceedings into the alleged violation in lower courts in East Baton Rouge Parish.

This reverses a May 2025 19th JDC decision that denied the City of Baker School Board's claims about open meeting violations against BESE.

BESE's meeting agenda for March 12, 2025, made no direct mention of Baker Heights Elementary School and Baker Middle School or the planned takeover after the schools received four consecutive "F" ratings. The agenda instead referred to a BESE committee report from the day before recommending the takeover of the schools.

The City of Baker School System, which filed the suit against BESE and the state education department, argues that BESE's bare agendas would make the takeover of the school "null and void."

If the ruling the appellate court made this week stands, BESE will need to more thoroughly outline its agendas for its meetings.

In September, a separate appeal was reviewed by the First Circuit Court of Appeal. In that appeal, three judges unanimously said that a 19th JDC judge did not follow state law when ruling on the case, clearing the path for the Baker schools to be taken over. 

Tuesday's decision about transparency within the agendas potentially being violated was an appeal on a separate lawsuit filed by the City of Baker School System.