BATON ROUGE - The East Baton Rouge Parish School System pushed the return of school back to September 6th, the district announced Monday.

Originally, officials hoped to open schools this week but decided the stress on the system was too great.  Numerous campuses were flooded and school buses took on water, too, when the area flooded after record amounts of rain.

The district said the decision to push the start of school back to after Labor Day was made after an assessment of school system facilities and transportation.  The district found it was not safe to resume school until September 6th.

"We want to ensure that our students are in safe buildings and can be delivered to their schools by reliable buses," Superintendent Warren Drake said in a statement.  "Beginning after Labor Day will provide us time to work on the facilities and order new buses.  I want you to know that this was a difficult decision, but our students safety comes first," Drake said.

Employees will continue to report to their sites as directed by their supervisor. 

Nine schools sustained some sort of flooding - Glen Oaks High, Brookstown Middle, Park Forest Middle, Glen Oaks Park Elementary, Park Forest Elementary, Greenbriar Elementary, Twin Oaks Elementary, Howell Park Elementary and Northdale Superintendent's Academy. Some schools had only a few inches of flooding while other campuses had feet of water.
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