“This is a movement that is solely about the enhancement of the quality of education and life for the students and citizens on the East Side,” Johnson said in an email Thursday. “In the Mayor’s Office, we receive constant complaints about inequalities in service, lack of support, and lack of concern in general from the school district as it relates to the schools in St. Gabriel.

“This decision stems from the accumulation of years of frustration. Attempts at solutions have been met with broken promises or ‘quick fixes’ void of any permanent solutions to the ongoing issues of the East Side. There is, and has been, a blatant disregard on behalf of the school district for how these ongoing issues affect our community as a whole,” Johnson said.

The Iberville Parish School District is composed of nine schools, seven of them on the more populous west bank of the Mississippi River.

East Iberville Elementary and High School and the Math, Science and Arts Academy-East campus are the only two schools located on Iberville’s less-populated east bank.

Anna Gatlin, a spokeswoman for Department of Education, tells The Advocate (http://bit.ly/13sP4OL) that breakaway districts require a state constitutional amendment granting the city the same authority bestowed on parishes to receive state Minimum Foundation Program funding and tax revenue to fund local schools.

Gatlin wrote that municipalities wanting to form independent school districts must first present their proposal to the state Legislature, where it must win two-thirds majority votes in both the House and Senate.

Next, the proposed constitutional amendment must be placed on a statewide election ballot and win majority support both statewide and in Iberville Parish, Gatlin said.

School Superintendent Ed Cancienne said he felt the Iberville School District always has maintained an open dialogue with east side residents and has taken their complaints seriously.

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Information from: The Advocate, http://theadvocate.com