Central City, Louisiana

Geobox City
name = City of Central City
native_name =
other_name =
other_name1 =
category = City


image_size =
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flag_size =
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country = United States
state = Louisiana
region = East Baton Rouge
region_type = Parish
area_imperial =
area_land_imperial =
area_water_imperial =
area_water_percentage = auto
area_percentage_round = 2
area_round = 1
location =
lat_d = 30
lat_m = 33
lat_s = 16
lat_NS = N
long_d = 91
long_m = 02
long_s = 12
long_EW = W
elevation_imperial = 66
elevation_round = 1
population_as_of =
population =
population_density_imperial =
population_density_round = 1
government =
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established =
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timezone = CST
utc_offset = -6
timezone_DST = CDT
utc_offset_DST = -5
postal_code =
postal_code_type =
area_code = 225
area_code_type =
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code2 =
free_type =
free =
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free1 =


map_size =
map_caption = Location of Central City in Louisiana
map_locator = Louisiana
map1 = Map of USA LA.svg
map1_caption = Location of Louisiana in the United States
website = http://www.centralgov.com

Central City is Louisiana's newest city. Located in East Baton Rouge Parish and officially named the City of Central, the community of 27,000 residents is the 12th largest city in Louisiana. It is part of the Baton Rouge Metropolitan Statistical Area.

Despite opposition from the Parish government and even some of the community's own residents, the supporters of Central incorporation won in an April 2005 vote. Immediately, a local newspaper "Central City News", established by businessman Daniel Duggan, was named the official city paper.

Former Central High School principal Shelton 'Mac' Watts became the temporary mayor. Formal elections were held on April 1, 2006, in which voters chose incumbent Watts with 86% of the 18,000 votes.

There are many churches in the area. The largest are Greenwell Springs Baptist Church, St. Alphonsus Catholic Church, and Zoar Baptist Church. Others include Blackwater United Methodist, Cornerstone, Fellowship Baptist, Life Tabernacle, Magnolia Methodist, The Church in Central, Voice of Pentecost and Covenant Community Church.

In November 2006, the voters of the state passed a constitutional amendment authorizing the creation of the Central Community School District, which allows the people of Central to govern their own public schools.

On January 9, 2007, Governor of Louisiana Kathleen Blanco appointed the interim members of the new Central Community School Board. They are Morris L. Anderson, Sharon Watts Browning, Willard M. Easley, Ruby W. Foil, James W. "Jim" Gardner, Wilfred M. "Marty" Guilbeau Jr. and Russell M. Starns. The board appointed Mike Faulk as the first superintendent. The new school system began operation on July 1, 2007. Although originally it was stated to the residents of Central that no new taxes would be needed, the Central Community School Board voted unanimously on May 5, 2008 to call for a school tax and bond election for Saturday July 9 to build a new $98 million educational compex that would result in abandoning all of the current aging schools. This new complex would, within a four year period, house all children K-12 in the City of Central. Residents are extremely divided on the issue. Central voters recently voted down the proposed bond measure that would have built the school complex.

Education

Primary and secondary schools

Public schools

Residents are zoned to the Central Community School District.

The city's public schools are:
*Bellingrath Hills Elementary
*Tanglewood Elementary
*Central Middle School
*Central High School

The schools were acquired from the East Baton Rouge Parish Public Schools in 2007.

Private schools

Private Schools within Central's School District boundaries include:
*Central Christian Academy
*Central Private School
*St. Alphonsus Catholic School
*Starkey Academy (closing at end of 2007-2008 school year)
*MTI School of Ministry
*Galilee Baptist Academy

External links

* [http://www.centralgov.com/ City of Central]
* [http://www.centralspeaks.com/ CentralSpeaks.com - Local News Online]