§642. Department of Education; creation; domicile; composition; purposes and functions

            A. The Department of Education is created and shall be a body corporate with the power to sue and be sued. The domicile of the department shall be in Baton Rouge.

            B. The Department of Education, through its offices, officers, and management boards shall, in accordance with law, provide for the education of the people of the state and shall be the agency through which the state administers the functions of the state superintendent of education, the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education, the Board of Regents, the Board of Supervisors for the University of Louisiana System, the Board of Supervisors of Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, the Board of Supervisors of Southern University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, and the Board of Supervisors of Community and Technical Colleges, as provided by the constitution and laws of this state and this Title.

            C.(1) The Department of Education shall be composed of the executive office of the state superintendent, the office of management and finance, the office of district support, and such other offices as shall be created by law.

            (2) Whenever the state superintendent determines that the administration of the functions of the department may be more efficiently performed by eliminating, merging, or consolidating existing offices or establishing new offices, he shall present a plan therefor to the legislature for its approval by statute.

            D.(1) In accordance with their constitutional mandate, the Board of Regents, the Board of Supervisors for the University of Louisiana System, the Board of Supervisors of Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, the Board of Supervisors of Southern University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, and the Board of Supervisors of Community and Technical Colleges, and the State Board of Elementary and Secondary Education shall be responsible for performing their respective functions of education in the state of Louisiana, and each such board shall retain all of its powers, duties, and responsibilities as provided by the constitution and by law.

            (2) The Louisiana Student Financial Assistance Commission within the Board of Regents, as provided by law, shall be responsible for the supervision, control, direction, and administration of the state programs on higher education financial assistance and the scholarship programs transferred to it.

            Added by Acts 1977, No. 83, §1, eff. June 22, 1977. Amended by Acts 1978, No. 135, §3; Acts 1978, No. 550, §1; Acts 1979, No. 349, §3; Acts 1987, No. 736, §1; Acts 1989, No. 190, §2, eff. June, 26, 1989; Acts 1997, No. 19, §1, eff. May 14, 1997; Acts 2003, No. 393, §2, eff. June 18, 2003; Acts 2009, No. 409, §3, eff. July 1, 2009; Acts 2010, No. 861, §17; Acts 2011, No. 302, §1, eff. June 28, 2011; Acts 2012, No. 441, §2; Acts 2013, No. 327, §1; Acts 2021, No. 468, §2, eff. July 1, 2021.