Caddo Parish Supt. Keith Burton reveals new vision and district image

SHREVEPORT, La. (KTAL/KMSS) – As Caddo Parish students kicked off the 2025-2026 school year, Superintendent Keith Burton began his 34th year as an educator and second year as the district’s top administrator. He’s making his mark on the district with a fresh look and philosophy.

“Not only have we rebranded our district with graphics and a new website, new app, and all that, but we are building around a new mindset of excellence, everyone, everyday,” Burton explained.

Burton said empowering everyone to contribute and strive for excellence in their individual domains is vital, especially in such a geographically expansive district.

“If you look at going from below Keithville all the way up north to Vivian to the state line of Arkansas, you’ve have the challenges of transportation. You have the challenges of ensuring you’ve got quality communication, the same message is getting out to all families no matter if they’re urban or if they’re rural,” shared Burton.

Transportation has been a top priority, with the district adding new bus drivers and 10 new buses to the the fleet this year, to prevent delays.

“It’s got to be solved. We cannot be a district that doesn’t provide quality customer service when we’re transporting students,” said Burton. “It is my goal that no matter where a student lives in this district, that we will have on time transportation and it’s going to make a great difference for families.”

Also making a difference for families is choice. In addition to the district’s magnet program, which has been around for decades, they’ve launched two new K through 8 district-wide academies. J.S. Clark Academy focuses on workforce development and Broadmoor STEM Academy focuses on science, technology, engineering and math.

“You didn’t have to test. You didn’t have to meet a certain GPA. The only thing you had to have was an interest in that area and we opened the doors for you,” Burton said.

He added that more personalized educational opportunities will be a focus for the future at Caddo Parish Schools.

“We will continue to look at expanding family choices to be able to provide children no matter again no matter where they zip code is opportunities to attend schools that they’re interested in,” Burton confirmed. “It’s my belief that education is the one thing that provides every student to define their life path.”