MELINDA DESLATTE
Associated Press

BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) - The state education board is on track to spend $2 million from an oil and gas trust fund for a pilot program to expand online high school course offerings to public school students.

The funding switch will address a Louisiana Supreme Court ruling that declared previous financing plans unconstitutional.

A panel of the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education voted 8-2 Tuesday to pay for the "Course Choice" program for 2013-14. A majority of the full board voted for the financing, with final approval slated for Wednesday.

Initial plans were to finance the program through the public school funding formula. Course Choice instead will be paid from the trust fund.

Education Superintendent John White expects up to 3,000 students to enroll for courses taught by private organizations and universities.

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Engineers have a warning for Livingston Parish leaders about a potential problem with a newly-constructed road.

The parish spent $2.2 million making Eden Church Road in Denham Springs safer, but another issue has surfaced.

When construction on Eden Church Road got underway, residents like Terry Woodworth could hardly wait for the highway to open.

"It was real bad when they were working on it. Even though it was closed down people were coming through and we had a mud rally going on out here," Woodworth said.

The principal at a Baton Rouge school says they have no money for maintenance and barely have someone to change light bulbs. So, when a local company offered to help for no charge, they said bring it on.

Around Hope Academy, on Jefferson Highway, there are people all over. Some are cutting grass, some cutting hedges and others asking where they can find more paint.

"That's what we're here for, to help them," said organizer Rachel Pourciau.

A three-vehicle crash backed up traffic for an hour Tuesday afternoon on I-10 eastbound between Highland Road and Essen Lane.

The traffic backup from this incident is approached Siegen at times.

Also, I-10 East at LA 641/Grammercy is down to one lane. The right lane is closed for a truck crash. Use US 61 as an alternate route.

Check out the Traffic Maps and Cameras section on wafb.com or use the traffic section on the free WAFB news app.

Transportation officials celebrated the opening of all six lanes on I-10 between Siegen and Highland Tuesday.

The $60 million expansion project also included work on bridges and overpasses on at the Kansas City Southern Railroad and Highland Rd.

DOTD says plans are on the way to widen I-10 between Highland Rd. and Highway 22 in Ascension Parish.

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