Louisiana 529 Start & Start K12 Program

Have a 9 month old and his grandparents have started giving "education" gifts for holidays and whatnot and also want to help in some form or fashion with tuition/education expenses in the future. I have an LA START account that I opened 7 or 8 years ago with some extra cash (my niece was a beneficiary until I had my child). I see now that they added a K12 START plan with fewer benefits but that can be used for K-12 tuition. Few questions:

1. What is the best way for a grandparent to help pay for educational expenses for their grandchild? Pay the school directly, contribute to the START K12 529, pay me then I pay the school, pay me then I put it in the START K12 529? Just trying to figure out the best way to do it with the least headache.

2. Is the START K-12 program worth it without the tax deductions and earnings enhancement that the normal START program has?

3. Does having a nest egg in the START account affect financial aid for college and if so how significant is that effect? Enough to make it not worth doing?

4. Is there anything else I should be aware of regarding 529's or paying for a child's education?

Tough to parse everything out there and noticed that a lot of things have changed in the last 5 years.