Avoyelles schools declared unitary

MARKSVILLE – The Avoyelles Parish School District has been declared unitary, or desegregated in all schools, after an almost 50-year process.

A consent order was signed Friday at a special meeting of the Avoyelles Parish School Board, effectively emerging the district from the case that began in 1967. U.S. District Judge Dee Drell orally approved the order on Thursday, Avoyelles District Attorney Charles Riddle III said. He said Drell likely will issue an opinion to ratify the decree next week. Riddle has been working on this case for 13 years.

The consent decree declares the district unitary but keeps the case open and under the jurisdiction of the federal court for three years. The district may file a motion to dismiss the case after June 1, 2018.

In the meantime, Superintendent Blaine Dauzat and board members must report annually to the court its progress on efforts already in place to meet six benchmarks called Green factors like facilities and student assignment.

"You've got my pledge, and I know you have the pledge of the board and ... of the staff, that we are going to ensure there is no risk of us going back into this case," Dauzat said.

That means maintaining efforts to desegregate schools with disproportionate racial makeup of the student population. Currently those are Lafargue Elementary and Bunkie Elementary Learning Academy.

The Louisiana School for the Agricultural Sciences (LaSAS) is "close," Riddle said, as its minority-to-majority ratio is at 30 percent. He said it increases slightly each year.

Several at the meeting described the announcement as "a long time coming." Although originally opened in 1967, the case picked up steam in 1987 when an intervenor brought forth issues regarding student assignments.

The school district's most recent push toward unitary status began in 2008 when district officials developed a plan to realign its schools and filed for approval from Drell in Alexandria. Drell told then-Superintendent Dwayne Lemoine and board members to hire an expert to help the district meet the Green factors.

Lemoine said he was told when hired eight years ago that achieving unitary status would be a top priority. He said it framed his work, highlighting needs across the district. He said it wasn't an easy process.

"But those obstacles helped us become a better school district," said Lemoine, who retired as superintendent in December. "This is a momentous day. I'm just proud to still be a little part of it."

Allen Holmes, who joined the case as an intervenor in the last 1980s, was among those applauding the announcement Friday.

"It's been about 30-some years," Holmes said. "This board has been a dynamic board. One thing we knew (was) we had to work toward this thing. ... We worked for one goal — the kids in Avoyelles Parish. It was never about black, white. It was about education."

Many on the board and in the district have been involved with the case for years and commented joyfully about moving forward.

"It's a weight lifted off our shoulders," board member Shelia Blackman-Dupas said. "We need to move on."

"Now our supervisors can worry just about education and not about Green factors," board President Michael Lacombe said.