7 hours Ago
Board members hear public comments during a meeting of the Lafayette Parish School Board on Wednesday, November 20, 2024, at board offices in Lafayette. Facebook Twitter WhatsApp SMS Email Print Copy article link Save After a tense discussion, the Lafayette Parish School Board decided to table a decision about what to do with Paul Breaux Middle and Northside High. The board unanimously voted to send the recommendation to the district's Long Range Planning Committee.
Read more: Lafayette Parish School Board narrowly votes to keep Comeaux High open The board didn't take up the agenda item until almost 10 p.m. after making other decisions relating to district optimization.
By that time, most families and community members had left the meeting. The original recommendation from Civic Solutions Group, a strategic planner hired by the district was to build a new 6-8 facility to replace Paul Breaux Middle School on the Northside High campus, then build a separate replacement 9-12 facility. But Board Vice President Hannah Smith Mason proposed a substitute motion to instead move the 300 students currently at Paul Breaux Middle to the Northside High facility, creating a 6-12 facility.
After strong opposition from a few members of the public, board member Jeremy Hidalgo provided a secondary substitute motion to instead send the recommendation to the district's Long Range Planning Committee. Hidalgo and Board Member Roddy Bergeron argued that because other potential cost-saving measures recommended by Civic Solutions Group, the hired strategic planner, were not approved, there was likely not funding for building two separate new 6-8 and 9-12 facilities. The decision was the last of seven items the board voted on relating to the district optimization plan.
This is a developing story..
