What’s next for Lafayette Public School System? – The Current

Lafayette Parish School System is about to get a complete overhaul to fix a $38.2 million budget shortfall and we could see nine schools closed, three major consolidations and the construction of two new schools.

School officials have been hinting at big changes for a while. In March, amid fears that Paul Breaux Middle School would be shuttered, the board voted to remove the gifted and immersion programs from the school after hours of community dissent.

The draft plan was presented this month by Civic Solutions Group (CSG), a consulting firm led by former Louisiana Superintendent of Education Paul Pastorek.

Were school officials to follow the recommendations, nine facilities would close: Paul Breaux Middle, Acadian Middle, Lafayette Middle, SJ Montgomery Elementary, Duson Elementary, Katharine Drexel Elementary, Comeaux High, and EJ Sam Accelerated. The plan would also consolidate the student populations at three elementary schools, Raphael Baranco, Alice Boucher and JW Faulk, and would shutter one campus.

Paul Breaux Middle School and Northside High School would become two newly built campuses located at the current Northside High School site.

The district’s shrinking budget is driven by declining enrollment, the end of federal COVID-19 funding, and rising insurance costs. LPSS is at a 69.7% occupancy rate, with more than 13,500 vacant seats in the district.

CSG will present the financial impact and a revised plan before the board takes action at their next meeting on Nov. 20, but some districts they’ve worked with have saved $3 million per school closure.

The plan would also reconfigure the remaining schools and allow students who live near magnet schools to have enrollment preference for up to 25% of all available seats in the lottery if they meet admission requirements.

Two community feedback sessions are also scheduled for Oct. 28 at Northside High and Oct. 29 at Acadiana and Southside High before the Nov. 20 meetings. You can take LPSS’s survey or email them if you have comments.

Until next time, I’m Elliot Wade and this is Lafayette.