Comaux High School parents, students demonstrate against the closure of the school | education

Supporters of Comeaux High said they feel the school has been neglected in the past, and now that it’s on a list of proposed closures, they’re asking for more time to cement its value in Lafayette Parish.

Dozens of students, teachers, parents and alumni gathered Tuesday night at the Comeaux Recreation Center to discuss the proposal and an action plan to shape the final decision that includes letting Comeaux remain in its status current

“If we could just give our administration time. The changes we’ve seen this year have been incredible,” said Emily Benoit, teacher and alumna of the class of 2011. “If we give them time, this rebranding will be armed with identity and I think the community will see what we see inside.”

Lafayette Parish School System signed a contract with Civic Solutions Group over the summer, asking the organization to help it decide on a long-term program and facilities plan.

The group said it used data and community feedback to create 14 recommendations that were shared publicly for the first time at a school board meeting earlier this month. Those proposals include closing seven schools, building two new facilities, consolidating schools, expanding programs and pushing the district to create long-term guidelines for its facilities, the campus culture and school performance.

The recommendations are not written in stone and are designed to be influenced by community feedback collected through a survey or emails sent to [email protected]. There will also be three community feedback sessions on Oct. 28 at Northside High and Oct. 29 at Acadiana High and Southside High.

And Comeaux supporters want to make sure the final plan doesn’t include closing the school and rezoning its current students.

“They have so much going on, so many opportunities for these students that they’re going to be blown away,” senior football player and performing arts student Jaydon Roberson said. “And for what? There’s no reason to take that away from these students.”

Those attending the meeting said they felt the school had been neglected in the past while the district invested in other schools in the district, particularly Southside High. When Southside opened in 2017, it took about 900 students from the rezoned Comeaux.

They also pointed to instability within the administration. The school has had four principals in four years and 11 assistant principals in seven years, Comeaux Principal Catherine Cassidy said at the meeting.

But Cassidy, an experienced director, brought the “meauxmentum,” those attending the meeting said. Students are proud to attend Comeaux and disciplinary and attendance issues have improved. And student achievement scores continue to rise.

If they rezone now, they’ll lose it, said mother Kelly Breaux.

“We don’t want this all to unravel and they’d be forced to start over at a pace they don’t want to be,” he said, “where they’d be strangers instead of students.”

Breaux and Benoit, who organized Tuesday’s meeting, said they want Comeaux supporters to fill out a feedback survey, email his board members and pack community meetings next week. There is also a petition asking the district not to close the school.

Teacher Patricia Pellerin, who has been at Comeaux for five years, said she hoped the district would give the school at least two more years to improve on the two goals it failed to meet after CSG’s analysis: low choice rates family and teacher retention, and a high cost per student.

“I want to fight for these kids,” he said. All the attitudes of the teachers are changing and the momentum is going. And these kids want to do it.”