The lawsuit challenging the Lafayette Parish School Board's closure of Comeaux High School is closed, but the judge who oversaw three days of court and watched a board meeting had some words for the school system.
The Third Circuit Court of Appeal granted a Motion filed by board attorneys this week; the board asked the appeals court to review the judge's denial of their request to dismiss the lawsuit as moot.
The argument was that, because the board rescinded their vote closing the school, the lawsuit no longer had a basis. The appeals court agreed.
In essence, that means the board must vote again on closing the school.
In a hearing Wednesday morning, Judge Valerie Gotch Garrett granted the plaintiff's motion for court costs and attorney fees, meaning the school system now must pay the bill of the Baton Rouge firm that represented her in the process.
The judge, who recessed court on Monday so she could consider if she should hold board members in contempt, also had some words for the school system.
"I hope there have been some valuable lessons learned about public integrity," she said.
She described this as "one of the most difficult trials I've ever had to hear" because so many people were impacted by the decision.
"I hope in the future you'll all do better," she told board members.
The judge called out an assistant superintendent for not listening during the hearing, and said "I would urge you to respect each other... and the court," adding that she found that the "disrespect was unnerving."
The parties had attempted to settle the case, but weren't able to agree. One item the board wouldn't agree to was a promise that no employees who testified at the trial would suffer retaliation.
The Third Circuit's opinion states that the petition filed specifically addressed the board's vote on March 12 to close the school. Because the board rescinded that vote, the petition was moot.
However, the Third Circuit said that the district court still had jurisdiction over the award of costs and attorneys fees. That's what Gotch Garrett granted Wednesday morning.
Here's the board's response:
The Lafayette Parish School Board is pleased that the Third Circuit Court of Appeal has decided to dismiss the case regarding the repurposing of Comeaux High. The Court recognized that there was no reason for the trial to continue. When the Board was made aware of a possible error in procedure, they made the decision to remedy it so they didn’t incur additional legal expenses related to this litigation. The Appeals Court made it clear that School Board members were well within their authority to rescind its decision regarding Comeaux, which they did during the April 15 meeting.
The appeals court agreed that the language of the injunction on April 13 was overly broad and restricted School Board members from doing the job they were elected to do. Once the March 12 action was reversed, the plaintiffs had received the outcome they said they wanted, making further litigation unnecessary.
On a related matter, the Louisiana Attorney General’s Office issued a letter on April 29 that it had reviewed an Open Meetings Law complaint related to the March 12 meeting. Their office determined the complaint was unreasonable and that no violation occurred.
Throughout this process, Board members have remained mindful of the students, families, and employees affected by these decisions. Moving forward, the Board will focus its time and energy on what matters most: providing students with strong educational and career opportunities that prepare them for success in school and in life.
