Suzanne Higginbotham has asked the local DA and the state Legislative Auditor to take a look at actions by the Lafayette Superintendent - asking them to tell her if those actions involve unauthorized expenditure of public funds, exceeding delegated authority and violations of board policy.
The 123-page complaint, which you can read by scrolling down, includes documentation including board minutes, emails, policies and other documents to support the complaint. Higginbotham is the same person who filed the TRO alleging the board violated state law and policy in their initial closure of Comeaux High.
The complaint states that it is "not intended to allege criminal conduct as a matter of fact, but rather to request an independent review of whether application Louisiana law, board policy and board-approved employment terms were followed."
In the letter, Higginbotham discusses a board motion that gave Superintendent Francis Touchet "authority to set summer operating hours and work schedule" for school system employees for June and July 2026.
After that, Touchet approved a plan to have many employees working only 32 or 36 hours during a week - while being paid for 40 hours of work.
That plan, the letter states, "provided public employees with the equivalent of 7.5 paid workdays for which employees were not required to report to work or perform their regularly assigned duties."
But board policy states that all employees shall be required to work at least the minimum number of days in their salary schedule, and board policy also states that normal business hours are 7:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday at the board office.
The salary schedule that governs most central office positions is based on a 244-day work year, the letter states.
The letter states that all these policies together "mandate a minimum work obligation of public employees" and while the board may have given the superintendent authority to adjust the summer schedule, they didn't give him authority for "a reduction in the minimum workdays or work hours upon which employee compensation is based."
Because these employees are paid with taxpayer dollars, the letter requests that the DA and the Legislative Auditor let her know if these actions constitution public payroll fraud.
The letter points out that Touchet has done this before, and also notes that past superintendents adjusted the summer schedules - but still required employees to fulfill the minimum workdays.
We reached out to LPSS and we'll update this story as soon as we hear back.
Here's the complaint:
