LAFAYETTE, La. — Days after the Lafayette Parish School Board voted to close Ovey Comeaux High School, district officials are detailing their plan to rezone approximately 700 students to three other campuses ahead of the 2026-27 school year.
“We, too, understand the heartache that might be associated with these transitions, and we want to do everything possible to make it as smooth as possible,” said Tracy Wirtz, communications director for the Lafayette Parish School System (LPSS).
Under the district’s plan, 221 Comeaux students will transfer to Acadiana High, 269 to Lafayette High, and 208 to Southside High. Wirtz said district leaders based campus assignments on students’ residences as well as projected populations from feeder schools.
When asked about alternate placement, Wirtz confirmed some students may apply to attend a non-zoned school through LPSS’s Magnet Academy program or via hardship requests. Magnet Academy applications open March 24, and hardship petitions will be reviewed individually. The Louisiana High School Athletic Association is also working with LPSS to clarify eligibility for Comeaux athletes impacted by the transition.
Administrators at Acadiana High School, Lafayette High School, and Southside High School are hosting campus welcome nights this week and next— giving students and families opportunities to meet with school staff and ask questions about their new campuses. “They've done a wonderful job of setting up these welcome nights or meet-and-greet nights where not only will they get to meet the administration, but they'll be able to ask questions because they will have a lot,” Wirtz said.
LPSS says it is working closely with principals to ensure each school is ready to support new and returning students. “To make sure that the principals and their administrative staffs have everything in place and all of the support they need because those principals want to make this a very pleasant experience for the Spartans,” Wirtz said.
Ovey Comeaux High School will close at the end of the 2025-26 academic year.
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