A Lafayette Parish resident has filed a petition asking a judge to stop the closure of Comeaux High School.
Suzanne LaJaunie filed the request for a temporary restraining order, preliminary injunction, permanent injunction and writ of mandamus in 15th Judicial District Court on March 20. You can read it for yourself by scrolling to the end of this story.
We reached out to LPSS; they do not comment on pending litigation. A hearing on the petition is set for March 30 at 9 a.m.
The petition was not signed by an attorney, and was not in the usual form that petitions follow in district court. It appears LaJaunie wrote it herself; her signature on it was notorized. Petitioners are allowed to file documents in court without an attorney.
In the document, she alleges that some board members do not have children in the school system, that a board member is married to a person employed by a charter school organization, and that the board violated the state open meetings law and its own policy regarding the closure of schools.
She alleges that the board violated the open meetings law when board members had "side conversations" that might have included deliberations. She also alleges that statements by one board member who put the item on the agenda indicate that board members had been discussing the closure privately for some time, and that additional members of the public were not allowed to join the line to speak at the meeting after a break - both violations of the law, she says.
The petition says that citizens who signed up to speak weren't allowed to ask questions, and that the vast majority of them spoke against the closure - but board members still approved it.
LaJaunie also alleges the board failed to follow it's own policy for closure of schools, which the petition states requires a public hearing that is advertised in the newspaper and other steps.
We checked the board's policy book, CAPS, and couldn't find the policy. You can check CAPS for yourself by clicking here.
We did find a "district administrative rule" which included the language she quotes. Here's that rule:
She also quotes the dictionary, stating that the definitions of "full" and "discussion" represent the standard that the board must follow for that term.
The petition asks the court to halt the closure of the school until the board's actions can be properly evaluated by a judge, and says that irreparable harm will occur if that doesn't happen. The harm would be disruption to students' education and safety; overcrowding of the receiving schools, as population will exceed design capacity; the loss of academic, athletic and extra curricular investments; a disproportionate impact on underserved communities, "particularly minority District 4" and transportation hardships and inequities.
The petition asks the court to issue a temporary restraining order, nullify the board's vote on the closure and require that the board reconsider the agenda item while following the open meetings law and "LPSS policy requirements."
Here's the petition:
