LAFAYETTE, La. — Following recent news about adjustments and cuts to pre-kindergarten programs for the 2025-2026 school year, many parents in the Hub City have expressed their concerns regarding the future of immersion classes.
Viewers told KATC they were eagerly anticipating the opportunity to speak at Wednesday night’s Lafayette Parish School Board meeting so board members could hear directly from them about their frustrations surrounding this decision.
But despite the crowd's hopes of voicing their frustrations, they weren't given the opportunity to speak.
According to LPSS board members, Superintendent Francis Touchet has the authority to make decisions regarding the programs without public discussion or a board vote.
“There will be no comment on pre-K tonight because it’s not on the agenda, so if anyone was there to speak on that, I apologize now,” said Britt Latiolais.
Marguerite Justus, a parent fluent in French, expressed her disappointment that they weren't going to speak about the major decisions at the meeting and even more heartbroken that her daughter wouldn't be able to start immersion classes as soon as she had hoped.
“I always wanted that for my kid, and I’m trying and I’m trying, but you are fighting against a sea. I had this hope of pre-K 4; she will be almost 5 because of her birthday when she starts pre-K 4. Now she will be almost 6 the first time she regularly gets any input in French that isn’t me,” Justus said.
LPSS officials stated that closing these pre-K immersion programs could save the district $1 million annually.
However, other parents voiced their desire for more discussions and opportunities to share opinions before such programs were eliminated.
“It’s just a year, but this is the beginning of the cutting all of it, and we are going to back to the times when our grandparents weren’t allowed to speak French. That was robbed from them, and they will surely start doing it again,” Ray Cloutier, another parent says.
In response to the planned cuts, parents have started a petition in hopes that LPSS will reverse its decision.
You can view that petition here.
The closure will impact five schools and result in the relocation of nine teachers and nine paraprofessionals to other schools in the district.
