A federal judge ruled that a predominately white school in St. Martin Parish, opened during the height of desegregation, can reopen only for students in pre-K through first grade with older students attending a different school, our media partners at The Advocate report.
Judge Elizabeth Foote ruled earlier this week that Catahoula Elementary School can serve students in pre-K through first grade who are zoned for the school but second through fifth graders in that attendance zone must attend St. Martinville Primary School, the newspaper reports.
If you'd like to read the ruling for yourself, scroll down.
The school cannot reopen before the 2024-2025 school year after two magnet schools programs are created and launched at the Early Learning Center and St. Martinville Primary, The Advocate reports.
That means students zoned to attend the Early Learning Center for the upcoming 2023-2024 school year will continue to attend that school.
"We commend the Court for supporting our clients’ fight to integrate all St. Martinville schools,” Katrina Feldkamp, Legal Defense Fund assistant counsel who represents the lawsuit's plaintiffs, said in a statement.
“By refusing to return Catahoula Elementary to the status quo, the Court's ruling today moves the parish closer to finally fulfilling the promises of Brown v. Board."
The decision comes as part of a decades-long desegregation lawsuit involving the St. Martin Parish School Board that alleged the district did not do enough to desegregate its student and faculty populations as demanded by the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka.
To read The Advocate's full story with all the details, click here.
Here's the ruling:
