Court-imposed magnet plan and enrollment thresholds govern any reopening of Catahoula Elementary, district staff say

A district staff member told the St. Martin Parish School Board that a series of court orders and consent decrees, plus a court-approved magnet implementation plan, set specific conditions the district must meet before Catahoula Elementary may reopen.

The staff member summarized the legal history and criteria that remain in force, saying the 2015–16 consent orders addressed student assignment, faculty assignment and quality of education; later rulings and filings led to further oversight. The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals remanded the closure of Catahoula to the district court, and in 2023 the district court adopted a plaintiffs' proposal tied to reopening that included a signed magnet plan and other stipulations.

Why this matters: reopening a school in St. Martin Parish will require compliance with federal court orders that aim to ensure the district has eliminated the vestiges of past segregation “to the extent practicable,” affecting student assignment, staffing, facility resourcing and programing.

Key points from the staff presentation included: - The court-authorized magnet plan limits Catahoula Elementary to pre-K through first grade if it reopens; it cannot be used for grades 2–12 or any variation of those grades without further court approval. The school may operate after‑school programs or host community events, but regular grade assignments are constrained by the court order. - The court order and magnet plan prohibit the district from recruiting staff, faculty or allocating resources to Catahoula “in a manner that hinders” compliance with the magnet consent and related court documents. - The magnet plan specifies a pupil‑teacher ratio of 18:1 for the magnet sites; the district stated that no other school may hold that same 18:1 ratio exclusive to the magnet sites. For Catahoula to meet that provision, staff said the school would need at least 19 kindergarten students and 19 first‑grade students. - The district’s IT data for a hypothetical Catahoula opening in 2025 showed projected enrollment of 7 pre‑K students, 8 kindergarten students and 8 first‑grade students, with a racial breakdown of 4 Black students and 19 White students. The staff member presented those numbers as the immediate data points that fall short of the court’s reopening thresholds. - The court adopted conditions in 2023 that the district must propose any reopening plan to the court for approval before reopening could occur; the judge’s role includes review and ongoing monitoring of compliance with consent decrees and court orders.

The staff member also described follow‑up actions the district is pursuing, including creating a professional development hub and training center for St. Martin Parish School Board administrators, teachers and staff and exploring additional programs and resources for the facility identified for Catahoula.

During public comment a long‑time attendee who identified themselves as having served on the board in prior years criticized past board decisions, saying the board had not sought outside legal opinions before closing other schools and that those actions contributed to ongoing litigation. There was no motion or vote recorded in the transcript on reopening Catahoula or on directing staff to propose a court submission; a chairperson noted no further discussion and moved on to other business.

Next steps the staff member described were: maintain court compliance, develop the professional development hub and, if and when the enrollment and program conditions in the magnet plan are met, prepare a reopening proposal to submit to the court for approval. The district and court retain ongoing oversight responsibilities tied to the consent orders and implementation of the magnet plan.