EVANGELINE PARISH PUBLIC SCHOOLS DECLARED UNITARY BY FEDERAL JUDGE
MAY 17, 2012
Today is an historic day for Evangeline parish residents. A federal judge in Lafayette today (Wednesday) has given unitary status to the Evangeline Parish Public School System. The declaration took place 47 years to the month that Joanne Graham and other plaintiffs filed a lawsuit in federal court in 1965 claiming the Evangeline School Board was operating a racially segregated school system.
U.S. District Court Judge Tucker Melancon at noon today granted “unitary” status to the school system which removes all federal supervision or oversight of the local public schools.
The final green factor that was remaining dealt with facilities and in particular Ville Platte High. Judge Melancon commented that the Evangeline Parish School Board has spent some 6 million dollars in improvements to Ville Platte High.
He remarked “ I don’t think that there is a school operating in Evangeline Parish with a more important educational environment than at Ville Platte High School.”