St. Landry Parish (Louisiana) district is closing 3 schools

The St. Landry Parish (Louisiana) School Board has voted to shutter three schools in the district.

The Acadiana Advocate reports that the board action comes after Louisiana's education department told the district it operated too many schools.

Closing the schools is expected to save the district $2.5 million a year.

The affected campuses:

• Opelousas Middle School in Opelousas will close, and students will be moved to Creswell Middle School. 
• Washington Elementary in Washington will close and be converted into a Career and Technical Education Center; students will be moved to Grand Prairie Elementary, Plaisance Middle, Palmetto Elementary, or Port Barre Elementary. Washington Elementary houses around 120 students with 24 staff members. Around 80% of children in the school are minorities, with around the same amount considered economically disadvantaged.
• Eunice Elementary in Eunice will close, and the facility will be converted to space for an alternative school program and career and technical education. Students would move to East Elementary or Glendale Elementary.

Enrollment is down across the parish. Many students are either leaving for schools in nearby Lafayette Parish or enrolling in private or charter schools, said Superintendent Milton Batiste III.

Total enrollment is down 1,340 since the 2018-19 school year, district officials reported. St. Landry Parish's enrollment as of October 2024 was 11,252, according to the state education department.