Construction on the new Ovey Comeaux Workforce Innovation Academy could begin toward the end of the year — and decisions on how the project will be funded are in front of the Lafayette Parish School Board on Thursday.
Ovey Comeaux High School closed at the end of the 2026 school year to make way for a new workforce academy that will house the W.D. & Mary Baker Smith Career Center and E.J. Sam Accelerated Academy, alongside other workforce training programs for Lafayette Parish students.
Last week, Superintendent Francis Touchet said that the district will tap rainy day funds to pay for the project. The school board previously submitted an application to the State Bond Commission for the issuance of $46 million in sales tax revenue bonds to fund construction but withdrew the application at the commission’s Aug. 20 meeting…