Dr. Pat Cooper, who served as superintendent of the Lafayette Parish School System from January 2012 to November of 2014, died on Jan. 8.
Cooper, who was diagnosed with lung cancer in the summer of 2024, was 76. He was born in Minden and raised in Springhill.
The highly regarded — and at times controversial — education leader was fired from his position as head of Lafayette schools amid allegations he violated state law and board policy in a number of personnel and budget decisions. Cooper sued the Lafayette Parish School Board for wrongful termination in 2014, arguing that Act 1, passed by the Legislature in 2012, shifted power from school boards to superintendents…