OPELOUSAS, La. (KPEL News) — The St. Landry Parish School Board voted Thursday night to merge Opelousas Junior High School with Opelousas Senior High School, choosing local consolidation over the threat of a state takeover driven by years of failing grades.
The motion passed with eight votes in favor and one abstention, according to KATC. District 5 board member Bianca J. Vedell was the lone abstention, The Advocate reported. The merger will take effect for the 2026-2027 school year.
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Why the State Forced the Decision
The vote came after the Louisiana Department of Education sent a letter to the district warning that Opelousas Junior High could be taken over by the state’s Recovery School District. RSD Superintendent Pam Schooler wrote that the school had earned an “F” letter grade for seven consecutive years and was “academically unacceptable,” as reported by St. Landry Now.
The district was given two options: merge the junior high with the senior high into a single grades 7-12 campus, or hand the school over to the RSD. The board had until March 11 to submit a formal plan.
The RSD was created by the Louisiana Legislature in 2003 to take control of chronically failing schools. Schools taken over by the program are often converted into charter campuses run by private operators. That history made the takeover option deeply unpopular in St. Landry Parish…