ST. MARTIN PARISH, La. (KLFY)–Catahoula Elementary School will remain closed after failing to meet requirements set by a federal judge.

St. Martin Parish Superintendent, Frederick Wiltz, who explained the reasoning behind the decision.

“At this time we felt that it wasn’t in the best interest of the district to try to reopen the school with that small amount of kids as well as trying to compete with the requirements of our federal consent orders,” said Wiltz.

Catahoula Elementary School was ordered to close in 2021 by Federal Judge Elizabeth Foote due to an ongoing desegregation case. However, in 2022, the United States Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals reversed the closure order, stating that Judge Foote had abused her discretion.

Despite this reversal, the school was unable to meet the required 19 students per classroom, which would be necessary for Catahoula Elementary to re-open as a Pre-K school.

“The agreement that we worked on with the Department of Justice in the Legal Defense Fund required that our enrollment at our two magnet schools had an 18 to 1 ratio pupil to teacher ratio, and therefore no other school within the district could have a pupil teacher ratio less than that.” Wiltz said.

Wiltz highlighted the implementation of two magnet schools in the Saint Martinville area as part of the desegregation order.

“A big part of our desegregation order was the implementation of two magnet schools in the Saint Martinville area,” said Wiltz. “A big part of the implementation of those two magnet programs, too, was to ensure that they were fully online and full operational prior to the consideration of re-opening Catahoula.

As a result of the closure, students have been rezoned to St. Martin STEAM Academy and Early STEAM Academy. Wiltz assured that students will continue to receive quality education despite the ongoing court case.

“Those students have matriculated into those schools, and we haven’t had any issues,” Wiltz said. “No matter where students are zoned for, where they reside, we’re going to provide students with the best education possible.”

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