Former Lafayette School Board Member Files State Complaint Over Comeaux High Vote

LAFAYETTE, La. — Rickey Hardy, a former state representative and former Lafayette Parish School Board member, has filed an amended complaint alleging the school board broke state law by proceeding to a vote without first allowing public comment on two substitute motions related to the closure of Ovey Comeaux High School.

Hardy filed the complaint with 15th Judicial District Attorney Don Landry. The Louisiana Department of Justice confirmed it is reviewing an amended complaint against LPSS, and the Attorney General's office confirmed it has received two separate open meetings complaints involving the district, both currently under review.

LPSS said it was not aware of the amended complaint and offered no further comment as of Tuesday's news deadline.

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What the Complaint Alleges

Hardy's amended complaint targets a specific procedural sequence from the March 12 board meeting, when the board voted to close Comeaux. His argument centers on two substitute motions that came up for a vote without public comment in between.

District 4 Board Member Amy Trahan made the first substitute motion, to keep Comeaux open and place career programs at both Comeaux and Northside High. District 3 Board Member Josh Edmond seconded it. Hardy says the board voted without allowing the public to speak first.

A second substitute motion, to phase out Comeaux before closing it, followed. Hardy says that vote also happened without public input.

Credit: KATC/YouTube

"It clearly states that the board violated the open meeting law by not allowing public comments prior to them voting," Hardy said. "You cannot vote until the public have spoken because then they could sway the substitute motion."

Louisiana R.S. 42:15 is direct on this: school boards must allow public comment at any meeting prior to taking any vote. The statute further specifies that a general comment period at the start of a meeting does not satisfy that requirement. Public comment must be available before each vote.

Hardy also contends the board ran afoul of its own internal policies on top of state law.

"I amended a complaint with the District Attorney because of the fact that I was showing them where they had violated their own policy multiple times," Hardy said.

How Comeaux Got Here

The road to closure has been anything but straight.

A consulting firm called Civic Solutions Group first recommended closing Comeaux in October 2024, citing enrollment that had fallen to roughly 392 students against a campus capacity of 2,100. The board rejected the idea the following month, voting 5-4 to keep the school open, on the same day state scores showed Comeaux had earned an A rating and led Lafayette Parish in academic growth.

In March 2026, the board revisited the question with little public notice and no prior public hearing, voting 5-2 to take the school offline. Lafayette parent Suzanne LaJaunie went to court, and a 15th Judicial District Court judge issued a preliminary injunction blocking the closure. The board voted in April to rescind the March decision, which gave the Louisiana Third Circuit Court of Appeal grounds to dismiss LaJaunie's lawsuit as moot.

The board then started the process over by the book, holding a public hearing on June 2 before returning to vote. On June 11, the board voted 5-4 to permanently close the school, with Britt Latiolais, Ted Davidson, Roddy Bergeron, Hannah Smith Mason, and Kate Labue voting in favor and Amy Trahan, Josh Edmond, Jeremy Hidalgo, and David LeJeune voting against.

Hardy's amended complaint focuses on procedural failures at the March meeting, not the final June vote. However, a separate complaint Hardy filed with the DA, first reported by KATC last week, argues the June vote itself violated board policy. That policy requires a two-thirds vote to reconsider a matter voted on by the school board more than once in the same calendar year, and the 5-4 tally in June fell short of that threshold, Hardy contends.

What Comes Next

The Attorney General's review is ongoing. No enforcement action has been announced.

Under Louisiana law, actions taken in violation of the Open Meetings Law are voidable by a court, but a lawsuit to challenge them must be filed within 60 days of the action in question. The 60-day window from March 12 has passed. Hardy has not indicated publicly whether he is seeking to void the June vote.

LPSS has not addressed the substance of either complaint.

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