St. Landry Parish School Board Votes Wednesday on Six School Closures

OPELOUSAS, La. — The St. Landry Parish School Board meets today at 5 p.m. to take final votes on a plan that would close six schools and reconfigure four others starting with the 2026-2027 school year, according to a special meeting notice posted by KATC.

The meeting is set for the St. Landry Parish School Board Supplementary Resource Center at 1013 Creswell Lane in Opelousas. Board members will work through a lengthy agenda covering closures, grade-level reconfigurations, student reassignments, and a policy change governing how the superintendent can carry out staff reductions tied to the restructuring.

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What the Board Is Voting On

The agenda lists individual votes on closing Grolee Elementary, Northeast Elementary, Central Middle School, and Krotz Springs Elementary, the last of which would be repurposed for virtual instruction rather than shut down entirely. Grand Coteau Elementary and the Center for Academic Programs, known as CAPS, are also up for closure votes.

Four other campuses would be reconfigured rather than closed. Park Vista Elementary would become a Pre-K through 2nd grade school. The former Opelousas Junior High site would shift to serving 3rd through 6th grade. East Elementary would narrow to 1st through 3rd grade, and Glendale Elementary would take on 4th through 6th grade students.

Students displaced by the Krotz Springs closure in Pre-K through 4th grade would move to Port Barre Elementary, while those in 5th through 12th grade would move to Port Barre Middle or Port Barre High School, depending on grade level. Grand Coteau students in Pre-K through 4th grade would be split among Cankton Elementary, Arnaudville Middle School, and Leonville Elementary, based on the agenda. CAPS students would transfer to the St. Landry Accelerated Transition School.

Grand Prairie Elementary, which board members debated closing in favor of a merger with Plaisance Middle School, is also back on Wednesday’s agenda. A committee recommended last week that Grand Prairie stay open through the 2026-2027 school year without closure or reconfiguration.

Why the District Is Cutting Schools

Superintendent Milton Batiste III has told board members the district is confronting an $18 million budget deficit driven by the loss of pandemic-era federal funding and years of shrinking enrollment. Finance Director Shaun Grantham told the board, in a report from St. Landry Now, that the district’s cash reserves have been dwindling as the financial strain builds.

State law bars school districts from adopting unbalanced budgets, which has pushed the board toward closures and consolidations rather than smaller trims. The district is projected to enter the 2026-2027 fiscal year with only about $10 million left in its general fund, according to The Advocate. Two millage proposals that would have brought in new local tax revenue both failed by roughly 2-to-1 margins in the May 16 election, per a separate report on the district’s finances, leaving the board with fewer options to close the gap without cutting campuses.

Board members held community meetings on June 13, June 18, and June 23 to gather public input before Wednesday’s vote. During a Committee of the Whole meeting on June 23, board members advanced Batiste’s downsizing plan but tabled the proposed Grand Prairie-Plaisance merger after Grand Prairie Principal April Guidry raised concerns about moving young students onto a campus built for older children, according to KATC’s earlier coverage of that meeting.

What Happens Next

If the board approves the plan as written, the closures, reconfigurations, and student reassignments would take effect with the 2026-2027 school year. Residents unable to attend in person can watch Wednesday’s meeting through the board’s YouTube channel.

The vote caps roughly three weeks of public meetings on the restructuring plan, though board members have indicated further budget adjustments could be necessary beyond this year as the district works to stabilize its finances.

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