Board approves new attendance zones for LaPlace Elementary and East St. John Prep over objections

The St. John the Baptist Parish School Board voted to authorize legal counsel to seek federal-court approval for recommended attendance zone lines affecting LaPlace Elementary School and East St. John Prep at its Jan. 16 meeting.

Atty. John Blanchard presented the proposed map and asked the board to authorize the parish’s counsel to pursue court approval. The motion, moved by Jennifer Frizzell and seconded by Lindsey Vicknair, passed 6–4 with Mrs. Patricia Triche recorded absent.

Board member Albert Burl opposed the measure and asked that his objections be placed in the record. Burl said the current map differs from earlier proposals and “still doesn’t fix the deseg order,” arguing that students on the south end of the parish remain disadvantaged. He said he would vote against the motion “because of 2 issues” — changes from the initial plan and persistent inequities in Garyville — and voted nay. Other board members defended the updated boundary approach as a step toward implementation.

Roll call on the motion recorded yeas from DeFrancesch, Frizzell, Wallace, Mitchell‑Williams, Vicknair and Schum; nays from Holden, Burl, Morris and Mamou; Triche was absent. Following the vote, the Board authorized counsel to seek approval from the federal court for the recommended attendance zones as presented and noted a map was placed in the official record.

The board’s action is procedural: final implementation requires federal-court approval because the attendance zone revision is being submitted for review under the court‑ordered desegregation process. A map presented at the meeting was referenced for the record.