Comeaux High’s enrollment drops after opening of the new Southside High
The Lafayette Parish School Board meeting on Wednesday could be a heated one.
Some say Comeaux High School is being put on the back burner while Southside High School gets what it needs.
LPSS school board member Britt Latolias says he placed an item on the agenda to discuss Comeaux High.
Latolias says his decision to put the information item on the agenda was at the request of people associated with the school.
“They’re concerned with the drop in their enrollment. It’s not so much to harm or hurt Southside. It’s to look at the enrollment to see where Southside is going and to look at the enrollment to where Comeaux is going.” Latolias said.
Comeaux High isn’t part of Latolais’ district. “They’re losing students, They’re losing teachers. As as a school shrinks you lose subjects”
Southside High is in school board member Jeremy Hidalgo’s district.
Hidalgo also has constituents with students at Comeaux.
“The term overcrowded is overrated. Southside High is not overcrowded,” Hidalgo said.
He says Southside’s core was built to accommodate two thousand students. He says classroom space was limited based on the budget.
As for Comeaux, Hidalgo says he doesn’t understand the confusion.
“We always expected Comeaux would be down to 12 to 13 hundred students. Comeaux as a of yesterday is sitting at 1,198 students.”
“This conversation we’re told has been driven by athletics. I think we should be focused on academics first,” Hidalgo said.