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SCHOOL DISTRICT LEGAL STATUS
School Boards, created by the Constitution of the State of Louisiana, have been
empowered by state law to create school districts composed of the parish as a whole or
any part thereof. New school districts may only be created in accordance with statutory
provisions.
No public election shall be required in the creation of any school district. Every
school district so created shall be a political subdivision of the state and may issue bonds
and vote special taxes up to the full amounts permitted by the Constitution of Louisiana,
regardless of whether such school district may lie within the boundaries of a consolidated
school district or a school district comprising all of the territory of a parish, and regardless
of whether such school district may contain within its boundaries one or more other
school districts.
School districts shall be under the exclusive control and management of the
respective School Boards, unless otherwise provided for by state law.
CONSOLIDATED SCHOOL DISTRICT NO. 1 OF THE PARISH OF LAFOURCHE
Acting under and by virtue of the authority conferred on school boards of the State
of Louisiana by the Constitution and laws of Louisiana, the School Board has created a
Consolidated School District in the Parish of Lafourche, State of Louisiana, which shall
include and embrace all of the territory within the corporate limits of the Parish of
Lafourche, and the boundaries of said Consolidated School District shall be and are
declared to be coexistent with the boundaries of the Parish of Lafourche, State of
Louisiana and shall embrace therein all of that Territory included within the boundaries of
Consolidated School District No. 1 of the Parish of Lafourche, not now comprised within
the boundaries of any school district.
The Consolidated School District thus created shall be known as and designated
Consolidated School District No. 1 of the Parish of Lafourche, State of Louisiana and as
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such shall have all the powers and enjoy all the rights, privileges and authority granted by
the Constitution and law of the State of Louisiana, including the rights to issue bonds and
levy taxes.
SPECIAL EDUCATION DISTRICT NO. 1 OF THE PARISH OF LAFOURCHE
Special Education District No. 1 of the Parish of Lafourche, State of Louisiana, was
created by Act 569 of 1976 (La. Rev. Stat. Ann. '17:1957). The powers of the District
and the control and management of the affairs of the District shall be vested in a Board of
Commissioners to be composed of several qualified electors residing within the limits of
the District, four of whom shall be appointed by the Lafourche Parish School Board and
three by the parish governing authority, and that the commissioners shall serve terms of
six (6) years each.
The Lafourche Parish School Board shall appoint three commissioners from a
panel of six names submitted by the members of the Lafourche Parish School Board
elected from the geographic area comprising Ward Ten of Lafourche Parish.
One
commissioner shall be appointed by the Lafourche Parish School Board from among the
members in good standing of the organization, Friends of the Center.
When a vacancy occurs on the Board of Commissioners from among the
appointees by the School Board due to the (a) expiration of the period of appointment, (b)
death, (c) resignation, or (d) removal, the Lafourche Parish School Board shall fill the
vacancy from two names submitted by members of the Lafourche Parish School Board
elected from Ward 10 of Lafourche Parish.
Whenever it is alleged that a member of the Board of Commissioners appointed by
the Board has failed to attend three consecutive regular monthly meetings, the Board
may declare the said member's office vacant in accordance with the following procedure.
The School Board shall:
a)
request the Board of Commissioners or its Secretary to verify in writing the
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dates of scheduled meetings and the attendance or non-attendance of
members at the said meetings whether or not a quorum was present;
b)
notify the challenged commissioner, in writing, that his/her office has been
challenged because of alleged non-attendance at meetings;
c)
provide the challenged commissioner an opportunity to respond to the
allegations, to confirm or deny them, and to present evidence on his/her
behalf.
The failure of the Board of Commissioners or its Secretary to provide the
information requested shall not prohibit the School Board from considering verbal or other
documentary evidence to determine the relevant facts. The notice required herein may
be affected by addressing a letter by certified or registered mail to the challenged
commissioner's last address known to the School Board. No action shall be taken by the
School Board within ten (10) days of the date notice was mailed.
If the School Board is satisfied by the documentary and/or verbal evidence
adduced that the challenged member has failed to attend three consecutive regular
monthly meetings, it shall, by majority vote of the members present and voting, declare
the office vacant and shall fill the vacancy as provided above.
Ref:
U.S. Const. Amend. X; U.S. Const. Amend XIV, Sec. 1; Constitution of Louisiana,
Art. VIII, Sec. 9; La. Rev. Stat. Ann. §§17:51, 17:1371, et seq., 17:1953, 17:1957;
Wisconsin v. Yoder, 92 S.Ct. 1526 (1972); Milliken v. Bradley, 94 S.Ct. 3112
(1974); Dayton Board of Education v. Brinkman, 97 S.Ct. 2755 (1977); Hawthorne
v. Jackson Parish School Board, 5 La. App. 508 (1927); Board minutes, 1-9-46, 41-81, 4-6-94.
Lafourche Parish School Board
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