Louisiana school board and DOJ terminate 61-year desegregation oversight

Bossier Parish Schools and the U.S. Justice Department have agreed to end a federal desegregation monitoring order that has been in place for 61 years.

After more than six decades of federal oversight intended to dismantle segregation, Bossier Parish Schools in Louisiana and the U.S. Justice Department have signed a settlement terminating the consent decree that began with a 1964 lawsuit. Superintendent Jason Rowland said the case dismissal restores local autonomy to serve students, staff and the community while remembering the past. Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill announced the deal, adding that old consent decrees are expensive, ineffective and strip power from localities, citing a recent similar action in Concordia Parish.

The settlement notes that the original plaintiffs have died and their children could not be contacted, and that the district has worked closely with DOJ on every new school construction, classroom addition and attendance-zone change over the years. Rowland thanked former board members and staff for their efforts and expressed confidence that district leaders will continue to treat everyone fairly. The move marks the end of one of the longest-running desegregation monitoring orders in the nation.