NEW ORLEANS -- A group of parents is suing a school planning to close in an attempt to preserve their culture, language and tradition.
Parents of children presently attending the Pointe-aux-Chênes Elementary School, a school attended solely and only by Louisiana Native Americans and Louisiana Cajuns whose parents’ first or second language is either Native American or other Louisiana French, filed a complaint on June 11 in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana against the Terrebonne Parish School Board, the Terrebonne Parish School District and Philip Martin, Superintendent.
Plaintiffs alleged that the TPSB has discriminated against Native American children attending the Pointe-aux-Chênes Elementary School based on race, color or national origin and has discriminated against Cajun children based on national origin. Pointe-aux-Chênes Elementary School is being prematurely closed at the end of the 2020-2021 school year and plaintiffs alleged their children will "suffer irreparable injury on account of their race, ethnicity, native language, or their desire to maintain their language and tradition" which the school upheld.
Prior to integration, Native Americans from Pointe-aux-Chênes did not have the opportunity to attend middle school or high school in Terrebonne Parish and Pointe-aux-Chênes Elementary School allowed for the preservation of culture, language and tradition, the parents say.
Plaintiffs seek immediate injunctive and mandamus relief to prevent the closure of the Pointe-aux-Chênes Elementary School with the establishment of statutorily mandated French Immersion School at Pointe-aux-Chênes Elementary School, plus punitive damages, attorneys fees and cost of suit. Plaintiffs are represented by Louis R. Koerner, Jr. of Koerner Law Firm.