Paul Breaux Middle School: History on the verge of extinction

Paul Breaux was recognized as the first public school in Lafayette Parish to allow Black students to attend, and many people in the community are worried that significant legacy may get lost.

LAFAYETTE, La. (KLFY) -- Many in the community are concerned after the Lafayette Parish School System voted to relocate the gifted and immersion programs from Paul Breaux to other local schools, and fear that the action may lead to the end of the 130-year history of the school.

Hundreds of people gathered at a community meeting organized by the 100 Black Men of Greater Lafayette in opposition of the changes proposed for the school. Despite the public outcry, the school board voted 5-4 in two separate votes, to relocate Paul Breaux's gifted program and both immersion programs. The votes were the first step in what many believe to be an attempt to permanently close the school.

The actions by the school board, and the prospect of shutting down the school altogether, have evoked passions beyond what one might expect from a normal school closure. A look at the history of the school, and previous attempts to marginalize and erase it, may shed some light on where that passion comes from.

In the beginning

The landmark Supreme Court case Plessy v. Ferguson in 1896 established the "separate but equal" doctrine. In response a handful of local educators created a group, the Lafayette Parish Education Association; they received a charter from the Lafayette Parish school board that allowed them to assist in the education of Black children, according to a Louisiana Public Broadcasting documentary called “The Black Side of Desegregation: The History of Paul Breaux High School.” Among these early educators was Paul Breaux, who taught at an elementary school located at what is now the 400 block of West Simcoe Street and South Washington.

Paul Breaux opened in 1896 as an elementary school (not yet with his name) and was one of 11 training schools that allowed Black students to attend.

The Paul Breaux School

Upon Breaux's death in 1926, W.D. Smith took the reins, and relocated the school to a larger building. The public school would become known as The Paul Breaux School, and introduced high school classes, one grade at a time.

For 27 years Paul Breaux High School operated on the grounds of what is now the Lerosen Preparatory School off of Evangeline Thruway. In 1950, voters of Lafayette approved a school bond worth $2 million, that would fund the construction of several new schools across Lafayette Parish, including a new Paul Breaux school. Three years later, the students and faculty of Paul Breaux still occupied the old wooden school house that now sat in the shadow of the brand new, all-white Lerosen school built next to it.

Growing restless and unsatisfied with the conditions of their current facilities, in February 1953 students organized a strike. Led by Eva Reynolds Domingue, president of the Progressive Women's League and educator at Paul Breaux, students and faculty demanded to move into the new site that the school board had yet to approve. Nearly 400 students remained at home over the course of the four-day strike, according to a Daily Advertiser article in 1953.

On the move again

The strike would prove to be successful, as students and faculty would move into the new school. Due to students moving mid-semester, the previous bus routes Paul Breaux students relied on were no longer applicable, and the school board had not planned any new ones.

When asked by The Daily Advertiser in 1953 if any provisions were being made to get children to the new school for the rest of the semester, Lafayette Parish Superintendent J.C. Landry responded, "I guess the children will have to walk." Furthermore, Landry was asked if this issue could have been avoided with prior planning to which Landry replied, "No comment."

Integration begins

In 1959, the school was expanded to accommodate the high school grades, and the campus was split into Paul Breaux High School and Paul Breaux Elementary. Just a few years prior in 1954, the landmark case of Brown v. Board of Education put an end to legal segregation among schools in America. Despite the ruling, Lafayette, like the rest of the South, largely ignored it.

On March 5, 1965, a lawsuit was filed by New Orleans attorney A.P. Tureaud on behalf of Alfreda Trahan and 17 other Black students, asking the court to develop a plan to integrate the parish schools. The case was officially titled Alfreda Trahan, et al, vs. Lafayette Parish School Board.

On Dec. 29, 1966, students were granted the freedom to attend any school in the parish. Although some Black students chose to attend previously all-white schools under the plan, the dual system of education in the parish remained largely unchanged.

In 1968, the Green v. County School Board case determined the "freedom of choice" plan, which was adopted by many school districts in the South, was not sufficient, and districts needed to take further steps to fully integrate to a unitary education system. As a result, in 1969 Lafayette Parish adopted a new integration plan which would close most of the majority-black schools by August of 1970, in an effort to meet the integration deadline set by federal courts. Among the schools set to close was Paul Breaux High School.

According to an article from the Daily Advertiser in 1970, organizations such as the NAACP tried to halt the closure of Paul Breaux by submitting alternative desegregation plans that were rejected by the school board; one of those plans requested the city be divided into three areas with students going to Northside, Lafayette and Paul Breaux High Schools.

High school closed

Despite their efforts, the first and only public Black high school in Lafayette Parish would close for good in 1970. Black students who were attending Paul Breaux High School were dispersed, with most of them then attending Northside, according to the documentary. In 1971, Trahan vs. Lafayette Parish was brought back to court, with plaintiffs attempting to reopen Paul Breaux High School, claiming the school's closure was racially motivated. The courts denied the plaintiffs' motion to reopen the school, ruling there was no evidence the school's closing was racially motivated, but instead due to its inadequate facilities.

During the 1970-71 school year, the school board contracted a portion of the former Paul Breaux High School to be refurbished, totaling $336,300 in renovations. This section would open as the current Paul Breaux Middle School during the 1971-72 school year.

Present day

In an interview March 6 with Alton Trahan, President of 100 Black Men of Greater Lafayette, Trahan said LPSS Superintendent Francis Touchet said the school board was considering closing the school and turning it into a warehouse. Shortly after the news of a potential closing of Paul Breaux began to spread, people across Lafayette spoke out in opposition.

With the future of Paul Breaux Middle School uncertain, one of Lafayette's oldest pieces of Black history is at risk of being erased. Not only the school with 130 years of history, but also the man himself, Paul Breaux, are on the verge of fading out of memory.

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