A Louisiana school board and the federal government have agreed to end more than 60 years of oversight meant to end segregation.
The agreement was announced Thursday on the first day of classes for Bossier Parish Schools near Shreveport.
“Dismissal of the case allows us the freedom to make our own decisions that are in the best interest of all students, staff and our community, while keeping in mind the history of the past 61 years,” Bossier Schools Superintendent Jason Rowland said in a statement.
Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill announced the settlement. Last month she announced she had helped lift a desegregation mandate for the rural Concordia Parish School Board along the Mississippi River.
“It’s long past time for these old consent decrees to come to an end. These decades-old cases are expensive, ineffective, and they take power away from local communities,” Murrill said on social media.
