Bossier schools look to end federal desegregation oversight
By Misty Castile | The Center Square
(The Center Square) – Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill announced Monday that her office, the U.S. Department of Justice and the Bossier Parish School Board have jointly asked a federal court to end more than six decades of federal supervision over the parish’s public schools.
The request, filed Friday in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Louisiana, seeks to dissolve all remaining desegregation orders, terminate court oversight and dismiss a case that has been pending since 1964.
If approved, Bossier Parish would become the latest Louisiana school district released from federal desegregation oversight. A judge ordered the end of the DeSoto Parish School District’s desegregation order in January; federal supervision ended in Plaquemines Parish last year.
The motion says the Bossier Parish School Board has demonstrated sustained compliance with court-ordered desegregation requirements involving student assignments, faculty and staff assignments, reporting requirements and other obligations imposed under decades of federal supervision.
“My office, the United States Department of Justice, and the Bossier Parish School Board have jointly asked a federal court to end more than 60 years of federal supervision of Bossier Parish Schools and dismiss a case that has been pending since 1964,” Murrill said in a statement.
“The Supreme Court has repeatedly recognized that federal court supervision of local school systems is intended to be temporary. The record demonstrates sustained compliance by the Bossier Parish School Board. It is long past due to return power back to the people of Bossier Parish and to their elected representatives on the School Board.”
Murrill also thanked the Trump administration, Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche and Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon for supporting efforts to end long-running federal oversight cases in Louisiana.
The original desegregation case began in 1964, with the Department of Justice intervening the following year. Court orders over the decades governed student assignments, faculty hiring and assignment practices, attendance zones and other measures aimed at dismantling the parish’s formerly segregated school system.
According to the joint motion, there has been no contested litigation between the parties for more than 20 years. In 2024, the court granted a partial final judgment ending federal supervision over transportation, extracurricular activities and facilities.
The filing states the school board has complied with attendance zone requirements implemented for the 2020-21 school year, maintained nondiscriminatory transfer policies, met faculty and staff assignment obligations and submitted required reports to federal authorities. The Department of Justice also has not objected to district notices regarding school construction projects, attendance zone changes and other actions.
The parties said continued federal oversight is no longer necessary, citing Supreme Court precedent that desegregation orders are intended to be temporary remedies and that control should return to local authorities once compliance has been achieved.
If the court grants the request, it would formally end all remaining federal supervision of the Bossier Parish School Board.