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T h u r s d ay, F e b r u a ry 26, 2026
UL may sell properties to close budget deficit
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Opelousas junior, senior high schools could merge State threatens takeover for 2026-27 school year
BY JOEL THOMPSON Staff writer
STAFF FILE PHOTOS By LESLIE WESTBROOK
The 600-acre experimental research farm in St. Martinville is one of five properties the University of Louisiana at Lafayette is proposing to sell. The property includes a wildflower seed bank.
Kolluru’s proposal would affect 5 sites
Opelousas Junior High School could merge with Opelousas Senior High School for the 202627 school year following an ultimatum from the Louisiana Department of Education. In a letter dated Feb. 19, the department informed the St. Landry Parish School Board that if the parish does not present a plan to merge the junior high and high school into a single school, the state will take over operations. According to the letter, the junior high has received an F grade from the state for seven consecutive years making it eligible for the state’s Recovery School District system. The junior high is one of 28 schools Louisiana State Superintendent of Education Cade Brumley identified as being RSD eligible. A school must be classified by the state as “academically unacceptable” for four years in a row to be eligible for RSD, at which point the state can take control of the school.
ä See MERGE, page 5A
BY MEGAN WYATT
Staff writer
The University of Louisiana at Lafayette is expected to sell multiple properties in an effort to close its remaining $12 million deficit as the university’s system board comes closer to naming its next president. Interim President Ramesh Kolluru, who is expected to be appointed as the permanent president on Friday after being named the lone finalist for the position this week, recently asked the UL system board to approve the sale of five properties. They include: n a 600-acre experimental research farm in St. Martinville n a 50-acre ecology center near Carencro n a residential home near UL’s research park campus n a small, empty lot near the main campus n a fraternity house near UL’s sports and entertainment plaza
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A home in the 500 block of Robert Lee Circle owned by the University of Louisiana at Lafayette would also be sold under the proposal. Addresses for the properties are included in documents for Thursday’s regular meeting of the UL system board. Kolluru asked the board’s facilities planning committee to approve the advertising and auctioning of the first four properties. He asked the committee to approve the sale of
the final property to the fraternity’s alumni association. The Cade experimental research farm at 1178 W.J. Bernard Drive in St. Martinville includes pasture land, agricultural land, wetland habitats,
ä See PROPERTIES, page 6A
The University of Louisiana at Lafayette ecology center at 703 Thoroughbred Drive in north Lafayette would also be sold.
Governor helping Letlow campaign to unseat Cassidy Landry targeting fundraising, party endorsement
BY TYLER BRIDGES Staff writer
Not since Huey Long nearly 100 years ago has a governor tried to defeat a sitting U.S. senator from the same political party. But that’s what Gov. Jeff Landry is trying to do as Sen. Bill Cassidy, a fellow Republican, runs for reelection. Landry is working behind the scenes to raise money for the Senate campaign of U.S. Rep. Julia Letlow and to secure an endorsement for her by the Louisiana Republican Party, according to GOP sources. Landry has told associates that he has inserted himself into the race at the behest of President Donald Trump, who endorsed Letlow in January because of, it’s widely believed, his unhappiness with Cassidy. The senator is running for a third term in the May 16 Republican primary. Also challenging Cassidy in the Republican primary is state Treasurer John Fleming, who
ä See SENATE, page 5A
Louisiana schools prepare to post Ten Commandments Districts weigh how to comply with law after court lifted block
with some superintendents moving quickly to distribute the posters while others, wary of potential lawsuits, wait for more guidance. The East Baton Rouge school system will send posters bearing the biblical passages to classrooms “in the near BY PATRICK WALL future,” a spokesperson said. In rural Staff writer Grant Parish, Superintendent Erin Louisiana school leaders are grap- Stokes said the School Board is eager pling with their next moves after a fed- to comply with the law, and she plans eral appeals court ended a pause on a to give donated Ten Commandments state law requiring displays of the Ten posters to school principals this week. “We’ll probably be moving forward Commandments in every classroom,
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pretty quickly,” she said. The school system in Caddo Parish is moving more slowly, with plans to wait until the summer to distribute the posters and train teachers on the law, according to School Board President Don Little. Officials in other districts said they are seeking advice from their attorneys or the state Department of Education, which has not issued any guidance and on Tuesday referred questions to the Attorney General’s
Posters bearing the Ten Commandments have been donated to nearly every public school in Louisiana. PROVIDED PHOTO
ä See SCHOOLS, page 6A
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