ERIK SANZENBACH / L’Observateur / August 24, 1999

ST. JAMES – Eileen Jasmine looks tired. She stands in the shade of a giantoak tree in front of St. James High School with a small group of otherparents. They are sitting on lawn chairs, eating breakfast, their cars andtrucks parked around them in a protective circle.

Out in the hot morning sun, a line of eight parents, carrying signs are marching single-file back and forth in front of the school. They are singing”Victory is Mine.”This is quite a change from the opening day of school last Wednesday when 40 to 50 parents marching. There was a giant crowd in front of the schoolwith lots of back-slapping, cheers, singing and speeches. Today, themarcher’s hymn sounds quiet and small in the morning heat.

Jasmine, one of the organizers of the boycott says, “We hope to finalize everything this week at the school board meeting (held last night).”Since Aug. 18, angry parents have kept their children out of St. Jamesschools because St. James School Superintendent P. Edward Cancienne hastransferred St. James High principal Ridgley Mitchell to another school.Mitchell is very popular at St. James High, and parents want him back.The boycott seemed to be working early this week. Compared to last year’stotal student attendance, about a third of the students are participating in the boycott.

Cancienne has warned teachers and staff that there may be layoffs. Theschool system is dependent on state funding, and state funding is dependent on daily enrollment. The more students a school system loses,the less money it gets from the state.

Even though Monday’s enrollment of 2,900 is below the normal attendance of 4,400, there is a small but steady increase in enrollment since the first day of the boycott. St. James High School, at the center of thecontroversy, started out with 164 last Wednesday. By Monday, enrollmenthad gone up to 207. It has a normal attendance of 571. St. James Junior High began the boycott with 16 students, and Mondaythere were 30 students present. Vacherie Primary had an enrollment of118 on Wednesday, which rose to 169 by Monday.

The majority of the boycott is happening at the west bank schools. Eastbank schools like Lutcher High School and Lutcher Elementary have not suffered any major absenteeism and are enjoying enrollment that reflects last year’s attendance.

Parents involved in the boycott have said they will use home study to educate their children during the boycott. Jasmine sums up the results ofthis plan as she smiles sadly.

“My children are ready to go back to school,” she said.

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