August 6, 2026
The first day of the 2026-27 school year began on a historic note in Bossier Parish. The Bossier Parish School Board joined with Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill and the U.S. Department of Justice to end the Board’s long-running school desegregation case filed in 1964.
Bossier Schools had been operating under an injunction for the last 61 years that had far-reaching implications, not only affecting where students went to school, but also attendance zones, facilities, hiring practices, transportation, and extracurricular activities.
"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. It's time to return that authority where it belongs. Great work by my Solicitor General team, Ben Aguiñaga and Morgan Brungard, in conjunction with the U.S. Department of Justice. I also want to thank Superintendent Jason Rowland and the Bossier Parish School Board for working collaboratively with us to bring this decades-old case to a close," said Attorney General Liz Murrill.
“This is a monumental day in Bossier Parish history,” said Bossier Schools Superintendent Jason Rowland. “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.”
The Bossier Parish School Board has been diligently working for decades with the Department of Justice to ensure compliance with court orders and end this desegregation case. The Board collaborated with the United States on every new school, classroom wing addition and attendance zone change, regularly sharing data that showed student enrollment and academic and extracurricular opportunities with the Court and Department of Justice.
“We have been very intentional in complying with the court order, while also meeting the needs of the school system and how we educate students and employ staff,” Rowland added. “We want to give credit to our district staff and past board members for working to do what was required to emerge out from under the desegregation case, and our current board for having the courage to approve the joint filing and having trust in district leadership to ensure that everyone at Bossier Schools is treated in the same manner.”
Rowland went on to say, “We greatly appreciate Attorney General Liz Murrill and her team’s diligence in bringing this case to an end, and are excited about the opportunities in front of our system to become more than we can think or imagine.”