Louisiana school board ends 61 years of federal segregation oversight

A Louisiana school board and the U.S. Justice Department have agreed to terminate more than six decades of federal monitoring intended to enforce school desegregation. The settlement was announced on the first day of classes for Bossier Parish Schools near Shreveport. Superintendent Jason Rowland said the dismissal restores local freedom to make decisions for students and staff, while acknowledging the historic context.

Attorney General Liz Murrill highlighted that the consent decree, first issued after a 1964 lawsuit, had become costly and ineffective, stripping power from local communities. She noted a similar recent lift of a desegregation mandate for Concordia Parish. The original plaintiffs are deceased, and the federal government, which had intensified such orders under previous administrations, is now stepping back.

The agreement marks the end of the longest-running school‑desegregation oversight case in the United States.