By SUE ELLEN ROSS, Staff Reporter

LUTCHER – St. James Parish Superintendent of Schools Edward Cancienne wants a certain group of students to continue attending his schools and also receive transportation to them, although they live in St. John Parish.

And he is sending a letter to the United States Justice Department, through attorney Bob Hammonds, to that effect.

Cancienne is asking that the St. James buses be allowed to transport 27 Pleasure Bend students, currently enrolled at his schools this year, over the parish line. Pleasure Bend is located along Lake Des Allemands, right inside the boundary of St. John Parish.

Traditionally, St. John Parish school buses took the children back and forth for many years, with the approval of both school systems.

But last year, the St. John school administration was notified that they were in violation of the Desegregation Court Order of 1974 by doing this, according to St. John Superintendent of Schools Mike Coburn. “I feel for the children, and understand the situation,” he said. “But I am under a court order, and the Department of Justice said they must attend our schools.”

The crux of the matter includes not only where the students will attend classes, but how they will get to them. Under the order, neither of the school systems are allowed to pick up a child in one parish and bus them into another for their schooling.

“Since 1974, both St. James and St. John Parishes have been under a desegregation court order. This year, it is being challenged,” said Cancienne. He added that he received a letter from Coburn last year after the St. John school administration was notified of their violation by the U.S. Justice Department.

“For many years, there was an understanding between the two school boards,” Cancienne told L’Observateur, of the bus arrangements.The St. James School system is responding to Coburn’s letter by sending their current petition-in-the-making to the U.S. Justice Department, he added.

In order for the students to continue at the St. James Schools last year, the parents were responsible for their transportation, and signed educational custody of the students to St. James Parish residents.

Pleasure Bend is about 3.5 miles from the parish line, and the St. James schools are closer in proximity to the homes than are the St. John schools.

This means that if a student from Pleasure Bend were to attend a St. John School, they would have to travel further, staying on the bus for a much longer period of time. This doesn’t sit right with Pleasure Bend families.

Parent Sarah Clawson doesn’t want to move her 15-year-old son from St. James High School. “When I moved to Pleasure Bend in 1999, I wanted to settle my children in a school system they would attend with the same network of children every year,” she said.

The community of Pleasure Bend is located near Vacherie and has, more or less, always been associated with Vatcherie. Residents shop there and even have Vacherie phone numbers, added Cancienne.

Although the majority of the Pleasure Bend students are white, and the St. John Schools have a large black population, Cancienne and Clawson stressed that this situation is not a race issue. “It’s about uprooting our children,” said Clawson.

According to Cancienne, the letter Hammonds is sending to the U.S. Justice Department will include a map of the area; the history of the school/bus situation; and an explanation of how Pleasure Bend has been linked with St. James Parish in many ways, in addition to attending their schools.

Coburn feels this is a sad situation, and hopes it gets resolved soon.

“Plain, common, everyday sense is to attend the school a few miles from home, not a school an hour away,” he said. “If I was a parent there, I would want the same thing.”

Cancienne hopes to hear the outcome of his request to the Justice Department shortly. ‘Hopefully, within a few weeks,” he said.