Gueydan: ‘All we wanted was an apology’

The school board meeting room looked like a sea of red.
The reason there were so many red shirts is because Gueydan students, parents and graduates attended Thursday night’s meeting to fight to keep their schools in Gueydan open.
School Board President Chris Gautreaux threatened to close Gueydan schools if the school board can not find a way to fix the health insurance problem the board is facing. Gautreaux made the threat at Monday’s school board insurance committee meeting.
By Wednesday everyone in Gueydan had heard about Gautreaux’s comment. Students, faculty and Gueydan residents attended the meeting to defend their school against a potential closure.
They brought homemade signs and held them up in the meeting.
The first person to address the school board was 16-year-old Ashley Broussard, who is a junior at Gueydan High. Holding back tears at times, Broussard told the board members that closing Gueydan schools would mean killing a community.
“The fear that we’re not going to have a school in Gueydan, the fear that we’re going to lose our town, our heart, that’s our home, and that’s the hardest part for all of us,” said Gueydan High School student Ashley Broussard.
Gueydan Alderman Scott Vallo was in the audience to listen to what the school board was going to do with Gueydan. While at the meeting, he was hoping to hear three words from Gautreaux’s mouth. When the meeting was over, he was disappointed.
“All we wanted was an apology,” said Vallo on Friday. “I was hoping Mr. Gautreaux would tell us he was sorry for saying that. It was disappointing he did not. The kids were devastated by what he said.”
After the meeting, Gautreaux did approach Broussard and told her he was sorry for what he said. He said he would go to the high school and speak to the students.
School Superintendent Jerome Puyau said he promised former school member Bill Searle he will do his best to keep Gueydan schools open.
“I love community schools,” said Puyau. “Before Mr. Bill died, he asked me never to close Gueydan schools. The town needs those schools, he said. I told him I will do whatever I can to keep them open.”