When election season rolls around later this year, Lafayette Parish School Board member Tehmi Chassion will have some competition for his District 4 seat.
"I'm running for this position because we need a strong front and to get behind Dr. Cooper," says newly announced school board candidate Joshua Broussard.
Joshua Broussard spoke Wednesday with The IND and confirmed his plans to run against Tehmi Chassion for the Lafayette Parish School Board's District 4 seat.
Broussard is a 32-year-old former president of the NAACP's Lafayette chapter, a graduate of Northside High and student at UL Lafayette. He works for a Baton Rouge nursing home as an admissions coordinator and marketer.
According to Broussard, it's time for all the dysfunction on the school board to come to an end, and that's why he's throwing his name in the ring against Chassion - arguably one of the board's most controversial members.
Chassion's stint on the board hit an all-time low recently when he called police on Superintendent Pat Cooper, claiming he'd been accosted during an executive session.
"I see a disconnect, and I think there's a lot of back and forth and bickering that doesn't need to be happening," says Broussard. "I'm running for this position because we need a strong front and to get behind Dr. Cooper, his vision and his plan for this community, our schools and our children. If we focus on his vision, we can unite this school system. We can get our teachers, our students and our community all on board together."
It's unclear whether Chassion will seek reelection.
The election is scheduled for Nov. 4.