www.pflugerarchitects.comThe Lafayette Parish School System has narrowed down to four a list of candidate names for the new high school to be built in Youngsville: Youngsville High, Caneview High, Veterans Memorial High or Cypress High.
On social media and even among some elected officials in Youngsville, the choice is obvious: Youngsville High.
According to the AP:
Multiple media outlets report that by a narrow margin, a citizens committee believes that Caneview High should be the name of the new Lafayette Parish high school that will open in Youngsville in 2017. However, committee members also are urging officials to keep all four finalist names in mind.
Committee member and city Youngsville Councilman Matt Romero says that since the Monday vote, many residents have been calling committee members and taking to Facebook to voice their support for one of the other finalists, Youngsville High School.
Superintendent Donald Aguillard says all four names remain up for consideration.
On Wednesday, Broussard Mayor Charles Langlinais and the Broussard City Council issued a statement:
We are excited and supportive that a new high school is being built for South Lafayette Parish, but in considering a name, we need to approach this from the perspective that the name should represent all the areas that will feed students to the new facility. The physical address of the building should have no bearing on the namesake of the school. It is our opinion that to name it any other name other than Caneview or Cypress High would only serve to further drive a wedge between Broussard and Youngsville and in the last eight years, there has way been too much of that.
Readers may recall a near decade of enmity between Langlinais and former Youngsville Mayor Wilson Viator over annexations in the area. The press release issued by Langlinais and the council stresses that since the election last year of Youngsville Mayor Ken Ritter, the two communities have gotten along much better. Name the new high school Youngsville High, would, according to the folks in Broussard, jeopardize that newfound harmony.
“Data tells that Broussard residents and businesses pay more property taxes and sale tax to the school board than ALL other municipalities (except City of Lafayette) combined, so we do feel our opinion should be heavily considered regarding the naming of the high school,” Broussard’s statement adds. “We urge the school board to be mindful of these facts when making their final selection.”