Caddo school board can proceed with selection process for next superintendent, judge decides

CADDO PARISH, La. (KSLA) - The judge has made his ruling in the case involving the next superintendent of Caddo Parish Schools.

Several groups filed a lawsuit seeking to prevent the Caddo Parish School Board from interviewing the sole finalist for the job, Keith Burton. They argued the process for scoring candidates was not properly followed and wanted more than one candidate to be interviewed for the position. The group sought a temporary restraining order to keep the school board from interviewing Burton.

However, on Friday, Sept. 20, a judge denied that request, meaning the school board can proceed with the selection process. Court documents say "the petitioners did not plead sufficient grounds to establish that 'immediate and irreparable injury, loss, or damage' would result from the interview."

The judge explains his reasoning in the court documents, saying:

The potential for harm of which the petitioners complain is the same potential that any person could raise with respect to any decision of any governmental entity. The petitioners simply cannot prove, nor can anyone, what the impact on the community will be from the decisions of the Caddo Parish School Board. So long as the law is followed and there is any rational basis for its actions, the determination of what best serves the student of our community is entrusted to the school board by law. Any action by the court on this record would simply be judicial overreach and a substitution of the court's judgment for that of the elected Board."