Beau Chêne High School is a public secondary school located in southeastern St. Landry Parish between the communities of Grand Coteau and Arnaudville in the state of Louisiana, United States. The school was founded in 1991 when Sunset, Leonville, and Arnaudville High Schools were consolidated to form one centralized high school. The school serves the communities of Arnaudville, Cankton, Grand Coteau, Leonville, and Sunset. It is located at 7076 Highway 93, Arnaudville, Louisiana. Beau Chene High School has been cited for demonstrating inclusion among all their students.
Beau Chêne is accredited by the State of Louisiana's Department of Education.
History
Beau Chêne High School is the result of consolidating the public schools in St. Landry Parish. Consolidation in St. Landry Parish began as a result of a federal lawsuit filed in 1965. The lawsuit is entitled Monteilh, et al. v. St. Landry Parish School Board, et al., No. Civ. 10912, (W.D. La. March 9, 1965). The plaintiffs in Monteilh, et al. v. St. Landry Parish School Board, et al., alleged that on or about September 7, 1964, their application for admission to Palmetto High School, Palmetto, Louisiana, were denied because of their race. Monteilh, et al. v. St. Landry Parish School Board, et al. lasted fifty-one years. U.S. District Judge Rebecca Doherty dismissed the fifty-one year old case on August 30, 2016. The previous federal judge assigned Monteilh, U.S. District Judge Tucker L. Melancon, in Graham v. Evangeline Parish School Board, was cautioned in an unpublished opinion by the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit "to limit itself to traditional judicial decision making rather than school administration, and to refrain from day-to-day management of its decrees." The court also expressed their concern in regard to Judge Melancon being personally involved in the case and wrote his actions were more administrative than judicial. The court wrote one could perceive from the record that Judge Melancon had taken over the independent decision making of the school board. The court was unable to rule on the Graham appeal since the appeal was not a final decision from the district court. Thus, they lacked appellate jurisdiction. Graham v. Evangeline Parish School Board, Case No. 04-30356, pp. 12–14 (5th Cir. May 17, 2005).
In 1986, the St. Landry Parish School Board approved a plan to build three new high schools as part of a plan to consolidate all the high schools in St. Landry Parish. A group of citizens returned to federal court and filed briefs in Monteilh, et al. v. St. Landry Parish School Board, et al., opposing the school board plan to consolidate and build three new schools. The case was appealed to the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. In their briefs, Monteilh alleged the new high schools the school board planned to build would have created a quasi-racially segregated school system. Monteilh requested school construction be enjoined pending preparation of a new consolidation plan. The United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit ruled the St. Landry Parish School Board met their constitutional obligations in designing its own plan and the court denied Monteilh's request.
Beau Chêne High School was conceived in the early-1980s when the St. Landry Parish School Board began consolidating the parish's small rural high schools to form three large centrally-located high schools. The plan was later approved and implemented, forcing Arnaudville High School, Leonville High School, and Sunset High School to close and merge with each other. In 1989, construction on Beau Chêne began on property in the unincorporated community of Prairie Basse. At the front of the property were—and still are—several large oak trees which inspired the name "Beau Chêne." The name of the school was originally Southeastern High School, keeping with the geographical naming style the St. Landry Parish School Board used to name the other two consolidated high schools (Northwest High School and North Central High School). Someone (reportedly Lanny Moreau, former St. Landry Parish Superintendent, who at the time was Arnaudville High School's principal) suggested that the school be named "Beau Chêne," which is French for "beautiful oak." The St. Landry Parish School Board approved naming the school Beau Chene High School as the name for the Southeast Consolidated High School on Thursday, May 17, 1990. Classes commenced at Beau Chêne on August 19, 1991. The official dedication of Beau Chene High School was on Friday, September 6, 1991.
