Federal suit alleges LPSS staff rigged Schools of Choice lotteries

A federal lawsuit accuses Lafayette Parish School System administrators of manipulating the Schools of Choice lottery and denying some students access to English language services.

The suit was filed Thursday by Azadeh Yazdi, former marketing and recruitment coordinator for the Schools of Choice, now magnet academies.

Historically, the district has held a lottery for academies who had more applicants than available seats.

In the suit, Yazdi alleges some administrators rigged the lottery, “including favoritism based on race, color, friendship, relationship by blood or marriage and even whether the persons were children of members of the employment group of the Lafayette Parish School Board as well as whether the ones applying in the lottery had siblings already in the lottery.”

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The administrators would tell some applicants they “had been excluded because there were too many students in the program,” the suit stated.

Specific administrators named as defendants in the suit are Chief Academic Officer Annette Samec, Schools of Choice Enrollment/Recruitment Manager Barbara Pippin, Superintendent Donald Aguillard, former Schools of Choice Director Robin Olivier and World Languages Specialist Tia LeBrun.

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In addition, the suit alleges that administrators urged potential English as a Second Language students to not get screened and not seek ESL programs.

The education is available to students who have a different native language, often Spanish.

“Their advice to these people was not for the good of the parent or the student, but was done in a manner in relieve LeBrun, Olivier, Samec and Pippin of the obligation of oversight of the program and to further manipulate both race, color and creed at various sites and to manipulate the enrollment of the Spanish Immersion program,” the suit read.

Administrators also manipulated enrollment figures in an annual federal report that details racial demographics at the schools, the suit stated.

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Yazdi also alleges that when she raised her concerns about the Schools of Choice operations, she was disciplined, threatened with termination and subjected to sexual comments, including one incident in which Samec allegedly said she could not stop staring at Yazdi’s legs during a meeting.

No disciplinary action was taken, Yazdi said, and Aguillard “did nothing to address the matter.”

The suit says Yazdi was eventually fired from the school system.

Yazdi is seeking a jury trial, as well as unspecified damages and attorney’s fees.

An LPSS spokeswoman said the district generally does not comment on pending litigation.