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Today, the gates are locked at the old Herod High School, which is owned by the Police Jury.

What to do with the old Herod High School in Abbeville?

Today, the old Herod High School on Martin Luther King Drive in Abbeville sits empty, but some Abbeville citizens want to bring it back to life.
The school opened in 1955 and closed as a high school around 1970 with consolidation. In the 1970s and 1980s, the school was used for students in elementary and middle school.
In 2014, Abbeville Pastor B.K. Stevens had plans to buy it from the police jury for an appraised value of $60,000. However, the Vermilion Parish School Board had to give the OK to the police jury to sell the building. The school board wanted to look into possibly doing something with the old Herod school. After waiting on the school board to say what it wanted to do with the former Herod High, Pastor Stephens decided to back off the deal and build a brand new building by his church.
For the last couple of years, the building has been sitting empty and is falling apart.
At last week’s police jury meeting, Kathy Walker, an Abbeville native, approached the Police Jury about possibly buying the old Herod High School.
Walker said she would like to get members of the Abbeville City Council, school board and police jury in one building and hear plans from Abbeville citizens for the old Herod High School.
Walker said she talked to the school board about the building, and the school board did not make a decision one way or another.
The police jury said the final decision falls on the school board on what to do with the building. If the school board does not want it and the police jury does not want the building, then the police jury can sell the building for its appraised value.
Police Juror Ron Darby said the building is a hazard because the roof caved in one part of the building. The building is locked up.
Darby said the last he heard the school board was making plans to do something with the building, but he was unsure what the plans were.
“Everyone wants the school, but they want the police jury to give them the school,” said Darby. “They have to have the money to fix the building. The school board wants someone to repair the building, but they have to have a plan and the finances to repair the building.”
Darby said the building is in the school board’s hands. He said if the school board does not want it, the school board must tell the police jury. Once that happens, the public can bid on the building, Darby added.
“We can not just give it away,” said Darby.

Vermilion Today

Abbeville Meridional

318 N. Main St.
Abbeville, LA 70510
Phone: 337-893-4223
Fax: 337-898-9022

The Kaplan Herald

219 North Cushing Avenue
Kaplan, LA 70548

The Gueydan Journal

311 Main Street
Gueydan, LA 70542