Watch the meeting
The recording runs two hours and fourteen minutes. Most of the meeting concerns the budget, enrollment, and other business. The discussion of the arrest comes near the end, under "Other Business," and begins roughly one hour and forty five minutes into the recording. The written transcription was prepared by the school; where the two differ, the recording is the record. Download the school's transcription (PDF, 25 pages).
How counsel for survivors attended. Donald C. Hodge, Jr., counsel for survivors, attended the entire meeting virtually, through the Board's Microsoft Teams connection, and was not in the room. The school's transcription lists him among the guests as "Donald Hodge (attended via Teams)," and his initials appear among the participant tiles on the recording. He was not invited to speak at any point in the meeting.
The minutes: the school's written transcription
The school released this written transcription of the meeting with the recording on October 16, 2026. It is reproduced here exactly as the school produced it. The Board's formal minutes of September 14 have not yet been approved; they are ordinarily taken up at the Board's next meeting.
If the document does not display on your device, open or download it here.
What was said
Everything in this section is taken from the school's own transcription of the meeting. Watch the recording to hear it in full and in context.
- The arrest was not on the agenda. Near the end of the meeting, under Other Business, a member moved to amend the agenda to discuss "the results of the Executive Committee session, which took place on June 24, 2020." The Board voted to add the item without first inviting public comment on the motion.
- The Board praised its own handling of the reports. A member told the Board that "the school should and the board should be very proud about how we handled this situation," that the former Executive Director and the former Board Chair "complied with the law," and that he did not "know what else we could have been expected to do." He told the Board that the June 24, 2020 Executive Committee motion directing that the State's Office of Risk Management be contacted was "a motion made by me."
- Nothing changed. Asked whether "there [were] any adjustments to policy as a result," the same member answered: "No."
- No one is looking for other victims. When another member suggested that the Board's statement address "investigating him and potential others who may or may not be out there," a voice answered: "We're not investigating anyone."
- The concern was enrollment. A member urged that a statement go out "ASAP, because this is going to affect the enrollment of this institution."
- One question from the public. One guest in the room was allowed to ask a single question: whether the school had ever considered a policy to keep an employee from resigning to avoid a Title IX investigation. Those attending by video, including counsel for survivors, were not invited to speak.
- The vote. The Board voted unanimously to issue a press release "setting forth the timeline and the actions taken," because "we should be proud of what we did and how we handled it." The school issued its statement the next day. That statement, read against the record.
What the agencies' own records show
At the meeting, and in its statement the next day, the Board said that the former Executive Director and the Board Chair met with the District Attorney and the Sheriff in June 2020, and that the complete files were provided to them on September 15, 2020. Here is what those agencies have themselves produced in response to public records requests.
| Agency | What it produced or certified |
|---|---|
| District Attorney, 10th Judicial District | A single email from the former Executive Director, dated September 15, 2020, sent to the District Attorney's personal email account eighty eight days after the first written complaint; and a September 22, 2020 letter from the District Attorney to the Sheriff stating that six files were hand delivered. On September 21, 2026, the office certified that the 2020 email consisted of one page with no attachment. |
| Natchitoches Parish Sheriff's Office | On September 10, 2026, a certification that it was "unable to locate any records" for the items requested. On September 21, 2026, after being shown the District Attorney's 2020 letter, a letter stating that a meeting took place in 2020 and a file was produced, and that no written record of either exists. |
| Louisiana State Police | Declined to produce its records, citing the pending prosecution. |
| City of Natchitoches | A certification that it holds no responsive records. |
No record produced by any agency shows that a report was made to the Department of Children and Family Services, or that any report or file was logged by the District Attorney, the Sheriff, or the State Police, as Louisiana's mandatory reporting law requires. Louisiana's Children's Code requires teachers and school administrators who have cause to believe a child is being abused to report immediately to child protection or law enforcement, La. Ch.C. arts. 603, 609, and 610, and makes the knowing failure to report a crime, La. R.S. 14:403. These are records, not findings; no one has been charged with failing to report. Mr. Lacaze is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.
December 7, 2026: be heard
Counsel for the Board has agreed in writing to place on the agenda of the Board's December 7, 2026 meeting an item to rescind the action taken on September 14, with public comment invited before the vote. Alumni, parents, students, and anyone else may attend or submit written comment to the Board through the school. If you would like a copy of your comment preserved in the record of this matter, send it to us as well.
If this happened to you, by anyone
This tip line is for every survivor, about anyone. If you were sexually abused, assaulted, or harassed while a student at the school or in its summer program, at any time since 1983, we want to hear from you, whether the person who harmed you was an adult (a teacher, administrator, staff member, residential staff member, coach, summer counselor, or volunteer) or another student. A school that knows a student is being sexually harassed or abused by another student and responds with deliberate indifference answers for that response under federal law, as it does for its own employees. Davis v. Monroe County Board of Education, 526 U.S. 629 (1999). Louisiana's revived window for civil claims arising from the sexual abuse of a minor is open until June 14, 2027. How the law works.
- If you told someone at the school and nothing happened, tell us who you told and when, even if you do not remember every detail.
- If you saw, heard, or were told something, as a student, a parent, or a member of the faculty or staff, that information matters too.
- If the person who harmed you was another student, you may describe them by role or year rather than by name.
- Current students: please involve a parent or a trusted adult outside the school first. If you are in danger now, call 911.
- Your choice, always. An attorney reads every message. Information goes to investigators only in the way you choose, and nothing is filed, and your identity is disclosed to no one outside law enforcement, without your written consent.