A school bus is seen behind a fence with barbed wire outside Ferriday High School in Ferriday, La., Thursday, May 22, 2025. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert) The Associated Press

FERRIDAY, La. -- Even at a glance, the differences are obvious. The walls of Ferriday High School are old and worn, surrounded by barbed wire. Just a few miles away, Vidalia High School is clean and bright, with a new library and a crisp blue “V” painted on orange brick.

Ferriday High is 90% Black . Vidalia High is 62% white.

For Black families, the contrast between the schools suggests “we’re not supposed to have the finer things,” said Brian Davis, a father in Ferriday. “It’s almost like our kids don’t deserve it,” he said.

The schools are part of Concordia Parish, which was ordered to desegregate 60 years a

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