Two administrators with the Lafayette Parish School System are on leave, according to reports from The Daily Advertiser. 

Annette Samec, the chief academic officer, is “out of the office indefinitely due to medical reasons,” according to an automatic email reply.

Robin Olivier, the director of career and technical education, is on leave through the end of June, said Suzanne Thibodeaux, the district’s human resources director. Olivier has submitted documents indicating she intends to retire this summer, Thibodeaux added.

The leaves come about two months after Azadeh Yazdi, a former LPSS employee, filed a federal lawsuit alleging the Schools of Choice lottery was rigged and that she was subjected to threats, retaliation and sexual harassment when she raised concerns about the selection process.

Both Samec and Olivier are specifically named as defendants in that suit, along with other administrators, including Superintendent Donald Aguillard.

It is not clear if there is any connection between the lawsuit and the current leaves.

At one point, Olivier oversaw the Schools of Choice, in addition to her duties as career/technical education director. Oversight of the Schools of Choice, later renamed magnet academies, was shifted to Samec and the academic department.

Yazdi was the magnet academies’ marketing and recruitment coordinator. She was terminated in January after a little more than a year with the school system.

Samec has previously taken extended leaves for medical reasons.

Before being named chief academic officer in 2015, Samec worked at Carencro High as a principal and assistant principal for several years. She was also principal of Alice Boucher Elementary for two years.

Olivier was named Schools of Choice/career and technical education director in 2015.  Before that, she had worked as a teacher and counselor in multiple parishes, as well as the LPSS adult education specialist. In addition, she had been the state director of the Louisiana State Scholars Initiative and an associate dean at the Early College Academy.