Desiray Seaux / Crowley Post-Signal
Acadia Parish School Board voted Thursday night to delay the start date of public schools until Sept. 8.
These adjustments “allow the district more time to prepare for the challenges of the upcoming school year and allow the ratio of COVID case numbers to population to decrease,” Superintendent Scott Richard explained.
During the special meeting, Richard presented the board with the COVID-19 Calendar Revision proposal.
The superintendent explained that adjustments had to be made to holiday schedules in order to meet the state-mandated “minutes of educational time” requirements.
Those changes include:
— Teachers report Aug 31
—Students report Sept. 8 — theday after Labor Day (All staff and students will continue to have the holiday of Sept. 7, Labor Day)
— Holiday dates of Nov. 4 (Wednesday after Election Day) and Feb. 17 (Wednesday after Mardi Gras) are removed and converted to full instructional days
— The original Professional Days remain at the front of the calendar as teacher work days allow for preparation given COVID-19.
— Increased instructional minutes by 12 minutes per day.
— Removed all six early dismissal days (aka “Bank Days”) and converted them to full instructional days.
— Removed early dismissal days of Dec. 18 (Friday prior to Christmas break); April 1 (Thursday prior to Easter break); and May 27 (formerly the last day of school for students)
— Final date for students will be Thursday, June 3, instead of Thursday, May 27
— Final date for teachers will be Friday, June 4, instead of Friday, May 28
— Maintained all other holidays as noted in original calendar
For school in Ward 5, where classes are held four days a week, all of the above applies except:
— Remove the Dec. 18 holiday and converted to full instructional minutes.
— Ward 5 schools will need to provide instruction on the following Fridays: Sept. 11, Sept. 18, Sept. 25 and Oct 2 (no additional Fridays added)
“The adjustments to the calendar have been made out of an abundance of caution for our students, our schools and our community,” Richard said. “We appreciate everyone’s patience, cooperation and understanding as we work to reopen school safely.”
Finally, Richard noted that, pending mandates from the governor or the state Department of Education, all dates are still subject to change.