AG Landry releases opinion stating statewide mask mandate, bar restrictions are unconstitutional; Edwards responds
July 15, 2020
Free Face Masks Available Through TPCG
July 16, 2020
Yesterday afternoon, the Employee Representative Committee (ERC) of the Terrebonne Parish School District (TPSD) discussed and voted on options for adjusting the calendar due to the new start date of September 8 — caused by concerns over surging local COVID-19 cases.
The four options for 2020-2021 school year that were up for approval all have the new start date and meet the 63,720 required minutes (previously 177 school days consisting of 360 minutes each).
Option 1 has school ending on June 10, 11 days beyond the original end date of May 25. The option extends each school day by 26 minutes and has 165 school days.
Option 2 ends school on June 17, with a total of 170 days. It extends each day by 15 minutes.
Ending school on June 3, Option 3 has the earliest last day of the four options. It has a total of 160 days, but adds an extra 38 minutes to the daily total.
The last option, Option 4, has the school year sticking to 177 days without adjusting the minutes. The end date is June 25, 23 days beyond the original end date of May 25.
A significant majority of ERC members chose Option 1.
“When you look at it, it’s kind of the most realistic, middle of the road — not extreme either way,” said Superintendent Philip Martin after the meeting.
Although he also favored the first option, he would have went with any plan the committee chose, Martin added.
Assistant Superintendent Bubba Orgeron, who outlined the options, agreed with Martin that it is the best option. “I think that was the most reasonable, as far as the amount of time going into the summer and time added on to the day; both were very manageable.”
At the meeting, discussions were held on how to distribute the minutes. Several educators favored starting school earlier — as opposed to adding all the minutes to the end of the day — while also adding extra time to every class.
Option 1 will be sent to all the principals, who will then discuss the plan with their staff, Orgeron said, before the TPSD administration makes a final decision.
Backup plans for if the pandemic worsens during the school year were also brought up during the meeting.
Orgeron said they have looked at options for a flex schedule, to reduce number of students in each class if Louisiana goes back to Phase 1. One example was to have one group of students coming in on Mondays and Tuesdays while the other group is virtually learning, letting Wednesdays be a virtual day for all students so the schools can be disinfected, and then the second group comes in on Thursdays and Fridays.
He added that the plans were just ideas they heard and favored and nothing has been decided yet.
Although he’s for children being in schools, Martin said the possibility for Terrebonne Parish schools to go back to being 100 percent virtual is still there, if worst-case scenario, such as another mandate.
Martin also took the time during the meeting to stress the importance of the upcoming renewal of the existing 5.41 millage that will be on the ballot on Saturday, Aug 15, and asked those at the meeting to help spread the word about the vote.
“The millage is an important part of the financial picture for our district and for our kids and for our employees,” he said following the meeting. “We run a very efficient school district; that’s factually substantiated.”
“Our millage is a very modest one, by any comparison to any other school districts statewide,” Martin added. “And we’re not asking for more; we’re just asking to keep what we have.”
