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UPDATE: LPSD said the Chromebooks will have to be returned at the end of the 2019-20 school year (during the last week in May and the first two weeks in June) and a distribution date is forthcoming.
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Superintendent Jarod Martin announced today that the Lafourche Parish School District (LPSD) will distribute Chromebooks to students who do not have access to a device at home.
“The closure of schools for the last nine weeks of the 2019-2020 school year has created unique challenges and questions for everyone involved. While students may not be in our classrooms or schools for the remainder of this school year, we are attempting to meet all the different needs of our students,” he wrote in a letter to parents and students.
A Chromebook is a laptop that runs on Chrome OS, Google’s operating system. The laptops don’t come with internet, however, residents can look into special discounts some companies, such as Spectrum, Comcast and AT&T, are offering during the COVID-19 crisis.
Brooke Huddleston, board president, said LPSD is acquiring 2,000 Chromebooks, in addition to the ones already in the district’s possession. The goal is for every family in the district to have a device that can access the internet, she said.
Parents who are interested in being issued a device can request one by completing the “LPSD Distance Learning Technology Request Form” found on https://www.mylpsd.com/. Huddleston said the laptops should be available in the next few days.
“We will be greatly increasing the use of the online platforms that were already in place in
our classrooms in an effort to create a more comprehensive online learning platform,” Martin also noted.
Teachers will use Google for Education Suite and Google Classroom to instruct and provide feedback to their students, Martin said, and interactive lessons will be created each week for student participation. “The district’s goal is that every teacher is able to interact with their students and provide meaningful feedback to their students by the close of the school year,” he continued.
In the letter, Martin also touched on final grades: “We will be averaging final student grades using the three marking periods that were completed before the mandated closure. However, an amended final GPA formula will be used in order to take into account that the 4th marking period was unable to be performed. This simply means that students will be given final grades that do not penalize students that were not given the opportunity to complete the 4th marking period. Parents can visit our FAQ section of the district home page for details. Report cards will be mailed to all students at the close of the school year.”
Read the full letter below:
Photo courtesy of Lafourche Parish School District social media
