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At the Terrebonne Parish School Board monthly meeting held last night, February 8, 2023, the Education, Technology and Policy Committee recommended that the board approve the Public School Choice policy.
The Public School Choice policy reads:
“The Terrebonne Parish School Board is required, by both Federal law and the Louisiana School Accountability Program, to develop and maintain a Public School Choice policy for any school with a School Performance Score (SPS) below levels set by the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education (BESE). School Choice allows eligible students to transfer to an academically acceptable school.
Once schools eligible to receive students have been identified, a school-site utilization study shall be conducted, as needed in all schools, to determine the extent to which capacity exists to possibly accommodate students from schools offering choice, including students with special needs and/or students with disabilities. Only those schools that are labeled academically acceptable shall be considered eligible to receive students.
The Superintendent and staff shall be responsible for developing and managing a School Choice Plan, which shall determine the schools to which students may transfer, which students shall have priority in transferring, and all other regulations and procedures for supervising school choice within the school district.”
Board Member Matthew J. Ford explained the policy was not created by the Terrebonne School Board, but federally, “I know school choice is a hot topic these days, but this is a recommendation based on legislation that was passed. This isn’t something the board came up with.”
The main question asked was by Board Member Roger DeHart, concerning sports, “Whenever you are allowing school choice, it always concerns kids who play sports. How do you address these issues? If they have school choice, can they still play sports?”
Board Member Ford responded, “As far as athletics and extracurriculars go, that is controlled by LHSAA. That is not within the guidelines of this legislation.”
Board Member Don Crowdus clarified, “This is school choice as it relates to a child who is going to a failing school, with a D or an F, they can ask or request to go to another school that’s either an A, B, or C grade school.”
Board Member MayBelle Trahan responded, “We are very fortunate that our school district does not any D or F schools, all of our schools are above that. We do not have that problem. To go ahead and ask for school choice, a student would need to be involved in a program that does not currently exist at their school. All of our high schools offer the same programs right now, so that situation will not come up in the near future.”
Superintendent Bubba Orgeron explained that, “This is every district in Louisiana. It is not to address a specific situation in Terrebonne Parish. We are facing this statewide.”
