Terrebonne Parish School District lifting some COVID rules, including school mask mandate

The Terrebonne Parish School District (TPSD) is lifting some of last school year’s COVID-19 safety requirements, including the school mask mandate.

For the 2021-2022 academic year, students, faculty and staff will have the option to wear masks in school buildings, Superintendent Philip Martin said. He did note, however, that due to a federal requirement for mass transit, masks will still be required for bus transportation. 

Temperature checks won’t be required to enter facilities, Martin added, and the District is loosening the restrictions on “essential” visitors. “If a parent needs to have a face-to-face with the teacher, we’re going to allow that. Now, we will make that determination as needed because we don’t want to open that door completely wide open. But those things that are educational in nature and they need to be there, we’re going to allow that,” he said. 

The school system is also ending its virtual schooling program implemented after the novel coronavirus reached the area. However, the hospital/homebound program, which was established long before the pandemic, will still be offered for medically fragile students who cannot attend school — with verification from a physician.

On July 8, The Louisiana Department of Education (LDOE) released “Ready to Achieve!” — a set of updated operational guidance for K-12 school systems, based on guidelines from state and federal health organizations, to use in the upcoming school year. The recommendations include a face covering for all unvaccinated adults and students in grades 3 through 12 “to the greatest extent possible and practical within the local community context.” LDOE also recommends 3-foot physical distancing between students in groups and classrooms. 

State Superintendent Dr. Cade Brumley highlighted that the recommendations are not requirements, leaving safety protocols in the hands of the local school districts. “Our school operational guidance serves as best practices. These are not mandates. The State of Louisiana has not issued a mandate relative to the use of facial coverings by students or faculty on a school campus or inside a school facility,” she said. “School system leaders should continue to work with the local medical community to determine what works best based on local context. It’s also important to understand that our guidance is a blueprint based on the best information available now.”

Martin said, for the most part, TPSD is sticking to the guidelines — especially with sanitizing, cleaning and hand-washing. Physical distancing and quarantine measures will also remain in place, he said. “Quarantine [last school year] was anyone who was in close contact with a confirmed positive…Our nurses make those determinations,” he noted. 

The superintendent doesn’t see the District ever requiring employees and students to take the COVID vaccine. “That’s need to be a decision that parents make,” he said. “I think the vaccine is proving it’s been very safe and successful…But we feel that’s a parental decision — what’s best for them and their family.”