School year start delayed 3 weeks

Faced with mounting concerns over the COVID-19 pandemic, the St. Martin School Board last Friday approved a revised school calendar that pushes the start of classes from Aug. 17 to Sept. 8.
Under the new calendar, approved by a 5-3 vote during a specially called meeting, teachers will report for nine days of professional development beginning on Tuesday, Aug. 25 rather than Monday, Aug. 10.
Students, whose first day was previously set for Monday, Aug. 17, will now begin classes on Tuesday, Sept. 8, the day after Labor Day.
The new calendar will push the last day of classes from Thursday, May 27 to Wednesday, June 9 while high school graduation will move from Friday, May 14 to Friday, June 4.
The new calendar eliminates a planned “fall holiday” set for Monday, Oct. 26 while all other holidays will remain unchanged.
Favoring the new calendar were board members Mike Clay, Jimmy Durio, Russel Foti, Steve Fuselier and Edna Johnson. Opposed were Mark Hebert, Floyd Knott and Frederic Stelly. Richard Potier and Wanda Vital were absent.
Johnson, a retired teacher whose three daughters are all teaches, commented “I have 11 grandchildren and we’re all concerned about starting school. Let’s wait until after Labor Day.”
But Stelly said he also has family members involved in the schools and “They want to start now.”
Knott said he felt the public was “pretty evenly divided over when school should start.”
Discarded was a second option offered by Superintendent Allen Blanchard Jr. and his staff that would have had teachers reporting on Wednesday, Aug. 19 with classes beginning on Monday, Aug. 31.
Blanchard told board members that either schedule would be satisfactory to him and his staff.
Most other area parishes are also delaying the start of school, he added.

Scrubs Out
In another matter, a split board voted down a motion to allow teachers to wear scrubs in their classrooms.
The motion by Johnson and Clay also had the support of Foti and Fuselier while Durio, Hebert, Knott and Stelly were opposed. The tie vote killed the proposal.

Virtual Classes
Staff members reported that enrollment in the system’s virtual school program, which drew less than 200 students last year, is now approaching 3,000, more than a third of the projected student count.
Unknown at this point are the repercussions this shift might have on classroom teacher slots, the federally subsidized school breakfast/lunch program or the bus transportation system.
School officials are also concerned over the rising cost of sanitizing procedures and supplies.
And Anthony Polotzola, supervisor of student services, said last week that the system was 10 teachers short of filling all classroom vacancies. “There are just no qualified or interested applicants out there,” he said.