EPSB to phase in students in school return

During Wednesday’s meeting, Evangeline Parish Superintendent of Schools, Darwan Lazard, presented to the school board a plan to begin phasing in students to return to in-person instruction. Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, before the new school year started, the board decided to split grades six through 12 students into two groups (A and B) and have them alternate between in-person instruction and distance learning during the week. Wednesdays have been days where all students participate in online distance learning. Wednesdays were also days for teachers to have professional development and have meetings and hold office hours to help students who needed assistance, and for the schools to be sanitized.
According to Lazard, so far there is less than 0.5% of positive COVID-19 cases on Evangeline Parish campuses. He attributes that successful rate to the hard work of all the employees, from principals to custodians.
As of now, no start date has been chosen, but Lazard hopes to begin in the next few weeks. He proposed, during the meeting, the phase-in schedule would begin on a Monday with Group A and the first half of Group B attending school for face-to-face instruction. Tuesday would be Group A and the first and second half of Group B. Wednesdays would be kept as they are with thorough cleanings and teachers holding office hours, conducting meetings, and all students receiving distance learning. Thursday and Friday would be all of Groups A and B.
Evangeline Virtual Academy (EVA) students may join live lessons Mondays and Tuesdays and Thursdays and Fridays or complete recorded lessons in Google Classroom at a convenient time for them. At one point, there were about 1,900 students in EVA, but now it is down to around 600.
Lazard said he had originally planned on beginning with the sixth grade students, but after speaking to several principals, he asked the school board for permission to allow the phase-in and trust him and his staff to come up with the best grades to start. “I don’t want to have a mad rush to bring everyone back in, because that could lead to a spike in COVID-19 cases.” He added, “If I didn’t believe we could do this safely, I wouldn’t even be standing here.” Lazard could not give a time line on how long it would take to phase in students until he speaks with more teachers to get their input. He is asking them to think outside the box to figure out how to keep a social distance of six feet and not have more than 25 people in a classroom.
Board member Wanda Skinner said she would rather wait until after the winter season to begin phasing in students. “I think it’s important to get the children back in school. I agree with that totally, but I just think the timing is wrong,” said Skinner. “We don’t know what this winter will bring, because this is so new to us. It’s frightening. When I heard the scientists saying this is not the time to have children in school, it scares me, and I know a lot of people are afraid. If we have something that’s working, why don’t we just wait a while until the winter is over with and then maybe we can start bringing them in?”
Lazard said he cannot guarantee there will not be a spike in COVID-19 cases by bringing in more students, but based on the success of what they have been doing so far, he feels they can do it safely. “I don’t mind coming back to you, ladies and gentlemen, and eating crow if I have to and saying it just didn’t work out.”
Board member Georgianna Wilson said some parents have told her they prefer the children go back to school because they are not learning anything at home. They said they are afraid, but would still prefer their children go back to in-person instruction. She also said some parents have to go to work and have no one to watch their children at home, and the children are not doing the work they are supposed to be doing.
The majority of the board voted to allow for the phase-in and give Lazard the authority to decide which grade starts first. The only board member who voted against the phase-in was Wanda Skinner.