The Allen Parish School Board met Wednesday, March 18, in special session to discuss several issues associated with the COVID-19 outbreak.
Superintendent Kent Reed said things change quickly and the educational staff of Allen Parish have been quick to adjust and find ways to assist students, parents, etc.
Since the closure of schools on Monday, March 16, Allen Parish began serving hot-and-go, carry-out lunches at three different locations in the parish with a breakfast included on Fridays. The parish’s website, https://www.allen.k12.la.us, was quickly updated with information about the hot meals, COVID-19, resources for continuous learning and a place where questions could be asked for information.
Reed said on Friday (March 13), the last day of school it began with a principal’s meeting where the message was school was continuing. By the end of the day, the governor had closed schools until April 13, so the staff quickly went to work preparing to close schools temporarily and offer the services needed by the community as far as education. Since this was a new situation, there were many discussions on how to proceed.
Reed said 200 meals were being prepared at each of the three sites where lunch will be served beginning Thursday, March 18. The number could be adjusted in the future if necessary. Kinder and Reeves would be at Kinder High; Fairview and Oberlin at Oberlin High; and Elizabeth and Oakdale at Oakdale High from 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. each day. On Fridays, breakfast will be given for Saturday. Parents do not need to bring students, and regardless of students’ status in the program (free, reduced or paid), they would receive a free meal.
On the board’s website, educational continuous learning resources have been listed by grade levels. Organizers said the document was a live feed so things could be updated continuously. Many sites like ABC Mouse, Great Minds, etc. were now free. Materials also have links to books to be read, and the staff was able to find free links to almost all resources.
Reed said distance learning and other educational resources were considered, but 30 percent of students in the parish have no access to internet. These recommendations were considered the best way to move forward. Some educators are communicating with students through technology and assisting with learning. That morning, about 20 students logged on to a session on geometry.
The board learned since some educators could not access their school board email from their phones, staff members were monitoring and assisting with transferring information, requests, etc. to all staff.
It was noted Mr. Reed began sharing the information through Facebook page and had 17,600 views within a few days.
Communication is important for all involved. Reed said as they move forward working with the Department of Education and addressing educational issues for students in Allen Parish, they would share. With the governor’s executive order shutting the schools down for more than 18 days, school performance scores, district performance scores and early childhood performance profiles for the 2019-20 school year will not be produced. Teacher evaluations can be completed with no further action other than recording in the appropriate data system. Diploma requirements for graduating seniors (minimum instructional minutes for course credit, IBCs, financial applications) have been waived. Exams – like graduating exit exams and LEAP testing – were waived, along with minimum days a teacher must work.
Reed said there were many concerns addressed by the administration, and he thanked the staff for quickly assisting the district. The school calendar would move forward. Allen Parish students will be on spring break until April 20.
Reed said everyone deserves a graduation, so he said no plans were in place to change any of the dates.
All sporting events have been cancelled until school resumes.
Personally, he would like to see the janitorial staff return before students so everything could be cleaned. He also would like staff to return a day early to prepare for students.
The board did adopt a resolution for the declaration of public emergency which gives Reed the ability to make some decisions without the board having to convene.
In other business, the board:
•Agreed to cancel the remaining finance committee meeting in March. They are expected to meet April 1, unless outside issues force them to revisit the meeting dates and times.
•Moved the April school board meeting from Monday, April 6, to Monday, April 20.
•Adopted the second alternate to the construction at Kinder High in the amount of $312,000. This will replaced window walls in seven classrooms on the southside of the east and middle classroom wings.
•Learned payroll would go out on time through direct deposit and mailing checks to employees.
