LAFAYETTE, La. - At its regular board meeting on Wednesday, the Lafayette Parish School System approved its Pupil Progression Plan for the 2019-2020 school year by a unanimous vote by board members.
However, the plan was modified before it was approved to remove a piece of language in the plan affecting how teachers can determine their final grades and how homework factors into that final grade.
The board struck out of the plan a component that would allow a teacher to average a student’s original grade and their reassessment grade to replace the lower grade.
It also struck out a component of the plan that would allow the School Building Level Committee to review a situation to determine whether the higher grade replaces the lower grade, or if the higher grade and lower grades are averaged to produce a final grade.
It also struck out a component that would let a teacher average a student’s original grade and the reassessment grade to replace the lower grade.
These changes to the plan were presented by Dr. Tehmi Chassion, who serves as School Board Member for District 4, who stated that he would have preferred more time to review the changes and discussed them with teachers and principals.
“I”m trying to do the right thing for the kids,” said Chassion.
The board stated that the deadline for the plan was July 1 and the state had granted them an extension to file it on July 19.
Each motion for the proposed changes, as well as the final vote for the plan itself, passed unanimously with only one member absent.
The board also modified the Grading Practices and Guidelines section of the plan to allow homework to be weighed at 5 percent of the formative category of a students final grade. The formative grade makes up 40 percent of their total grade, while the sumative grade makes up 60 percent. That motion passed with five in favor and three against.
The board also took up a motion concerning additional compensation to be paid to school bus drivers for the upcoming school year in the amount of $5,000. The proposal was in response to drivers and their insurance rates, which increase significantly after their buses are older than 15 years. That vote passed with seven votes in favor and one vote against.
