LAFAYETTE, L.a. — In a special meeting Tuesday night, Lafayette Parish School Board rescinded its COVID-19 safety plan — aimed at keeping children in school.
One of the biggest changes for students coming out of the decision has to deal with quarantine guidelines. When it comes to COVID-19, students will now only have to quarantine and miss school if they test positive for the virus.
The motion, brought forth by board members Britt Latiolais and Justin Centanni, carried 7 for, 2 against in the school board meeting.
"We were running into a situation where a kid would cough a couple of times or say their head was hurting -- head hurt -- and they'd get sent home for 5 days and that's not right," Centanni said. "That's not the thing to do at all."
Latiolais echoed these concerns during the discussion.
"The frustration of, you know, the children, the students, not being in school, examples of multiple students missing 5, 10, 15 days and never getting sick," Latiolais said. "And Acadiana having 700 or 800 students out at any particular time."
The special meeting featured public comments with teachers like Julia Reed expressing their concerns. She told KATC previous quarantine regulations severely affected students' academic performance.
"My school has a significant population of economically disadvantaged students and being out of school disproportionately affects them," Reed, who is also president of the Teachers Association, said. "Because they may not have access to reliable internet at their house in which to complete their work and they may not also have an adult to keep them on task at home to make sure their work is getting done."
The Teachers Association does plan to meet with the superintendent to come up with a plan moving forward that will keep students safe and in schools.
------------------------------------------------------------
Stay in touch with us anytime, anywhere.
To reach the newsroom or report a typo/correction, click HERE.
Sign up for newsletters emailed to your inbox. Select from these options: Breaking News, Evening News Headlines, Latest COVID-19 Headlines, Morning News Headlines, Special Offers
