VERMILION PARISH — New changes are coming to the Vermilion Parish School System for the upcoming school year.
Superintendent Tommy Byler said the changes include an updated dress code. Skorts, skirts, shorts, dresses and jumpers must be no more than four inches above the top of the knee.
"The only major difference is the length of skirts, actually putting into place a way for us to measure with the students standing up," Byler said.
The new policy also moves away from athletic spandex-type materials.
The school system will eliminate the valedictorian and salutatorian designations, replacing them with Latin academic distinctions. This change will go into effect for the 2027-2028 school year.
"We're moving to the Latin distinctions— you know, the cum laude, magna cum laude, summa cum laude," Byler said.
He said the transition is intended to encourage students to take dual enrollment classes and to recognize all high-performing honor graduates.
Beginning this school year, the district will also add a new designation: the Vermilion Parish Distinguished Graduate.
"We've added a Vermilion Parish Distinguished Graduate for our students who have a set number of DE classes, a set ACT, and a set grade point average that can be earned by any student. But we also have one for our career-kit students," Byler said.
The district also will now accept up to five parent notes for absences, up from the previous limit of zero.
"Sometimes parents aren't going to run to the doctor for every little thing, but the compulsory attendance law kind of ties our hands," Byler said. "So, we've made a couple of adjustments where we're going to accept a small amount of parents' notes in place of going to the doctor."
A new addition will also be coming to the student restrooms. As KATC previously reported, when students return in August, HALO sensors will be installed to detect vaping and loud noise.
