Education
Louisiana ranked next to last in quality of its schools
When measured against the other states and Washington, D.C., Louisiana’s school systems rank 50 out of 51 in the quality, according to WalletHub, a personal finance website based in the nation’s capital. “Unlike other research that focuses primarily on academic outcomes or school finance, WalletHub’s analysis takes a more comprehensive approach,” said Adam McCann, WalletHub […]
Teachers hold protest in front of Baton Rouge school district office
Teachers protested the reopening of schools in front of the East Baton Rouge Parish School District Office on Wednesday. Educators and concerned parents and students gathered wearing masks and red attire. Protesters held up signs that read “I can’t teach Algebra 2 from my grave,” and “Educators essential but not expendable!” “Now is not the […]
Southwestern Athletic Conference postpones fall sporting events to spring 2021
The Southwestern Athletic Conference will postpone all scheduled fall sporting events, which impacts men’s and women’s cross country, football, women’s soccer and women’s volleyball, until the 2021 spring semester. The conference said in a statement released on Monday that “this action was necessary out of growing concern for the health, safety and well-being both mentally […]
Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards extends coronavirus restrictions
Gov. John Bel Edwards will extend the state’s current coronavirus restrictions — including its face covering mandate, 50-person gathering cap and bar closures — for an additional two weeks Friday. The limitations, commonly referred to as “Phase 2”, will now go until Aug. 7, the day after Louisiana’s public school students are scheduled to resume […]
New Orleans Public Schools will begin fully online
New Orleans Public Schools will begin the fall semester fully online and won’t allow in-person instruction before September, the school district announced Tuesday. “We are making this shift because we’re listening to the advice of medical experts,” Superintendent Henderson Lewis said in a news conference. “We’re committed to helping New Orleans get back on track […]
Child advocates warned of a surge in abuse cases, but there’s no evidence that’s happened
The Louisiana Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS) has seen a nearly 50 percent decline in the number of hotline reports of suspected child abuse and neglect since March. While some have warned that school closures related to the novel coronavirus would cause a spike in the number of children being abused, experts say […]
White House leans on Louisiana to reopen schools
BATON ROUGE — Vice President Mike Pence visited the Louisiana State University campus Tuesday to meet with the state’s top leaders to discuss reopening schools next month. Pence’s message was clear: the White House wants Louisiana to fully open all its schools despite the state’s high rate of COVID-19 cases. Pence arrived on Air Force […]
State plans to supply schools with cleaning supplies and personal protective equipment
Louisiana State Superintendent Cade Brumley told the Louisiana House Education Committee Monday that in addition to creating health and safety guidelines for reopening schools that the Louisiana Department of Education has also added information about supplying schools with cleaning supplies and how they should use them. School employees must be provided adequate access to hygienic […]
BESE meets Tuesday afternoon to discuss new COVID-19 guidelines
The Louisiana State Board of Elementary and Secondary Education will hold a special meeting on Tuesday, July 14 to create emergency rules and guidelines that “provide minimum standards, policies, medical exceptions and regulations to govern the reopening of the schools for the 2020 school year,” said BESE President Sandy Holloway.” The meeting is being held […]
Conflicting opinions about reopening schools in Louisiana and the U.S.
Across the United States, only 20 percent of parents with school-age children feel comfortable sending their children back to school in August or September, according to Echelon Insights, a polling firm that surveyed 500 parents a week between April 27 and June 18. The results of that poll and an analysis of it were published […]
Louisiana Key Academy welcomes students back to in-person instruction
While many Louisiana schools and school districts are still figuring out if they’ll have in-person instruction, online instruction or a mix of the two in August, Louisiana Key Academy, a Baton Rouge charter school, is scheduled to start in-person instruction for its students today, July 9. Created as a campus to focus on the needs […]
Education department’s reopening rules may be hard for students to follow
Ashley Collins is a bit worried about her six-year-old son, Austin, going back to school in the fall. Austin is about to start 1st grade at J.C. Ellis Elementary School in Metairie, but with the recent upsurge in COVID-19 cases in Louisiana and especially Jefferson Parish, Collins just hopes her son’s school operates with an […]