The St. Mary Parish School Board recognizes that there may be occasions that require the closure of district schools, including events such as weather and health emergencies. If an emergency occurs, the district will make every effort to ensure that educational opportunities for our students can continue while they are at home. In the past few years, the district has acquired a comprehensive collection of online content and digital resources that can be accessed from locations beyond our traditional school sites. The district will provide mobile devices for students to check out for home use to support continuing learning without interruption. The district will also extend internet access to users via school and community hot spots.

The district’s Instructional Continuity Plan (ICP) has four primary components: Content Delivery, Implementation, Mobile Devices, and Internet Access.

• Implementation offers sample schedules for situations where to traditional school attendance must be altered or suspended.
• Content Delivery explains which resources students will use for core instruction and which materials can be used as supplemental resources to enhance core instruction.
• Mobile Devices provides the steps the district is taking to ensure that district students who need mobile devices to access instructional resources will be provided with one, upon request, for the duration of the school closure period.
• Internet Access    for students poses the greatest challenge to ensuring that our students can continue their studies while at home. Partnership with service providers is crucial to providing free or reduced-cost internet service to students if district schools must close due to emergency situations.

The district has developed a webpage with information for parents and students about this plan. The website is located at https://www.stmaryk12.net/learnathome and included the latest version of the Instructional Continuity Plan. 

The St. Mary Parish School District is seeking information in preparation for the 2020-2021 school year. This information will remain confidential and will be used to take appropriate actions that ensure a safe and orderly opening of school in August. Any re-opening plans will depend on the declared phases of reopening as proclaimed by Governor Edwards.

Overall, schools will reopen under one of three possible scenarios:
--A normal start to the school year with all students attending school daily.
--A hybrid model with students attending school two days per week and online instruction the remainder of the week.
--A strict online learning model where classroom teachers will utilize Microsoft Teams as a central portal and will conduct classes through video streaming and online classwork.

At this time, if we remain under the current Phase 2 reopening recommendations, St. Mary Parish schools will reopen under the following plan:
--Students in elementary grades (PreK – 5) will attend daily.
--Students in grades 6-12 will attend school in a hybrid model that blends in-class and online learning options.

We are requesting your assistance to prepare for reopening our schools. Beginning Friday, July 10, a link to the Reopening 2020 Family Survey will be sent to registered parents/legal guardians via JText. Please complete this survey for each child in your family. The survey will close on Wednesday, July 22.

If a family did not receive a JText by Monday, July 13, a parent/legal guardian should call the child's school to update Contact Information and request the survey link.

From Dr. Bagwell:

Changes to school leadership include the appointment of assistant principals to three high schools.

• Assistant Principal: Ms. Lacie Hotard (Morgan City High School)
• Assistant Principal: Ms. Angela Brinkley (Centerville High School)
• Assistant Principal: Ms. Bianca Bennett (Franklin Senior High School)

The following individuals were promoted from "acting" positions:

• Assistant Principal: Ms. Noelle Lowrimore (Berwick High School)
• Assistant Principal: Mr. Ryan Taylor (Berwick Junior High School)
• Assistant Principal: Ms. Almetra Pierce-Stansbury (Patterson Junior High School)
• Assistant Principal: Ms. Ronica LaPoint (Watts Elementary)  

All candidates receiving administrative appointments were informed of their promotions to facilitate a smooth transition and offer opportunities for attendance at district trainings according to their administrative assignments. Appointments will become official based on the district’s administrative calendar for the position and may be adjusted due to the unique circumstances of any given school.

View the July 1, 2020, press release.

From Ms. Gidget Everitt:

Congratulations to the 2020 Red Ribbon Week Art Contest Grand Champion, whose drawing will appear on the cover of the Red Ribbon Calendar for 2020-21:

• Kailynn Gaudet (Berwick Junior High School)

Ten additional drawings were also selected to be featured in the calendar. Congratulations to the following winners:

• Silas Hastings (Morgan City Junior High School)
• Aeris Ladday (Berwick Junior High School)
• Bailey Crochet (M. E. Norman Elementary School)
• Katelyn Besse (Morgan City Junior High School)
• Meredith LaGrange (M. E. Norman Elementary School)
• Emily Rogers (Hanson Memorial High School)
• Sydreanna Powell (Morgan City High School)
• Alli Blakeman (Patterson High School)
• Cora LaGrange (M. E. Norman Elementary School)
• Ann-Marie Guagliardo (Morgan City Junior High School)

All drawings used the 2020 Red Ribbon Week Slogan suggested by Sophie Dufrene (J. B. Maitland Elementary) and Aiden Sherville (St. John Elementary): 
"Don't Huff, Don't Puff--Stay Away from that Stuff!  Be Drug-Free!"

Additional information regarding the Red Ribbon Week program can be found on this website:  Departments | Safe & Drug Free Schools

From Mr. Kenneth Holmes:

School transfer requests for St. Mary Parish students are now being accepted by the Office of Child Welfare and Attendance.  The five categories under which a transfer can be considered are outlined on page 2 of the Student Transfer Request application, which can be found on this website under Departments | Child Welfare and Attendance | Policies | Student Transfers. 

The deadline for submission of Student Transfer Request applications for the 2020-21 school year is July 1, 2020. 

Information regarding employee rights under the Families First Coronavirus Response Act has been posted at the bottom of every district website's Home Page under District Links or at this address: https://www.dol.gov/sites/dolgov/files/WHD/posters/FFCRA_Poster_WH1422_Non-Federal.pdf.

The pamphlet outlines eligibility and paid leave entitlements for district employees.

Additional new items can be found on the District News Archive page.