The St. Mary Parish School Board has voted to enact the changes to the district's School Calendar proposed by Dr. Teresa Bagwell at the Special Session held on Thursday, August 6, at 4:00 PM. 

The changes to the school calendar were based on several factors, including

• the importance of providing additional preparation time as teachers transition to virtual instruction.
• the desire to share more information with parents about their role when choosing a virtual education for their children.
• the concerns of parents about returning their children to traditional learning in the face of a COVID-19 pandemic.
• the need to ensure that the technology to make online learning work was ready to be deployed.

The Board's vote postpones the first day of school for St. Mary Parish students to Tuesday, Sept. 8. 

View Calendar

The St. Mary Parish School Board has issued an agenda for a special session on Thursday, August 6, at 4:00 PM to discuss adjustments to the 2020-2021 School Calendar.  This meeting will be livestreamed by KQKI and will be held in the Evans Medine Meeting Room at the Central Office Complex in Centerville.

View Agenda

A Public Hearing will be held at 4:45 PM (prior to the regular scheduled meeting of the St. Mary Parish School Board) on Thursday, August 13, 2020, at the Central Office Complex in Centerville, Louisiana, for the purpose of review and input from the general public on the following:

1. Consolidated Budget for the Year Ending June 30, 2021. (General Fund, Special Revenue Funds, and all other Funds of the St. Mary Parish School Board.)

NOTE: This Consolidated Budget is available for public inspection at the Central Office Complex located at 474 Hwy. 317, Centerville, LA.

View Announcement

From Dr. Bagwell: 

The St. Mary Parish School System has released leadership appointments for the 2020-2021 school year today. The following appointments are the result of retirements and recently approved organizational changes designed to consolidate district-level staff. 

• Ms. Debra McClarity, Director of Federal Programs
• Ms. Chrissy Harrison, Coordinator of Elementary Special Services
• Ms. Gidget Everitt, Instructional Specialist
• Ms. Crystal Daigle, Instructional Specialist

While the district works to prepare for the successful reopening of public schools and classrooms, the newly installed district leaders will play a pivotal role in solidifying an educational organization that is fiscally conservative and fully dedicated to investing in the incomparable education of children.

View Press Release

In December, the board voted to begin the process of placing a sales tax measure on the ballot that would make St. Mary Parish teacher salaries competitive with surrounding parishes in a effort to recruit and retain certified teachers. 

The sales tax measure that was slated to appear on the August ballot has been withdrawn by the St. Mary Parish School Board. This action was taken in consideration of the economic impact of COVID-19 pandemic, as well as discrepancies with the language of the ballot itself. Board members agreed that is was most appropriate to withdraw the tax measure given the critical circumstances faces by local citizens. 

 View Press Release

From Dr. Bagwell:

The St. Mary Parish School Board approved an adjustment to the school calendar for 2020-2021 to incorporate a graduated start for students beginning on August 10. These changes were proposed and approved by the board in an effort to allow schools additional time for training and preparation as we adjust to the many changes associated with reopening.  

Students will now return on August 10 and will be divided into two groups, with one group attending school on Monday/Wednesday and the second group on Tuesday/Thursday. This will allow all schools time to introduce and practice routines and procedures new to a school’s daily schedule with small groups before we reopen under the Phase 2 guidelines on Monday, August 17.

Further, two additional professional development days on Friday. August 7. and Friday, August 14, will offer teachers and administrators time to prepare for and assess needed adjustments. It is hoped that these minor calendar revisions will help initiate a positive and efficient start to an unprecedented school year.

The 180-Day School Calendar can always be found under Parents/Students | Basic Information | Calendar  or Employees | Calendars on this website. 

Revised Calendar

Parents and legal guardians who wish to commit to virtual learning for Fall 2020 for their children should complete the appropriate attached form. This form will serve as the official enrollment form for virtual learning. 

• Read the form carefully, checking off all boxes to indicate understanding of the requirements for virtual learning.  A printed copy of these forms can also be picked up in any school's office.
• Sign and date the form.
• Email or drop off the form to the child's assigned school by Monday, July 27.

Commitment Form: Grades K-8  (Spanish Version)

Commitment Form: Grades 9-12 (Spanish Version)

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. 

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