School Board eases mask rules

CENTERVILLE — Two COVID-19 related items, one lifting the mask mandate in schools during summer programs and another giving employees a one-time $2,000 stipend, passed during Thursday’s special board meeting.
The move to make mask mandates suggested but not required in schools during the summer came after Gov. John Bel Edwards revised his mask mandate allowing local school districts to make decisions on how they would like to handle masks on school grounds for summer programs. However, his mandate still applies on public transportation such as school busses.
Superintendent Dr. Teresa Bagwell said she polled elementary school principals in the district since they will be hosting the district’s Summer Adventure Camp during the first two weeks of the summer, and all were in favor of relaxing the mandate.
The measure passed on an 8-2 vote. Board members Kenneth Alfred, Joseph Foulcard, Ginger Griffin, Wayne Deslatte, Michael Taylor, Alaina Black, Dwight Barbier and Roland Verret voted in favor, while board members Pearl Rack and Marilyn LaSalle opposed. Board member Sylvia Lockett was not present in Centerville for Thursday’s meeting.
Rack said she opposed it due to a close call she had with COVID-19 but ultimately testing negative for the virus after a colleague at work was diagnosed with it.
“Some people like to think COVID is over, and COVID is not over,” she said.
LaSalle, who arrived at the meeting as the vote was being taken and opposed it, later asked for more information on the vote and vaccine data. Bagwell told her an updated survey was being taken in the school district, but as of over a month ago, about 30% of the school district’s employees had been vaccinated. Bagwell said not all of the employees who were surveyed will be present this summer.
Alfred said this topic will be revisited for the fall to see what the situation dictates as far as any amendments need to be made to the mask mandate.
LaSalle said after the meeting that it was too soon to lift the mandate. She said that teachers interact with students, and the virus could be transmitted to students who could bring it home to their families. While she said if 60% of employees had been vaccinated, it would not have been enough to her liking, but she would have had a different opinion about relaxing mask requirements.
As for pay stipends, the one-time payment is funded through the district’s Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief Fund budget allocation.
The funding is for those who worked on campus and played a part in preventing, preplanning for or reacting to COVID-19 while supporting learning. This includes long-term subs, cafeteria workers and bus drivers.
“There were multiple duties that had to be accomplished by our employees in order for us to host our kids on campus every single day.”
With the exception of about 200 students, all students returned to learning in the classroom by the end of the fall semester.
Deslatte commended Bagwell and the board for the move to secure this money.
“This is excellent,” he said.
Rack also offered praise, but reminded those present that she fought for some type of stipend at a previous board meeting.
Taylor thanked everyone involved in the effort, including teachers, noting how well things played out. He also thanked the board members who voted for returning to school for in-person learning last year.
“I know that wasn’t easy, because there was a lot of criticism about that,” Taylor said, adding there were many “naysayers” and “doomsdayers” predicting things would happen. He noted that “very little did happen” and the children benefitted from returning to school.
Rack, who opposed returning to in-person learning when a vote was taken last fall, took exception to Taylor’s comment.
“You never know what could happen, and so I stand strong on having voting that,” she said, noting she is thankful nothing came of returning to school. “But I would like to thank all of the board members, whether they voted for it or not, for just being present. … We just thank God that nothing happened.”
In other action during Thursday’s meeting, the board approved job descriptions for Redesign K-5 literacy coach and Redesign 6-8 literacy coach. The positions are funded through a grant, and each coach will work at three qualifying schools to improve student literacy. These schools qualified because of low performance. The Redesign K-5 literacy coach will work at Lagrange Elementary in Franklin, J.B. Maitland Elementary in Morgan City and Raintree Elementary in Baldwin.
The Redesign 6-8 literacy coach will work at Patterson Junior High, B.E. Boudreaux Middle School in Baldwin and Morgan City Junior High School.
The positions will last as long as grant money is available.