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This statement was released Tuesday by the Roman Catholic Diocese of Houma-Thibodaux, of which Central Catholic is a part, over the signature of Bishop Shelton J. Fabre:

To the Catholic Schools Family of the Diocese of Houma-Thibodaux:
In full alignment with the most recent federal and state guidance, including the directives
announced by Governor John Bel Edwards Monday, I am providing this updated list of safety
protocols as our Catholic schools’ family in the diocese begins their safe return to our classrooms
this week.
As our Superintendent of Catholic Schools Suzanne Delaune Troxclair stated in her column in the
August issue of the Bayou Catholic, “as we embark on the 2021-2022 school year, we do it with
great anticipation, hope, and the awesome responsibility of forming students who will go out into
our world and spread the Good News!”
Our priorities during the last school year remain the same this year as we chart a path to inclassroom
instruction so employees, students, and families feel as safe as possible and to reduce
the impact of COVID-19 conditions. Those priorities are safety, presence, and growth.
• SAFETY - The diocese is committed to utilizing appropriate safety measures in the context
of a safe return to work and schools.
• PRESENCE - The diocese is committed to in-classroom instruction in collaboration with
our Return to School Task Force and our medical partners, Terrebonne General Health
System and Thibodaux Regional Health System.
• GROWTH - The diocese wants our children to continue their academic progress and faith
formation in a safe, secure, and Christ-centered environment in our schools as we work in
the ministry of Catholic education to form the whole child.
Those preparations include the careful consideration of the many protocols recommended by the
Centers for Disease Control, the Louisiana Department of Health, the Louisiana Department of
Education, the American Academy of Pediatrics, and our local and state leaders.
We are announcing the following protocols for Catholic schools in the Diocese of Houma-
Thibodaux for the start of the 2021-2022 school year (new directives from the previous July 27
communication are in all bold):
Office of the Bishop | PO Box 505, Schriever, LA 70395
htdiocese.org | bishopsec@htdiocese.org | (985) 850-3124
• Terrebonne General Health System and Thibodaux Regional Health System will again
assist our Catholic schools in aspects of any COVID-19 infections or outbreaks in our
Catholic schools.
• Students and employees who are sick should stay home (regardless of illness).
• Those with COVID-19 are required to stay home until they have recovered and have been
determined to no longer be infectious according to the CDC's end of isolation criteria.
• Inside school facilities, masks are mandated for all employees and students age 5 and
above, and all children enrolled in a kindergarten program. Any child between the
ages of 2 and 5 who is not enrolled in a kindergarten program is strongly encouraged
to wear a face covering.
• While outdoors, all fully vaccinated and unvaccinated adults and students do not need to
mask if they adhere to physical distancing requirements. It is strongly encouraged that
unvaccinated individuals wear masks in crowded outdoor settings or during activities that
involve sustained close contact with people who are not fully vaccinated.
• Buses are allowed to operate at 100% capacity, and, as required by Presidential Executive
Order No. 13998, ALL passengers MUST wear a mask, regardless of bus capacity or
vaccination status.
• Schools will continue to provide adequate access to hygienic supplies and maintain
sanitizing and proper hygiene measures.
Considering the fluidity of the situation, these guidelines are based on the current medical
knowledge of the transmission of COVID-19 and may change at any time in accordance with
updates from the CDC, the LA Department of Health, the LA Department of Education, the Board
of Elementary and Secondary Education (BESE), or our local medical partners and leaders.
Sincerely in the Lord,
Most Reverend Shelton J. Fabre
Bishop of Houma-Thibodaux

PATTERSON — Dr. K. Renee Horton once dreamed of being an astronaut. But those dreams were grounded.
Now Horton, a Baton Rouge native and quality engineer for NASA, hopes her story will give young people wings.
Horton was a special guest Saturday at the St. Mary Back to School Bash, which drew hundreds of people to the Park Street Park for an event set up by the Gulf Coast Organization of Katy, Texas, which has local connections.
Along with the distribution of donated school supplies and the appearance by Horton, the event featured tables set up by Nicholls State, South Louisiana Community College and other schools; music; games; a fun jump; and scholarships presented to local students.
Horton serves as quality engineer at NASA’s Michoud Assembly Facility for the Space Launch System, designed to be the agency’s most powerful launch vehicle ever. The SLS will carry up to four astronauts on what NASA hopes will be deep space exploration.
There was a time when Horton hoped to go on such missions herself. A telescope she received at age 9 made her want to go into space.
But at 17, Horton learned she had a hearing impairment that would prevent her from becoming an astronaut.
“Now I’m excited about helping other people go into spaces,” she said.
Horton amassed a distinguished resume on her way to NASA.
She graduated from LSU with a degree in electrical engineering and a minor in mathematics. Her Ph.D. comes from the University of Alabama, where she studied material science with a concentration in physics. Her degree in that specialty, awarded in 2011, was the first to go to an African American woman.
She was elected president of the National Society of Black Physicists in 2016 and has served as a member of the International Union of Pure and Applied Physics Women in Physics Working Group.
Horton wrote “Dr. H Explores the Universe,” a book about astronomy that was geared toward young people.
She often talks to the young about careers in science, technology, math and engineering.
“I really think it’s just a matter of outreach,” Horton said Saturday.
And she reached out to the kids at the Back to School Bash.
“To the young people who are running around out there,” she said. “my beautiful black and brown babies, you can be anything you want to be.”
Horton received several awards at the back to school event, including a poster bearing an astronomical chart.
She encouraged the attendees to make a connection by touching the poster.
“I’ll take it back to California with me,” Horton said.
Also at Saturday’s event, Gulf Coast awarded six scholarships, two of which went to Morgan City High graduate Hailee Jo Madise and Patterson High grad Josiah David Fields.
The local connection that brought Gulf Coast to the Back to School Bash is Rachelle Washington White, who grew up in Patterson.
White is now an attorney and administrative law judge in Texas. He’s also married to Gulf Coast CEO Kendrick White.
White attended the Louisiana School for Math, Science and the Arts.
“That opportunity opened up so many doors for me,” Rachelle White said.
She hoped Saturday’s Back to School Bash would offer some opportunities “to the people who grow up in the same environment I did,” White said.

Chaille Guidry Rasberry, 92, a longtime resident of Berwick passed away peacefully on Friday, July 30, 2021 at her home, surrounded by her loving family.
Chaille the daughter of Joseph Abel Guidry and Marie Melasie McBride Guidry was born on August 16, 1928 in Port Neches, Texas.
Chaille was a devoted wife to her husband Ray and mother to their daughters. She was also a dedicated and passionate nurse for 51 years. She worked as an RN at Lakewood Hospital, director of nursing at St. Mary Guest Home and she went on to serve as a school nurse, retiring from the St. Mary Parish School Board after 20 years at age 72. Although retired, she never stopped nursing, always happy to help when neighbors and friends in her Golden Farms neighborhood needed her help or advice. Chaille had a kind heart and a gentle soul, devoted to her husband, daughters, grandchildren and great grandchildren. When she was able to, she loved to travel with her friends.
She will be sadly missed and lovingly remembered by three daughters, Patricia “Patti” A. Rasberry of Houma, Rebecca Trahan and husband Joseph of Berwick and Susan Blanchard and husband Lonnie of Berwick; two grandchildren, Ryan Blanchard and wife Kaleigh and Katie Anderson and husband Carl; five great grandchildren, Emerson Blanchard, Cooper Blanchard, Avery Anderson, Emilia Anderson and Graham Anderson; numerous nieces and nephews.
Chaille was preceded in death by her parents, her husband of 54 years, Ray A. Rasberry; two brothers, John Allen Guidry and James Cecil Guidry; one sister, Mary Rita Guidry.
Those honored to serve as pallbearers will be Ryan Blanchard, Carl Anderson, Lonnie Blanchard, Joseph Trahan, John Alvin Woods and Gary Woods.
The family would like to thank her caregiver, Gail Rogers for her loving care and the staff of Journey Hospice.
A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated at 11:00 a.m. on Thursday, August 5, 2021 at St. Stephen Catholic Church with Monsignor J. Douglas Courville celebrating the Mass. A visitation will be held on Thursday, August 5, 2021 at Twin City Funeral Home from 9:00 a.m. until 10:30 a.m. with a rosary being prayed at 10:15 a.m. Following Mass, Chaille will be laid to rest in the Berwick Cemetery Mausoleum.
The family kindly asks that all coming to pay their respects please observe the current Covid-19 protocols.

New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell has issued a citywide mask mandate and mandatory COVD-19 vaccine policy for all city workers and local government contractors.
Cantrell said her decisions were based on “exponential growth” of new COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations statewide.
“In order to quickly curb the dangerous and rapid spread of the Delta variant, an indoor mask mandate will be in effect immediately in Orleans Parish. Everyone, regardless of their vaccination status, should wear a mask indoors when with people who are not members of their immediate household,” a city news statement said Friday.
According to the Louisiana Department of Health, Orleans Parish is rated “highest risk” on the department’s COVID-19 risk scale, along with every other parish in the state except for Claiborne and Tensas.
A review of the New York Times coronavirus data tracking website showed Orleans Parish, with a population of 388,000, had an average of 282 cases a day over a two-week period ending July 31. Eighty-seven hospitalizations and one death occurred from July 16-22, according to the most-recent data available.
Mask and vaccine mandates are not universally embraced. A pair of state legislative bills would have pre-empted local governments from imposing vaccine mandates and proof of vaccination ID cards, sometimes called vaccine “passports,” in Louisiana.
State lawmakers approved the bills – House Bill 498 and House Bill 349 – during the 2021 regular legislative session, but Gov. John Bel Edwards vetoed them in July.
Both bills were recalled during a historic veto override session last month, though neither received a vote as the session ended abruptly without overturning a single veto.
Louisiana Attorney General Jeff Landry also is opposed to mandatory vaccines. Landry is challenging such policies in the state university system.
Edwards has deferred to local leaders regarding masks, social distancing and indoor and outdoor gathering policies since lifting an unpopular statewide mask mandate April 28, but that may change. Louisiana ranks among the worst states in the nation regarding COVID-19 safety. One recent study called Louisiana the “least safest” state.
Edwards issued updated guidance last week that strongly recommended wearing masks indoors. Shortly after, two of Edwards’ staffers tested positive for the coronavirus.
New Orleans is in a “Modified Phase Three” public health designation. If Cantrell moves to Phase Two or Phase One, many restrictions city residents endured last year could return.
The city’s low vaccination rate is of primary concern, officials said.
NOLA Ready, the city’s joint COVID-19 information initiative with the U.S. Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness, reports, “Only slightly more than 51% of all New Orleanians have been fully vaccinated. Furthermore, there are several census tracts in the City with vaccination rates below 50%.”