Avoyelles Schools add online class capability for 2020-21

Avoyelles Parish schools will be receiving about $2 million in federal assistance to recover from the effects of the coronavirus crisis, and almost all of it will be used to prepare for any similar circumstances in
the future, APSD Superintendent Blaine Dauzat said.

Dauzat said there are still some unknowns about when, or if, the schools will open for the 2020-21 school year.

As of this past week, the district was preparing to open on Aug. 6. If that opening is delayed, Dauzat said the public school system will be prepared.

'STRONG START' GRANT
He said the district has been allotted about $2 million in the federal government's Strong Start 2020 program. About $300,000 will go to the parochial schools. One thing that came out of the COVID19 crisis was the realization that "virtual classrooms" need to be in the district's educational arsenal.

To that end, Dauzat said about $1 million of Strong Start funds will be used to purchase electronic devices for every student so they can attend a "virtual class" should their school be dosed due to another outbreak of COVID-19 or some future pandemic.

Another $500,000 will pay to install "access points" around the parish to strengthen Wi-Fi service so students will have better access to the internet to attend those classes.

Dauzat said Wi-Fi and internet service in Avoyelles Parish is poor in some areas. Adding about 45 access points in the parish should help remedy that problem.

The rest of the federal grant will be used to pay for additional cleaning supplies for the daily disinfecting of schools and school buses.

Dauzat said $2 million sounds like a lot of money, but it doesn't go as far as people think it would due to the COVID-related issues that have to be addressed.

PREPARING FOR FUTURE

"We are preparing for whatever may come, but it is hard to do because it can take so many turns between now and August," he said.

For example, if the opening of school is delayed the School Board could decide to begin the school year on schedule with virtual classes. If there are restrictions on the number of people allowed on a campus,
some students may come to the school while some of their classmates attend at home on their virtual class devices.

If the school year begins and then a "second wave" forces a return to the "stay at home" tactic to fight the disease, the parish will continue the school year with online instruction.

Dauzat said he will recommend at the School Board's meeting on June 9 that school begin with a five-day school week, with shorter instructional days, for August and September and then return to the four-day week with the extended school day for the rest of the school year.

He noted that some North Louisiana school districts are considering implementing four-day weeks to reduce possible exposure to the virus by 20 percent.

When schools open, students' and employees' temperatures will be taken daily.

"We will try our best to be prepared for everything," Dauzat said.