Central schools OK makeup plan
CENTRAL — The school days for most students will be extended by several minutes, and other adjustments are planned to make up for the four days of school lost when Hurricane Isaac blew through Louisiana in late August, school officials say.
The Central Community School Board on Monday agreed on how to make up the 1,500 minutes of lost instruction due to the hurricane.
In an explanatory letter to the board, Superintendent Michael Faulk said Central schools had different issues and legal requirements and, as a result, will have different makeup schedules.
All five schools will make up much of their lost time by extending what were to have been early dismissal days on Nov. 16, Dec. 19 and 20, to full school days.
At Central Middle School, that change alone is enough, to make up for the lost time Faulk said.
However, he said, the other four schools need to make up more time, which will be accomplished as follows:
- Central High will hold school as normal on Nov. 2 rather that having parent/teacher conferences that day. And, starting Oct. 1, the high school will add 14 minutes to the school day for the rest of the fall semester, a total of 52 days.
- Central Intermediate and Tanglewood Elementary schools, starting Oct. 1, will add six more minutes to the school day for the remainder of the 2012-13 school year.
- Bellingrath Hills Elementary, starting Oct. 1, will add six more minutes to the school day for the rest of the 2012-13 school year.
Also, the three early dismissal days being turned into full days will have 10 more minutes each tacked on.
Faulk said Central High School needs more time because of half-credit courses and the need for sufficient instructional time to allow students to earn course credits from the state.
However, he said, Central Middle recently moved to an eight-period day and had enough extra time so it was not necessary to extend the length of its school day, he said.
Faulk said he worked with the five Central principals in developing the revised 2012-13 school calendar and plans have already been presented to the faculty and staff of those schools.
In other action, the board gave the green light to start drawing plans and seeking bids to build a new “staging lane” on school property along Sullivan Road to relieve traffic congestion as cars pick up and drop off children at the newly constructed Central Intermediate and Middle schools.
In an interview after Monday’s meeting, Faulk said he expects to be able to have a bid opening in 10 to 12 weeks, and the project is estimated to cost about $250,000.
Faulk said the board will have to approve the winning bid then and he hopes the new lane will be poured by the start or early into the spring semester.
Faulk also said city-parish Department of Public Works officials have advised a roundabout under construction at the intersection of Gurney and Sullivan roads will be complete by Friday, allowing for the opening of a final entrance to the two new schools.