OPELOUSAS, La. - Governor Edwards recently issued aproclamation that lifted the statewide mask mandate and indicated the following for K-12 schools: "Subject to the exemptions in Subsection (C) above, all students in K-12 schools inLouisiana shall be required to wear face coverings over the nose and mouth. However,an LEA, school district, or non-public school may affirmatively opt-out of this mandateonly if the LEA or school district or non-public school adopts an isolation and quarantinepolicy for students, faculty, and staff consistent with the protocols set by the Louisiana Department ofHealth (based upon CDC guidance) published at
https://ldh.la.gov/assets/oph/Coronavirus/resources/DecisionTree/Schools-DecisionTree.pdf."
Effective Monday, November 1, 2021, face-coverings for staff, students, and visitors will be optional in St.Landry Public Schools except when traveling on school buses per the Presidential Executive order and CDC guidelines. SLPSB students will continue to wear face coverings while being transported to and from school and school-related activities. Please note, students attending SLCC, LSUE, or any other college institutions shall follow all of their guidelines while on their campus.
Our district will continue implementing safety protocols such as facility cleaning and disinfecting, social distancing to the greatest extent possible, frequent hand washing, and utilizing bottle-filling stations of communal water fountains. We will continue to perform contact tracing, notify close contacts of positive cases, and follow all quarantine guidelines as outlined in the governor's latest proclamation. Although face coverings are optional inside SLPSB school buildings, we encourage all parents and employees to consult with their physicians when making personal health care decisions.
We are grateful that our current positivity rate in St. Landry Parish is 1.6 % and the positive cases in the schools are reflective of the parish's effort in mitigating COVID-19. Superintendent Jenkins would like to personally thank our employees, students, parents, and community for partnering with us to keep students in school and safe. With vaccines becoming more readily available for adults and children alike, we would like to encourage everyone to get vaccinated and continue or start participating in the weekly COVID testing programin our schools.
