CPSB adjusts their “back to school” plan

LAKE CHARLES, La. (KPLC) - Calcasieu Parish students and parents were faced with a tough decision this summer, deciding between learning in person or virtually for the 2020-2021 school year. Tuesday night, the school board voted unanimously in favor of making a series of adjustments to their plan ahead of the upcoming school year.

The dress code for teachers and staff will change temporarily. As superintendent Karl Bruchhaus explains, they will now have the option to wear scrubs.

“They’re going to be cleaning stuff everyday, and doing different things so we are allowing scrubs and I just wanted to bring that before you,” Bruchhaus said to board members.

Face masks will also be a first for school districts around the country, Bruchhaus says masks should be seen as any other article of clothing included in their dress code. The board voted to give students and staff a little more room to express themselves through their masks.

“Face coverings do not have to be designated colors, but should be school appropriate and not derogatory, offensive, political in nature or distracting to the school environment as determined by the school administration,” Bruchhaus said. “This falls in line with our uniform policy right now. Hair color and all of those things. The school administration gets to decide if they’re distracting.”

Lastly, the grace period will now begin on Thursday, August 13 to give parents and students more time to finalize their decision between virtual or in-person learning for the first semester.

“A lot of people who signed up for virtual in the upper grades have told us they plan to come back,” Bruchhaus said. “We wanted to go ahead and get a jump on that, rather than waiting until the first day of school and having a hundred people standing outside waiting to make that change.”

the grace period begins this Thursday.....And will last until September 4th.

Superintendent Bruchhaus says there has also been some talk about the Calcasieu Parish School Board pushing back the school start date. He says as of right now the school year will begin on Monday, August 24th.

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