NEW ORLEANS (WGNO) — Some parents are probably starting to count down the days to the start of school, but there are some questions about how the upcoming school year is going to work.
On Wednesday, July 28, 2021, Dr. Henderson Lewis, Jr. the NOLA-PS Superintendent, Tiffany Delcour the NOLA-PS Chief Operations Officer, Asia Muhaimin the Warren Easton Band Director, and Rob Wallace the L.B. Landry Basketball Coach made some announcements, talking about a new plan for next school year.
One announcement was about the mobile vaccination locations. The wheels will keep turning on NOLA Public Schools mobile vaccines, as an effort to get students 12 and older vaccinated, along with their parents and teachers too. They’re also planning for routine covid-19 testing throughout the fall semester, similar to what was offered last school year.
Those are the two critical tools, Dr. Lewis says will help ensure the safe return of students to the classroom and keep them learning in-person on campus through the school year.
With the new school year just a few weeks away, the administration is outlining their plans to put the parents and guardians at ease ahead of the first day of school.
The health of students, teachers, and staff is still the top priority, which is why they are focusing on providing several mobile vaccinations for the eligible students and teachers while offering continuous testing for covid-19 and putting these health measures in place.
The newest announcement made entailed testing and incentives for the schools and people who participate. This will begin in September.
“With the support of the Louisiana Department of Health, we will have weekly, routine surveillance testing for all students and staff in our schools. This plan is being funded by the CDC through the American Rescue Plan. Not only will our schools benefit from the protections of weekly Covid-19 test can provide to our school system, but also, there will be financial incentives for those who receive a test, every time they receive a test. Also, the schools who participate in this test, will also receive some financial incentives for their participation,” said Tiffany Delcour, NOLA-PS Chief Operations Officer.
Watch the full NOLA Public Schools news conference below.
The big push is to get people vaccinated and keeping covid from spreading. After seeing the struggles last year with online learning and keeping students engaged, the school administrators said they want to keep kids in the classroom this school year.
Remember that all students and staff will have to wear a mask when going back
