Jefferson Parish Schools announce they are once again delaying the start of school.
Public school students were expected to begin class on Wednesday after being closed Monday and Tuesday because of Hurricane Marco. Now, because of the uncertainty of Tropical Storm Laura’s forecast, Jefferson Parish public school leaders announced they are pushing the start date for grades 1 through 12 to August 31.
“We were excited and ready to welcome students back to school this week,” Superintendent of Jefferson Parish Schools, Dr. James Gray, said in a statement released on Monday. “Given the uncertainty of the weather, we wanted to give our families an opportunity to plan accordingly."
Grey continues, “Additionally, we wanted to give our teachers the chance to return before students so they could continue the work they were scheduled to do at the beginning of the week.”
Pre-k and kindergarten students were already scheduled to return next week.
“On Monday, August 31, PK/K students should be available for an individual at-home learning orientation. More information will be forthcoming from schools about how this will be handled. PK/K students will report to school, either virtually or in-person, Tuesday, September 1 or Wednesday, September 2 depending on the staggered start date,” the statement said.
This is the third delay to the start of the 2020 school year for public schools in Jefferson Parish. Two previous delays were over concerns teachers had about the safe return of students amid a spike in coronavirus cases in the parish, and preparing teachers for the new virtual learning methods.
Related: JP Schools Chief explaining decision to close schools 2 days
Related: Jefferson Parish School Board pushes back opening of school
The parish school system also says there may be ‘additional adjustments’ for schools in Grand Isle and Lafitte since the island is under a mandatory evacuation due to Marco and Laura.