The Lafayette Parish School Board's superintendent told board members and the public that school will begin Aug. 7 and the district will use a staggered A/B start to ease the first days, with the schedule posted on the district website. He said the district will monitor attendance closely and take roll on staggered days.
At the July meeting, the superintendent said the district will "go back to the basics" with an emphasis on relationship building from principals to teachers and asked board members to support a renewed focus on attendance. He described absenteeism as "10 or more days," or 10% of enrollment days, and defined truancy as "5 or more unexcused days" or five or more late arrivals.
The district will begin the year with principals and school leaders on site and plans a staggered start that divides students by odd/even home address for the first days of school. Assistant staff displayed the staggered-start calendar and posted it under the back-to-school plan on the Lafayette Parish School System website; the district said absences on those staggered days will be counted.
The superintendent also introduced Anthony Mouto as the district's new chief financial officer and said principals attended two days of pre‑school conferences. Transportation changes, satellite stop listings and updated start times are included in the posted back-to-school package; the superintendent urged residents to use the district website or phone line for questions.
Board members pressed for clarity about how the attendance effort will be enforced and how the staggered schedule would be communicated to families. The district said it will send messages before the start and that attendance will be recorded in the student information system.