Saint Mary Parish School Board adopts handbook and policy updates, accepts Bateman Island lease and approves staff stipends

The Saint Mary Parish School Board on Dec. 11 approved a slate of policy and handbook revisions meant to implement recent state legislative changes, accepted a long-term lease for district property on Bateman Island and authorized one-time staff stipends.

The board voted unanimously to adopt revisions to the 2025–26 student-parent handbook after the policy committee and the superintendent reviewed changes required by state law. Policy committee chair Mister Mancuso said the committee had worked with attorneys to fold legislative changes into district policy, and noted that “Act 100 of 2025 required this revision” to add military status to the list of prohibited statutory discriminations. The board approved distributing a newsletter after the holiday break with links to the new policies and noted that parent notes will be accepted as legitimate excuses for short-term illness beginning in the spring semester.

Also under the policy package, the board approved multiple special-education-related revisions that the policy committee said were necessitated by Act 479 of 2025. Committee members described a multi-month review process with attorneys and special-education…