LAFAYETTE, La. (KLFY) – At Wednesday night’s Lafayette Parish School Board meeting, the big topic was approving the 2019-2020 School Year Calendar.


But after weeks of discussion and hundreds of parents weighing in via surveys, the Board did not agree on a solution yet.
 
The Board passed a motion which would eliminate all calendars except Proposals 5-A and 1-A, to give the Board some time to look at the instructional minutes required in a day.
 
“So there were a number of calendars that were under consideration. The Board reduced the number under consideration, to Calendar 1-A and Calendar 5-A,” said Dr. Donald Aguillard, Superintendent of Lafayette Parish School System.
 
Under Calendar 1-A, school would start on August 8, 2019, and the school year would end on May 20, 2020.
 
Under Calendar 5-A, school would start on August 15, 2019, and school would end on May 28, 2020.
 
“Both have tremendous possibilities. We’re just going to take a look at it a little further, dissect the minutes, and we’re going to come to a conclusion, very, very soon,” Dr. Tehmi Chassion, School Board Member for District 4.
 
Some students who attends schools in Lafayette Parish, are also weighing in on the various calendar proposals.
 
“Honestly, I would want them to choose Proposal 1-A, because we get those 4 extra instructional days. And that can really help us before the L.E.A.P. happens,” said Grace Cassidy, a student at Youngsville Middle.
 
“I think most kids really want option 9 because it starts later. So they think they have more time off, but I think they’re going with 5-A, which would be okay too,” said Jasmin Barella, a student at Youngsville Middle.
 
Louisiana requires 63,720 minutes of instructional time for one school year according to Dr. Aguillard.
So the Board will make sure whichever calendar they pick, abides by that.
 
“We’ll look closely at the calendar, and try to make sure that we start at a reasonable time. The Board asked for some time around August 19, we’ll try to protect as many holidays as we can, and either end in late May, or very, very early in June,” said Aguillard.
 
The Board will make a final decision at the next School Board meeting in January.
 

Below is a comparison chart provided by LPSS: