Although every governmental agency and local institution was hit by the life-changing effects of COVID-19 when the pandemic hit in 2020, the Iberia Parish School District possibly had the hardest challenges for dealing with a virus.

The district not only had staff to deal with, but also hundreds of children at every elementary, middle and high school who had to readjust to a new way to be educated.

Superintendent of Schools Heath Hulin said the IPSD had to prepare to impose several measures to mitigate COVID-19 in the summer months leading to the 2020-2021 school year.

One of the most obvious was social distancing. Large assemblies like pep rallies, award ceremonies and graduations were discontinued or held outside, and the number of participants in assemblies and in the student cafeteria was reduced per school re-opening guidelines provided by the Louisiana Department of Education, Louisiana Department of Health and the Center of Disease Control.

Transitions between classes and student arrival/dismissal procedures were also revised to limit the number of students in hallways entering and exiting the building, and static groups were formed among classes and grade levels to reduce the interaction of students and assist with determining which students were in contact with positive cases.

Other measures that were introduced included the capacity for school bus transport, disinfecting and sanitizing procedures for staff and reporting of COVID-19 symptoms and contact tracing.

Additional supplies and equipment were purchased during the pandemic to aid the situation. One of the most drastic changes was the introduction of hybrid-school learning, where students would get a mix of in-person and online education thanks to laptops provided to every student in the district.

When the effects of the pandemic started to wane, Hulin said many of the policies gradually shifted away.

“For example, once the mask mandate was lifted, students could attend classes without masks, but may have needed a mask for the bus only or they may have been asked to wear a mask only for a short period following being diagnosed as having a positive COVID case,” Hulin said.

In the classroom, the shift away from hybrid instruction was quickly removed although some parents chose to continue to have their children enroll in a virtual program.

Although schools returned to normal practices following the end of the pandemic, Hulin said the district did learn much from the experience.

“We have learned from COVID and improved our practices for cleaning, disinfecting and encouraging proper hand washing and sanitizing throughout the school day,” Hulin said. “I think there is also a heightened awareness of handling sick students and working with parents to keep students home when they are experiencing fever or illness.”

The pandemic also was a sort of catalyst in pushing Iberia Parish schools into the 21st century in terms of classrooms. Hulin said the district had made small strides to bring electronic devices to the classroom prior to the pandemic, and those efforts were pushed into the deep end as a result of COVID-19.

“(Our teachers) had to learn to swim in the technology pool or at least tread water to stay afloat,” he said. “In the end, our teachers are much more advanced and have embraced new technology and ways of teaching and communicating with students and parents in this digital age.|

Some of those efforts have led to addressing student learning gaps, promoting mental health awareness and improving instructional technology practices.

Every student now has a personal Chromebook assigned to them throughout the year, and teachers use platforms such as Google Classroom for the duration of the year as well.

Classrooms have updated technology and schools now have Master or Lead Teachers in place to lead the implementation of Best Practices in the classroom.

“With the help of Lead Teachers on each campus, extra interventions during the school day, extra learning opportunities throughout the summer months, and extra tutoring after school, students are making a comeback,” Hulin said. “Several schools were recently recognized for surpassing their school performance scores prior to COVID and all of our schools continue to work towards that goal.”