Iberia Parish School District to host Enrollment Day on Thursday

Published 10:44 am Tuesday, August 2, 2022

The Iberia Parish School District will be holding a district-wide Enrollment Day on Thursday in an effort to take steps to counter truancy and absentee rates in the district.

The goal of the Enrollment Day is to offer parents a one stop shop for first time enrollment or re-enrollment into the Iberia Parish School System.

Superintendent of Schools Heath Hulin said in a prepared statement that the closure of schools due to COVID-19 has caused a sharp decline in enrollment coupled with a sharp increase in truancy during the past two years.

District officials indicate the school system has seen the percentage of truant students rise from 18 percent pre-pandemic to more than 32 percent post-COVID. Truant students are those that accumulate 10 or more unexcused absences over the course of the school year.

In the years leading up to the pandemic the school system saw well over 12,000 students in its schools, while the last official count reported on Feb. 1, 2022 indicated enrollment dipped below 11,000, indicating a loss of over 1,000 students during the last two years.

In response to the problem, Hulin assembled a District Attendance Task Force consisting of district administrators, principals, child welfare and attendance officers, mental health counselors, parental involvement specialists and representatives from the 16th Judicial District Attorney’s Family Service Division.

The Task Force has been working on several steps that will unfold throughout the school year beginning with the Enrollment Day, which takes place on Thursday from 8:30 a.m. to 11:30 p.m. at the District’s Maintenance Building at 413 South Lewis St.

Hulin said approximately 260 students left the school system to participate in homeschooling and approximately 30 students left to pursue virtual school options during the 2022 school year.

“Although some students are experiencing success in these options, the vast majority are not engaged in daily instruction and continue to fall farther and farther behind in learning acquisition and skills necessary to be successful in adulthood,” Hulin said.

The District’s Attendance Task Force has begun an outreach program to invite these families back to Iberia Parish Schools this August.

Following Enrollment Day, the Task Force will continue to work with schools to educate parents about attendance to form partnerships with the District Attorney’s Office and area judges to address truancy and to motivate and incentivize regular school attendance, Hulin said.

Parents introduced in enrolling their child into the school system can visit iberiaschools.org and complete a form to have someone call you for a conversation.

“If your child has been out of school and you are ready for them to return, we are here to help you through the enrollment process,” Hulin said.