Q&A: Vermilion Parish Superintendent Tommy Byler shares some insight as school year is set to begin

The new school year in Vermilion Parish is set to begin later this week. 
Below, Vermilion Parish Superintendent Tommy Byler shares some thoughts on the new year:

When does school start for everyone except Pre-K and kindergarten?

The first day for students is Friday, August 8th. That will be all students in grades 1-12 and half of our kindergarten for each school. 

When does Pre-K and Kindergarten begin?

All kindergarten students will be in place by August 12, and Pre-K will be in place by August 15. 

As the opening of the school is about to get underway, what is your biggest concern?

As with every year, ensuring the safe transportation of our students to school, starting the school in an orderly and organized manner, and ensuring our teachers and students are set up to be successful are always my concerns. We work extremely hard throughout the summer to give all of these factors the best chance to be successful. Inevitably, things will never be perfect, but we will do our best to get things straightened out as soon as possible.

Explain why that is a concern.

As I mentioned earlier, we want things to go well and make the first day experience for students a comfortable situation. 

Are there any new rules that the students and parents need to be aware of before the start of school?

The only major adjustment to any rule would be the makeup policy. We have reverted back to our pre-covid make up policy.

How many students are you projecting on the first day of class?

At the current time, we will be around 8,300-8,400 students when we add our final total from Pre-K.

How has the hiring been going? A week before school, is the school system still looking for certified teachers?

Hiring has gone as usual. We fill most of our positions early, but we still have a few spots where we are still trying to fill. Also, some of our teachers are discovering that they have been offered positions in neighboring districts and are leaving us for higher pay. We are still working to fill the last spots.

What is the status of the two football stadiums undergoing the artificial turf transformation?

We have gotten good weather the last couple of weeks, and good progress has taken place. We are still on schedule to be complete in Kaplan to start the season, and a few weeks later, we are hoping to have North Vermilion complete.

This summer, Lafayette Parish is allowing its students to wear jeans (Blue or Black). ;
Any chance the school board would do the same shortly?

This information was shared with our board and the discipline and dress code committee. However, neither group favored moving forward with this proposal.