Superintendent outlines entry plan and transportation fixes as schools reopen

Superintendent Dr. Cleo Perry presented the district's three-phase Strategic Entry Plan and a set of near-term operational fixes at the St. John the Baptist Parish School Board meeting on Aug. 8.

Dr. Perry said the entry plan—"Listening and Learning," "LEAD: Strategic Entry," and "Progress Monitoring"—is intended to align district actions to raise student performance. He highlighted an instructional-vision statement, summarized as "All Means All," and reported a baseline math metric: 439 of 2,148 students tested (about 20%) scored Mastery or above.

The superintendent laid out the district’s 120-day focus: aligned classroom instruction and standards, district-wide diagnostics, weekly data meetings for teachers, and a school-culture rollout that includes arrival/dismissal procedures and hallway transitions. He said central-office staff were temporarily deployed to campuses during the first week to support principals and teachers.

Transportation was a prominent operational item. The district increased call-center staffing, established a central-office rotation until buses return, committed a translation presence for Spanish-speaking callers, and targeted a district-wide Bus View app launch for Aug. 12. Dr. Perry told the board that newly enrolled students "will receive a bus route within 48 hours" of enrollment and that temporary pictures and later magnet decals will be used to improve bus visibility where characters (rather than numbers) are used to designate routes.

Operations staff reported quick fixes for cooling in some schools (spot coolers and vendor work) and a committee to evaluate bus stops and consolidate routes where appropriate. The board was told additional staffing and route reviews are planned to reduce early-term disruptions.

The presentation closed with invitations to upcoming community events and a reminder that the district will use data from the new diagnostics to set benchmarks and adjust interventions.