Watch Dr. Brumley's State of the District Message
With Jefferson Parish Schools entering the final week of the school year, Superintendent Dr. Cade Brumley shared a state of the district message. Dr. Brumley’s message updates families and the community on what the district achieved in 2019-20 prior to schools closing, how it served families since, and what next school year could look like.
The video message can be viewed on YouTube at this link. It is also available on the district’s Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram channels. The message will also be available at jpschools.org or through the district’s free mobile app. You can read Dr. Brumley’s message below, The last day of school for students is Thursday, May 21. Teachers’ last day is Friday, May 22.
Dr. Brumley’s State of the District Message
In Jefferson Parish Schools, we exist to provide our kids with the education they deserve to succeed in life and make our world a better place. That’s our promise to you, and it’s one we intend to keep - whether we’re engaging children in-person or virtually.
We’re committed to our JP Schools family at the highest levels. We have the top-rated curriculum in the state. Our educators employ innovative approaches to engage our English language learners and students with exceptionalities. Every educator is a life-long learner thanks to our content-specific, job-embedded professional development. And thanks to our multiple leadership pipelines and career paths: educators now have a clear map to enhance their craft, move forward in their career, and ultimately provide an even better education to our students.
Educating students is important work and we can’t do it alone - especially during these trying times. That’s why the relationships we’ve built in this community are so important: the business community, civic community and faith leaders, our retired community and more...all working together for kids.
This Thursday, May 21st, is the last day of school for students. Thank you to our families and educators for ensuring that learning continued - even with our buildings closed. I know it hasn’t been easy. Nothing can replace the support our children receive when our doors are open, but you stepped up and made a difference for kids. Before we close the academic year, I think it’s important I update you on what we’ve achieved together so far, and on what next school year could look like.
Even though it’s sometimes hard to know what day of the week it is - let’s remember there was a school year prior to our buildings being closed. We’re a district on the rise thanks to the hard work of our educators and the investment of our community. Our District Performance Score increased for the first time in four years. We earned a “B” for student growth, over a third of our schools were recognized for exceptional growth, and our graduation rate increased. We led Louisiana in Advanced Placement growth and outpaced the state for mastery rate increase. We retained 92-percent of our top-rated teachers - thanks in large part to the differentiated educator pay raise passed by voters. It was our teachers’ first raise in a decade and provided a living-wage for the backbone of our system - our support staff. Our board also unanimously approved a plan that puts more kids in higher performing schools, gives families greater school choice, improves classroom technology for teachers, makes more efficient use of our facilities, and saves the district $16 million a year. And...our internal data told us that once again our District Performance Score was going to improve.
Before Louisiana’s first positive coronavirus test, we created aggressive preventative measures and shared those with our schools and community. We also started planning for what to do if schools were closed. When the Governor made his announcement about school building closure, we were ready to act.
Since our buildings have been closed, we’ve served around half a million grab & go meals to children, provided online learning resources to families, distributed over 70,000 printed learning packets and have loaned over 5,000 Chromebooks to families. We’ve trained 3,000 teachers on distance learning, and opened call centers to serve our families’ academic and mental health needs. We - educators, families, and the community - stepped into the gap during an unprecedented time in our nation.
I know many of you have questions about next school year. In short, we don’t know exactly what next year will look like...but we know it will look different. Our leadership team is continuing discussions on scenarios for next school year. We could see a school year that includes a blend of on-campus and at-home learning. We’re moving forward with the expectation that classes will resume on campus August 6th, but we will be prepared to start virtually...or to make the shift to virtual during the school year. In preparation for next school year, we are actively exploring opportunities for student learning recovery in July to help our kids be prepared for next school year. Also, we must further reduce expenditures due to the significant declines in our revenue from the stalled economy.
We’ll offer more insight later this month on what to expect for next school year. One way you can help us plan is by taking the survey available now on our website. We want to get your feedback.
No matter what August brings, we will continue to serve our families and engage our kids at high levels. The lessons we’ve learned this year will serve us well. What’s most important now is student learning and the safety of our students and staff. We will be ready day one.
Thank you. Stay safe. And have a wonderful summer.