Discipline improving in Avoyelles public schools

Discipline in the schools appears to have “turned the corner,” based on improved figures from the parish’s alternative school.

There were only 64 students assigned to the Avoyelles Virtual Alternative Program center in Hessmer during the first semester, center Director Tametria Guillory told the Avoyelles School Board Education Committee at its Jan. 21 meeting.

That is a significantly lower rate than 2018-19, when there were 185 enrollments involving 169 individual students for the entire school year.

If the second semester tracks the first, there would be 40 to 50 students referred to AVAP this year.

So far in the first semester, none of the students who have been returned to their assigned school have been sent back to AVAP, Guillory said.

For the 2018-19 school year, 16 students had to re-enter the alternative school.

It is possible there will be some “re-entries” in the second semester, but Guillory said she expects there to be very few.

APSD Superintendent Blaine Dauzat noted that when the School Board adopted stricter discipline policies several years ago, “I told the board that discipline numbers would get worse before they got better. I am hoping we have turned a corner and discipline is getting better.

“We are definitely doing something right,” Dauzat added.

Guillory said converting the alternative program to a full-day instead of two three-hour sessions is definitely better for the students and the alternative program’s success rate.

ELEMENTARY PROGRAM

Another change, the addition of an elementary program for up to 10 students, has also been successful, she said.

In the first semester AVAP taught eight elementary children in the program. The youngest was in 1st grade. There was one 4th grader, four in 5th grade and two in 6th grade.

“We are getting positive feedback from the elementary parents,” Guillory said.

Board members expressed concern children that young would need to be sent to an alternative program.

Guillory said the issues are more frequency of infractions than in severity of the infractions.

“Most of the elementary kids we have received have had 30 or 40 behavioral infractions before being sent to us,” she noted.

Dauzat said the end of the half-day AVAP sessions will end any possibility of students intentionally messing up at their zoned school so they can go back to AVAP.

Guillory said students certainly do not see their time at AVAP as a vacation or a preferred place to be.

Of the 64 students assigned to AVAP this year, three are special ed students and 24 are “504” students, which are children with behavioral health diagnoses requiring alternative placement.

Some “504” students also have some level of learning disability but are not classified as “special ed” students, Guillory said.

The remainder of the AVAP enrollees are there due to disciplinary action, including expulsion and long-term suspensions.

For the 2018-19 school year, 20 special ed students and 44 “504” students were taught at AVAP.

EARN THEIR RETURN

Guillory said students can earn their return to their zoned school after 30 to 45 school days if they meet all of their goals and are free of infractions.

She said some parents have requested their children remain at AVAP for a few weeks longer to ensure they are ready to return to the regular classroom.

AVAP had a daily attendance rate of 81 percent in both the first semester and last school year.

“The students are coming to school,” Guillory said.

AVAP has also helped to improve its students’ average reading and math scores while at the center.

It was noted that one reason students may “act out” and get in trouble at school is because they are so far behind in basic subjects such as reading and math.

“We give students a STAR evaluation -- Standardized Test Assessment of Reading -- when they enter AVAP, at mid-term and just before transitioning back to the district school,” Guillory said.

In the first semester, AVAP students had an average reading level of 2.4 grade level -- fourth month of 2nd grade. The average for the latest STAR results are 3.4 -- an entire grade level.

The results for math showed a small increase from 3.8 grade level to 3.9.

“We work hard to strengthen them in the areas of reading and math before they return to their district school,” Guillory said.

“This program is not just about ‘Where do we put the kids that messed up,’” Dauzat told board members, adding that it is also a program to help students improve academically.

“We have also had graduates and other success stories,” Guillory said.

There were six AVAP students who graduated in 2018-19.

Guillory said AVAP students have also been better behaved this school year than in the past.

“We have only had two major incidents involving students that required them to be removed from the program,” Guillory said.

Those incidents occurred off campus.