School board changes weekly meal schedule

Richland Parish Superintendent of Schools is working to meet the needs of parents and students while following state guidelines, superintendent of schools Sheldon Jones said.

To do this, the school district is amending the school lunch program schedule as well as providing tools for home learning.

To address the public health emergency declared by Gov. John Bel Edwards through the school closure and stay-at-home executive orders, days of operation for the current school meal sites will be revised. Grab-and-go breakfasts and lunches for eligible students will be available for pick up following the revised schedule beginning April 6.

To better promote social distancing, school meal sites will now serve students on Mondays and Wednesdays only. On Mondays, students will be served two breakfast and two lunch meals. 

On Wednesdays, students will be served three breakfast and three lunch meals. Under the revised schedules, students will still be served a total of five breakfast meals and five lunch meals as they have been since March 16.

Hours of operation on Mondays and Wednesdays will continue to be from 10 a.m. to noon at Delhi High School, Rayville High School, Rayville Elementary School and Mangham Elementary School.

For any questions pertaining to School Meal Sites, contact Gracie Hosea at (318) 728-5964 Extension 227.

Online learning hub

Jones also announced that on March 27, the Richland Resource Hub - Optional Resources for At-Home Learning was launched on the Board’s website. This resource is designed to support the educational needs of students enrolled in Richland Parish Schools during school closure. 

The hub is an online distance learning platform and located on the school district’s homepage containing student and parent resources. Student resources are customized to target district approved district curricula in English Language Arts, Mathematics, Science, and Social Studies across the K-2, 3-5, 6-8 and 9-12 grade spans. The distance learning is strongly encouraged, but optional. Resources from the platform cannot be used to give student grades. 

Jones offered special thanks to educators Rebecca Freeland, Kenya Grimes, Terrance Grimes, Dana Hendrix, Ronda Loyd, Emily Ogden and Beverly Smart for supporting the launch of the platform. 

The Richland Resource Hub can be accessed at https://sites.google.com/richland.k12.la.us/richlandresources/home .

Open enrollment/school choice

Jones also reminded the greater school community of the windows for 2020-2021 Open Enrollment and School Choice Application Requirements. 

The window for School Choice closes on April 3. The window for Open Enrollment begins on April 6 and closes on May 15. School applications can be accessed on the district website under the School Choice and Open Enrollment links. 

Completed applications can be mailed to: Richland Parish School Board, Attention: School Choice/Open Enrollment, P.O. Box 599, Rayville, LA 71269.

Schools, school main offices and the central office in Richland Parish will be closed until April 13 to comply with the existing executive orders of Governor Edwards. The board will update school closure information as needed to comply with any future executive orders issued by the governor’s office. 

“We continue to encourage everyone to follow preventative actions such as proper sanitation and social distancing to minimize the chance of outbreak and spread of Coronavirus,” Jones said.

For additional information and updates, access the district website at www.richland.k12.la.us.