Back to School 2024: Some Livingston Parish schools get money to increase security
LIVINGSTON, La. (BRPROUD) — Livingston Parish schools’ superintendent says it is always about the students and their success when they gear up for the upcoming new school year.
Superintendent Jody Purvis said he’s not new to the community but new to his position, only having his seat since April. But he said that doesn’t stop him from wanting to make changes for the district like safety.
“Safety is a huge concern for us and it’s always in the front of our minds,” he said.
There are a total of 44 schools in the district. Five of them have received large grants to help increase their security.
“Those grants are just to increase the camera footage, have some restricted access where it’s like keycard entry,” said Purvis.
The district is also a part of the Community Eligibility Provision meaning they provide free meals for all students across each campus every school year with no cost.
“That is a lot of money for families that it saves. And it allows us to ensure that all students have access to receive a meal,” said Purvis.
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He also said the parish has been dealing with a shortage of bus drivers for quite some time, but said things are starting to get better.
“We are very excited with the number of drivers that we have this year and so that is looking very positive,” he said.
Along with more drivers, Purvis said dozens of their buses will now be equipped with AC.
“We have about 151 buses that are currently our buses that we will be retrofitting for ACs,” he said.
With new state laws that are being required for schools across Louisiana, like the campus-wide cell phone ban, Purvis said his administration is staying on top of keeping their phone policy up to date with the law.
After the Louisiana Department of Education released the results for the 2024 LEAP, it revealed that Livingston Parish is climbing to the top for academic growth in the state. Purvis said he’s excited to see students grow.
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“When we look at students, I don’t think we think about numbers. We have to think about growth and our goal should be to grow every student in all aspects. We’re seeing that in our students so we’re excited about that,” he said.
Purvis said he wants one of his goals to be intentional in all that he does for the district and the community and says he’s ready to put his best foot forward.
“The students are our future and that’s truly what drives me is thinking about the students and every decision I make,” he said.
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