Calcasieu school employees' pay available

BY CLIFF SEIBER
AMERICAN PRESS

Calcasieu Parish School System employees who do not have direct deposit to their banks may pick up their paychecks from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. today, Sept. 30, at the ticket booth of the Barbe High School football stadium on 2200 W. McNeese St.

Direct deposit checks will be in bank accounts on the regular schedule, according to Charlene Chiasson, the board's public information officer.

School board employees must have a picture ID when they pick up their checks. For security reasons, personnel cannot release checks to anyone but the employee whose name is on the check. No one will be allowed to pick up a check for someone else.
Employees who do not use direct deposit and who are unable to pick up their checks today may have the school system deposit them at certain banks, or they may be mailed.

Details are on the board's Web site at www.cpsb.org.

Superintendent Jude Theriot told employees in a letter that they are still employed, so there is no need to apply for unemployment benefits.

Theriot said while the decision of whether to reenroll Calcasieu Parish schools is up to parents, it is not necessary because a plan for a modified school year will be developed to give students a full year's credit.

In an emergency session, the Louisiana Board of Elementary and Secondary Education decided that while LEAP, Iowa and Graduate Exit Exam tests will be given this spring, the fourth and eighth grade LEAP tests will not be high stakes - passing will not be required for advancement into the fifth and ninth grades. However, passing the GEE will still be required to graduate.

Students due to graduate this spring will still be able to receive Louisiana diplomas, no matter where they finish the year, state Superintendent Cecil Picard said.