What are the procedures that public school districts must abide by when choosing/adopting their curriculum? What if a district doesn’t want to adopt what the LDOE approves? Can districts pick their own curriculum?

The Louisiana Department of Education doesn’t select curricula for school districts, but it does review textbook publishers’ offerings, ranking them in a tiered system that reflects how closely they align with state standards, said Holly Holland, Calcasieu Parish School Board spokeswoman.

“Resources rated as Tier I by the state are considered to be high quality and completely aligned with the state standards and the LEAP 2025 Assessments,” Holland wrote in an email. “Tier II resources are considered somewhat aligned to the standards while Tier III resources lack quality and are not aligned at all.”

State officials “strongly recommend” that districts use Tier I materials, but they only require schools to use top-ranked resources for summer remediation and for “remediation required during the school year for students with an Individual Academic Improvement Plan,” Holland said.

Additionally, she said, schools must commit to using Tier I curricula to receive state grant money.

“It is extremely important to align curriculum, instruction and assessment to the desired learning outcomes identified in the standards for students and schools to be successful,” Holland wrote. “However, individual districts do have complete control over which resources they choose to purchase for their teachers to use.”

She said districts must adopt policies that outline their recource-selection process. The Calcasieu school system’s policy manual is available online; the textbook-selection provisions are labeled “IFAA.”

For more info: www.cpsb.org; www.louisianabelieves.com/academics.

 

Code officials, police handle violations

Is there a city code that addresses broken-down vehicles? If so, where do you report the address, and who enforces it?

If the vehicles in question are parked on neutral ground or have remained parked along streets for more than five days, call police at 491-1311.

If the vehicles are on private property, call property standards officials at 491-1295.

For more info: www.cityoflakecharles.com.

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The Informer answers questions from readers each Sunday, Monday and Wednesday. It is researched and written by Andrew Perzo, an American Press staff writer. To ask a question, call 494-4098 and leave voice mail, or email informer@americanpress.com.