INDReporter

Decision on school mandates pushed back to January

by Walter Pierce

The Board of Elementary and Secondary Education has delayed a decision on shrinking the number of mandates required of local school districts.

BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) - The Board of Elementary and Secondary Education has delayed a decision on shrinking the number of mandates required of local school districts.

Superintendent of Education John White proposed getting rid of the statewide school calendar, changing physical education standards to allow credit for extracurricular activities like cheerleading and removing requirements for how many librarians and counselors schools should have.

Those were among recommended changes to 150 different sections of policies governing school systems.

White says the goal is to eliminate red tape and remove outdated regulations.

BESE members in committee raised concerns Tuesday about individual items. Board member Holly Boffy of Lafayette said more time was needed to comb through the list and get further details. At Boffy's urging, the panel voted 6-3 to postpone a decision until January.