Governor John Bel Edwards announced the state of Louisiana would go into a revised Phase 2 this week following a spike in COVID-19 cases, but says each parish will have the choice to make modifications to school guidelines.

Ascension Parish Superintendent David Alexander released a statement Wednesday afternoon saying the school system is authorized to continue operating under phase 3 rules under the latest executive order.

"Yesterday, Governor John Bel Edwards issued a new Executive Order for Louisiana’s response to COVID-19. During his press conference, he complimented the work of Louisiana’s schools and applauded the efforts to follow safety guidelines that enable schools to offer in-person learning while mitigating infectious spread.

In Section 4 of the recent Executive Order, BESE is authorized to issue a policy, rule, and/or regulation allowing schools to continue operating under Phase 3 Guidelines. As such, Ascension Public Schools will continue to operate within Phase 3 guidelines to provide both in-person learning and other in-person, school-related activities. This is the same as how our schools operated prior to our release for the Thanksgiving Break, which includes services to students who have opted for 100% online learning.

We look forward to supporting our students, whether in-person or online, to successfully complete the first semester of this school year.

On a final note, please be reminded many of our high school students will be participating in LEAP 2025 testing during the final three weeks of this semester. High schools will be creating schedules that best accommodate smooth testing administration that may include online days for students not involved in testing. Those details will be provided by each school early next week.

Have a Happy Thanksgiving! We look forward to resuming school on Nov 30th."

Schools in Ascension Parish are out for Thanksgiving break through Friday.

Livingston Superintendent Joe Murphy also released a statement Tuesday evening.

"Today Governor John Bel Edwards announced Louisiana will be moving back to a revised Phase Two effective 11/25/20.

This announcement has the potential to impact our schools in relation to the phased guidelines under which we operate.

With that said, the governor clearly stated that he is leaving the method of instruction, whether it be virtual, hybrid or in person, to the individual school districts across the state.

He praised the state’s school systems for doing a good job of mitigating risks associated with COVID.

The governor said he would sign the new proclamation later today, and it will expire on Dec. 23, 2020.

Our school leaders will wait for the official proclamation to be reviewed before issuing any further information."

You can read the full details on Louisiana's phase 2 order here.