Iberia Parish School Board teams up with Iberia Medical Center for Project Safe Schools

NEW IBERIA, La. (KLFY) — Many parents’ main concern right now is making sure their children are safe when they go back to school this year. Iberia Medical Center says they will be.

“We want to open our school safely, but we want to keep them open as well, so the donations from Iberia Medical Center and the Iberia Medical Center Foundation has been a blessing to our school system,” Iberia Parish Assistant Superintendent Jennifer Joseph said.

Joseph says Iberia Medical Center’s Project Safe Schools initiative has been influential in preparing schools to re-open.

The project has made it possible for IMC doctors to answer any questions from school administrators and school nurses about the signs and symptoms of COVID-19.

As part of the project, Iberia Medical Center has also donated hundreds of CDC guideline posters, hand washing signs, and floor tabs to remind students to stay six feet apart.

“We have new protocols to follow this year because of the pandemic, and these visual reminders are going to be so helpful for our school staff and our kids,” Joseph said.

Iberia Medical Center CEO Dionne Viator says she hopes the project will keep students and teachers safe and keep COVID-19 out of schools.

“I think that this culmination of the safe schools project came together because the Iberia Medical Center and the Iberia Medical Center Foundation wanted to pay it forward. We’ve had so many people in our community be generous to Iberia Medical Center, helping us to support you. We wanted to do that for our children as well,” Viator said.

Students in Iberia Parish are set to go back to school on September 8.