VIDALIA &045;&045; At least two Ferriday students will board a bus at their schools Monday to be transported to another parish school outside the town of Ferriday.

Those two students, members of the same family, are the only ones who had confirmed their decision by Friday afternoon to take advantage of school choice.

Initially about 25 parents returned a letter saying they wanted to move their child from one of the three Ferriday schools labeled &uot;academically unacceptable.&uot;

District administrators took the 25 requests and assigned the children to a new school, Federal Programs Director Julius Huhn said. Assignments were mailed out in another letter, and parents were asked to return final confirmation notices by Friday. Huhn had seen only two returned letters by 3 p.m.

But parents were also asked to notify the new school’s principal, and some confirmations went to the principal, not Huhn’s office, he said.

Vidalia Lower Elementary said they were expecting three new kindergartners on Monday, one of which Huhn was counting.

The other confirmed change is from Ferriday Upper Elementary to Ridgecrest Elementary.

Vidalia Upper and Junior High were not expecting new students, and Ridgecrest personnel said they didn’t know how many they would have.

Huhn said he did expect more than two, but fewer than the original 25.

Only the 25 students who submitted their request before the deadline will be allowed to have school choice.

Ferriday Lower, Ferriday Upper and Ferriday Junior High failed to meet a state-set standard this year determined by test scores and attendance, forcing them to offer school choice.

Parents of students in the three schools could have chosen to have their children sent to another Concordia Parish school, but could not pick the school they wanted them to attend. Parent requests were considered, but the final decision came down to logistics and high performing schools, Huhn said.

&uot;We considered distance and time frame and parent’s choice,&uot; he said. &uot;At times we are forced to make a choice different than theirs.&uot;

Students changing schools will continue to ride a Ferriday bus to their home school. From the Ferriday school they will get on another bus which will take them to the out-of-town school.

Students will arrive at the new school in time for the day, but with little time to spare, Huhn said.

Of the 25 requests, most were sent to Ridgecrest because of proximity and class size. Ridgecrest also consistently has the district’s highest test scores.

&uot;Both Vidalia schools have higher pupil teacher ratios,&uot; Huhn said. &uot;We felt like we made the best decision we could under the circumstances.&uot;

Some classes at Ridgecrest have only about 15 students, while the ones at Vidalia Lower, Upper and Junior High have more than 25 in some cases.

Ridgecrest does not offer kindergarten, so those students were sent to Vidalia.

Principals are prepared to help children get on the right bus Monday morning, but Huhn said he expected everything to run smoothly.

The bus will bring students back to the Ferriday schools in the afternoon, where they will get on another bus to go home.