VIDALIA — Concordia Parish students will celebrate Fat Tuesday not with beads and parades, but with books and test preparation.

The Concordia Parish School Board voted Thursday to cancel the previously scheduled Mardi Gras break in order to make up for missed school days.

Superintendent of Schools Paul Nelson said the district has missed six days of school because of weather this year, and scheduling class during the break will help add instructional days before testing starts.

“If we don’t do this, we will be in a situation where we only have 19 instructional days between now and phase I of testing,” he said. “If we do this, we will have 22 days.”

Mardi Gras break was scheduled for Feb. 28 through March 4. Students will now attend school on the Friday, Monday and Tuesday they would have been off.

In other news, the board passed a proclamation honoring Walter Stampley Jr., a former board member, supervisor, teacher, coach and principal at Vidalia High School. Stampley died Jan. 27 at 88.