New Orleans Superintendent Wants to Run More Schools | Education

Public education in New Orleans is at a crossroads.

After the school district opened a new traditional audience School in August — the first permanent school in nearly two decades — turned the idea of ​​returning from a charter school system to a more traditional school district from a talking point to a real possibility.

But a big question remains: How far are district leaders willing to go? Will they be content with opening the occasional one-off school — or will they push for a school system more evenly split between district and charter schools?

When the Orleans Parish School Board earlier this year directed NOLA Public Schools Superintendent Avis Williams to replace an underperforming charter school with the new district-run Leah Chase School, they also asked her to formulate a plan to expand more such schools in the future to open. . Most likely, new schools would replace the charter schools the district is closing.

Williams presented on Tuesday her plan. It did not specify how many traditional schools the district would pursue, but it did provide insight into how and when the district might decide to open its own schools.

A plan for opening schools

The first step is to decide when to launch new schools.

Williams’ plan includes a framework to guide these decisions. One consideration is whether the district has the resources to manage more schools, including staffing and funding.

Another question is whether there are enough potential students to justify a new school, Williams said. As enrollment declines citywide, the school system may need fewer schools, whether run by charter operators or by the district.

Williams also said the district should consider whether a new school would meet a specific need, such as a special school for English learners or an arts-oriented school in the West Bank or New Orleans East.

“These will be individual decisions made based on opportunity,” she said.

Once the district decides to open a school, the next step is figuring out how.

Williams’ plan presented two district-run school models. The first is a “transformation,” in which the district retains most of the charter school staff and aspects of its identity but adjusts the school’s instructional model and spends money on school improvements.

The other option is a brand new school, like Leah Chase. This model involves a near-complete overhaul, including significant changes to a school’s instructional model, staffing and classrooms, and is significantly more expensive, Williams said. The district had budgeted $3.8 million in start-up costs for The Leah Chase School.

Persistent questions

Even as Williams presented her plan for running schools, the board seemed indecisive about what to do with it.

Board member Nolan Marshall said the district should assess which schools and programs already exist and look for gaps, rather than picking a “number out of thin air” as an optimal percentage of schools the district should include managed.

“That is the basis on which we are going to make sensible decisions about whether we are going to take over a school,” he said during Tuesday’s board meeting.

Board member Ethan Ashley said it might be difficult to create a complete plan for the future without demographic and enrollment data. Still, he said, the board should consider creating a shared vision for “where we want to go.”

Caroline Roemer, president of the Louisiana Association of Public Charter Schools, said the board needs to “get their house in order before they start running schools.”

She argued that recent events raise questions about whether the district can effectively manage its own schools while supporting the school system’s dozens of independently operated charter schools. Last week, NOLA Public Schools said it gave charter schools inflated tax revenue forecasts in March, an accounting error that could have catastrophic consequences for students across the city.

“You have to wonder, with this latest crisis, was NOLAPS-PS so busy opening their own school that they didn’t take care of the schools they have?”

At their Tuesday meeting, board members indicated they will introduce a policy to ensure district schools are held to the same standards as charter schools. If charter schools don’t meet certain performance standards, they risk losing their right to operate, but it’s unclear what consequences a district school could face.

Even as board members considered opening more schools, they received a stark reminder that running even one school can be a daunting task.

Shelita Jones, the district’s chief academic officer, told the board that nearly half of Leah Chase students in grades K-3 started the school year two or more grade levels behind in reading. And only 4% of students in grades K-5 started at or above grade level in math.

Board member Leila Eames, who has advocated for more traditional schools, called the data “dismal.”

“But,” she said, “we have nowhere to go but up.”