New Orleans superintendent plans to run more schools | Education

Public education in New Orleans is at a crossroads.

After the school district opened up a new, traditional audience school in August – the first permanent school operated by the district in almost two decades – the idea of ​​transitioning from a charter school system back to a more traditional school district was no longer a topic of discussion and became a real possibility.

But an important question remains: How far are district leaders willing to go? Will they be content with opening sporadic, one-off schools, or will they push for a school system that is more evenly divided between district-run schools 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 a new district-run Leah Chase School, it also asked her to formulate a plan to open more such schools in the future. The new schools will most likely replace charter schools the district is closing.

Williams presented himself on Tuesday her plan. It didn’t say how many charter schools versus traditional schools the district is pursuing, but it did provide insight into how and when the district might decide to open its own schools.

School opening plan

The first step is deciding when to launch new schools.

Williams’ plan provides a framework that will guide these decisions. One issue is whether the district has the resources to manage more schools, including staff and funding.

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

Williams also said the district should consider whether a new school would meet a specific need, such as a dedicated school for English language learners or a liberal arts school on the West Bank or New Orleans East.

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

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

Williams’ plan presented two models of district-run schools. The first is a “transformation,” in which the district retains most of the charter school’s staff and aspects of its identity but modifies the school’s instructional model and allocates funds for school improvement.

Another option is a brand new school like Leah Chase. This model requires an almost complete overhaul, including significant changes to the school’s teaching model, staffing and grade ranges, and is much more expensive, Williams said. The district has budgeted $3.8 million for start-up costs for Leah Chase School.

Constant questions

Even as Williams presented her plan to run the schools, the board seemed undecided about what to do with it.

Board member Nolan Marshall said the district should evaluate what schools and programs already exist and look for gaps, rather than choosing a “number in the sky” as the optimal percentage of schools the district should run.

“On that basis, we begin to make prudent decisions about taking over the school,” he said at Tuesday’s board meeting.

Board member Ethan Ashley said it can be difficult to create a complete plan for the future without demographic and student population data. Still, he said, the board should consider creating a shared vision of “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 call into question whether the district can effectively manage its own schools while supporting dozens of independently operated charter schools within the school system. NOLA Public Schools made the announcement last week provided inflated tax revenue projections to charter schools in March, there was an accounting error that could have had disastrous consequences for students across the city.

“The question has to be asked, given the recent crisis,” she said, “has NOLAPS-PS been too busy opening its own school that it has not taken care of the schools it has?”

At Tuesday’s meeting, board members indicated they would implement a policy to ensure district-run schools are held to the same standards as charter schools. If charter schools fail to meet certain performance standards, they risk losing their right to operate, but it is unclear what consequences a district-run school might face.

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

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

Board member Leila Eames, who favors more traditional schools, called the numbers “dismal.”

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