NOLA 180, the board that governs Langston Hughes Academy Charter School, met on Sept. 29, a half hour after its scheduled 6 p.m. start time because a prior meeting of the school’s manager, FirstLine, ran long. Board members  Kathleen Padian, D’Juan Hernandez, Dow Edwards, Adrian Morgan, CEO Jay Altman, and Kristina Kent were present as was one audience member.

Morgan summarized services provided by FirstLine and noted areas in need of improvement.

Hiring a new IT director was declared a welcome accomplishment. Areas in need of completion or improvement include timeliness of reports, more programming for parents, staff reviews, a new food service contract and support for Promethean boards, Morgan said.

FirstLine said it supports the school’s new leadership and wants to stay on as manager.  Meanwhile, the board needs to give Morgan and Altman authorization to sign contracts and other important documents on its  behalf.

In other board action:

-A waiver was signed to allow students to catch up in English and literacy before they start taking foreign languages.

-A recent fundraiser more than doubled its $60,000 goal by taking in $127,358.

-The school needs to apply to extend its charter for one more year.

The next monthly meeting will be Oct. 25.