The Board of Trustees for the International School of Louisiana met at the Jefferson campus on September 26 to discuss  plans to possibly move facilities in the 2013-2014 school year.

Head of school Sean Wilson said that ISL is considering shifting grades 5 through 8 from the Camp Street campus to the Olivier campus on the West Bank before the Camp Street location is renovated during the 2013-2014 school year. Wilson said that though this option has been well-received so far, it is considered a last resort because the school continues to search for new locations to lease, though no suitable buildings have been found. He said that moving older students to the Olivier Street campus would help maintain a sense of community. However, since older students were housed on the second floor at Camp Street, ISL would need approval from the fire marshal if it moved younger students up to higher floors.

After board members said the potential rearrangement might raise concerns about transportation and accessibility, an ISL parent in attendance told the board that she would be willing to drive further to a separate campus.

Wilson said he would like ISL to move its Jefferson Parish campus to a location with more green space. He estimated only a 20 percent chance that ISL would stay at the campus on 822 South Clearview in Metairie.

Wilson said enrollment was slightly off from earlier projections at each campus, but admitted he was now more comfortable with the current numbers. He said ISL did not utilize their student waiting list in the wake of Hurricane Isaac.

The storm caused damage to the Olivier Street campus.  High humidity combined with a week with no electricity ruined two of the school’s internet servers.  Wilson said the the school had been in the process of downloading data to online cloud storage when the hurricane hit. Some teachers’ data was lost but no student or library information was affected.

Wilson reaffirmed that ISL would not participate in the One App program for the 2012-2013 school year, following the lead of many other type 2 charters. ISL will still use One App this school year because of fears that a change in application policy might interfere with ongoing student recruitment efforts.

The meeting concluded with a nearly hour and a half executive session which the agenda described only as a “personnel matter.” No board members were absent for the meeting, which adjourned at 9:20 pm.