Thirty people from across the country and world have applied to be Lycée Français de la Nouvelle Orléans charter school’s next chief executive officer.
The applicants include administrators of French curriculum schools in San Francisco and Los Angeles, according to the resumes. They include current and former private and charter school officials from New Orleans, a school administrator in India and an Abramson Elementary physical education teacher.
Candidates with local administrative experience include: Closing Pride College Prep’s school leader Michael Richard; Debra Fountain, former principal of St. Andrew the Apostle School in New Orleans; Stephen Goodly, who has experience at three New Orleans charters.
Other applicants include Paul Eichelkraut, a finalist in the New Beginnings Charter School Networks’ search for a CEO last fall, and, from within Lycée, newly hired special education coordinator Mark Vaughn.
Charter school leaders plan to hold a public meeting tomorrow at 9:30 a.m. to discuss the candidates.
A committee of three people from outside the school will review the applicants for the permanent CEO spot. The seat has been open since November when Jean-Jacques Grandiere became the second chief executive to resign from the school in less than a year.
Hand-picked by management consultant Jeremy Hunnewell and approved by Lycée;s full board, the CEO selection committee members include Nicole Boudreaux, a board member for the Council for the Development of French in Louisiana; Kelly McClure, a national director for Leading Educators; and Carol Asher, a development and fundraising.
According to Friday’s meeting agenda, the three plan to enter executive session to discuss the applicants before returning in an open meeting to approve those they would like to interview.
Interviews are expected to take place the week of April 22.
Following the committee’s discussion about who would be a good pick to lead the school, the agenda says, the three members will take a tour of Lycée’s campus to meet faculty and staff.
The meeting will take place at the school’s Uptown campus, 5951 Patton St.
The CEO selection process is one of several measures the school’s board has agreed to undertake amid pressure by the school community and state leaders to improve leadership and governance at the 340-student campus.
Since Grandiere’s departure, interim CEO Gisele Schexnider has been leading the school on a temporary basis. She was also hired to be the school’s academic director.
Earlier this week, Lycée’s board declined to approve all of the the recommendations brought to them by another committee that was tasked with finding new members to serve on the full board.