The InspireNOLA board of directors announced the newest principals to take leadership over Edna Karr High School and Alice M. Harte Elementary Charter School at their May meeting.

Harold Clay Jr., who has served as assistant principal and director of operations at Karr for five years, will take over the role of principal from John Hiser, now the high school CEO.

Jessica Lewis will lead the preschool to fourth grade classes at Harte, with Robert Hill serving as the assistant principal for the fifth- through eighth-grade classes. Both Lewis and Hill served previously as vice-principals at Harte. Former principal Jamar McKneely now serves as the elementary school CEO as the charter organization looks to expand in the upcoming years.

The board announced their $18.8 million operating budget for the coming fiscal year, showing a projected surplus of $731,384. The board will hold a public hearing to discuss the budget at 5 p.m. on June 30, half an hour before their regularly scheduled June meeting. The board will vote to approve the budget at that meeting.

The board approved a $96,000 contract to purchase 90 Dell laptops for Harte and a $17,000 contract with the Metairie based public accounting firm Hienz Macaluso.

Both schools will end the fiscal year in the black, with a $150,000 surplus at Harte and a $400,000 surplus at Karr.

The board voted to approve its newly appointed chief financial officer Charlie Mackles as a signatory on all school financial accounts. They also voted to add Mackles and Hiser as signatories on the organization’s credit card.