The state Board of Elementary and Secondary Education meets this evening in New Orleans. The meetings held in the city generally address matters specific to Recovery School District charter schools.
I’ll be live blogging it here.
The board is expected to discuss the now empty John McDonogh high school building on Esplanade Avenue, and the possibility of eligible charter schools leaving the oversight of the RSD and returning to the Orleans Parish School Board.
Update: Read a summary of the evening’s meeting here.
ENTRY 2: MARTA JEWSON at the meeting: “Dobard is discussing the letters of interest the RSD is requesting in regards to Sarah T. Reed. Einstein has submitted a letter, he says. (Yesterday Friends of King decided they would also submit a letter.) The RSD will decide the operator in February.” JESUS H. #$#$$! Is this like the PUBLIC DISPLAY (“show’) that the RSD put on for John Mac on Wednesday (Nov. 12)? That was bad enough. But to lead the public to believe that the Reed High School is an open and fair deal, and a actual call for for all interested operators – this public statement by Patrick Dobard (in the beginning of a later RFP-setup for John Mac) – should offend even the most stubborn among us who want to believe this is all on the up-and-up. EVERYBODY, WAKE UP! It isn’t (open, fair, or on the up-and-up). Three words – and all three are in the category of 501(c)(3) nonprofits – and they could give Doris Hicks and her crew over at Friends of King, including Tracie (who no longer talks to THE LENS) a couple of lessons on money and ethics – as in, how to get more public money that flies well under “ethics” (governmental codes) radar. Both deals are tainted. In fact, they downright stink. Regarding Reed High School, the RSD has “seeded” the process with (1) VIET and (2) VALYLA-NO (that’s the community input Dobard is espousing), and (3) EINSTEIN (takeover of ICS, and both campuses RSD-leased). And if I were a reporter (that’s a hint I am not), I would be on this like gravy on rice. The RSD already knows which “operator” will be approved to run (i.e., CMO) both schools, Reed and John Mac. And if Friends of King has put in (a letter of interest) to run Reed, it is at the request of the RSD, for a reason. Perhaps to make it look good. MLK is behind the 8 ball right now, so they would do as asked, if asked by the RSD. The rule of thumb is “3” – get three interested parties. So, show us one more letter of interest, Patrick Dobard, and since this has been brought up, maybe now you need more than three. Go get ’em, Patrick.