Calculation errors, sloppy record-keeping led to 10 schools being erroneously picked for special monitoring. Plaintiffs’ attorney says the details in the report are troubling and point to the state’s inability to oversee New Orleans’ decentralized system.
Posted inSchools
Newly hired Kennedy HS Principal out six weeks into school year
John F. Kennedy High School’s new principal Harold Clay left the Gentilly high school less than two months into the school year.
Posted inBehind The Lens
Behind The Lens episode 50: ‘It’s more than just voting for a candidate; civic engagement is bigger than that’
City Council weighs the property tax rate as a budget deadline looms, KIPP New Orleans edges closer to the New Orleans Public Schools’ enrollment cap, and a statewide effort to register Louisiana’s 36,000 re-enfranchised voters.
Posted inSchools
NOLA schools chief: Initial Kennedy HS investigation ‘inconclusive,’ though later findings ‘a different story’
The district’s long-awaited report on the scandal that led to half the school’s senior class being unable to graduate on time is five pages long and light on details.
Posted inGovernment & Politics
Top Cantrell deputy warns of dire consequences without increased property tax revenue, but council member calls it a ‘scare tactic’
Montaño says city could face $25 million budget hole without roll forward.
Posted inSchools
Law firm hired to investigate Kennedy HS quickly ruled initial grade changing allegations untrue
It’s unclear how Adams and Reese attorneys reached the conclusion. And one official from Kennedy’s charter board suggested that opinions have since changed.
Posted inCriminal Justice
Council committee urges courts to forgive court debt, outstanding warrants
The New Orleans City Council’s Criminal Justice Committee unanimously called for the forgiveness of all outstanding debt individuals have accrued from fines and fees in Municipal and Traffic Court. The committee also encouraged the City Attorney’s Office, which prosecutes traffic and municipal code offenses, to dismiss “low-level, non-violent, and so called Quality of Life offenses, […]
Posted inGovernment & Politics
Convention center board rejects contract for fence made by prison labor, but it might go forward anyway
The contract was for an iron fence that’s already been built. The convention center’s general counsel said at this point, the board either has to buy it or “bear the consequences for breaching the contract.”
Posted inSchools
KIPP approaching limit on how many students a charter school operator can enroll
The three top operators had nearly 30 percent of OPSB students last year. And KIPP, the largest, is expanding.
Posted inGovernment & Politics
Cantrell administration to make case for increasing property taxes on Thursday
Weighing options, city officials wrote in meeting notes that rolling forward is “good for budget” but “screws people over.”