Board members for New Orleans’ only all-male charter school this week voted to appoint an interim chief executive officer in a meeting that was initially publicized to be held three days later. Andrea Thomas-Reynolds, who has consulted with Miller-McCoy Academy for Mathematics and Business since September, will run the eastern New Orleans campus through the […]
Posted inGovernment & Politics
Live blog recap: City Council approves water rate increase
The New Orleans City Council voted 5-2 to double water and sewer rates over the next eight years. The proposed rate increase has roiled city politics in recent days after Council President Stacy Head called on her six colleagues to postpone the vote in order to obtain more information. The city’s Sewerage & Water Board […]
Posted inCharter Schools, Schools
Board briefed on grade in swift meeting with little discussion
Edgar P. Harney Spirit of Excellence Academy Principal Eileen Williams briefed the board about the school’s grade on Monday night during its regular meeting, telling members that the school gained 13.2 points to receive a baseline score of 71.2, a C on this year’s scale, she said. A baseline score averages the previous two years’ […]
Posted inGovernment & Politics
Water board details spending plan as rate hike vote looms
With a vote scheduled Thursday that could double water rates in New Orleans by 2020, Sewerage & Water Board officials on Wednesday bowed to public pressure and spelled out how they plan to spend $582.7 million in extra money. The New Orleans City Council appears likely to approve the rate increase, backed aggressively by Mayor […]
Posted inSchools
Interim CEO tapped to lead troubled Lycée Français charter
Parents at the troubled Lycée Français de la Nouvelle Orléans charter school on Monday met the woman temporarily charged with leading the school out of a rocky period. Gisele Schexnider introduced herself as the new academic director to parents during their regular parent teacher organization’s meeting Monday night and said she would be serving as the […]
Posted inCharter Schools, Schools
Interim CEO tapped to lead troubled Lycée Français charter
Parents at the troubled Lycée Français de la Nouvelle Orléans charter school on Monday met the woman temporarily charged with leading the school out of a rocky period. Gisele Schexnider introduced herself as the new academic director to parents during their regular parent teacher organization’s meeting Monday night and said she would be serving as the […]
Posted inGovernment & Politics
No clear answers on what city water rate increase would pay for
Less than two days before the New Orleans City Council decides whether to double water and sewer rates over eight years, Mayor Mitch Landrieu and city officials haven’t explained exactly how the $583 million in extra money would be spent. The Lens has asked the Sewerage & Water Board for concrete answers since Thursday but […]
Posted inGovernment & Politics, Schools
BESE approves online providers despite judge nixing pay plan
Forty-five online schools, colleges, and other educators are one step closer to instructing Louisiana public school students, a committee from the state’s top education board decided Tuesday. That’s despite a ruling by a Baton Rouge-area judge last week that using state education money to pay these providers violate the Louisiana constitution. The Board of Elementary […]
Posted inGovernment & Politics
Council president seeks delay of vote on huge water-rate increase
New Orleans City Council President Stacy Head accused Mayor Mitch Landrieu on Monday of trying to ram a doubling of sewage and water rates through the council on Thursday, without, she said, the issue having been fully vetted. Head is asking her colleagues to postpone the vote because she said the Sewerage & Water Board […]
Posted inOpinion
Hey, mister! Throw me some hydrochlorofluorocarbons!
“Honey, don’t bother,” the older woman beside me said as I tidied up my bit of St. Charles Avenue turf after my first Carnival parade. Her hand swept downriver toward Canal Street, encompassing miles of plastic cups, food wrappers and shattered Mardi Gras beads left in the krewe’s wake. The Sav-A-Center bag I was stuffing […]