Encore Academy, one of the first charter schools approved by the Orleans Parish School Board since the board chartered the bulk of its schools following Hurricane Katrina, is ready for the 2012-2013 school year, board members announced Tuesday at their monthly meeting. The type-one charter school, which shares an Uptown campus with the new state-of-the-art Crocker Arts and […]
Posted inCharter Schools, Schools
Board discusses dissolution of old group, chartering of new school
At their July meeting, board members of Crescent City Schools discussed best practices for dissolving the nonprofit that ran Akili Academy this year. They also discussed their intent to charter Paul Habans Elementary School for the 2013-2014 year. Akili Academy’s nonprofit board of directors is dissolving because Akili Academy is now run by Crescent City, […]
Posted inGovernment & Politics
Council vows to keep closer eye on Algiers Development District
New Orleans City Council members said Thursday they will more closely monitor the spending of the Algiers Economic Development District, which benefits from about $1.5 million annually in financial support from the city. The remarks came during a joint meeting of the council’s Budget, Audit and Board of Review committees. A critical report from the […]
Posted inGovernment & Politics, Schools
State lifts OPSB financial status; will charters remain wary?
The Orleans Parish School Board has finally escaped a state designation that has stigmatized it for the past eight years. Its financial status is no longer deemed “high-risk,” board president Thomas Robichaux announced Thursday. The state Department of Education first slapped the high-risk label on the School Board in 2004, after the then-bankrupt district was […]
Posted inGovernment & Politics, Land Use, Squandered Heritage
Sometimes you win; sometimes the game is delayed by rain
Checking back in on a couple of stories we’ve been monitoring, it seems that, while some things change, some stay the same. The story about the front yard at 4136 Bienville that – without benefit of city permits – was paved over to make a four-car parking pad brought in a lot of reader comments, […]
Posted inCharter Schools, Schools
Budget increase of 8 percent matched by rising revenues; $230,000 cushion
Directors of Edgar P. Harney Elementary have approved a budget for 2012-13 that rises by 8 percent, board members disclosed at their budget hearing, July 30. The board laid out its projected budget at a public hearing on July 30 and then immediately approved it. The public was notified of the hearing in the July […]
Posted inCharter Schools, Schools
Board meeting agenda released
View the N.O. SCI High board meeting agenda here.
Posted inCriminal Justice, Opinion
How much does a jail-happy society owe its exonerees?
Exoneree John Thompson, of New Orleans, was awarded millions in compensation for wrongful incarceration but has been unable to collect. How much would you need to be paid to spend 25 years in the Louisiana State Penitentiary at Angola? It’s just a thought experiment. I’m not putting any money on the table. And if I […]
Posted inCharter Schools, Schools
[Corrected:] Budgeted expenses continue to exceed revenues for the coming year
As presented by the board of directors at a public hearing on July 30, the draft 2012-13 budget for New Orleans College Preparatory Academies shows an $11.2 million increase over last year last year’s in total expenditures, a 14 percent increase based on a projected enrollment of 960 students. Correction: The original story misstated the […]
Posted inCriminal Justice
DA: Shifting misdemeanors helped justice if not budgets
Orleans Parish District Attorney Leon Cannizzaro on Wednesday defended his decision last year to shift the prosecution of misdemeanor charges from criminal to municipal court, saying it has allowed his office to focus on more serious cases. That move has created budgetary concerns for Councilwoman Susan Guidry, a co-chairwoman of the City Council’s Criminal Justice […]