As the board of directors gathered for their monthly meeting, Sept. 17, a review of financial challenges facing Intercultural Charter School was leavened by a look ahead to upcoming events, including an open house, the school’s lantern contest, and the Latino Festival. With 380 students and 40 pre-kindergartners currently in attendance, enrollment is lower than […]
Posted inOpinion
So much for Satchmo: How about another downtown parking lot?
I passed the 100 block of South Rampart Street last night, much as I often do. Each time I drive that route I find myself thinking, “No parking lot, yet.” A nine-story parking garage was supposed to be constructed on that corner. In order to make room for the structure four buildings needed to be […]
Posted inCharter Schools, Schools
State open-meetings law trips up board; make-up dates for Hurricane Isaac set
Warren Easton’s board of directors held an unscheduled executive session as they met Sept. 19; though state law allows a board to add items to an agenda, it also requires a board to give 24-hours’ notice of such closed-door meetings, and to cite the legal exception for the private gathering. The move toward the executive […]
Posted inCharter Schools, Schools
Enrollment surge brightens finances; Hurricane Isaac make-up days slated
“We are at the magic number,” principal Mardele Early told directors of Lake Forest Elementary Charter School at their monthly meeting, Sept. 19. She referred to the current enrollment of 501 students and went on to discuss upcoming changes in curriculum. Early said the school lost some students but that the vast majority were from […]
Posted inGovernment & Politics, Opinion
A drone of our own! How the city should sell its latest dream
An eye in the sky, the Bravo 300 is made in New Orleans but has yet to find a buyer in local government. Photo courtesy of Crescent Unmanned Systems City Hall has reversed plans to use drone surveillance over New Orleans during the Super Bowl in February. That’s surprising, because Deputy Mayor Jerry Sneed had […]
Posted inCharter Schools, Schools
Isaac make-up days tentatively set; school is 35 students short of full enrollment
The impending move to a new campus was a topic of discussion as directors of the Fannie C. Williams Charter School gathered for their monthly board meeting, Sept.18. Principal Kelly Batiste encouraged the board to hire professional movers when the school relocates in mid-October. She said she was concerned about liability if volunteers do the […]
Posted inCharter Schools, Schools
Student demographics outlined; financing strategy for new school adjusted
The monthly meeting of the New Orleans Military and Maritime Academy’s board of directors, on Sept. 19, began with an update from Commandant Col. Bill Davis on who’s enrolled for the 2012-12 year. The school now has 214 students, with males outnumbering females by a ratio of seven to three, Davis said. The student body […]
Posted inInside the News Room
For a reporter, New Orleans is simply irresistible
Official statistics show that New Orleans’ population is 360,740. Make that 360,741. When I left New Orleans in 1996, driving my battered Toyota Tercel to a new job in Tallahassee with The Miami Herald, I never imagined I might return. Racial politics had left me in despair about New Orleans. The soaring homicide rate seemed […]
Posted inInside the News Room
The Lens hires prizewinner Tyler Bridges to cover public policy
Veteran prize-winning reporter Tyler Bridges will become a staff writer with The Lens on Oct. 1, focusing on state-level public-policy decisions that affect the New Orleans area. Bridges is returning to New Orleans after a 16-year hiatus that took him from The Times-Picayune to The Miami Herald, where he was part of two Pulitzer Prize-winning […]