Construction of four new schoolhouses should be completed as classes resume in August, education officials announced Wednesday night, but modular buildings are ready just in case. Capital projects, including ground-up school construction, highlighted Wednesday night’s meeting in New Orleans of the state Board of Elementary and Secondary Education. The board meets periodically in New Orleans […]
Posted inCharter Schools, Schools
Teacher alleges 'culture of fear'; school performance scores reviewed
A “culture of fear” among fellow teachers was alleged by a member of the Pierre Capdau faculty at the May 29 board meeting of the charter management organization that runs Capdau and three other schools. “Have you noticed that there are no teachers at these meetings?” Iesha Pearce asked the Capital One-New Beginnings board during […]
Posted inCharter Schools, Schools
Board meeting agenda released
The content of tomorrow’s board meeting agenda is reprinted below: REGULAR BUSINESS MEETING The Regular Meeting of the Board of Directors of the Treme Charter School Association will be held Thursday, May 31, 2012 at 3:00 P.M. in the McDonogh 42 Elementary Charter School Auditorium, 1651 North Tonti Street, New Orleans, Louisiana 70119. The items […]
Posted inGovernment & Politics, Land Use, Squandered Heritage
… and put in a parking lot: Mansion gives way to yet more macadam
With owners claiming Katrina damage, this architecturally eclectic structure on Prytania Street near Touro Hospital was demolished on Thanksgiving Day 2006. While people were basting turkeys or gussying up for a racetrack repast, bulldozers gassed up and tore into a lunch of timbers and cornices, a few blocks uptown of the Garden District. Weekends, holidays […]
Posted inCharter Schools, Schools
Principal standing up for employee raises
The lower-school principal of Success Preparatory Academy will try to convince charter school board members this evening that salary increases for administrative staffers are needed. Currently, the spending plan for next year at Success Prep is over budget by $15,000. Board members at a finance committee meeting last week said they support a balanced budget. The […]
Posted inCriminal Justice
Gusman slashes deputies' hours under new OPP work schedule
In an effort to trim costs, Orleans Parish Sheriff Marlin Gusman instituted a new scheduling plan for deputies and staff at Orleans Parish Prison earlier this month. The schedule, which was reflected in prison employees’ paychecks for this first time last week, means fewer overtime hours for deputies, whose starting pay for working in the […]
Posted inOpinion
The New Orleans dilemma: Is it hip to be so very, very 'hip'?
Congratulations, New Orleanians! The April 2012 Travel & Leisure magazine has voted you the fourth hippest city in America! If only we could pin down what “hip” is supposed to mean, we could feel even prouder. There is, of course, a great deal of confusion about what defines “hip,” and the definition also appears to […]
Posted inCharter Schools, Schools
Morris Jeff looks to new site, plans to ramp up savings with new budget
The Morris Jeff board of directors discussed expanded operations and a projected year-end surplus this time next year at its 2012-13 budget hearing on May 24. Principal Patricia Perkins is anticipating surpluses for the next two years as the school rebuilds its reserve fund and prepares to move to the former Fisk-Howard site on Rendon […]
Posted inCharter Schools, Schools
Amid concerns over effects of vouchers, board passes budget
The board that runs Audubon Charter School approved its 2012-13 budget Saturday with an increase of 2 percent. The budget goes into effect July 1, rising from $6.72 million to $6.84 million. That’s a $125,000 increase. The increase comes primarily from an expected boost in enrollment numbers. Each new student increases the amount of money […]
Posted inCharter Schools, Schools
Interim CEO and academic officer named – to mixed response; enrollment rises
Algiers Charter Schools Association’s board has approved Stuart Gay, the association’s chief financial officer, to serve as interim chief executive officer of the charter management organization, succeeding Andrea Thomas-Reynolds who did not seek to renew her contract. The board’s action, at its May 23 monthly meeting, was greeted with applause from the audience. The crowd […]