FirstLine schools anticipate ending the school year comfortably in the black, board members were pleased to learn at their monthly meeting in March. Revenues are expected to exceed expenses by $738,000, finance committee chairman Stephen Rosenthal reported, to applause. Though the fiscal year is not over, Rosenthal said the numbers should hold steady, given that […]
Posted inLand Use
Judge calls Newcomb Boulevard fence illegal; residents’ attorney vows to appeal ruling
A drawn-out battle over the right to gate a public street reached a milestone Tuesday when a Civil Court judge ruled in favor of keeping Newcomb Boulevard open. Residents of Newcomb Boulevard, a ritzy Uptown neighborhood parallel to even ritzier Audubon Place, in 2006 got the go-ahead from the city’s Department of Public Works to […]
Posted inGovernment & Politics
Want to know how city spent millions from HUD? Don't tell anyone you're a reporter
Update: Two-and-a-half hours after this story was published, and shortly after our reporting partners at FOX 8 requested the report, Mayor Mitch Landrieu’s spokesman, Ryan Berni, provided a copy of the 100-plus-page report to The Lens. By Tom Gogola, The Lens staff writer | When is a public record not a public record? Apparently when […]
Posted inCharter Schools, Schools
New rate structure would slash soaring utility bills; half-mile Husky Fun Run ahead
Administrators at Hynes Charter School are working through the Orleans Parish School Board and Entergy to reduce soaring utility bills. The Entergy bill for each of the past two months topped $25,000 – $12,000 more than the school had budgeted monthly. Principal Michelle Douglas said the bills reflect an erroneously high rate structure. Under the […]
Posted inGovernment & Politics
Cabbies jam council chambers to protest moves designed to burnish fleet
By Tom Gogola, The Lens staff writer | A standing-room-only crowd of cab drivers descended on City Hall this morning to protest a wide-ranging set of taxicab ordinances under consideration by the council’s Transportation Committee. The New Orleans taxicab industry has long been the target of criticism on a range of issues, from its aging […]
Posted inCharter Schools, Schools
College acceptance rate tops 90 percent; Carver group resists plans for two-school phase-in
Just under 40 members of the George Washington Carver High School community attended Collegiate Academies of New Orleans’ March board meeting. They were generally opposed to the proposed phase-out of Carver, a failing school run directly by the Recovery School District, and its replacement with two charter high schools to be run by Collegiate. The […]
Posted inCharter Schools, Schools
CEO's performance review and nomination of officers dominate board's March meeting
Correction: A sentence was removed from an earlier version of this article because it gave a misleading impression of the reason the board went into executive session. The board of Lycée Francais held a special meeting March 26 to review the performance of Jill Otis, the school’s chief executive officer. The board also began the […]
Posted inCharter Schools, Schools
State may OK 10-year charter renewal; after-school tutoring and saturday classes available
Akili Academy’s monthly board meeting, March 26, focused on the status of the school’s charter and a preliminary report on end-of-year student assessments. Teachers were present to discuss results of both math and reading-comprehension tests. Akili’s students range from kindergarten to the fourth grade, and by present scoring standards all classes are making progress toward […]
Posted inCharter Schools, Schools
Impending move means late start next August; board urges lobbying to secure funds for gifted
Detailed plans for the move to a new building this summer emerged at the Crocker board’s monthly meeting, March 24. On July 30, Crocker officially takes over a large building on General Taylor Street, and principal Charmaine Robertson is seeking another school to share the space. Robertson said she has turned down one prospective co-tenant; […]
Posted inCharter Schools, Schools
New formula keeps more dollars in schools; ACSA to manage Karr, Harte through next year
The Algiers Charter School Association board met March 22 to discuss a new formula for capping the administrative fee it retains from state funds awarded to the schools it manages. Under the previous formula, the association’s central office could retain up to 8.65 percent of a school’s Minimum Foundation Program allocation (the per-student amount allotted […]