Charter School Board

Lycée Français de la Nouvelle-Orleans

Lycée charter school pays attorneys thousands to deal with public records requests

In January alone, Adams and Reese law firm billed the school $8,440 to “review,” “analyze” and “respond to” public records requests. The school depended on attorneys to provide some routine records including the interim CEO’s resume. The expenses raise questions about how heavily public agencies should rely upon lawyers for public records compliance.

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Consultant’s ranking system weighed heavily in Lycée board picks

The chairman of Lycée Français de la Nouvelle-Orléans’ governing board got his marching orders this week in a public meeting  — and no one ever mentioned his name. A five-person committee voted him out of consideration for the school’s next board with no discussion regarding the merits of his application.

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Report: Lycée charter school needs new CEO and board members

Lycée Français de la Nouvelle-Orleans charter school needs a new chief executive and new board members. That’s according to a report released Sunday by Jeremy Hunnewell, a management consultant hired by the Louisiana Association of Public Charter Schools to help the school overcome political and financial turmoil that has plagued it in the last year.

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Lycée announces special Monday night board meeting

The board for Lycée Français de la Nouvelle-Orleans charter school has announced a special board meeting to be held Monday at 6:30 p.m. at the school, 5951 Patton St. Mike Pinkerton, a volunteer who is helping the school manage public records requests, told The Lens that the board expects to receive a report detailing the findings of a consultant tapped by the state to help the school address management issues.

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Lycée board violated open meetings laws in ousting principal

For days before the charter school board voted to accept the resignation of principal Jill Otis, board members emailed back and forth about how they could force her out. Board president Jean Montes acknowledges that the discussions violated public meetings law but said the board dealt with the problem in a subsequent executive session.

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Lycée leader banned at Audubon school after 2010 threat to student, records show

The acting chief executive officer of Lycée Français de la Nouvelle-Orleans charter school was previously banned from another charter school’s campus for threatening a student, records show. Gisele Schexnider was a parent of an Audubon Charter School student in January 2010 when, according to school records, she arrived at a teacher’s classroom, pointed to someone else’s child and said she would “see him after school.”

The incident prompted Audubon’s Assistant Principal Dawn Collins to write a letter to Schexnider prohibiting her from stepping foot on the campus.

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Audit: Ex-Lycee chief paid nearly $30,000 without board vote

After a budget overhaul and a change in principals, Lycee Francais’ board of directors probably could have anticipated the blemished audit they received at their monthly meeting Monday. Though many of the issues resulted from policies and procedures that, according to the audit, have since been improved, the financial analysis revealed several shortcomings, including the school’s payment — without a formal contract or board approval — of $29,878 to former Principal Jill Otis for three months after she resigned in April.

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Lycee Francais parents want resignation of 2 board members

More than a dozen Lycee Francais de la Nouvelle-Orleans parents are seeking the ouster of two of the charter school’s board members, and they are demanding the board address what they say is a series of problems undermining the school’s integrity. In an eight-page letter they filed with the school’s board Friday, the parents complain of leadership turnover, board micro-management, business-related conflicts of interest and possible breaches in student privacy and safety.

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Lycée parents ask state education chief to investigate school’s board

A group of parents from Lycée Français de la Nouvelle-Orleans charter school have asked the state’s public education chief to investigate its board’s actions regarding recent hiring and firing decisions, including the manner in which it hired its interim chief executive officer. State schools superintendent John White last month praised Lycée’s board for hiring Gisele Schexnider, whom he described as “an experienced academic director,” and offered his help as the 340-student school seeks to find a permanent CEO.

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State helps find consultant to guide Lycée Français board

State schools Superintendent John White has taken the unusual step of offering the state’s help to the troubled charter school Lycée Français de la Nouvelle-Orleans, as it goes about searching for a new leader, according to a letter he sent to the school. White said he’s helped secure private money to pay for a consulting company, which has already been chosen, to guide the search process.

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State helps find consultant to guide Lycée Français board

State schools Superintendent John White has taken the unusual step of offering the state’s help to the troubled charter school Lycée Français de la Nouvelle-Orleans, as it goes about searching for a new leader, according to a letter he sent to the school. White said he’s helped secure private money to pay for a consulting company, which has already been chosen, to guide the search process.

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Fired Lycée teacher sues school leaders for character defamation

A teacher who was fired from Lycée Français de la Nouvelle Orléans Charter is suing the school and two of its leaders, saying they damaged her reputation after they had an officer escort her from campus last month. Darleen Mipro, 39, was charged with criminal trespassing and disturbing the peace on Nov.

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Lycée board shuts press out of meeting with parents

Board members at the embattled Lycée Français de la Nouvelle Orléans Charter School Monday closed the doors to “anybody who is not connected with the family” of the school as they met for two hours with parents in what they insisted was not a public meeting. The closed-door session involving three board members and about 30 parents followed a 45-minute, open meeting during which board members voted 6-0, with little discussion, to approve hiring Gisele Schexnider as interim CEO and academic director for the troubled school.

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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 school’s interim CEO.

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Budget cuts stem flow of red ink after unanticipated revenue shortfall

The board of directors of Lycée Français de la Nouvelle Orléans voted Monday to cut more than $200,000 from the charter school’s 2012-13 budget, after members learned the school was operating at a deficit of $85,000. The board went into a closed session to discuss how it would move forward in light of news that school leader Jean-Jacques Grandiere is ill and won’t return until Nov.

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BESE tackles OneApp and Lycee issues, delays governance choice

State education officials held their quarterly meeting Wednesday night in New Orleans. photo: Jessica Williams

As proponents of the Recovery School District’s unified enrollment process contend, parents should be able to fill out one application to enroll their kids in any of the city’s numerous charter schools.

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Board revises budget, struggles with meeting laws

Lycée Français de la Nouvelle Orléans board of directors struggled to comply with state open records and meetings laws at its meeting Monday night, as it reduced the school’s operating budget from $3.1 million to $2.8 million. Over 100 parents and teachers were in attendance at the school’s cafeteria.

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Board President informs Lycée parents of sudden staff cuts, unexplained $90G deficit

Nearly 200 concerned parents and teachers attended Wednesday night’s Lycée Français de la Nouvelle Orléans’ parent-teacher-organization meeting, where school board president Jean Montes said Lycee was operating with a $90,000 budget deficit and that more staffing cuts were possible. Three administrative positions were eliminated at the charter school within the past week – an office manager, an assistant to the director and the school’s after-school coordinator.

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Lycée parents complain to BESE about pricey fees for tutoring

Parents complained today before the state’s top education board that they had to pay a $250 application fee to enroll their children in Lycée Français de la Nouvelle Orleans, the French-immersion charter school, and upwards of $150 a week to get them extra tutoring. They also complained to the state Board of Elementary and Secondary Education that the school had not done enough to recruit and retain minority students.

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Satellite classes pose challenge for after school activities; French courses for parents suggested

At the October 8 board meeting administrators from Lycee Francais de la Nouvelle Orleans considered partnering with the city’s French Alliance to offer French language courses to Lycee parents. “More than 150 parents (responded that they) want the classes,” Jean-Jacques Grandiere, Lycee’s General Director, told the school’s board of directors at their Oct.

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Training seminar held during board retreat

The Lycee Francais de la Nouvelle Orleans board of directors held a retreat focused on board governance Thursday. Marci Cornell-Feist, founder and CEO of The High Bar education management company, led the session.

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After misstep, Lycee leads the way to full compliance with state public-notice law

Back in June, as the Lycee Francais Charter School board prepared to take a vote on the school’s 2012-13 school budget, a reporter from The Lens told board members that they had not given proper public notice that the vote was pending, a violation of state law. The board members promptly took action, and today Lycee Francais is one of the few charter schools in New Orleans in full compliance with state law regarding its budget vote.

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After misstep, Lycee leads the way to full compliance with state law

Back in June, as the Lycee Francais Charter School board prepared to take a vote on the school’s 2012-13 school budget, a reporter from The Lens told board members that they had not given proper public notice that the vote was pending, a violation of state law. The board members promptly took action, and today Lycee Francais is one of the few charter schools in New Orleans in full compliance with state law regarding its budget vote.

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Lycée Français passes budget

Editor’s note: Story updated July 13 to reflect that the final vote had taken place. The Lycée Français Board unanimoulsy passed its $3.1 million budget Tuesday, July 10.

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Lycée Français Charter School schedules another budget vote

After The Lens reported that the Lycée Français Charter school voted in June on its 2012-2013 budget without making adequate public announcements prior to its budget hearing, the school has re-scheduled its budget vote. A  hearing will be held tonight, July 9, at 6:30 p.m. at 5401 S. Claiborne Ave.

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Special board meeting

The Uptown Messenger has coverage of tonight’s special LFNO board meeting here, in which Jean Jacques Grandiere was confirmed as General Director of Lycee Francais and board member Allen Kelly resigned.

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Grandiere still in the running for general director; board member quits over email

At their monthly meeting, May 14, directors of Lycee Francais cast an eye toward the year ahead and the pending move to a new campus on State Street. Newly installed board chairman Dr. Jean Montes began with a brief introduction and spoke of the school’s mission before yielding to the board’s treasurer and the school’s interim general director for their most recent briefings.

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It's official: second grade to be added next semester; new board chairman takes charge

By Amy Holiday, The Lens charter school reporter |

Lycée Francais is adding a second grade, a move approved by the state Board of Elementary and Secondary Education and ratified at a special meeting of the school’s board, April 24. Thirty students were accepted conditionally by lottery from a large pool of applicants on April 18, an admissions process that can now roll forward to completion.

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LFNO board meeting agenda released

Review the agenda for the board’s November meeting, scheduled for 6:30 PM at 5401 S. Claiborne Avenue, reprinted below:

 

Agenda for November 14, 2011

I Call to Order

II Attendance

III Approval of Past Minutes

IV Chairman’s Report

V Treasurer’s Report

VI Principal’s Report

VII Old Business

VIII New Business

IX Public Comments

X Adjournment

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Board chooses a marketing company to get word out

Faced with a new $1,500-a-month expense or the prospect of fewer students enrolling, the board that oversees Lycee Francais charter school opted to hire a marketing company to raise awareness of the new school. Black Olive Marketing will now handle the campaign for the board of Lycee Francais de la Nouvelle Orleans. Black Olive had been doing the work for Lycée Français School pro bono.

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