Doris Roché-Hicks runs Friends of King Schools, where several of her relatives have worked. The state says three of those arrangements are against the law.
Charter School
Dr. King Charter School
Governed by Friends of King School
Report Card Grade
C
Grades Served
Pre-K - 12Enrollment
824 (Feb. 2016)School Performance Score
2016: 78.6Previous School Performance Score
2015: 91.6Nepotism cases against two New Orleans charter school leaders have dragged on for years
In 2012 and 2014, the state ethics board charged Paulette Bruno and Doris Roché-Hicks with breaking state law because five family members worked at charter schools they run. Years later, the charges remain unresolved.
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Dr. King School becomes first RSD charter to seek return to School Board oversight
So far, no charter boards have returned their operations to Orleans school board
Ethics Board: Friends of King CEO Doris Hicks, 3 relatives violated nepotism law
The Louisiana Board of Ethics has filed charges against Friends of King Schools CEO Doris Hicks and three relatives after finding them in violation of state law aimed to prevent nepotism. The action follows a Lens story that reported Hicks had hired six family members.
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Craig Charter paying off $705,000 King loan
Recovery School District charters inching past historic top-performers in New Orleans
Schools run by the Orleans Parish School Board have been the top performers on standardized tests. That continued this year, but several charters in the Recovery School District inched past them. The challenge: Replicating what’s working.
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State releases elementary and middle-school standardized test scores
After-school programs can continue, thanks to renewed community-center funding
No-interest loan from MLK Charter eases Craig Charter back to $200,000 surplus
Department of Education shrugs off Friends of King’s open-meetings violation
Two charter organizations spent about $250,000 on out-of-state professional training
Algiers Charter Schools Association staff went on 19 trips over four years, including five out of state that cost $113,000. And new figures from KIPP New Orleans Schools show that it spent $133,000 on its trip to Las Vegas. All told, The Lens has added up $316,000 in travel for three charter organizations.
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Refusal to return charter schools to OPSB sign of distrust of locally elected boards
King charter won’t move to Orleans school board governance
KIPP New Orleans Schools spent $120,000 on training in Las Vegas
About 185 of KIPP’s 440 employees in New Orleans attended a national summit for KIPP staffers in Nevada. The trip cost substantially more than the $69,400 that Friends of King spent on a staff-wide retreat in Biloxi, Miss. But Kipp’s nine schools all have money in the bank, while one of Friends of King’s two schools posted a $1 million deficit.
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Friends of King Schools spent about $70,000 on all-staff retreat at Biloxi casino
All of the approximately 180 employees of the two-school charter organization were invited to the Beau Rivage in August. The charter organization covered their hotel rooms and meals. A week later, CEO Doris Roché-Hicks told staff at one school that their pay would be cut 2 percent. That move saved about as much as the retreat cost.
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More charter schools now eligible to join Orleans Parish School Board, but will any take the leap?
Charter boards overseeing 17 schools must decide by the end of the year if they want to move from the Recovery School District to the Orleans Parish School Board. But there are still reasons for schools to stay put, such as funding issues and concerns about the management and leadership of the local school system.
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Friends of King trying to cover money shortage at Craig
Documents indicate that Friends of King CEO didn’t sign contracts with family members
Doris Roché-Hicks apparently didn’t sign contracts with her family members, which would clear her from one set of legal concerns about their employment. But there are discrepancies between copies and originals of the same documents, and charter officials won’t discuss why they’re different.
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Cost of busing students in New Orleans rises as parents exercise school choice
It will cost $30 million to bring students to and from public schools this year, compared to $18 million the year before Katrina. The increase appears to be a consequence of citywide enrollment and the shift from a centrally-run school system. A few schools are working together to negotiate busing contracts.
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Friends of King board hears new expectations for students
Charter school CEO submits new ethics disclosures for relatives’ employment
Friends of King Schools plans 2 percent pay cut at Joseph A. Craig Charter School
New Orleans charter school operators turn to Baton Rouge for expansion
Charter leader employs six relatives; two may violate state ethics law
The head of the Friends of King charter school system has hired six relatives, including at least two whose employment appears to violate state ethics laws that ban nepotism. Chief Executive Officer Doris Roché-Hicks employs her sister, daughter, son-in-law, grandson and great niece. She also employs her son-in-law’s brother. State law prohibits the hiring of immediate family members, though not all of these relations meet the definition of “immediate family” in the law.
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Check here for Orleans public schools’ opening days
State documents detail standardized test cheating, irregularities at New Orleans schools
In three recent testing years, 33 public schools have been flagged for problems and possible cheating on standardized tests — 12 more than once. A testing expert says these irregularities indicate cheating by teachers and administrators, who have a lot riding on their students’ performance.
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‘Fair’ no longer boosts performance scores; Common Core topics creep into state tests
Friends of King expects $671,000 deficit for the fiscal year ending June 30
Board seeks grants for Craig pre-K and after-school ‘learning centers’ at all King campuses
The Friends of King board of directors has green-lighted a continuing search for grants to finance a pre-kindergarten program at Joseph A. Craig Elementary School and learning centers to supplement classroom instruction at both Craig and Martin Luther King Science and Technology Charter School. Passage of resolutions authorizing reapplication for the funding was the highlight of the directors’ monthly meeting, March 12, in the Craig library.
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Friends of King board to meet at noon
King charter board refuses to release agendas in advance, scolds reporter
Friends of King leaders push for new 9th Ward high school facility
Dr. King Charter forgoes chance to rejoin Orleans Parish district
Special-ed classifications draw fire; decision looms on return to OPSB
Money, control and perception are keys as charters consider switch to Orleans Parish School Board
From left, Martin Behrman, Arthur Ashe and KIPP Believe are three campuses that are likely to be eligible to return to the oversight of the Orleans Parish School Board, above. Photo by Jessica Williams
Several more independent charter school leaders soon will find themselves facing a question that several others, including Sophie B. Wright Charter School’s principal, have been grappling with for more than a year: Should we move back under the wing of the Orleans Parish School Board?
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Board moves toward private retirement plan; enrollment drop threatens funding
Board approves retirement plan for Craig, declines to assist Carver alumni group
Friends of King School met in regular session on July 25, after passing budgets for the two schools under the board’s management: Martin Luther King School of Science and Technology and Joseph Craig Elementary. Principal Doris Hicks, chief executive officer of the schools, updated the board on an overture from a group of George Washington Carver alumni interested in getting Friends of King to help them apply for a charter to run their troubled high school.
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Board approves budgets for both schools, but frets about funding delay for special ed
The board of directors who run Martin Luther King School of Science and Technology, as well as the Joseph Craig Elementary, approve budgets for the 2012-13 school year at their meeting July 19. Discussion began with the budget for Craig, which the Friends of King School board begins operating in the coming year.
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King budget for 2012-13 nears $8 million; Craig expects to spend $3.7 million
The Friends of King School Board released its budget for the 2012-13 school year at Martin Luther King Science and Technology Charter. It also released a budget for Joseph A. Craig Elementary, which the board will begin running in the coming year. Based on an anticipated enrollment of 685 students, the school expects to receive about $7.85 million in revenue, of which about $6 million will be per-student state and local funding.
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School budgets released
Board weighs bid for Carver High charter; graduating seniors win $500 scholarships
By Josh Johnston, The Lens charter school reporter |
An alumni group from the failing George Washington Carver High School has asked Friends of King Schools, the board that runs Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Charter School, to apply for Carver’s charter, King board members learned at their May 8 monthly meeting. A Carver alumni group recently protested the state-run Recovery School District’s decision to permit Collegiate Academies, the network that runs the highly successful Sci Academy, to take over the high school. The Carver alumni group has applied twice for the charter, but both applications were rejected by the state Board of Elementary and Secondary Education.
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Board votes to withdraw from state pension plan; search is on for best 403(b) alternative
The school’s board of directors has decided to seek an alternative to the expensive state-run pension plan, the Teachers Retirement System of Louisiana (TRSL). Sean Bruno, a certified public accountant, and Tony Monk, of the Morgan Stanley investment firm, addressed the board at its April 10 monthly meeting to explain the difference between defined-benefit retirement plans like TRSL, and the private 403(b) plans some other charters have switched to.
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Board seeks scholarships as first senior class prepares to graduate; high school plan filed
School spending is in line with budget projections through the end of the year, provided grants that have been applied for come through. That was the message from the finance committee as directors of the Martin Luther King Jr. School of Science and Technology gathered for their monthly meeting, March 13.
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Board greets Junior Achievement, narrows logo options, may expand membership
Board meets group of parents and faculty from elementary school it will take over next year
Students bring back environmental message; board to start running Craig campus
The Friends of King School Board meeting began, after a short Christmas blessing, with the entrance of about 15 members of the high school fraternity, Mu Lambda Kappa (MLK), who described a recent trip to Denver. “We learned about the environment, ” sophomore Earl Thomas said, “and ways to make it better.
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RSD building assignment list leaves high school in trailers; freshman leader outlines class project
The Friends of King Schools Board of Directors reacted to uncertain news of the school’s building assignment. While Martin Luther King Charter Elementary was assigned its current location on Caffin Avenue, the Recovery School District list makes no mention of the high school, which is still housed in trailers. Present for the board’s monthly meeting were President Hilda Young, CEO/Principal Doris Hicks, Secretary Cora Charles, and board members Gail Armant, Sandra Monroe, Thelma Ruth, and George Rabb. The Nov.