Part three in a series on school closures in New Orleans. The centralized school enrollment lottery takes months to conduct and offers special priority to students in closing schools. Two parents whose kids attend closing schools tell us how they’re playing the odds for next year.
As teachers and students search for new jobs and schools, resources dwindle and test scores could too. Part two in a series on school closures in New Orleans.
The Orleans Parish school district is working with the schools rather than closing them.
The Orleans Parish school district is closing five schools this spring. In the first part in a series on school closures, The Lens talks to experts, advocates and parents about how a decision to close a school is made, and how it should be made.
Superintendent Henderson Lewis presented his closure recommendations as a report. Public comment was not allowed.
The school is the only non-charter elementary in the Orleans Parish school district.
District officials previously suggested that the schools were being considered for closure. Superintendent Henderson Lewis Jr.’s recommendations came the week after school letter grades were released by the state.
At Monday night meeting, school district superintendent and other officials said board mismanagement led to decision.
Charter school renewals hinge on school letter grades from the state. Orleans school district officials have strongly hinted that four schools may be up for closure.
The move comes after the school district halted enrollment at William J. Fischer Academy and McDonogh 32 Charter School. The schools aren’t expected to make the C letter grade required for charter renewal.
