NEW ORLEANS – If it were up to Orleans Parish School Board (OPSB) Superintendent Dr. Henderson Lewis, Jr., three charter school operators in New Orleans won’t be granted additional charters next year.
Lyceum Schools, Crescent City Schools and Young Audiences Charter Association applications for new charters were recommended for denial by Lewis.
Five charter school operator applications were recommended for denial by an independent evaluation; however, Lewis only agreed with the denial for three operators.
The Superintendent presented his recommendations last week to the OPSB board. The board has until January’s board business meeting on Jan. 19 to review the information.
Lewis’ concerns:
-Lyceum Schools’ is requesting to open a new Type 1 K-12 school. Administration outlined concerns with the school’s projected enrollment, special education plan and more. Administration also identified concerns about its “ambitious” fundraising target and “inadequate contingency plans.”
-Young Audiences Charter Association seeks to open a Type 1 Transformation K-8 School. Administration noted that the operator has no prior transformation experience and outlined concerns with capacity to open new school at full scale as proposed.
-Crescent City Schools seeks to open a new Type 1 Transformation PK-8 School. Administration stated that a second charter “isn’t necessary for proposed expansion model,” and there were also concerns with accountability.
The charter school operators that were recommended by the superintendent for approval include:
-The Center for Resilience (Querencia) to start a new PK-8 school
-Significant Educators to start a Type 3 Conversion PK-8 School
-Legacy of Excellence (Ben Franklin Elementary) to open Type 3 Conversation PK-8 School
-InspireNOLA Charter Schools to open a Type 1 Transformation PK-8 School
-FirstLine Schools to open two new Type 1 Transformation PK-8 schools.
The operators recommended for denial by an independent consultant were Crescent City Schools, Young Audiences Charter Association, Significant Educators (Bethune Elementary), Legacy of Excellence (Ben Franklin Elementary) and Lyceum Schools.
The OPSB currently oversees four direct-run schools and 37 charter schools.
For more details on the recommendations, visit https://opsb.us/2017/12/board-business-meeting-recap-december-2017/
-By Jenny Peterson, Associate News Editor, Biz New Orleans