New Orleans school system plans to close two charter schools | Training

New Orleans school district officials are calling for an “emergency shutdown” of an all-boys charter school, citing concerns about student welfare due to the school’s financial instability.

If the Orleans Parish School Board approves the district’s recommendation, the Dolores Taylor Arthur School for Young Men would be required to “immediately cease all operations,” according to board policy.

The school enrolls fewer than 100 students in grades 8 through 12, and its CEO said last month that the school may not be able to pay its employees in December, according to a district presentation on the proposal Repeal of the school’s statutes. (The CEO disputed that comment, saying employees were paid on time.) In the presentation, the district said that “student well-being is being negatively impacted by financial uncertainty.”

Byron Arthur, the Gentilly School’s founder and CEO, acknowledged the school’s financial challenges but said he hopes the board will allow the school to remain open at least through the end of the school year.

“The stability and well-being of our students is our number one concern,” he said in an interview Sunday.

Regardless, district officials want the Dr. Martin Luther King Charter School for Sci Tech is closing its high school classes at the end of the school year due to chronically low enrollment and poor academic performance. The district would allow the school to continue kindergarten through eighth grade.

If the high school closes, the Lower 9th Ward will be left without high schools.

The Orleans Parish School Board will vote on the recommendations at a special meeting Tuesday. School leaders and the public will also have the opportunity to have their say.

Financial problems at Arthur School

The Arthur School, which was founded in 2019 to serve primarily Black male students, has been in the district’s crosshairs for months.

In September, NOLA Public Schools sent the school multiple notices of noncompliance regarding issues related to student credit accumulation, special education, staff qualifications, employee background checks and academic record keeping. Byron Arthur said the school has been working to address the issues, which he said are unrelated to recent financial challenges.

District officials discussed the school’s status with Arthur in November, according to the district’s planned closure announcement. At that meeting, Arthur offered to return the charter allowing him to continue running the school after this school year. The district said it also expressed concerns that the school would not be able to make payroll for December, although Arthur disputes that.

But members of the Lyceum Schools board, which oversees Arthur School, refused to abandon the school’s charter and directed Arthur to develop an alternative plan for the school’s continuation.

The school, which has long struggled with under-enrollment, had just 98 students as of Oct. 1. She received a “C” grade from the state this year and a “D” last year.

“We are facing very strong financial headwinds,” Arthur said Sunday, due to low enrollment and the expiration of pandemic funds that helped finance recruiting.

An error in the district’s accounting that caused schools to budget for more funding than they actually received was not the primary cause of the school’s financial problems, he added, but “it certainly didn’t help.” .”

Arthur said he and the Lyceum Schools board are looking at ways to keep the school operating through the end of the school year. But he also acknowledged that families need to know if Arthur School will no longer be an option as students will soon begin the registration process for next school year.

“Our students are our top priority,” he said.

The only public school in the 9th district

In their proposal, the high school of Dr. In deciding to close Martin Luther King Charter School, district officials cited persistent poor academic performance and low enrollment that could threaten the school’s financial sustainability.

The high school earned the lowest overall performance rating among open enrollment high schools this year and the second-lowest rating based on students’ ACT scores and other metrics. There are also consistently poor grades given for students’ academic progress.

This year, only 185 students were enrolled at the high school, reflecting a sharp decline over the past five years.

More than 85% of students live outside the Lower 9th Ward. Most of the high school age students in the neighborhood attend other high schools, primarily Frederick Douglass, Warren Easton, GW Carver and McDonogh 35.

Meanwhile, K-8 school enrollment has remained fairly consistent since 2015. This year, 529 students were enrolled in the lower school, representing 88% of peak enrollment. More than half of these students live in the neighborhood.

District officials noted that the K-8 school has received a “B” grade for progress every year since 2019. The presentation also noted that the school’s English students performed in the top half of those students among the district’s open schools.

The Orleans Parish School Board will vote on recommendations presented by interim NOLA Public Schools Superintendent Fateama Fulmore at a special board meeting Tuesday at 5:30 p.m

Editor’s note: This story has been updated to include a statement from Byron Arthur on Monday responding to the district’s claim that he raised doubts about December’s payroll.