Notes on the RSD’s First Public Meeting on School Building Assignments

The Recovery School District (RSD) held its first meeting to discuss school building assignments on January 4 at Langston Hughes Elementary in City Council District A, with nearly 100 people in attendance.  There will be four more meetings – one in each of the council districts.  Councilwoman Susan Guidry opened the meeting and invited everyone to share their comments, and RSD Communications Director Ken Jones ran the meeting.  Orleans Parish School Board (OPSB) President Woody Koppel and Board of Elementary and Secondary Education (BESE) member Louella Givens were also present.  It was made clear at the beginning of the meeting that there would be no discussion of OPSB facilities projects, only RSD facilities projects, and that the comments should be restricted only to Council District A to give all interested community members in each district a fair chance to be heard.

Lona Hankins, the Director of Capital Projects, then gave an overview of the School Facilities Master Plan (SFMP).  Click here to see her powerpoint presentation.  It is important to note that Lona mentioned the Timeline for Amendments to the SFMP (see slides 23-24 of the powerpoint).  She indicated that after the new demographic study is released in February there will be public meetings held to receive comments on potential SFMP amendments.  The amendments will then be presented to OPSB and BESE, and the boards will vote on them in April.  RSD Superintendent Paul Vallas spoke next.  Among other things, he outlined the definitions of terms used in the SFMP.  Specifically, he noted that in community discussions on the amendments to the SFMP, schools that are landbanked but occupied could be taken off this list and the SFMP could be amended to renovate these schools and make them permanent.  Vallas stated, “We do have the flexibility to do that. The RSD won’t make the determination, but the public will.”

In the public comment period, about a dozen members of the community spoke.  Several people were concerned that OPSB and RSD were not working in concert and found it to be confusing that OPSB owns the facilities, but RSD manages many of the facilities. Ben Franklin Elementary, which is operated by the OPSB, was cited as an example of the confusion.  Its enrollment is currently 609 students but the building allotted to it in the SFMP has a 350-student capacity.  Furthermore, the school is currently in an OPSB building, and the OPSB does not have larger building for it; speakers noted that it is having trouble getting a new building from the RSD.  Vallas responded that he vowed to work with the OPSB to help Ben Franklin Elementary find a suitable building.

Next, many members from the Morris Jeff school community spoke in favor of moving their school into the former Fisk-Howard building rather than the Thurgood Marshall campus.  Community members were also concerned about the blighted school buildings that continue to sit vacant in their neighborhoods.  One person spoke on the historic beauty of the buildings and said that the RSD should make sure it preserves as many buildings as possible.  A local architect spoke and underscored the importance of designing buildings that represent cohesion between the community and the design team, and believed that the only way to have real, useable buildings is to involve the community.  Two speakers supported Johnson Elementary possibly moving to the Priestley site.  Finally, Lagniappe Academy, which operates one charter school, stated that the criteria for building selection was not clear and they were interested in possibly reserving seats for neighborhood children in their school.  A Lagniappe representative also stated the school’s interest in moving to the Phyllis Wheatley school site.

Superintendent Vallas closed the meeting by saying that no final decisions will be made until all the community meetings are finished and reminded the audience that the RSD is unable to move on items without OPSB’s permission and BESE’s approval.  Additionally, he discussed the historic $1.8 billion we received from FEMA and that in building these schools there will be, “no additional burden on local taxpayers.”

The remaining meeting dates and places are as follows (all meetings begin at 6 p.m.):
Jan. 12, District B, Andrew Wilson School, 3617 General Pershing St.
Jan. 18, District C, Joseph Craig Elementary, 1423 St. Philip Ave.
Jan. 25, District D, Lake Area (Greater Gentilly) School, 6026 Paris Ave.
Jan. 27, District E, H.C. Schaumburg School, 9501 Grant St.

The Cowen Institute will continue to have representatives at these meetings and will report on each.