Superintendent Pastorek Releases Recommendation for RSD Schools

Yesterday was the big day at the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education’s (BESE) Recovery School District (RSD) committee – Superintendent Paul Pastorek released his proposal for the governance of the RSD’s Orleans Parish schools upon the upcoming end of their initial 5-year period in the RSD.  Among the big questions coming into yesterday’s meeting were: Would he recommend another five years in the RSD?  Or a return to local control?  If not local control now, when, and how?  Would there be a plan for persistently low-performing schools?  How would charter schools be affected?  What would be the opportunities for community input?

At the meeting, Superintendent Pastorek, along with RSD Superintendent Paul Vallas, presented the plan to committee members and a full hearing room of stakeholders and citizens.  The primary recommendation of the plan is for the schools to remain in the RSD for another five years, while in a couple of years allowing certain schools that meet prescribed standards to decide whether they want to stay in the RSD or return to local control.  The plan also includes a brief rundown of the history, considerations, and guiding principles behind the recommendation, standards that must be met by a school before can choose its governance entity, and conditions that any local governance entity must guarantee to returning schools.  Finally, the plan includes attachments detailing the specific status (including academic performance) and recommendation for each RSD school.  To read the plan, click here, and for the attachments, click here and here.

BESE’s RSD Committee is holding a public meeting in McDonogh 35 High School in New Orleans on October 14 to hear more from the community.  To read more about yesterday’s meeting, click here for the Times-Picayune’s coverage.  For more on the law, policy, and process guiding this decision, see our recent brief Decision Time: Questions and Answers About the Return of Schools to Local Control.  And stay tuned for more news and analysis as the conversation continues!