The OPSBrief

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This report is created by Ken Ducote and Rose Drill-Peterson on behalf of the Eastbank Collaborative of Charter Schools 

Greetings!

 

The Orleans Parish School Board held its Regular Monthly Business Meeting on May 21, 2013, in the Auditorium of McDonogh 35 High School.
 
The posted meeting agenda and backup documentation can be read here.

 

 

***This email is created by Ken Ducote and Rose Drill-Peterson on behalf of the Eastbank Collaborative of Charter Schools and is not an official correspondence from the Orleans Parish School Board***
BUSINESS MEETING
Presentations
Received reports and recognized achievements 
  • Perfect Attendance Car Give-Away
    • Premier Auto Stay-in-School Program
    • Random drawing for fully equipped 2013 Scion xB among seniors with perfect attendance for year
    • Auto donated by Troy Duhon of Scion of New Orleans
    • Winner was Geremy Williams of Warren Easton Charter HS
    • Other seniors with perfect attendance received cash awards
  • Perfect Attendance for 13 Years
    • Presented Board proclamation to Jessica Edinburgh of McDonogh 35 HS for 13 years of perfect attendance
    • Cited her attendance record and her scholastic achievements despite family tragedies
    • Received a standing ovation from meeting attendees
  • Preservation of OPSB Documents
    • Report from UNO's Dr. Al Kennedy on 30-yr history of OPSB Archives at UNO and post-Katrina salvage of Board Office records
    • Archives located on 4th Floor in Louisiana Collection area of UNO's Earl K. Long Library
    • Contains Board minutes and other reports and records back to 1840s
    • Also contains photos and memorabilia donated by many different individuals
    • Has been used to research books, scholarly articles, dissertations, FEMA claims, and personal histories
    • Individuals are encouraged to submit their own items from past and present
    • Board presented Dr. Kennedy with a proclamation in gratitude for founding and supporting the archives
  • Community school-readiness assessment
    • Project of Orleans Public Education Network (OPEN)
    • Report on school-readiness of local kindergarten-age children here
    • Included 1844 children in 95 classrooms across 38 schools
    • Data broken down by neighborhood

Discussion

Received and discussed report from Administration - no action taken

 

  • Benjamin E. Mays Charter School
    • Received report from Superintendent based upon information from RSD
    • Mays is an RSD charter housed in modulars, classified as "failing" by RSD, and slated to close this month
    • Community and parent delegation last month asked OPSB to find a way to take over Mays as an OPSB school
    • Community concerned that there will be no school within walking distance of former Desire areas
    • Committee of OPSB Members Usdin, Cade and Marshall will work on problem and report at next meeting
    • Parent and community representatives considered RSD's assignment of school operators to be a non-transparent process and questioned assigning the newly renovated Frantz ES to another operator without public input after promising it to Mays 
    • Community representative suggested Mays' students be assigned to the Frantz building as an extension of the successful Benjamin Franklin ES

 

Committee Reports

Received reports from Committee Chairpersons on activities - no action taken

  • Accountability Committee
  • Property Committee
  • Legal and Legislative Committee (did not meet in May)
  • Policy Committee
  • Budget and Finance Committee

Action Items
Reviewed recommendations from Administration and took action as indicated
  • Sale of 1542 Constance Street ("Stern" Site) - Approved
    • To Kingsley House - Adjusted appraised value plus assumption of all environmental and historical issues
    • Negotiated sale permitted by recent legislation
  • Safe & Healthy School Initiative - Approved
    • Federal grants totaling $29,499 - grades 7 to 12 - reduction of HIV, STD, and teenage pregnancies
  • Title I (Non-Public Schools) Amendments to Third Party Contracts - Approved
    • OPSB must by federal law administer program for eligible non-public students
  • Title II (Non-Public Schools) Amendments to Third Party Contracts - Approved
    • OPSB must by federal law administer program for eligible non-public students
  • Property Flood Insurance Renewal - Approved
    • Travelers - 12 month renewal - $137,807 - updated list of properties on cycle for 5/22/2013
  • Capital Projects Budget - Amendment #3 - Approved 2 related items
    • Adopted Resolution 14-13 to add $9 million to budget of the new Lake Forest ES
    • Extra funds came from contingency in Master Plan and probably will not all be needed on the project
    • Needed legally to allow project to be released for bids
    • School design is essentially a repeat of the Hynes design
    • Architect believes current market conditions indicate cost of school is now about $10 million higher than Hynes based on RSD's bids for Livingston HS
    • Project managers believe actual bids will be much less than Livingston based on OPSB's recent bids for North Kenilworth ES
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This service is made possible by a Community IMPACT 2012 Grant from the Greater New Orleans Foundation and funding from the
Robert Reily Family Trust and the Smith/Cooper Foundation