KIPP New Orleans Schools has insisted the public was not made aware of its March 12 vote to close Frederick Douglass High School because it was both unanticipated and urgent. In fact, the charter group was already working with a crisis communications firm, records obtained by Lamplighter show.
The nine-school charter network is paying $30,000 a month to New York-based Goldin Solutions for help with communications related to “potential change management topics,” according to the contract inked Feb. 2.
Five weeks later, on March 12, KIPP’s board voted to effectively close Douglass in June. The vote appears to have skirted Open Meetings Law. The meeting’s agenda did not indicate a school closure would be discussed, let alone voted on.
A meeting publicizing the potential merger of two legacy high schools — John F. Kennedy High School and Frederick Douglass High School — likely would have drawn a crowd.
When Douglass Junior Oshun Johnson learned of the merger on social media she thought it was a joke. She said she’s struggling to understand why the KIPP network chose to merge A-rated Douglass with C-rated Kennedy.
“Out of the three (KIPP) high schools, we’re the top,” she said. “And we’re the ones being shut down.”
Closing Legacy High Schools
Goldin Solutions is a fresh name in the more than 20 years of public relations firms that have ushered state and local education officials through intense school closure announcements.
In the two decades since Hurricane Katrina decimated the city, the school system has been the center of the nation’s largest education reform experiment.
In 2005, a handful of New Orleans city schools were operated by charter groups. After the storm, several traditional schools applied for charters to avoid red tape in reopening. After a critical mass of schools had opened to educate students returning to the city, charter schools continued to proliferate.
The city’s education landscape changed overnight as the state-run takeover agency, the Recovery School District, swept in and took over a majority of the city’s schools. A decade later, the RSD had closed or handed over its schools to charter groups. In 2017, NOLA Public Schools followed and New Orleans became the first major American city with no traditional schools.
The whirlwind of restructuring included painful legacy high school closures. From the fumbled reboot of John McDonogh High School at the hands of a Los Angeles-based charter group to the controversial merger of L.B. Landry High School and rival O. Perry Walker.
The aforementioned decisions included scores of public meetings with emotional testimony.
Asked what she would have wanted the KIPP board to consider prior to its vote, Johnson mulled for a moment.
“I just really wish they would have thought from our point of view,” Johnson said. “I understand they were thinking ‘we have to balance our money.’”
Adopting Legacy Names
In the last ten years, start-up charter groups began adopting legacy high school names. The decision was also a public relations boon, and helped to forge connections with alumni groups. Lake Area New Tech Early College High School became Kennedy. Sci Academy became Abramson Sci Academy. KIPP Renaissance because Douglass.
Education advocate Ashana Bigard welcomed the changes. It felt like a step in the right direction, she said, acknowledging KIPP’s decision to adopt the Douglass name. But, she said the recent vote felt like a betrayal.
“The fact that they didn’t even discuss this with the children and families despite KIPP’s commitment to being more community oriented,” Bigard said.
“The charter experiment was done to us and not with us — KIPP and the majority of the charters vowed that would never happen again,” she said. “They continued to go down the same trajectory. Which is very disappointing to say the least of how I feel.”
The Douglass-Kennedy Vote
The outline of KIPP’s March 12 board meeting appeared routine. The public meeting stated simply: “CEO Report.” The only vote listed was a perfunctory meeting minute approval.
But KIPP New Orleans’ board voted to shutter a 600-student school that day.
Records obtained by Lamplighter this week show the charter network had hired a crisis communications firm five weeks prior to the meeting. The firm would assist with “communication efforts related to potential change management topics.”
The existing Goldin contract revelation comes one week after staff, families and students of Kennedy and Douglass learned about the merger.
Questions Remain
Seventeen-year-old Johnson said students have a lot of questions: Which uniforms will they wear? Will extracurricular activities change? Which school seal will adorn diplomas?
She’s attended the KIPP meetings for students and parents. The meetings have included requests from students.
“In every meeting, in every discussion, it’s ‘I hope this,’ ‘I hope that.’ But it seems like y’all know already because y’all made the decision,” she said.
Johnson attends Daughters Beyond Incarceration (DBI), a nonprofit that supports girls with incarcerated parents, committed to building strong parent-to-child relationships.
Dominique Jones, the executive director of DBI, said several Douglass students were in the after-school program when they found out about the merger via social media. She’s proud of how they are speaking up to KIPP.
“They’re saying (the merger) is because of the school building,” Jones said, of the old Douglass building. “But Oshun made the point that New Harmony is right across the street — it’s a new school.”
Douglass and New Harmony students shared the same corner stores and have a nice community on the St. Claude Avenue corridor, Johnson said. New Harmony is also closing at the end of the school year.
“Why not move us across the street?” Johnson asked.
The merger vote came after the city’s enrollment lottery application deadline. Johnson said she may have considered moving to B-rated McDonogh 35 Senior High School. But she doesn’t know how that would affect sports eligibility.
“I really feel like I have no choice but to go to Kennedy. As a volleyball player I can’t switch my senior year because I won’t be eligible (to play),” she said.
Back to the Board Room
Over the weekend, NOLA Public Schools spokeswoman Taslin Alfonzo said the district is “looking into” the KIPP board vote.
On Monday afternoon, Orleans Parish School Board President Leila Eames issued a letter in response to Lamplighter’s inquiry.
“The Orleans Parish School Board (OPSB) ensures charter operators comply with their legal responsibilities as outlined in their operating agreements, including the Louisiana Open Meetings Law,” Eames wrote.
Further, she wrote, “The OPSB is aware of concerns regarding the process at KIPP New Orleans' March 12th board meeting.”
Last week, Lamplighter broke the news of the circumstances of the vote: ‘Subterfuge’: How KIPP New Orleans’ vote to close Douglass High School skirted Open Meetings Law
Eames said the review “falls within the purview of district administration.
“At this time, the Board is not conducting a separate investigation, nor has it directed NOLA-PS to initiate one,” she wrote.
The Orleans Parish School Board will consider the KIPP resolution during its accountability committee meeting on Tuesday. The meeting is scheduled for 12:30 p.m.
