Update: After publication, Lamplighter confirmed KIPP’s board voted on the 3-page resolution at its March 12 meeting. The certificated copy submitted to the Orleans Parish School Board indicates the resolution was prepared before the meeting.
Frederick Douglass High School students, parents and staff could not have known KIPP New Orleans Schools would vote to shutter the historic St. Claude Avenue building at what appeared to be a routine monthly board meeting last week.
The main agenda item for the 9-school charter network’s public meeting stated simply: “CEO Report.” The only vote listed was a monotonous meeting minute approval.
But KIPP New Orleans voted to shutter a 600-student school that day.
That’s problematic, Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press attorney Virginia Hamrick said in an interview.
“It’s jammed into a CEO report. It’s so opaque — and just for ‘information’ the public has no idea what’s going on,” Hamrick said. “They have no idea that a vote is going to be heard about a school closure and that the vote is going to move students.”
In what was scheduled as a 5-minute report, CEO Rhonda Kalifey-Aluise, must have delivered seismic news to prompt the charter board to take up a school closure vote.
Unlike a traditional school district, New Orleans has 29 independent school boards that run schools across the city. The sheer volume of board meetings leaves them rarely attended, unless parents or community members are alerted something is afoot.
There was no such warning last week.
Despite years of enrollment decline, public discussion and ongoing school closures, KIPP leadership won’t say what required the vote with multi-million dollar implications to be taken that day.
“This is nothing new for any of the New Orleans charter schools. There is no reason they should have sprung this on the community,” attorney Melia Cerrato said in an interview. She specializes in public records and open meetings lawsuits.
The board’s vote to close one school — merging Douglass and KIPP’s John F. Kennedy High School student bodies — came as a shock to the community.
“Parents at both schools probably would have liked to weigh in. As well as KIPP middle school parents,” Cerrato said. “I think this could have been a conversation throughout the spring. It shouldn't have been such a final decision after one meeting with no notice.”
Douglass alumnus Reggie Ford said losing a neighborhood school is disappointing. He knows the building is in bad shape and was damaged during Hurricane Ida, but he said this move feels like “demolition by neglect.” Most of all, he wishes the public could have had a voice.
“Nothing should be done in secrecy that’s dealing with our tax dollars,” he said. “They seem like they’re trying to hide it.”
Public Meetings Law: ‘The maintenance of a democratic society’
Louisiana Open Meetings Law must be “construed liberally” to allow the public to witness the deliberations and decisions of public bodies, the sunshine law states.
In a letter to the school community, Douglass School Director Towana Pierre Floyd said the school felt it had to move fast. KIPP New Orleans Schools spokesman John Eddy, of Goldin Solutions, echoed that sentiment.
“After discussion on the need to move forward quickly, the board voted to amend the agenda and add this item at the last board meeting,” Eddy wrote.
But members of the community and public meetings law attorneys question why advanced notice of the closure wasn’t provided.
Attorney William Most of Most & Associates said boards are allowed to add items to the agenda during a meeting: “But the law is explicit that this power cannot be used ‘as a subterfuge to defeat the purposes’ of the Open Meetings Law.”
“The KIPP board's choice to add a long-known but controversial issue to the agenda mid-meeting raises serious concerns about exactly that kind of subterfuge,” he said.
Asked why the closure vote occurred with no notice, Eddy provided scant reasoning.
“As the financial and enrollment conditions became clearer, we made this decision now to ensure we can strengthen our school community for the long term,” Eddy wrote.
The network did not respond to questions about the specific financial or enrollment details that prompted the March decision.
“They have an obligation to hear from their constituents,” Harmick said. “They could have called a special meeting for consideration of school closure. It’s pretty easy to notice and call a meeting.”
In fact, KIPP called a special board meeting last month to discuss another matter.
School Closures
New Orleanians are no stranger to school closures — they are baked into the city’s nearly all-charter system that is designed to close low-performing schools.
The “system of schools,” as it’s often called, operates through several layers of governance. The Orleans Parish School Board grants 5- to 10-year charter contracts to nonprofit organizations. Those nonprofits are led by volunteer boards that hire a CEO to oversee operations, the budget and staff of schools.
Charter schools are given great autonomy — to select curriculum, hire staff, set individual calendars and more — in exchange for meeting academic, financial and operational benchmarks. At the end of a charter contract, the Orleans Parish School Board decides whether to give the school a new contract — or close it.
But as enrollment continues to decline in the city, reflecting a nationwide trend, the Orleans Parish School Board has looked to charter organizations to voluntarily close and consolidate campuses. On paper, a charter board votes to surrender its charter contract.
Charter schools are also beholden to Open Meetings Law. But with 29 independent nonprofits holding monthly board meetings, individual board actions can be difficult to track. Even then, agenda items can be incredibly unclear.
The slim KIPP agenda drew little attention.
“I don’t think it has enough detail for the public to know that KIPP would consider closing a school,” Hamrick said. “Or that they would even vote on that matter.”
Further — it’s unclear which school KIPP technically voted to close. Closing charter schools requires a number of resolutions from the nonprofit boards. The Orleans Parish School Board must also act.
In order to carry Douglass’ A-rating to Kennedy’s campus, KIPP’s board would likely have voted to relinquish the charter school contract of John F. Kennedy High School. Kennedy received a C letter grade from the state last year. Then, a second resolution to change Douglass’s address would effectively relocate the school.
KIPP officials would not answer questions about which contract was the target of the vote and refused to provide the language of the vote. Eddy said meeting minutes were being prepared. Lamplighter.news had not received them.
The Orleans Parish School Board will likely take up the matter at its committee meetings next week.
KIPP officials said parents who want to be heard can go there.
“This consolidation requires approval from the Orleans Parish School Board, giving the students, families, and the public multiple opportunities to provide comment if they wish.”
*Correction: This story was updated to reflect the proper spelling of Ms. Hamrick’s name. Lamplighter regrets the error.
