Monday, November 14, 2011

RSD School Closing and Transformation Announcements

The Recovery School District (RSD) has announced which schools it will transform by charter takeover and which schools it will close for the 2012-13 school year. It appears that school performance scores (SPS) were one of the criteria used in determining which schools to close or charter. SPS scores for the schools that will be transformed range from 28.8 to 57.1, except for Abramson, which earned a 78.1. The schools that will remain RSD direct-run schools have SPS scores that range from 62.1 to 77.9, except for Schwartz, an alternative school that earned a 6.2.

The following schools will either be converted to charter schools or closed in the near future: Abramson Science and Technology, Carver High School, Cohen High School, Craig Elementary, Drew Elementary, Henderson Elementary, John McDonogh High School, Landry High School, and Reed High School.  The RSD has already announced that Landry will be operated by the administration of O. Perry Walker.  RSD is seeking to charter all of these schools except for Henderson, which will close after the 2012-2013 school year. Click here for more information on the RSD's reasons and plans for transformations by school.

RSD held meetings for public comment on the closings and transformations; another meeting is scheduled for this week and one later in November (see link below). BESE is scheduled to approve charter applications in December. Those organizations that are approved for charters will meet with communities in January.

Click here for the RSD press release.

Click here for the Times-Picayune article that lists the meeting RSD will hold for public comment on the closings and transformations.

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RSD Releases Proposed Building Assignments

The Recovery School District (RSD) released a preliminary list of long-term site assignments for all of its schools except those slated for charter takeover or closing. Our early analysis shows that most programs will stay in the buildings that they have operated in in the past and that most schools in modular buildings have been assigned a building.

The RSD will be holding community meetings to discuss the preliminary facilities assignments beginning tonight.  Click here to see the RSD’s event calendar. The RSD will post a final list of building assignments in December.

The Cowen Institute will continue to analyze the preliminary building assignments in the coming days and will keep you updated.

Click here for the full list of RSD's tentative building assignments

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FAST Act Introduced to House and Senate

The Fix America’s Schools Today Act (FAST) was introduced to the U.S. House and Senate (H.R. 298 and S. 1597) by Representative Deluro of Connecticut and Senator Brown of Ohio . The act would support federal spending on school renovations and modernizations for the purpose of improving schools while stimulating the economy by creating jobs. The act is similar in language and concept to parts of the American Jobs Act.

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RSD Plans to Improve Communication with Parents

The Recovery School District (RSD) announced its plans to improve communication with parents. The plans include giving parents access to more Vietnamese and Spanish interpreters, creating a new phone system that parents can use to gather information and resolve issues, and holding more parent meetings. The RSD’s goal is to improve the access parents have to information as well as to create more avenues for feedback.

Click here for the press release, including the dates and locations for upcoming parent meetings.

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