One charter school in New Orleans will close next year, and two others will have their charters taken over by other organizations.
The New Orleans Times-Picayune reports that the Orleans Parish School Board has accepted the recommendation of Superintendent Avis Williams to terminate charters for The Living School, Robert Russa Moton Charter School and Lafayette Academy at the end of the 2023-2024 school year.
The Living School, with an enrollment just under 200 students, will be closed. Moton, an elementary school, and Lafayette Academy, a K-8 school, will be taken over by new charters and stay open in 2024-25.
All three schools have received an F rating, according to performance data released last month by the Louisiana Department of Education.
"I recognize the incredibly hard work that students, parents, and teachers have put into this school community and that this news is difficult to receive," Williams said in a letter sent to families last week.
Two schools were recommended to get shorter three-year contingent renewals: Lord Beaconsfield Landry High School and Phillis Wheatley Community School.
The three schools losing their charters will join at least eight others that have closed or merged since 2018 because of declining enrollment and low academic performance scores.
