The unified Orleans Parish School Board central office will be a lean organization that sets standards instead of running schools — even as it absorbs 49 state takeover charters from the Recovery School District.
Orleans Parish schools Superintendent Henderson Lewis Jr. is presenting the roadmap Thursday evening (Aug. 25), describing how the district will take on its new responsibilities over the next two years.
In this, New Orleans is doing something unique. Traditional local school systems have been around for a long time; none has ever been designed for charters. The planning team “started with a blank sheet of paper and built up the organization,” CFO Stan Smith said Wednesday.
School officials provided an advance copy of the 72-page plan for reporters. The takeaways: