By: Don Little • CPSB District 4 • School Board Vice President
Last Friday (May 3), in a room stuffed full of education apparatchiks, concerned parents, alumni, and bitter frequent flyers a lesson in the Louisiana Recovery School Districts was taught. This course, which I would glibly title “futz around and find out”, delineated, in some glorious detail, where Caddo went wrong (the “futzing around” part) and what the state intends to do (the “finding out” part).
Firstly, let me define what an RSD is. The Recovery School Districts were crafted by the Louisiana Legislature in 2003 with the mission of transforming the lowest-performing schools in the state.
Eligible schools can be transferred to state management when they have a performance rating of an “F” for four years or more. This program was seemingly comatose under John Bel Edwards but is reawakening, like a starved ogre, under new leadership. So, if you’ll pardon the continued expression, where did the esteemed board “futz around”?
The state superintendent, in the public media in March, his letter of April 26, and his presentation to the board on May 3 (and presumably to executive leadership much earlier) delivered three main areas of concern:
1. Continuing poor academic performance in seven Caddo schools:
• Atkins Technology Elementary (“F” rating for 14 years)
• Bethune/Oak Park Elementary (“F” rating for 9 years)
• Sunset Acres Elementary (“F” rating for 9 years)
• Caddo Middle Career and Technology (“F” rating for 5 years)
• Broadmoor STEM Academy (“F” rating for 4 years)
• Werner Park Elementary (“F” rating for 4 years)
• Fair Park Middle (“F” rating for 4 years)
• In the seven schools, 39% of teachers are uncertified, which is notably higher than the 25% of pop uncertified teachers in the remaining schools within.
2. Fiscal negligence:
• The Caddo Parish School System has failed to meet the 70% Instructional Requirement as set forth in state policy, meaning that only 69% of funds are being used in Caddo Parish for Instructional purposes.
• The per-pupil expenditure at the above schools exceeds the system averages for similarly configured schools. As an example, as reported by the school system, the average Caddo Parish elementary school invests $11,353 per student. At the four elementary-only schools listed above, the average per-pupil spending equals $12,440 with a high of $14,677 per student at Sunset Acres Elementary.
• The seven schools have 39% of teachers who are uncertified, which is notably higher than the 25% of uncertified teachers in the remaining schools within Caddo School District.
3. Outmigration (and failure to adjust e.g. large footprint/need for consolidation etc.):
• The Caddo Parish School System's enrollment has decreased by 19% from 2013 to 2023, a net of - 8,009 students.
So, what did we find out? Firstly, we were given an ultimatum. Approve the state recommendations or risk losing all seven schools, their students, and funding to the state. There were NO other options. The state offered the following:
Requirements
• Effective for the 2024-2025 school year, Caddo Parish School System shall close both Sunset Acres Elementary School and Werner Park Elementary School, assuring the 400 + impacted students receive reassignment to a zoned school with a higher letter grade.
• Effective for the 2024-2025 school year, the Caddo Parish School System will authorize Third Future Schools to operate as a Type 1 charter school with a 6th-grade configuration, overseen by a management organization. The Caddo Parish School Board shall enter into a management agreement with the same management organization that oversees the aforesaid type 1 charter school to operate the 7th and 8th grades of the Fair Park Middle School. Subsequently, in the following year, 7th grade will be added to the charter school, followed by the addition of 8th grade in the subsequent.
• Effective for the 2024-2025 school year, open applications must be accepted for leadership roles at Atkins, Bethune/Oak Park, Caddo Middle Career, and Broadmoor STEM. Nothing shall prevent current administrators from reapplying and/ or being selected for their current roles but a fair process must be facilitated.
• The school choice application opportunity shall be reopened and messaged to families for a period of two weeks for students in Atkins, Bethune/Oak Park, Caddo Middle Career, and Broadmoor STEM as applicable.
• Effective for the 24-25 school year, the Caddo Parish School System shall offer an attractive, differentiated plan that must be approved by the State Superintendent of Education.
• In order for Atkins, Bethune/Oak Park, Caddo Middle Career Fair Park Middle, and Broadmoor STEM to remain operational, it is necessary for the Caddo Parish School System to implement the district's 2024 reconstitution plan, which was presented to the Louisiana Department of Education (LDOE) on April 19, 2024. Additional State Supports.
• Pursuant to approval, LDOE will provide the Caddo Parish School System with $2M, providing for three years of service through STAR Academy. These funds will provide for the program at Caddo Middle Career and Technology as well as Broadmoor STEM.
The STAR Academy program will work in concert with the Caddo Parish School System to identify and support students below grade-level, seek to remedy their academic deficiencies through” Additional findings?
If Caddo doesn’t make some substantial self-improvement in these areas soon, the state has the authority and appetite for additional interventions.
Editor’s Note: The Caddo School Board voted on Tuesday, May 7 for Sunset Elementary students to attend Westwood Elementary and for Werner Park Elementary students to attend Caddo Heights.