School officials seeking comment Tuesday night on Uptown, Garden District, Central City school plans

 Posted by at 1:38 am  recovery, schools, state government
Jul 262011
 

Uptown-based Orleans Parish School Board districts 5 and 6

State and local school officials return Uptown this week to continue their listening tour about plans for school buildings across New Orleans with a Tuesday evening meeting focused on schools in Uptown, the Garden District and Central City.

Discussion at previous meetings has centered on finding a balance between supporting the needs of existing, high-performing schools and rebuilding schools in neighborhoods that have gone without a campus for years.In School Board District 5, the plans largely call for renovations, with Sophie B. Wright and Samuel J. Green scheduled for federal money, but the Fortier High School building used by Lusher Charter School or Benjamin Franklin Elementary in need of repairs without a funding stream identified.

A list of District 5 schools is below:

Phase 1 (in progress)

  • Guste (KIPP Central City Primary) – $13 million renovation complete
  • Andrew Wilson – $29.2 renovation/addition complete
  • Mahalia Jackson – $15 million renovation complete
  • Lawrence Crocker – $21.3 million new school under construction
  • Carter Woodson (KIPP Central City Academy) – $22.2 million new school under construction
  • Booker T. Washington – $60 million new school and auditorium renovation in design
  • Eleanor McMain – $13 million stabilization and gym addition in design

Phase 2 (funded)

Phase 3 (unfunded)

  • Allen (SciHigh) – $21 million renovation
  • Crossman (Esperanza) – $12.4 million renovation
  • Fortier (Lusher High School) – $46.2 million renovation
  • Franklin Elementary – $15.3 million renovation
  • Andrew Jackson (International School of Louisiana) – $15 million renovation
  • Sylvanie Williams (N.O. College Prep) – $9.9 million renovation

Removed from plan, no longer needed

  • Hoffman – demolished

No improvements planned, available for continued use

  • Ashe
  • Laurel (SciTech Academy)
  • Bauduit – potential swing space
  • Cohen – potential swing space
  • McDonogh 7 – potential swing space

Landbanked

  • Lafon
  • N.O. Free School – vacant and secured, for sale in 2011
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  • http://regional-modernism.com Francine

    “On September 17, 2009 the New Orleans City Council voted to overturn the NCDC decision to deny a demolition permit for Hoffman Elementary School, 2622 S. Prieur Street. Councilwoman Stacy Head expressed regret regarding ordering the demolition of a historic structure. [At the hearing] representatives of the Recovery School District verbally promised to move the Hoffman site up to phase two, and possibly phase one if they can secure the financing. It is tragic that the RSD outright refuses to renovate this structure. The building assessment in the School Facilities Master Plan indicated that it would cost $2.2 million LESS to renovate Hoffman, but they would prefer to start over.”

    Hoffman was razed in January of 2010. And now the RSD has determined there will be no school in the Hoffman Triangle. Tragically the neighborhood was not just hoodwinked into supporting demolition in their desperation for a school in their neighborhood, but they also lost a significant modern structure which could have been adapted to serve the community in other ways had it not been demolished.

    Broken promises and green space.

    http://www.regional-modernism.com/search/label/Hoffman

  • Mike Heaney

    Francine I couldn’t agree more, the community believed the RSD rhetoric of working together and revitalizing our communities through the schools, as did some of our representatives.

    When the going got tough, the RSD disappeared and left the community holding the bag, without answers. I expected better.

    While there are some very high quality individuals at the RSD who work very hard, this was shameful the way RSD misrepresented their plans to get community support for demolition, and then chose not to notify the surrounding community when Hoffman got knocked off the list.

    So far I have had nothing but negative returns on my investment of time and energy with the RSD

   
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