Lycee parents request state investigation of board’s actions

Posted by Robert Morris at 11:32 am schools

Jan 082013

A group of about a dozen parents at Lycée Français de la Nouvelle Orléans sent a letter to state education officials asking for an official investigation into recent “missteps” by the school board regarding its firing and hiring of school leaders, according to a report by The Lens. State Superintendent John White replied via email that he is awaiting recommendations from a consultant he recently secured for the school about the “issues with the school’s operations that go beyond the appointment of one person,” the report states.

Mathilde

If you make peaceful change impossible then you make forced change inevitable.
http://www.facebook.com/wcperrault Bill Perrault

Seems to me that if the school was without a CEO for any length of time there would be the flip side of the argument raging “WE ARE A RUDDERLESS SHIP…” or “THE BOARD IS NOT INVOLVED ENOUGH”. So, you make your choices about who you want to complain, because as sure as the sunrise, someone will not be happy here… I for one am very excited and happy that Gisele Schexnider is aboard. She is an excellent choice for interim CEO while the board looks for a final candidate. And finally, the firing/lay-offs of less than six people in the school’s employ over the last 6 months seems to me to be a minor issue that school executives should handle. Involving more people in the HR business of the school only impedes getting quality work done.
- Mathilde
  
  Yeah sure, let’s forgive all the horrible things some board members have done to dozens of professional reputations, how much money they’ve mismanaged, how they consistently lie, manipulate, hire their friends, intimidate teachers and parents, and ban the press from open meetings – why, just so we don’t have to worry about who will watch our kids tomorrow?
  
  No thanks, I have a conscience.
  
  When you put your head in the sand you get your ass kicked easily. If the French teachers quit at the end of the year, and CODOFIL refuses to replace them, then we’ll lose the French curriculum (which means no more French baccalaureat dual diplomas). I hope you enjoy your French babysitters next year because that’s what your kids will have if you don’t learn to fight for some standards. I, like many, don’t think a person who has never worked in the French national curriculum is qualified to lead this school at all.
  - http://www.facebook.com/wcperrault Bill Perrault
    
    I have a conscience. I also have a tolerance for the difficulty of running a growing enterprise. I would be extremely sorry to lose the opportunity to have my child get a dual diploma and to lose the teachers we have (I adore my child’s teachers). That said, I didn’t see CODOFIL or the French Consulate backing away from the school – on the contrary, I saw them embrace the news that an interim CEO had been hired. I also believe that the teachers will be happier with someone in place – like Giselle Schexnider – versus dealing with the board. So, do I agree there are issues? Sure there are. Do I think you are exaggerating and creating mountains out of molehills with your hyperbole about ‘dozens of ruined reputations’ or ‘teachers quitting en masse’? Why yes, yes I do.
    - Mathilde
      
      Wow, you believe everything they tell you? How long have you been at Lycee, 5 minutes? Most people over there can easily name the many people that board has professionally destroyed. The French teachers have said at many parent-teacher meetings that most of them will not return next year – no matter what. This is not hyperbole, it’s fact.
      
      Poor CODOFIL will likely be diplomatically pressured into sending more French teachers over there to be mistreated next year. Do you really believe politicians are telling you the truth all the time? Of course the consulate and codofil want this school to succeed. Why else to you think LDOE is giving it special treatment (which everyone is screaming that it looks like Uptown privilege now).
      
      And you think I like knowing how awful the truth is? At least you get a good night’s sleep I guess…
      - Kirsten Hanrahan
        
        Mathilde, with all due respect, who are you, and why is your agenda to spread rumors about this school? The French teachers have not said they will not return next year at the parent teacher meetings. Have you been attending different meetings than I? Poor CODOFIL? Special treatment? What “awful” truth are you referring to? Where do you get your false information? If you are a parent of a Lycee student, it sounds as if you are very unhappy and should perhaps look for another school that is not so “corrupt.” My child and his teachers are very happy at Lycee. Please stop spreading rumors about the school!
      - Mathilde
        
        I AM a parent, and my agenda is to see Lycee become the school that was promised to us 2 years ago. What I’ve said above are not rumors and I can back up much of what I’m saying with proof. Do you have a reason for your blind defense of the school board? Start asking parents and teachers you’ve never talked to before about what I’ve said, and see if you get corroborating answers. Open your mind to other possibilities. And I HAVE been attending different meetings than you. Because the PTO and board won’t allow any serious questioning. You can’t be okay with such undemocratic behavior.
        
        As for leaving Lycee? No way. I’m sure they’d love for all the parents with moxie to leave the school. Then they could get away with whatever they wanted. Stop blaming other parents for Lycee’s problems. Debate is healthy. It’s two board members that have gotten the school into legal trouble and attracted bad press – that is fact. As soon as they’re gone and a strong-minded and qualified new principal is hired you’ll see our wonderful school thrive.
      - Kirsten Hanrahan
        
        It sounds like you strongly believe in your views, Mathilde. Therefore, I wish you would use a forum in which you could accomplish something, rather than just slandering the school in the Uptown Messenger comment section.
    - Josh Reyher
      
      Bill I think you have really hit the nail on the head. The budget shortfall, that brought this about came from last year’s administration. We need to get things back on track before we start to worry about Baccalaureate. As you previously mentioned get a team at the rudder and let’s start to drive out of the turbulent waters. That means get behind the Administration and help them. Encourage them, stop saying I refuse to help her because of how she was hired. She did nothing wrong and wants nothing more than to help us build a great school
      .
  - Kirsten Hanrahan
    
    It is abusurd that CODOFIL would not replace the teachers, if they quit, which they will not. Are you a parent of a Lycee student?
Dina

I hope lycee can bring in new families to this wonderful school with all the negative press these dozen parents keep bringing to the school. Sounds like these parents want the teachers to leave. Like they want to have French babysitters. If they are so unhappy with it they should put their kids in another school. Let us build this school and make it a positive place. We don’t need their negative vibes anymore.
Kirsten Hanrahan

Really, can we stop exaggerating the issues going on at Lycee. Yes, there have been some bumps during its first and second year of operation, but there are many parents and good teachers who are very dedicated to this fledgling, sweet school. New Orleans has so few good public school options, that it just seems ridiculous to keep trying to ruin a very good one’s reputation.
- Wallflower
  
  Gotta say, this is not exaggeration here. The teachers HAVE, in fact, numerous times, stated they were leaving should things not change. You saying that it’s anything different is an outright lie.