Plans for second-year growth of Lycee Francais revealed during budget discussion

The French-immersion charter school Lycée Français de la Nouvelle Orléans will partner with KIPP schools to create its first lunch program and welcome its first class of preschoolers funded by state grant money as it spreads to three Uptown campuses in its second year, officials said Monday night.

The school is nearly tripling its enrollment next year, and its plans for handling that growth formed the majority of a public hearing on the 2012-13 budget Monday night that took the form of a conversation between board members, the school business manager and a handful of parents and reporters. The budget will be voted on in a separate meeting Tuesday night.

Three campuses | The school will spread to three campuses next year: three sections of 3-year-old preschool campuses will remain at the First Presbyterian Church on South Claiborne Avenue, all other grades will be housed at the new St. Francis of Assisi campus at State and Patton streets, and one “rotating” classroom will be maintained at Audubon Zoo as part of the school’s environmental-education partnership with the Audubon Institute, said business manager David Bedell.

The school is paying roughly $1,000 per month per classroom at the zoo and the church. The market rate for the St. Francis of Assisi school is $250,000 per year, but the Lycee board negotiated a staggered payment structure over the five-year lease, said board member Catherine MacPhaille. In the first three years, the rent will be reduced, starting with $160,000 in the first year, while the school grows its student population. At the end of the third, fourth and fifth years, the school will repay the difference on the $250,000 from the first three years — effectively paying the full cost of the school by the end of the lease.

School lunch | The school will have its first food-service program next year through a partnership with KIPP schools, said board president Jean Montes. KIPP is acting as a sort of agent for Lycee, Montes said, but the board is still reviewing the specific options available.

Some of the food will be cooked at KIPP facilities — perhaps even at a centralized kitchen — and some will be prepared on site at the St. Francis of Assisi site, Montes said.

“Since we’re smaller, we expect that the quality of service will be close to what we’ll have when we have our own license,” Montes said.

Food service is not included in the 2012-13 budget because the school is still working out the details, and they expect its costs to break even, Bedell said. If there are startup costs for equipment, that money will be taken out of the school’s budgeted $90,000 reserve, but MacPhaille suggested that may not be necessary.

“The kitchen is pretty well equipped,” she said.

State-funded preschool | The school will have four 20-student sections of 4-year-old preschool next year, and has received a contract through the Recovery School District for up to 35 low-income students to have their $4,580 tuition paid through the LA4 program. This is slightly different from Lycee receiving the state funds directly, because the RSD keeps a small percentage of the money as a management fee, but otherwise will function the same, the school board said.

The school’s three sections of 3-year-old kindergarten will still be entirely fee-based, and before his resignation, former board member Allen Kelly began questioning whether the school could budget that program with the rest of the school. Montes said Monday night that those inquiries are based on a misconception that one program is separate from the other.

“The school is a public school, from pre-K to grade 12,” Montes said. “The pre-K program is part of our whole system as a public school, and that’s why we have a fixed tuition amount. The value would be at least double or triple in some cases, but by law we have to keep it at a certain number. It’s a moot issue that created some confusion.”

If the costs of the program for 3-year-olds exceed the fees paid by parents, there are other grants and donations that can make up the shortfall, Montes said.

“It shouldn’t be a problem. The funds are not restricted,” Montes said. “We’re talking about overall running of the program. It’s part of our overall costs.”

Finally, Montes said, the school is looking for ways to offer scholarships to low-income students in the 3-year-old preschool program in coming years.

Another meeting | Monday night’s public hearing was called to bring the school into compliance with state law after the board approved the 2012-13 budget in June without any public hearing. In addition to four board members — Montes, MacPhaille, Saleun and Hema Banangada — reporters from UptownMessenger.com and The Lens were present, as were parents Jeff Teague and Peter Reichard, who have both been active in the school PTO. School officials fielded questions and followups from each audience member, and Saleun asked a number of her own questions as well.

Because the budget must be adopted at a meeting after the public hearing, the Lycee board on Monday morning called a board meeting for 5:30 p.m. Tuesday. The notice for Tuesday’s meeting on the door Monday night apparently caused some parents to leave, thinking the public hearing had been rescheduled, but Montes said any questions they have about the budget will be welcome Tuesday night.

To read our live coverage of the public hearing, click in the box below.