The governing board of Lycée Français de la Nouvelle Orléans will hold its monthly meeting at 6:30 p.m. Monday at 5401 S. Claiborne Avenue.
Update, 10:25 a.m. Monday: The position of general director is currently being advertised on the Lycee Francais website, following the resignation of Jill Otis last month. In an email Monday morning, LFNO board chair Jean Montes said that the interim general director, Jean-Jacques Grandiere, is not leaving the school, and that he is a candidate for the general director position.
The notice and agenda for Monday’s meeting is as follows, according to an email from the board Sunday:
The LFNO, Inc. Board of Directors will convene Monday, May 14th, 2012 at 6:30 PM at 5401 S. Claiborne Avenue, New Orleans, LA, 70125, for its regularly scheduled monthly meeting.
1. Call to order
2. Attendance
3. Approval of past minutes
4. Chairman’s report
5. Treasurer’s Report
6. General Director’s Report
7. Formation of Board committees
8. Motion to appoint the General Director position as an Ex-Officio member of the Board
9. Motion to enter Executive Session if required under La. R.S. 42:17
1o. Adjournment
I hope the board provides clarification as to what the new administrative structure is like, if there is one. It seems as though the current general director’s job is up for grabs since it’s being posted as vacant on the school’s website. Does this mean that the current director is leaving, or does it mean he will be the CEO, or what? No information has been provided by the board since the resignation of Jill Otis, and this makes me really nervous. I really like the general director- I hope he’s not leaving (or maybe they’re making him go?)
The position is posted on the website I imagine because JJ was appointed as INTERIM General Director when Jill resigned. The letter they sent via email states this. This is simply how things work in most business models when someone leaves unexpectedly & the position needs to be filled immediately….someone is appointed into the position as interim (temporary) until they can officially & fairly fill the position permanently. Therefore, it is necessary to actually post the permanent job position in order to fill it after the interim term is up. This simply means that JJ can apply for this position along with any else. The board will then hire the most qualified person & place them in this position permanently. Really do not think there is any big controversy to be concerned about. Again, this is simply just the proper way to go about things in the business world.
I was emailed this comment by “Lyceemom” above, who is apparently now having trouble with our commenting system. If anyone else is having trouble with comments, please let me know at rmorris (at) nolamessenger.com. Sorry for the inconvenience.
Lyceemom’s comment is as follows:
“The thing is, this is not a business, it’s a school. If they plan to replace the director (in my opinion a really terrible idea), it’s really kind of late. Plus, he’s done an excellent job. Imagine the uproar if lusher were considering replacing Kathy Reidlinger or one of the principals even though they had managed the school beautifully. The parents would riot!!! The difference (I guess) is that the lusher board understands the importance of the continuity required at schools. The lycee board needs to remember that not one parent I know of has selected this school based on the board, but many have made the decision based on the administration. Schools are not businesses. It’s really important to remember that.”
Actually, lots of educational institutions are both “schools” and “businesses”. Just ask any director/business manager/CEO, etc. at any private or charter school. Both private & charter schools must be run like a business from a financial aspect. Public schools are given any & all funds to operate from the city/state, whereas private & charter schools are not. Private schools receive their funds strictly from the private sector and charter schools receive some $ from the state/city but the rest of the funds must be raised through grants, donations, etc. It costs $ to educate our children. If one does not take this into account when running these schools, they will quickly fail, as they often do. When I stated that this is just how “business models” work, I guess I was incorrect in that it applies to other entities other than only businesses as well, but I assumed that was a given. Take for instance the recent resignation of Arnie Fielkow…since the position of City Council President must be filled at all times (such as a principal of a school), an interim President was appointed until the proper elections could be held. That is all that has happened in the case of lyee….the principal resigned, so an interim person was put into that position until the position can be filled properly (i.e. instead of just hiring someone on the spot and maybe half-fast for this permanent position, there is a proper method of going about things. Hence, an interim person is put into the position, the official position is posted, people apply, options are discussed, & a decision is made). JJ’s position was originally Director & Jill’s was General Director. Since Jill is now gone & JJ has been appointed as the Interim General Director, he has essentially replaced Jill temporarily & has taken over the duties required of that position. He also continues many of the original duties he had under his position as Director. JJ is a great man whom I have a great amount of respect for, but it is just not possible for him to continue to act in both positions… it is too much for one person. Therefore, he will either successfully apply for & step up to the position of General Director permanently (in which case a permanent Director will need to be hired) or he will not apply & choose to keep his permanent position as Director (in which case a permanent General Director will need to be hired). As you can see from the update posted above, it looks like the previous situation I just mentioned is what he is interested in, and I am quite happy about this. My only point was and is, to try not to hypothesize these situations (“or maybe they’re making him go?”). It doesn’t benefit anyone, especially our children, to make such assumptions.
Let’s be at the board meeting. Let’s tell them how we feel. We have a say in who runs this school.