NOLA-PS Superintendent Delivers His School Contract Renewal Recommendations to the Orleans Parish School Board

(New Orleans – December 8, 2020)— During its annual, standard evaluation of contract renewals based on school performance, NOLA Public Schools' (NOLA-PS) Superintendent Dr. Henderson Lewis, Jr. has recommended renewing 17 of the 18 public schools whose contracts will expire at the end of the current 2020-2021 school year. Dr. Lewis presented the recommendations to the Orleans Parish School Board (OPSB) Tuesday evening.

The charter renewal process is a regular practice the District engages in every year to hold schools accountable; it's a critical aspect of how the District manages its community of schools. It ensures schools provide the support necessary to help develop the whole child and help students find success after graduation, whether that's through college or a good paying job.

Three schools' performance made them eligible for automatic renewals; 14 additional schools were recommended for renewal. The lowest performing school, Lawrence D. Crocker College Prep: A School for the Arts & Technology, was not recommended to be renewed and will undergo transformation to be run by another charter school operator.

"During this pandemic, we want to limit disruptions to the educational lives of our students," said Superintendent Dr. Henderson Lewis, Jr. "But, we had to make a tough decision related to an extremely low-performing school— one of the lowest performing schools in the state. By seeking new leadership for Crocker's students, we hope we can provide them with a stable learning environment that will help them obtain a brighter future and fulfill our vision of providing every child with a high-quality education. As always, NOLA-PS will continue to meet its obligation of holding schools accountable and ensure they meet high standards."

Each August, the District begins evaluating schools up for renewal and wraps up the process no later than January 31.

This is a longstanding process that assures transparency and allows the District to hold schools to high standards using the Charter School Accountability Framework (CSAF), which helps assess whether schools have met, exceeded, or fallen short of agreed-upon standards.

Every school goes through a standardized charter renewal review when its contract enters its final year.

What's Different This Year (2020-2021 School Year)

Since the pandemic made this year unique, NOLA-PS worked hard to consider additional information for each school to help inform our decision making.

School Performance Scores (SPS) are a key component to the usual charter renewal reviewal process. The SPS Score is a letter grade system from A - F that summarizes how well a school is preparing all its students for the next level of study. The state issues these scores, which are determined from state testing, including LEAP tests, for each school.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, annual state assessments were suspended statewide in the spring of 2020 by Gov. John Bel Edwards. Therefore, 2019-2020 SPS scores are not available for the schools whose charters are currently up for review.

The Orleans Parish School Board (OPSB) passed an amendment to its Oversight and Evaluation of Charter School policy that spells out changes to the charter renewal review process for this year, given the lack of assessment scores. The changes are as follows:

• Allow schools to use 1 or 2 years of letter grade data to determine renewal decisions
• Allow schools to use 2 years of Progress data instead of 3 years of Progress data to determine renewal length, in certain circumstances
• Clarify that renewal decisions can be based on the 2018-2019 SPS grade
• Provide the superintendent the autonomy to offer a comprehensive evaluation to all schools that did not meet the current renewal standards

Currently, there are a total of 18 schools up for renewal. Three will automatically renew, given their SPS scores (schools that receive an "A" or "B" SPS score for three consecutive years, preceding their renewal, are automatically renewed). Ten received renewal reviews, three qualified for a comprehensive evaluation, and two did not meet the standards but were provided a comprehensive evaluation due to the pandemic and the policy amendments detailed above.

The Comprehensive Evaluation includes:

• A written submission from the school
• Review of data
• Public hearing (September 22, 2020)
• Parent survey
• Parent meetings to share academic improvement plans
• School visits by the Superintendent

The Board has until the December Board Business Meeting, Thursday, Dec. 17, to overturn the superintendent's recommendations by a two-thirds vote of the full Board. If no board action is taken to overturn the recommendations, the recommendations become final, and the renewals are either denied or approved accordingly.

Final action on all charter renewal recommendations shall be completed no later than Jan. 31 of the final year of the school's current charter term, or as otherwise required by law and OPSB Policy.

Renewal Terms & Standards

Any Progress Index or letter grade referred to in the below table shall be the most recent Progress Index or letter grade issued by the state, pursuant to the state's accountability system.

Consistent with the philosophy of rewarding strong performance and providing incentives for schools to strive for continual improvement, the renewal terms for OPSB-authorized charter schools shall be linked to each school's performance on the OPSB renewal standards in accordance with the following table:

Definitions for table below

• School Performance Score (SPS): The school performance score summarizes how well a school is preparing all its students for the next level of study.

• School Performance Renewal Index (SPRI): For a school in its initial renewal, the school's SPRI is its most recent state-issued SPS; for a school in subsequent renewals, the school's SPRI is a two-year SPS calculated using the school's SPS outcomes in the two most recent school years.

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About NOLA Public Schools: NOLA Public Schools is the public school district for Orleans Parish. It includes the district's administration and elected school board, known as the Orleans Parish School Board. NOLA Public Schools currently oversees 76 public schools and is led by Superintendent Dr. Henderson Lewis, Jr.

For more information, visit www.nolapublicschools.com. For updates, follow NOLA Public Schools on Facebook @NOLAPublicSchools, Instagram @nolaps and Twitter @NOLAPSchools.