(New Orleans – November 19, 2020) – Ahead of the Thanksgiving Holiday, NOLA Public Schools (NOLA-PS) is encouraging New Orleanians to continue to adhere to safety measures that slow the spread of COVID-19 and keep our school communities safe.
“Now is not the time to let our guard down. We have made a tremendous effort across New Orleans to stay safe, and that is why our schools are open while many cities are closing their schools,” said NOLA-PS Superintendent Dr. Henderson Lewis, Jr. “Let’s keep it up. Please limit your amount of contact with people outside of your immediate family during the holidays. Mask up. Stay socially distanced. Wash your hands. We can do this, together.”
Dr. Lewis, NOLA-PS Chief Operating Officer Tiffany Delcour, NOLA-PS medical adviser Dr. Ben Springgate, and Greater New Orleans Foundation CEO & President Andy Kopplin spoke to the media Thursday, Nov. 19, to inform the public about the latest COVID-19 tracking data and the status of in-person learning in NOLA-PS schools.
NOLA-PS follows the same metrics as the City of New Orleans, as well as information specific to its schools, to make data-driven decisions about its operations.
While city data show a rise in the average daily new cases, other metrics are staying strong. As a city we are below the 5-percent positivity rate and our community has robust access to COVID-19 testing. These factors and information delivered from our schools show there isn’t a need for a system-wide closure at this time.
The citywide metrics tracked include:
• New cases per day above 50 (7-day average)
o An increase over the 7-day average would need to be part of a trend of results of “community spread” to influence decision-making, not an identified or contained outbreak.)
o New case demographics may influence more specific alterations to our current school model.
• Positive test rate above 5% (higher test rate would need to be part of a trend)
• Loss of testing capacity for symptomatic individuals with responsible turnaround times
Additionally, schools self-report confirmed COVID-19 cases and close contacts to NOLA-PS every week. NOLA-PS reports these data to the public on its COVID-19 Case Tracker dashboard.
Prior to reverting to full-time distance learning, the District has options it can exercise to help mitigate the number of cases within our school community. They include: restricting extracurricular activities, reducing the number of grades served with in-person learning, and reducing classroom size, transportation capacity, and group maximums.
As we work to ensure our NOLA-PS family remains healthy and safe through the duration of the pandemic, the District is continuing to provide comprehensive frontline access to COVID-19 testing options for our students and educators, in partnership with our local hospitals.
Recently, the District was awarded a total of $775,000 in grants from the Rockefeller Foundation and the Greater New Orleans Foundation for testing. Ultimately, the funding will be dedicated to building a plan to expand upon our existing work of providing responsive and routine testing options in order to make them readily accessible to our school community. The funding could go towards tests and nursing teams to carryout routine screenings, surveillance, and/or more responsive units.
COVID-19 Cases
As of noon on Thursday, November 19, the District is tracking a total of 54 active cases of COVID-19 (30 staff; 24 students) among our school community. Of the 54 cases, 45 were newly confirmed within the past seven days.
The District’s COVID-19 Case Tracker reports active cases over an approximately two-week period. For the purposes of our dashboard, an active case is defined as a COVID-19 case that is confirmed and within their isolation period.
All schools are required to report positive cases to the Louisiana Department of Health (LDH) and the District. The District is continuing to stay on top of updates, collaborate with state and local agencies, and work closely with our school leaders, task force, and community stakeholders to ensure a safe 2020-2021 school year.
The data included in our COVID-19 Tracker reflects self-reported cases from our schools and provides the real-time impact of the pandemic in our school community. The goal is to provide teachers, staff, students and parents with information that can help inform decisions they make for themselves and the NOLA-PS family.
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ABOUT NOLA PUBLIC SCHOOLS: NOLA Public Schools is the public school district for Orleans Parish, which includes the district’s elected school board, known as the Orleans Parish School Board and the district’s administration led by NOLA Public Schools Superintendent Dr. Henderson Lewis Jr. NOLA Public Schools currently oversees 76 public schools.
For more information, visit www.nolapublicschools.com. For updates, follow NOLA Public Schools on Facebook @NOLAPublicSchools, Instagram @nolaps and Twitter @NOLAPSchools.
Contributions from Rockefeller and Greater New Orleans foundations extend testing to end of 2020-2021 school year
(New Orleans – November 17, 2020) – NOLA Public Schools (NOLA-PS) has secured $775,000 in grants to expand COVID-19 testing efforts that have been integral to the preservation of in-person learning for students, teachers, and school staff across New Orleans.
The Rockefeller Foundation awarded NOLA-PS $675,000 and the Greater New Orleans Foundation (GNOF) delivered an additional $100,000 that NOLA-PS plans to spend on more COVID-19 tests, health and safety staffing, and increased data tracking to inform how to best marshal available resources to schools and help continue to mitigate the spread of this virus.
The grants will allow NOLA-PS to expand its COVID-19 testing efforts beyond its already successful partnerships with Children’s and Ochsner hospitals, making testing available to schools through the end of the 2020-2021 school year.
“New Orleans has been well ahead of the curve when it comes to the diligence necessary to keep our students, staff and teachers safe,” NOLA-PS Superintendent Henderson Lewis, Jr. said. “Testing is a big part of that effort, and this funding will help expand our efforts to protect our school community as best as possible in these uncertain times.”
“Getting our kids back in school and keeping them there safely is one of our community’s highest priorities,” GNOF President & CEO Andy Kopplin said. “We are thrilled to partner with NOLA-PS and the Rockefeller Foundation to support testing that will keep our students, their families, and our teachers and school personnel safe.”
“I applaud NOLA-PS for making COVID testing such a priority in its response to the pandemic,” New Orleans Health Director Dr. Jennifer Avegno said. “It is a linchpin in our effort to slow the spread of this virus, and it will be especially crucial to help us treat both COVID and the likely rise in flu cases this winter.”
NOLA-PS’s community of schools has diligently followed our Roadmap to Reopening, the guidelines that have allowed schools to meet the needs of their students and staff while applying COVID-19 prevention techniques specific to their varied facilities and missions.
Additionally, NOLA-PS has facilitated mobile testing sites in partnership with Children’s Hospital of New Orleans, as well as partnering with the City of New Orleans, the Louisiana Department of Health and the U.S. National Guard to encourage people to use community testing sites stations around New Orleans.
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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.
What:
As students return to in-person learning, NOLA Public Schools (NOLA-PS) remains committed to the health and safety of our school community, and we will continue to do everything we can to ensure the District and our schools are supported through the duration of the pandemic.
To that end, NOLA-PS will continue to provide ongoing weekly updates on any changes related to COVID-19, such as the number of coronavirus cases and updates to the Community Feeding Program.
When:
Thursdays • 4 PM
Where:
Visit our COVID Case Tracker dashboard to see the latest data that shows the impact of COVID-19 on our school community.
Update:
As of noon on Thursday, November 12, the District is tracking a total of 14 active cases of COVID-19 (7 staff; 7 students) among our school community. Of the 14 cases, 12 were newly confirmed within the past seven days.
The District’s COVID Case Tracker reports active cases over an approximately two-week period. For the purposes of our dashboard, an active case is defined as a COVID-19 case that is confirmed and within their isolation period.
All schools are required to report positive cases to the Louisiana Department of Health (LDH) and the District. The District is continuing to stay on top of updates, collaborate with state and local agencies, and work closely with our school leaders, task force, and community stakeholders to ensure a safe 2020-2021 school year.
The data included in our COVID-19 Tracker reflects self-reported cases from our schools and provides the real-time impact of the pandemic in our school community. The goal is to provide teachers, staff, students and parents with information that can help inform decisions they make for themselves and the NOLA-PS family.
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ABOUT NOLA PUBLIC SCHOOLS: NOLA Public Schools is the public school district for Orleans Parish, which includes the district’s elected school board, known as the Orleans Parish School Board and the district’s administration led by NOLA Public Schools Superintendent Dr. Henderson Lewis Jr. NOLA Public Schools currently oversees 76 public schools.
For more information, visit www.nolapublicschools.com. For updates, follow NOLA Public Schools on Facebook @NOLAPublicSchools, Instagram @nolaps and Twitter @NOLAPSchools.
Press Conference - Media RSVP Required.
What/Why:
As we have been throughout this pandemic, NOLA-PS remains committed to transparency and to providing important guidance to help keep our students in school and learning. We are holding this press conference to share an update on the COVID-19 numbers in our schools; how we are tracking and responding to cases; and share the importance of getting tested leading into the Thanksgiving holiday break.
ALL MEDIA MUST RSVP TO COMMUNICATIONS@NOLAPUBLICSCHOOLS.COM BY 10AM THURSDAY, NOV. 18, IF YOU PLAN ON ATTENDING. PLEASE NOTE TO LIMIT YOUR CREWS TO NO MORE THAN 2 PEOPLE. WE ALSO ASK THAT YOU RESPECT SOCIAL DISTANCING AND THAT MEMBERS OF YOUR TEAM WEAR PROTECTIVE MASKS ONSITE. OUR TEAM WILL FOLLOW THESE GUIDELINES AS WELL.
WHEN:
Thursday, November 19 • 2 PM
WHERE:
NOLA-PS Central Office • 2401 Westbend Parkway, New Orleans, LA 70114
WHO:
-Dr. Henderson Lewis, Jr., NOLA-PS Superintendent of Schools
-Dr. Benjamin Springgate, NOLA-PS Medical Advisor
-Andy Kopplin, Greater New Orleans Foundation (GNOF) CEO & President
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ABOUT NOLA PUBLIC SCHOOLS: NOLA Public Schools is the public school district for Orleans Parish, which includes the district’s elected school board, known as the Orleans Parish School Board and the district’s administration led by NOLA Public Schools Superintendent Dr. Henderson Lewis Jr. NOLA Public Schools currently oversees 76 public schools.
For more information, visit www.nolapublicschools.com. For updates, follow NOLA Public Schools on Facebook @NOLAPublicSchools, Instagram @nolaps and Twitter @NOLAPSchools.
(New Orleans – November 13, 2020) – Notice is hereby given, pursuant to Article 7, Section 23(C) of the Louisiana Constitution and LSA-R.S. 47:1705(B) that a public hearing of the Orleans Parish School Board (OPSB) will be held virtually on Monday, November 16, 2020 at 5:00 PM to review the 2020-2021 Local Education Agency (LEA) Pupil Progression Plan Draft. The policies and procedures in the 2020-2021 Pupil Progression Plan will apply to OPSB as the LEA, as well as six schools that are part of the OPSB LEA for the 2020-2021 school year: Mary McLeod Bethune Elementary School; Mary D. Coghill Elementary School; Elan Academy; Benjamin Franklin Elementary School; Homer Plessy Community School, Rooted School, and Travis Hill School. The Board will consider the plan at its board meeting Thursday, November 19 at 5PM.
Pursuant to Executive Proclamations JBE 2020-30, 2020-33, and LSA-R.S. 42:17.1 or further executive orders or declarations of emergency, this shall serve as certification that in light of the spread of COVID-19 the Orleans Parish School Board was unable to operate due to quorum requirements in compliance with LSA-R.S. 42:19 and will be meeting via teleconference on Tuesday, November 17, 2020 at 5:00 PM. The virtual meeting will be viewable on Zoom videoconferencing. E-Public Comment Cards may be submitted prior to the start of the meeting or within 30 minutes after the meeting begins. During the meeting the meeting moderator will announce the speaker at the appropriate time. The speaker will self-identify with the “raise hand” feature at the bottom of the web page, and the meeting moderator will unmute the audio. Instructions can be found on how to make official public comment at the meeting at go.boarddocs.com/la/nops/Board.nsf/Public, located on the same page where the agenda is typically posted.
Information on joining the teleconference will be provided 24 hours in advance at https://nolapublicschools.com/community/board-info.
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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.
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