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SCHOOL OFFICIALS UNVEIL DRAFT BLUEPRINT TO REBUILD PUBLIC SCHOOLSIN NEW ORLEANS

Section: Community

New Orleans Agenda

NEW ORLEANS, La. - A draft blueprint for rebuilding public schools in New Orleans proposes a multi- phase school construction program over the next decade, including a fully funded $685 million initial phase that would build or completely renovate 28 schools within five years.

A joint effort of the Recovery School District and the Orleans Parish School Board, the preliminary proposal, Building 21st Century Schools for New Orleans: A Blueprint, was announced today at the Contemporary Arts Center (CAC) in New Orleans. State Superintendent of Education Paul Pastorek, New Orleans Public Schools (NOPS) Superintendent Darryl Kilbert, and Recovery School District (RSD) Superintendent Paul Vallas unveiled the draft of the proposed blueprint.

Some projects included in the first phase of the draft blueprint are a departure from the kind of educational facilities typically seen in New Orleans. They include a proposal for a citywide NASA Laboratory School near the NASA-Michoud Assembly Facility in eastern New Orleans, a citywide Biology, Botany and Reproductive Science Laboratory Center on the grounds of the Audubon Institute's Center for Research of Endangered Species (ACRES) site in lower Algiers, and a downtown International School that would make use of renovated space in multiple buildings, including the ArtWorks building and the CAC. On Monday, school officials briefed the media on the draft blueprint in the atrium of the CAC, 900 Camp Street.

"The blueprint outlines a plan for school construction on a scale that has not been seen in New Orleans since John McDonogh's bequest led to a significant building program beginning in the mid-19th century," said State Superintendent of Education Paul Pastorek. McDonogh's 1850 endowment facilitated the construction of more than 30 public schools in New Orleans spanning several decades. "Katrina dealt this city and its schools a devastating blow, but this nearly $700 million investment will allow the city to build back stronger and better than before," Pastorek added.

"In the aftermath of Katrina, tragedy has given way to many positive signs of recovery and meaningful reform - especially in the area of education," said General Douglas O'Dell, Federal Coordinator for Gulf Coast Rebuilding. "The parents of New Orleans and their children deserve nothing less than a world-class education system that enables them to make choices. This blueprint for rebuilding schools is the result of exactly the kind of leadership and community involvement that is needed to drive the rebuilding of 21st Century infrastructure in the City of New Orleans. The plan is both businesslike and visionary, and I applaud the dedication of Paul Pastorek and the residents of Orleans Parish in making tough decisions to focus existing resources on meeting future needs."

While all schools will have clean, safe and modern interiors, officials said, when Phase 1 is completed, 50% of the students in elementary and high schools will attend schools in a state-of-the-art learning facility. Currently, only about 9 percent of the city's public school students are in facilities that would be considered in "very good condition."

"This draft plan will represent our community's commitment to make a major investment in the future of public education in New Orleans," said NOPS Superintendent Darryl Kilbert. "It's important for us to strategically place those resources into the types of school projects that will benefit not only this generation of children, but generations of children to come."

Added RSD Superintendent Paul Vallas, "Our goal is to put all children in superior learning environments. We want all of the public school buildings in New Orleans to be of world-class condition, but it is important for people seeing these preliminary recommendations to understand that to there are considerable costs involved."

Officials said the proposal considers the city's needs for modernized facilities that can accommodate 21st century educational requirements and that support current and projected student populations. The draft blueprint is the result of a year-long planning process that included a study of population trends and projects, an assessment of building conditions and locations of currently open schools, and the identification of existing and potential rebuilding funds. The planning process also included 20 public meetings and numerous meetings with neighborhood and school interest groups from the fall of 2007 to the spring of 2008.

On Tuesday, August 19, the draft blueprint will be presented to the state Board of Elementary and Secondary Education (BESE) during the State Authorized School Oversight Committee meeting. This committee meeting will take place in Baton Rouge at 11 a.m. at the Claiborne Building, 1201 North Third Street. Also Tuesday, the blueprint will be presented to the Orleans Parish School Board at its regular monthly meeting. The meeting will take place at 5 p.m. at McDonogh #35 High School, 1331 Kerlerec Street.

A series of public hearings will take place over the next two months. No final recommendation will be made to BESE or OPSB until officials are confident there has been ample time in which to receive and consider public comment.

"When you try to put together a blueprint of this magnitude, some difficult decisions are going to have to be made, especially considering the great needs that existed before and after the storm and the funding that is available," Pastorek said. "Our needs greatly exceed the resources we currently have. However, this is a very significant down payment on the future of our city and our children."

The proposal's total cost is an estimated $1.7 billion (in today's dollars). Phase 1 could be fully paid for using Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) funds. Partial funding is available to implement Phase 2, which includes 18 proposed school projects. School officials say additional funding sources would have to be identified to fully fund Phase 2 and subsequent phases. However, such additional funding could come from federal, state, local or non- profit sources.

"The proposal considers all public schools in New Orleans, without regard to governance," Superintendent Pastorek continued. "We're not building schools for the OPSB, we're not building schools for the RSD, nor are we building schools for charters. We are building schools for the city of New Orleans. The names of the schools will be evaluated at a later date. We will put together a policy that will determine how the process will work."

The blueprint recommends neighborhood elementary schools, spaced roughly a half mile apart, so that the schools are within walking distance. It also recommends the city have career-focused high schools that are fewer in number and attract students from across the region. It also considers whether sites have sufficient acreage to create facilities such as gymnasiums, auditoriums and libraries that could be used by the public.


Phase 1 includes previously identified projects scheduled to be completed over the next two-three years, including Langston Hughes, Andrew H. Wilson, Fannie C. Williams, Lake Area, L.B. Landry, Joseph Craig, Lawrence D. Crocker, William J. Guste and Edward Hynes. Construction has been completed on Guste and is currently underway at Hughes and Wilson.

The draft blueprint also proposes that the following elementary schools be rebuilt or renovated: Mahalia Jackson, Audubon, Bienville, Parkview, Charles J. Colton, William Frantz, Edwards/Moton, Little Woods, Mildred Osborne, Lake Forrest, Alice Harte. One as yet undetermined elementary school is also proposed.

New or renovated high schools proposed in Phase 1 include Booker T. Washington, a new school on the Philips/Waters site, a citywide maritime/military academy, and a new school in the Lower Ninth Ward. Phase 1 also recommends exterior renovation work to Warren Easton, Sarah T. Reed, and Fortier (which houses Lusher High School). Those school communities not funded in Phase 1 could look for funding from other sources and could apply for permission to proceed with construction projects earlier than projected, officials said.

In total, the blueprint proposes 67 elementary school sites (grades Pre-K to 8) and 17 high school sites (grades 9-12). Further, it proposes that 52 sites be "landbanked," meaning they could be retained for future use as schools or other district facilities, redeveloped for community use or converted to housing, office space or other public or private uses. Sites proposed for landbanking include 28 sites that are currently vacant and 24 sites currently being used for schools.

The blueprint proposes a period between 2012 and 2016 when buildings currently occupied could be discontinued if the recommendations are implemented. Any buildings on landbanked property that are in excess of 51% damaged will be demolished. Any historic property or other important or valuable buildings will be repurposed, including the possibility that these properties may be sold to third parties and used for another purpose. Landbanked or repurposed schools could be made available to third parties to revive as a school, if permission is secured from the appropriate governing authority.

According to officials, the current inventory of public school buildings in New Orleans far exceeds existing enrollment, as well as projected student enrollment. This gap in enrollment and the number of schools has existed for more than 30 years. Since peaking at more than 100,000 students in the 1970s, enrollment in New Orleans declined steadily in the years before Hurricane Katrina; however, the number of schools - and the seats they provided - did not decline. The seat capacity in New Orleans public schools exceeded the student enrollment by more than 40,000 seats before the storm.

"Clearly, adjustments should have been made before the storm," Pastorek said. "Now, they will be."

A total of 84 school projects are proposed. The projects are divided into phases, based on the understanding that it would be impossible - given funding limitations and construction capacities - to implement a blueprint of such magnitude all at once. Implementing the school rebuilding blueprint on a project-by-project basis may require the acquisition of additional land through land swaps or land purchases.

The proposals included in the blueprint are guided by the following considerations:

desire of the community for the type of schools that they want;
educational requirements of the student;
age and condition of buildings;
resources available;
need to quickly withdraw from temporary buildings.

"Phase 1 identifies where the greatest needs currently exist, driven by actual and projected demographics. One of our top priorities is getting students out of temporary modular buildings. We also want to focus on using our available resources on new construction that will get our students in state-of-the-art facilities," said Karen Burke, Deputy Superintendent of Operations for the Recovery School District.

The planning process began in the summer of 2007. Parsons, a management and planning firm, and Concordia, LLC., an architecture and planning firm located in New Orleans, were selected to develop the blueprint for rebuilding schools.

The final blueprint will be re-evaluated every two years to consider the actual demographics of the city to determine if changes should be made.

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