January 8, 2026 Special OPSB Board Meeting

Okay, if my colleagues could take their seats, we're going to get started. I'm calling to order the Orleans Parish School Board business meeting for January 8th, 2026. The time is now 5:32. May I have a roll call?

Miss Bodwin, present. Miss Em, Miss Spiro, Miss Griffin, here. Mr. Marshall, Mr. Parker, Mr. Zervagon, also present, Dr. Fatima, former superintendent Ashley Halpern, board council, you have a quorum. Brown. Uh, interpretation services are available for this evening's meeting and I will yield to our interpreters. Welcome.

Borwin. Good evening board members. Good evening, Dr. uh Fmore, superintendent uh family uh and staff and students of the Leah Chase. My name is Vquin Fam. I will provide interpretation services in Vietnamese. Good evening board members. Good evening Dr. Fulmore and good evening to and welcome to all the community members, the Leah Chase family, the staff, parents and students. My name is Lena Martinez and I will be providing interpretation services for you tonight in Spanish. Thank you.

Thank you so much. Um, we will now move on to 1.2 the pledge of allegiance. Would all who are willing and able please stand and cite the pledge.

I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

Okay, I'll now yield to our board council to take us through the rules for public comment. Anyone wishing to speak with regard to items on the agenda should fill out a public comment card and submit it to the board secretary. Cards will be received up to one half hour after the meeting begins. Each person shall be permitted to speak up to two minutes as established by the chair. I will recognize the speaker and give the speaker permission to proceed. The speaker shall state their name and address for board records. Those who have a group concern are encouraged to select a spokesperson from the group to address the concern. Speakers are expected to be as concise as possible and to present their questions and comments in an objective manner in accordance with good taste and decorum and without reference to or insinuations against the board, its members or school system employees. Disruptions or disorderly conduct of the special board business meeting will constitute grounds for the presiding officer to ask security personnel to remove the offender.

Thank you. Let's move on to the adoption of the agenda. Do we have any additions, deletions, or modifications to this evening's agenda?

We do have one addition. Um, and that is resolution 06 0, I'm sorry, resolution 01-26 regarding the TLC sustaining school sustaining fund purpose and authority. And that would be added after action item 2.2. So, it would become 2.3 and then the rest of the items on the agenda would follow sequentially.

Okay. Thank you. May I have a motion to adopt the agenda as amended?

So moved. Second.

It's been moved and seconded. All in favor? I. Any opposed? Okay. The agenda has been adopted.

I will um yield back to board counsel to take us through the action items for this evening.

Action item 2.1 is the election of the board president and vice president. Pursuant to OPSB policy BBA at its first meeting in January of each year, the school board shall elect one or more of its members to serve as president and one to serve as vice president in separate ballots for a term of one year beginning in January. The president and vice president shall receive the majority of votes of the full membership of the school board for votes before being declared elected. Each officer may hold office for no longer than two consecutive terms. May I have a motion relative to action item?

Thank you, board council. I move that we defer this until our January uh uh committee, excuse me, January business meeting.

Second.

Unless you have other guidance that would be helpful.

Yes. Um so there's been a motion and a second. Is there any public comment on the motion to defer?

Okay. There's no no public comment. Any board comment?

Yeah. I just think it makes sense for us as a board to have this conversation tonight. The the policy for those board members, I think you're aware, but for members of the public, our board policy dictates that we elect a board president, vice president in our very first meeting of the year. Tech tech. Typically, that is the first meeting in January. uh the first regular board business meeting of January. Since this is not a regular board business meeting, we're just delaying that election to its intended date, which would be the January board business meeting.

Okay. Um, there's been a motion and a second on this amendment. Um, well, I'm sorry, not an amendment. There's been a motion and a second on the motion to postpone. Okay. On this action item 2.1. Um, Mr. Parker, I do want to point out to you that um, in order to defer the election of the board president and vice president to the first regular meeting of the year that the board would be required to wave the timing requirements that I read in policy BBA. Um, I don't know if you want to amend your

there a way to amend it where we don't have to wave the policy and we can just

No.

Okay. So what what you could do is you could amend your motion to both postpone to the first regular meeting in the month of January and wave the timing requirement in policy BBA related to the first meeting in January. If you

I will I will I will make that amendment to the motion. Thank you very much.

to second if necessary

to post to defer until the regular board business meeting in January and wave the timing provisions in policy BBA.

Okay. There's been a motion that I believe Mr. Zervigon seconded your amendment. There's no public comment on this. Is there any board comment?

Okay. Uh Miss Bureau,

I appreciate this. Um, the tonight's vote will will affect my choice. So I appreciate that we are moving this to a later date. Um, okay.

Uh, there's been a motion and a second um on the amendment to the motion which is adding the waiver of the timing requirements of policy BBA. All those in favor?

I.

Any opposed? Okay. Now we're going back to vote on the motion as amended. Um, there's been a motion to second. All those in favor?

I.

Any opposed? Okay. Uh,

sorry for the confusing start everybody. Thank you board council for navigating us through that.

Yes. Okay. So, action item 2.1 has been deferred to the first regular board business meeting in January, which will be later this month.

Okay. Moving now to action item 2.2, the future of the Lechase School. It is recommended that the Orleans Parish School Board approve the continuing operation of the Leah Chase School, the fund balance utilization option. May I have a motion to approve action item 2.2?

I don't think.

So move.

Second.

Okay. It's been moved by Miss Emmes and seconded by Mr. Marshall. Um, we have a number of public comment cards on this action item. Um, members of the public, I'm going to read out a few names in a row so that you all can line up at the podium. Oh, or President Bowden. Uh, I'll just um I don't think it's going to be an issue, but I'm going to limit public comment to one hour this evening. So, as we've covered this topic fairly well for several meetings, I don't it doesn't look like it's going to be an issue, but just for the public's awareness. and board council. Just a quick um point of clarific or just a question that I have. Uh I intend to make an amendment to this motion. Should I do that now and then have public comment on the amendment or should we do the public comment and then make the amendment

and then have public comment again?

So you can make your motion now and then the public has the right to make public comment on that.

Great. Okay. Then with the motion and second, uh I'm my amendment would be that I move the board to keep the Leah school open for the 2026 27 and 2728 school year with the following contingencies. One, there's a minimum of $865,000 in the Leah Chase school sustainability fund on or before January 15th of 2026. If the money is not in the school sustainability fund by that date, TLC would close for the 2627 year. All money be refunded to donors and all students would receive closing school priority with an extension of the INCAP deadline until January 31st, 2026. That's item one. Item two is the district um

let me get get my the the board will evaluate the decision to continue the operation of the school for the 2728 year in January of 2026 and will continue operating the school in 2728 provided that a the school has at least 383 enrolled students or number one preferences on ENCAP as of January 8th 2026. 7.

That's one year from today. The school does not have a projected budget deficit that exceeds the amount of money in both the Leah Chase sustainability fund and the existing Leah Chase school fund balance which is roughly 2.75 million projected and C the academic performance of the Leah school is not in the bottom 10 for SPS and growth in the 2526 school year. That's an extensive amendment.

Board members, board members, I emailed you all this

uh prior to the meeting, so I apologize if you haven't seen it, but if you need me to clarify, I'm happy to do so.

Um I did hear a question from the the public. President Bowden, can I answer about comment cards? So, if um I believe that in the lobby there's a table with comment cards that you can um if you haven't already turned in a comment card, you can turn in a comment card related to action item 2.2 and they'll bring it up here and you'll be able to comment on this. Um President Bowden,

I just I just seconded.

Oh, sorry,

Miss Griffin.

So, the only thing I wanted to say is on there you said I want to get clarity. You said January 2006.

2026.

Yeah.

So you said 2026 is when we would evaluate it.

Oh, that's that's right. That's Thank you for that. So we would evaluate it in January of 2027.

That's what I was trying to verify.

Continue to operate. Thank you for that clarification.

But it's January 31st, 26 when the money has to be in the sustainability fund.

Yeah. Okay. That's correct.

I was talking about that. So in there I was talking about the evaluation if I need to.

Let's do that. Can you do that?

Yes. Okay. So, item one would be there is a minimum of and board members, just for your clarification, this is just to make sure that the money we've been promised actually shows up.

Item one is there is a minimum of 865,000 in the Leah Chase school sustainability fund on or before January 15th of this year.

If that money is not in the fund, the school would clo by that date. The school would close for the subsequent school year 2627. All money would be refunded to donors. All students would rece receive closing school priority with an extension of the NCAAP deadline until January 31st. The second item two is the board will evaluate the decision to continue operation for the 2728 school year in January of 2027, a year from today essentially and will continue operating the school in the second year 2027 28 provided that a the school has at least 383 enrolled students or number one preferences on ENCAP as of January 8th, 2027. B, the school does not have a projected budget deficit that exceeds the amount of money that we have in the Leah Chase school sustainability fund and the existing TLC fund balance which is roughly 2.75 million. and C. The academic performance of the Leia Chase school is not in the bottom 10 for SPS growth for excuse me in the bottom 10 for SPS and growth in the 2526 school year. Currently, colleagues, Leah Chase is in the bottom 10 for SPS. It is not in the bottom 10 for growth.

So it would not if this were in place today that would not impact

correct

that would not be a negative. You still second it, Madam President.

Okay. Um, so there's been a motion and a second. Um, are we taking public comment now? Again,

I want to amend it,

Miss Ems.

Yeah, thank you. I would like to amend it if I could. Uh, I'm fine with one with everything that you have there. Um I'm not really um I don't have a big problem with C because um that's something that we already have 95% growth at the schools. I feel we can easily attain that but I would like to strike uh two and keep one if possible and and then I would like to work with the ones that we have two ABC with our superintendent and we can talk as a board about how we can fix that for um a part of the evaluation or whatever we decide uh to do with that. But I don't think we need that here tonight to accept the monies that are being given by these families. I think we should be grateful that they have hustled this money and I don't want to put all kind of roadblocks in the way. So that's my opinion.

Thank you.

I think I I am mindful of that comment. Thank you. Thank you for that. Um, but I also am mindful of parliamentary procedure and I don't want to get into a board discussion before we go to the public.

I asked

Okay. If as long as the lawyer said it was fine, that's fine.

Right now, Miss Emmes has made an a motion to amend the motion to amend

and I I seconded it

and Miss Bureau seconded. Okay. So,

are we ready for public comment now?

All right. I have a question, a legal question. I I have a legal question.

The question is, does this board have the authority to at any point in time come together and make a decision on whether we would keep a school open or not?

So, Mr. Marshall, I assume that your question is specific to the Leah Chase school and not a charter school. Okay. Um,

so I would say I think the answer to that question is different in the context of a charter school as it relates to a directrun school. At the moment right now, I don't know the specific answer about what what I understand that you're asking is do you have the authority to maybe I'm misunderstanding your question. Do you have the authority to maybe I'm misunderstanding your question. Do you have the authority to decide to close a school at any point in time?

Okay, let well I I'll briefly phrase it and make it very specific. Do we have the the authority uh to come together as a board and make a decision to close Leah Chase? So yes.

So if we have that authority then why is it necessary to put in stipulations

to to say if you don't do this we're going to close it because that is making a decision next today of next year. I mean why would we do that when we have the authority to do it at any point in time. It is not necessary. We would not we don't put those kinds of things in place for charter schools or anybody else. Why are we doing that in this instance? And and the and the the thing the thing about it is uh we have the authority and we will exercise authority when when the majority of the board feels it is in the best interest of the children to do so. We don't have to make stipulations on what our decision would be a year from now because we may get 380 kids and everything else is very positive. So why why why would we do that? It is totally unnecessary. Absolutely. And what it does is it puts it puts all kinds of all kinds of feelings in the community that we don't need.

We need to be clear that a direct run school is something that we want in our portfolio. Yes.

And and we can use any of we can use any of these points to say that is that is the important point to close the school. We can use the finances as an an important point to close the school. But every school in this district has to operate on the funds that they're given from the state, the federal government,

and our tax

and and local tax dollars. No school would ever be closed because it could not raise additional funds to have additional programming.

Yes. Thank Thank you, Mr. Marshall. Thank you. We We are We are currently about to accept public comment on an amendment to an amendment to um uh motion. We We heard you. We appreciate the comments. We're going to President Board President, you do not have the authority to cut off my statement.

Mr. Marshall,

I I do I do want to point out that procedurally that we need to receive public comment before the board comment on the motion to amend the motion to amend action item 2.2. So if now um if there are no further motions to amend the motion to amend action item 2.2, to um I will call up uh several names of people in a row so that we can make a line at the podium. As a reminder, um the board president has limited to limited the public comment period for this action item to one hour. There are a number of comment cards. So, I ask everybody to please be respectful of the time limit. If you have, as I said in the rules for public comment, those who have a group concern are encouraged to select a spokesperson from the group to um express the concern. There is a timekeeper. When your time elapses, please be respectful and uh and move on so that then we can get to everybody's comments in a timely manner. Okay. Our first comment card is from Miss Leona Tate.

Um As a reminder, if you would please state your name and address for the board records when you come to the podium. Um, Senator Royce Duplexus, if you would um, get ready to line up. Thank you. ready.

You may go ahead.

Okay. Hi, I'm Leona Tate, 5909 St. Cloud Avenue, New Orleans, 70117. Madame President and members of the board, education is a pre a precondition to survival in America today. These are the words of the civil right activist and the founder of the Children Defense Fund, Marian Wright Elderman. And these words ring true even more today. My ask is simple and urgent. Do not close the Leah Chase school. Vote tonight to keep it open under the Leo Chase name and under its current district leadership. My name is Leona Tate again. 65 years ago as a child I along with my sisters Tessy Pos and Gail Etienne helped to desegregate the New Orleans public schools in 1960. I stand before you now because the promise we fought for equal access to high quality public education with dignity is on the line again. Here is why the decision matters. First is what public means. The Leah Chase School is the only traditional districtrun public school option in New Orleans. Closing it would erase meaningful choice for families who want a public school accountable to the public and an experiment that disappears. Second, parents are telling you it is working. Mothers and fathers, especially those raising children with disabilities, have testified that their children are seen, supported, and thriving here. They're not asking for privilege. They're asking for stability, access, and respect. Third, children with housing insecurity, food insecurity, trauma, and special needs need consistency, not disruption. Families have spoken about the dignity the school provides. The staff who knew their clo children, the services delivered with care, the trust built over time. closing the closing the school that serves them well is harmful and cruel. Fourth,

thank you ma'am.

You have uh we can certainly give you more time just we are still going to limit to an hour. Would you like to continue your

give you a little bit more time?

The name Leah Chase is a covenant with the city. Leah Chase stood for service, excellence, accountability to black New Orleans. Her name is not symbolic. It is a promise. Keeping this school open honors the legacy in the community it serves. Public schools are the front door of democracy. I did not walk into a hostile schoolhouse as a child so that decades later we would close a public school that is finally doing right by families. So I ask you again clearly, directly, and with the weight of history behind it, do not close the Leah Chase school. Allow it to continue operating under the Leo Chase name and its current leadership long enough to fulfill its promise. Thank you.

Thank you. Our next comment card is from Senator Royce Duplexus. That is followed by Gail Glapion and then Chris Edwards, then Sabrina Mays.

I will cut you off.

I'm sorry, Chris Edmonds.

I knew you will. Uh, good evening everyone. My name is Royce Duples. I want to just begin by thanking you all for your service. Dr. Fulmore, thank you for your service. Uh, we truly appreciate your leadership. I want to acknowledge the challenge the challenge of declining enrollment. Uh, the challenge that not that exists not just at Leah Chase but across the the system. This is a real challenge that we face as a city. But I'm here tonight uh from a sense of obligation uh in a sense of that promise that that Miss Tate just so eloquently talked about. This school is in the heart of the Senate district that I represent. I was honored and overjoyed to be at the ribbon cutting back in 2024 with so many of you and so many from our community. Uh I remember that moment. I remember uh the hope, the excitement, and the belief that we as a city could do it, that we can get it right. And while I know every week, every month, every year, you all have to make difficult decisions on whether or not to keep a school open, whether or not to keep kids in schools where uh the services aren't there. I believe we are at a moment of clarity as a city. This is a moment of clarity where we have a difficult decision to make and to close a school uh after this short period of time I believe it erodess the trust of the families of the parents of all the stakeholders. So I'm obviously here tonight to ask you all to proceed with extreme caution. I'm here tonight to urge you all to keep this school open. But I'm also here to go a step further after hearing a little bit of discussion around the uh the proposed amendment and representative I'm sorry, school board member Marshall made the point that the expectations that we place on this school cannot be one where we're essentially setting it up to fail.

I say that with deep respect. Uh I say that uh with deep understanding.

Thank you, sir. that you all have a challenge ahead of you. Uh, but I'm asking you all to keep the promise to the families. Uh, we have a difficult job to do. Thank you for allowing me to come and speak tonight. I'm urging that you keep the school open. Thank you.

Thank you. Our our next comment card is from Miss Gail Glapion, followed by Mr. Chris Edmonds, then Miss Sabrina Mays, and then um Marisco Ramos. My name is Gail Glapion. Um, I live at 7641 Fston Road. Honorable schoolboard members and superintendent, I'm glad I'm on this side and not on that side. And I want you to know that Mr. Marshall's comment is absolutely correct. I served where you served for 20 years and I knew that one of the most important uh responsibilities and authorities that we had was to open and to close schools. Trust me, you have the authority to make that decision. And I'm here because I want to support your very very clear recommendation to keep Leah Chase open. and you have the authority to do that tonight. And I also want to say that I'm here because I want to lend my little bit of support to the maintaining of that school by offering to you the services of the scholarship foundation of New Orleans, better known as Dollars for Scholars that was established in 1985 by the children of this school district, the Falulty, and this community. and it exists today. During that time, from 19 uh uh 85 until 205, this community supported that organization by providing over $4 million in scholarships and enrichment. And from 2005 when the system changed, the structure changed. We have continued off of the beginning $85,000 that the young people in this school district started to support the dollars for scholars and we are continuing to do that. From 2005 until this day, we have not had one fundraiser, but we have continued to provide scholarships to young people at Lyola.

Thank you.

Keep the school open.

Okay.

Thank you, ma'am.

Um, our next comment card is from Mr. Chris Edmonds. That'll be followed by Sabrina Maize, then Marie Skella Ramos. I apologize if I mispronounced that. Then Miss Ann Marie Koviello.

Good evening board members, madame superintendent. Uh, thank you for letting me speak. I would just like to briefly comment on the motion to amend and the motion to amend the motion to amend and whatnot. Um, we we're fine. I do not oppose that first condition because the school board needs some assurance that that the money is real and it is if the donation is accepted the money will be deposited. So that's not a problem. The the other conditions are very problematic and I'll explain why. This first thing about three we need to have 383 students enrolled. The concerns over enrollment ostensibly have been about the impact on the budget deficit. the donation from my mother is going to solve that problem. So why are we still talking about enrollment? It it also would penalize students at TLC because if there's a hurricane or another pandemic or something that happens, it would be insult to injury because not only would they be dealing with all everything else that other people are dealing with, but then they would come home to a school that has been closed for reasons beyond their control. I think that's unfair. This the second condition is about the the amount of the deficit, the projected deficit. Well, first of all, who calculates that deficit? You could have ask 10 different accountants and you get 10 different answers, right? We had our CFO said we had a a $500,000 deficit. That was two months ago, but now the deficit is zero. What? No one has explained what that's about. Um the other issue is that it the way it's currently worded is that the school board is unwilling to invest even one single dollar from the general fund or from uh to to invest in this school. In other words, if the amount of donated funds and the reserve funds is not enough to cover and we go $1 or even one cent over that amount, this board would be unwilling to invest one single dollar in keeping the school open. So that's I think crazy. finally this thing about the you know the the scores we these people have been under a lot of stress because of decisions that this board has made and so and thank you Mr. Edmonds

that's for this school year and so I think it's unfair to I'm respect

okay our next comment card is from Sabrina May that'll be followed by Mary Skola Ramos and Marie Koviello and then Melissa Francis and then Dr. Margaret Montgomery Richard

Rishard. Sorry.

Good evening. My name is Sabrina Maize. I live at 11101 North Idawward Court. Um before I begin, what I need to say, just to piggyback on um Mrs. Flapon the um dollar for scholar um will provide additional enrichment activities for Leo Chase school. The village is here.

The village is here. And we're here because the lady whose name this building represents is an institution not just in a culinary sense but her stance on civil rights on justice dealing with hunger issues that impacted her community but went worldwide in feeding all who came to her restaurant. And so for us to deal with this from a standard procedure when this school, this institution because it will become an institution should be dealt with in such a way that and with such innovation with such freedom of kids to learn and how they experience that whole learning process. But as adults, we we're looking at numbers and not at the bodies that are inside that school as human beings as future world citizens. And so as a member of the village and you who are sitting up there are also members of the village but your role in the village is to take care of it and to make sure that it is secure and to make sure that it is child centered

and rooted and rooted in truth so that they become citizens of the world. Thank you. Our next comment card is from um Ramos Marie Skola. Apologize if I'm saying that wrong. Okay, we'll come back to that one. Uh the next comment card is from Anmarie Koviello. That is followed by Melissa Francis. Then Dr. Mar Mar Mar Mar Mar Mar Mar Mar Mar Mar Mar Mar Mar Mar Mar Mar Mar Mar Mar Mar Mar Margaret Montgomery Rishard and then Mr. Percy Marand.

Good evening board members, Dr. Fulmore. Um, I want to start by thanking Miss Emmes, Miss Bureau, and Miss Griffin for returning my emails. Thank you. I appreciate that over the holidays. I know it can be a heavy lift, although it does not answer the question of why other members of this board do not respond to their constituents. I want to talk about something I learned as a young teacher in 1991, um, when I first came here to New Orleans to teach at George Washington Carver Junior Senior High School. And one of the first things I learned because I was mentored by elders and highly experienced teachers who took me under many wings. And one of the things they taught me was fairness and how important the role of fairness was in education. And I would ska scale that out that it is a fundamental aspect of all relationships. The fairness of a governing board to its constituents, the fairness of parents to their children. And we know that one of the most toxic things we can do to children is to show favoritism or play favorites. And so we really have to ask this question because the the accusation has been made that somehow this board would favor Leah Chase by the charter industry and uh the people who represent that interest. And so I have to bring this up. I have never believed that test scores were the only indicator of success. That was the charter industry that brought that to our city and held it a loft and carried it like a torch that test scores would be uh sub objective and give us a real view. And I just want this community to understand that in December of 2025, this board voted to give five and eight and six years extensions to charter schools that have singledigit proficiency in grade level math according to the LEAP test. Single digits. I'm not going to name those schools because I don't bet against schools. I want every school to succeed. I want every child to succeed. But that is a matter of fairness and I implore you

thank you

to show fairness to Leah Chase school.

Our next comic card is from Melissa Francis and then Dr. Margaret Montgomery Rishard, Mr. Percy Mersand, and then Mr. Edgar Chase.

Good evening. My name is Melissa Francis. I am a parent union organizer with Step Up Louisiana. Uh thank you superintendent and board members. Uh, please keep the doors of Leo Chase School open. Stepup Louisiana has attended a countless number of meetings at the Leochase School. Stepup has supported the opening of Leo Chase and we stand in solidarity today to keep the doors open. What I see is a school that is working for students and parents are showing up. Students are stable. The students needs are being met. If you see emotions, if you hear frustrations tonight, it's because all they want is one thing is to simply keep Leo Chase school doors open. It's the only direct run school that is open. Leoch school needs to stay open because family choose is a family choice. That means something is being done right. I urge you to vote yes to keep Leo Chase school open for the next two years or more. Your vote today matters to families, to students, and to the community. We will remember who stood with us in election time. Lastly, I cannot believe that we are here talking about uh or demanding Leo Chase school to be open because we have so many bigger demands that we need to be focused on stuff like uh student having safe schools transportation, a book in every hand of a child that attend a New Orleans public school. Uh we need a universal calendar.

Yes.

Uh to so that every child can have the same start and end time. And I just want to say

thank you, Miss Francis.

Lastly,

thank you, Miss Francis.

All of the meetings that we have attended, there was no parents that there were no parents that were in opposition.

Thank you.

And we want the the board to vote the same way.

Thank you, Miss Keep the doors open. JUST TO NOTE EVERYBODY, if we if everybody keeps their comments to two minutes, we'll have more time for more people to speak. Just heads up.

Good evening board members, superintendent. My name is Dr. Margaret Montgomery Rishard. I reside at 4402 St. Rock Avenue in New Orleans. I stand before you as a citizen of Orleans Parish and a proud graduate of Orleans Parish Schools and in strong support of keeping the Leah Chase School open. I respectfully ask the Orleans Parish School Board to provide the Leah Chase School with the same level of stability, intentional support, and initial multipleyear commitment that is routinely afforded charter schools in NOLA public schools. Charter schools are typically granted startup and stabilization periods to grow enrollment, build academic culture, and demonstrate performance. Traditional public schools, especially neighborhood schools, are rarely given that same opportunity. This is not a request for special treatment. This is a request for equitable treatment. The amendments appear to hold the the Leah Chase school to different standards, different criteria than the charter schools. The Leah Chase school primarily serves neighborhood students, many of whom come from economically disadvantaged households. Closing this school would further destabilize families and a community already navigating a significant transition. If OPSB is committed to equity, community-based decisionmaking, and school stability, then neighborhood public schools must be given the same runway to succeed as charter schools. Keeping Leah Chase school open is an investment in students, family, and the long-term health of this community. Thank you for your time and your consideration. Oops. Our next comment card is from Mr. Percy Marshand, followed by Mr. Edgar Chase, Miss Betty Demarco, and then Dr. Valencia Douglas.

Percy Marshian, 2927 Ottoman Street, New Orleans, Louisiana. As you consider keeping the Leah Chase School open as a traditionally run school, I stand here confident that tonight you will do the right thing. But let me be clear. The fact that we keep arriving at this question is not right. It's not right for the teachers and administrators whose hard-earned successes have been twisted into lies instead of celebrated.

It's not right for the families who deserve support and resources yet are met with stress and uncertainty. And most importantly, it is beyond not right that the future of these children, our future, are being treated like a game of charter roulette. I understand politics. I understand business. But I also understand education and community. And we are not here to accept this is just the way it is. We are better than that. And tonight you can prove it. We cannot keep sugar coating dirt and turning sunshine into storms. If we truly believe in change, we must call things out for what they are. We must stop excusing wrong because others did it, too. Doing right should never be optional. Miss Leah Chase once said, "As long as you're here on Earth, you're here for a purpose and what you can do to better the world you live in." Tonight, I urge you to live in that purpose. To vote yes to keep Leah Chase school open as a traditionally run school. Do it for the children who deserve stability. Do it for the families who deserve support. Do it because courage must triumph over convenience, truth over politics, and scholars over dollars. That's right. Let this vote be the moment you choose to stand and cheer for the teachers, the administrators, the families, and most importantly, the students of the Leah Chase School who don't just chase excellence, they achieve it. Thank you.

Mr. Chase.

Good evening, members of the board, superintendent. I'm Edguk Chase, 4748 St. Rock, New Orleans, Louisiana. You know, over the last few weeks, much discussion has been taking place and that has inspired and motivated me because it shows that this community is putting education as a priority. I was glad to start to see the change in the way that we discussed this school and the terms that are now being used because earlier some of those words loosely being tossed around by misinformation would have never been used by Miss Leah Chase. You see Leah Chase knew that as long as you keep moving forward you could never be failing.

Leah Chase understand that as you keep pushing and keep progressing failure is not an option. You see, this school has a progress report of a B. This school educates our student. This school will never fail.

You see, I believe everyone in here tonight understands that education is the foundation of our city. But the question here tonight touches on the moral compass of who we are as a community.

It touches on the moral compass of who we are of citizens of the New Orleans. This school has a population of over 85% black and Latino. This school has over 80% economically disadvantaged. Over 15% of our students have a housing instability when the other averages are 6%. This school educates every disability that walks through those doors. This school educates all our children for all of our community. So we don't pick and choose what kids we get to be invest in. We shouldn't pick and choose the communities we get to invest in, but we should always choose to support successful education. So if we're serious about the question here tonight, it's not just about whether we keep the Leah Chase school going. It's whether we're serious about educating all of our students in all of our community. That's the question that's on the agenda tonight. Are we going to stand behind each and every student that attends our school? So, I simply ask you to answer that question. And to answer that question is to support the Leia Chase School. Thank you.

Thank you.

Our next comment card is from Miss Patty DeMarco, followed by Dr. Valencia Douglas, and then Bailey Watson.

Good evening. I'm Betty DeMarco. I live at 8221 Bir Street. I am a resident of Carolton and I got involved in this effort after I spoke to my school board member Zervagon about the fact that Lafayette was closing and there was not anyone that wanted to reopen the school. I said this is a great opportunity for us to have a directrun school in the Carolton area where it is desperately needed. We have LISE, which you have to speak French if you want to get in, and you have to be able to pass the test to get into the Willow School on Willow Street. I'm really shocked at the amendments that Mr. Parker has presented this evening. Um, I think I'm not going to comment about those. I think enough people have commented about that. But I got to tell you something. I wasn't sure what this closure was about until I started investigating everything going on financially. And this is not about the money. Everybody knows this is not about the money. This is because there are people in this city do not want anything but charter schools. And you know who those people are,

especially Miss Glapion because she happened to be on the board with the person that only wanted charter schools in this city.

I No one will move to the city of New Orleans. Guys, I got to tell you, I have a friend that's here right now with a physician husband at two lane. He can't hire doctors because they have children and they will not come here.

That's right. That has been 20 years we thought we were fixing this problem with charters and we did not.

That's right.

I got to tell you, I'm I'm upset because I'm not upset because uh Dr. Turner is our principal. I cannot believe what you guys did to Miss Le France.

Thank you. Um,

Dr. Douglas, just just one moment. I do want to remind everybody um of our rules for public comment that there should not be references to or insinuations against the board, its members, or school system employees. Um, okay. Our next comment card is from Dr. Valencia Douglas. That'll be followed by Bailey Watson and then Joe Ellen Clark.

Thank you. My name is Dr. Valencia Douglas. I live in New Orleans on Lewis Prima Drive. I've been coming to these meetings and we keep going around. Now, tonight we're being offered the opportunity to have the school if we meet certain conditions. I believe that's highly disrespectful to this community, to the teachers and the students and the parents. They want Leah Chase open because it meets their needs. They want Leah Chase open because Leah Chase is a vision for us that is about this city and what we stand for as a member of this community in this city. The charter schools don't answer that. We're not portfolios. Our children are not portfolios. That's right.

Our children are human beings

and we need the opportunity to directly address the school board regarding our children's education. And we don't have that.

We know we can meet any expectation that is appropriately part of the policy of the school district and not put together in an amendment. We are far more than an amendment. We are a foundation as you have heard. Look at these people here. Look at the diversity in our room. Look at the commitment. All walks of life are here because we know what it means not to have our school. We want Leah Chase. We want what it stands for. That was an amazing woman. I had the honor of working with her as a principal and I can assure you she only wanted the best for all students and she never ever ever had us look at certain students and other students are more important because that's what we're being told. We're being told that we have to meet certain criteria which is just until tonight is mentioned. You keep moving the goalpost on us. Please stop and and your decision. Please respect us. Thank you.

Our next comment card is from Bailey Watson, followed by Joe Ellen Clark, then Sparkle Bridges, and then Lauren Jwitt. Bailey Watson, 30 3401 Mansfield Avenue, New Orleans 70131. On January 5th, 2026, Miss Gail Etienne, civil rights porn wrote, "Dear members of the Orleans Paris School Board, my name is Gail Etienne. I am a member of the New Orleans four, the four six-year-old girls who 65 years ago desegregated New Orleans public schools on November 14th, 1960 alongside Leona Tate and Tessy Privost. We desegregated Mcdana 19 elementary school on the same morning that Ruby Brid was in Ruby British enrolled at William France Elementary School. That moment in history was not only life-changing for us children. It was a def defining act of courage by our parents and our community. It reflected a deep commitment to equal access, public accountability, and the fundamental belief that every child deserves a high quality public school education. It revealed the courage of parents who refuse to accept limits on their child's futures. They believe public school education should belong to all of us. They believe leadership must be accountable to the community it serves. Our next comment card is from Miss Joel and Clark, then Sparkle Bridges, then Lauren Jwitt, then Alana Cesy, and then Lorie Cade.

Good evening. I will be continuing the letter from Kale Etien, the civil rights pioneer. My name is Joelyn Clark. My address is 321 Warrington Drive, New Orleans, Louisiana 70122. Today, parents are standing again in that very same mission of courage for their children. They are standing on the strength of their convictions just as our parents did. They are advocating not for privilege, but for access, not for convenience, but for dignity. not for exclusion, but for the kind of public school education they know their children deserve. The name Leah Chase carries a legacy all its own. Leah Chase was not only the queen of Creole cuisine, she was a civil rights activist who understood that justice is built in community. alongside her husband Edgar Dookie Elchase II. They created a safe and sacred space where courage was nourished and strategy was shaped. At Dookie Chase's restaurant, where um when doors were closed elsewhere, their doors were open and tables were available. It was there that the giants of the civil rights movement, including our parents, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.,

AB Toro, Thood Good Marshall, Ernest and Cibil Moriel, Johnny B and Vie Castle, Rudy Lumbard, Artha and Doris Jean Castle, Jerome Big Duck Smith, Dora Dodie Smith, Simmons, Ronnie Moore, and so many others gathered to organize and plan the dismantling of segregation in this city and help move this nation forward. To place Leah Chase's name on a public school is not symbolic. It is a commitment. It is an inheritance of responsibility.

Good evening. My name is Sparkle Bridges, fourth grade teacher at the Leah Chase School, 2014 Himstead Drive, Sell, Louisiana. I'm sorry, 1536. Chancellor Lane to though to close Leah I am also um continuing the letter from Gail Etsier civil rights pioneer to close Leah Chase school after only one year is not merely a policy of budgetary decision. It is a profound turning away from the very legacy her name represents. In my humble opinion, it is a dishonor to Leah Chase. It is a dishonor to our parents and it is a it is a disregard to the legacy of the New Orleans 4 whose courage opened the doors of public school education in New Orleans and throughout the deep south. From what I have learned and observed, the Leachch School community has worked tirelessly to strengthen academic outcomes while raising private support to survive with a system overwhelmingly dominated by charter schools in Orleans Parish. Despite immense pressure and limited time, this school has already demonstrated clear and meaningful strengths and it deserves to remain open. Educators have created a safe and nurturing learning environment, shown a deep commitment to diverse learners, and demonstrated the ability to serve traditional gifted and special education students on one cap campus. The school is staffed by fully certified, highly qualified educators who are deeply committed to student success.

Lauren Jwitt, 604 Sadi Avenue, Meyer, Louisiana. Uh, I am a fourth through fifth fourth, fifth, and sixth grade special education teacher at the Leah Chase School. and I will also be continuing the letter by Gil Antion, civil rights pioneer. Recent testimonies from parents speaking passionately about why they chose Leah Chase school remind me of the unity and resolve of our parents more than six decades ago. Then, as now, families were not asking for convenience. They were advocating with all their might for fairness, dignity, and equal opportunity for their children. Parents today have spoken clearly about their need for a public school capable of providing consistent, meaningful services for children with special needs. Services that many have found difficult or unreliable to access in charter school settings. Their voices make one truth unmistakably clear. Leah Chase School is not redundant. It is necessary. Families are choosing Leah Chase School because it meets needs that too often go unmet elsewhere. For more than 20 years, the people of New Orleans have called for the return of true directrun Orleans Parish public schools. Leah Chase School represents that long awaited choice. After Hurricane Katrina, New Orleans became the nation's first all- charter school system with more than 90% of public school students attending charter schools. Some scholars and leaders across the nation have described this as an experiment, one carried out on children of the city, disproportionately affecting black children and children with special needs. Leah Chase school represents a course correction, a response to decades of community demand and a long overdue restoration of public accountability. These are moments in history when neutrality becomes complicity, when delay becomes denial, and when silence becomes a verdict against justice. This is such a moment. Wow.

Our next comment card is from Alana Cesy followed by Lorie Cade and then Aquinet Barnes. Good evening. Elena Cesy, 7916 Monet Street me. I'm also continuing the letter. In April 2025, the Department of Justice quietly ended the chapter on federal school desegregation orders, not because equity has been achieved, but because vigilance has waned. This occurred in the same year we commemorated the 65th anniversary of the New Orleans for desegregating New Orleans public schools. At the same time, civil rights and voting rights, hard one, through blood, sacrifice, and moral courage, are once again under assault. In this waning hour, your decision regarding Leah Chase School is not just administrative. It is in this conscious historical moment where you have the power to turn the tide of injustice, holding yourselves accountable to the liberties enshrined in the United States Constitution. To close an Orleans Parish directrun public school serving black children, children with disabilities, and families seeking stability after only one year is to ignore the long arc of struggle that made public education accessible in the first place. History will not ask whether this decision was efficient. It will ask whether it was just. It will ask whether you chose convenience over conscience, budget lines over human lives, and expediency over equity. It will ask whether when entrusted with a living legacy of the civil rights movement, did you turn away, or did you stand firm with dignity and honor, remembering that the rights you now exercise were won by those who sacrificed their lives to secure rights and privileges from which you may have benefited from. My name is Lori Cade. Uh, I live at 932 Dante Street, New Orleans, Louisiana 70118. I'm continuing and finishing the letter. Leah School stands as a testament of unfinished work of justice. To abandon it now is to retreat from the very promise desegregation was meant to fulfill. To sustain it is to affirm that the sacrifices of those who've marched, endured, and resisted were not in vain. The measure of leadership is not found in what is easy, but in what is just. I hope you stand on the right side of history. I hope you choose courage over caution. I hope you choose justice over haste. And I hope you choose to reme you to be remembered as guardians of equality and not overseers of its erosion.

Thank you. The eyes of history are watching and so are our children. They will remember what you chose to do. I respectfully and with all full weight of history and conscience implor you to grant Leah Chase school the time, support, and stability it needs to grow and succeed as a directrun public school in Orleans Parish. Let this board be remembered as one that chose courage, honored legacy, and stood with children when it mattered most with sincerity and the audacity of hope. Miss Gail Atenne, civil rights pioneer, president and CEO of New Orleans 4 LLC. Our next comment card is from Aquanet Barnes, followed by Mr. Jordan Pota, then Joel Palasios, and then Erica Lara.

I'm Aquinetta Barnes and what I want to I'm talking from my heart. After Katrina, we went to the state board and we complained about chart all the public schools being chartered. I think Karen Cer was on the staff at the time and it was promised that charter school would be returned back to public school. That has yet to be done. So Leo Chase would be the only school and wish the state and you all would keep their promise. My understanding is that charter schools was the purpose of a man who does not even live or even a citizen of the United States. that charter schools were created by. Now, what I'm saying is I'm trying to find a solution because y'all uh give charter schools everything and they work by heads and numbers and dollar bills cuz they're corporation incorporation. I think the school should be returned to public school and that way we'll save on on vouchers. Now, if you have a problem upkeeping the school, well then take and assign people, maintenance workers, contract with people to do that part of work. but have our schools return and we could save on monies and vouchers. Also, Catalyst School at one time would not accept vouchers. They refused to accept vouchers. So, now our money is going to what? It's gone to Catalyst School as well. They my understanding is that they they disregard the Gator program. So, what I'm saying, we need to get some of our money back into our system so we can get our charter our charter schools public again as well. But like I said, the promise was in five years. Well, that was a lie. We know that we'll be turned back to public school. And would this been 20 years? It's 20 years. All right. You take Okay.

Our next comment card is from Jordan Pota, then Joel Palasios, then Erica Lara. Jordan Pota, 3135 Daffine Street. Good evening everyone. I'm the general music teacher at the Leah Chase School. I also lead the beginning band program for after school program. Um I'm very proud to be a part of the team that provides arts and enrichment education to our students and rounding out a holistic learning experience at the Leche School. Um, if I've learned one thing during my career as a teacher, it's that kids need consistency and stability to thrive. Uh, every teacher in here knows what that means. It means having teachers who show up every morning. It means having routines and expectations that students can rely on. And it means having a school community that doesn't abandon ship when water gets choppy. And that's what I see at the Leia Chase School. I see a staff that shows up 100% for our students so that they feel safe to learn, to create, and to grow. New Orleans has seen a cycle of school closure and charter reassignment for too long. Uh this model, it treats schools like businesses rather than community anchors. This constant upheaval is not healthy for our students development and it's not healthy for our city. Please vote to stay the course. Please vote for stability and consistency in New Orleans public education. Thank you.

Our next comment card is from Joel Palasios, then Erica Lara, and then Elise um PT AK. Good evening. Oh, New Orleans. New Orleans. Sorry. I speak tonight on behalf of a child. We came to this country looking for something very simple, a good education and a future for our child. The Leah Chase has been a safe place for my family here. My children feel seen, supported, and supported without any um regards of where we come from. Mr. For many immigrant families, that means our voice. We know that there are challenge of financial challenges, but I'm asking you to please not to take this lightly. Give this school a time to grow and listen to the community. Gracias. Thank you.

Our next comment card is from Erica Lara followed by Elise uh Pac and then Wanda Roma. Eddie Kalera 4401 Pike Drive Meril Louisiana Luciana 70000003. Today I'm not talking in my own name. I came in behalf of the Castillo Castillo Calderon family and this is Manuel Castillo. Manuel Castillo is an actual student of the Leia and I really want you to hear his story. He's an EL student. So this is the letter of his mother that he wrote. she couldn't come today because he's in this condition right now and he's in the hospital right now. So this is her letter. Dear members of the New Orleans school board through this letter I want to express myself as a mother about I what I think about the Lia school. My name is Maggalli and I am the mother of Manuel Castillo who used to be a totally Norman child. With time I was revealed that he has a genetic condition. This condition produced pro progressive reduction of his capacities. This news froze the whole family. During that time he was in a charter school. May I say the name of the charter school? Yes. So it was Philip Weightley School. They didn't pay attention to him or even help us. During that time, one of my neighbors recommended the liche school. Without hesitation, they received my son and gave him all that he needed. I don't have words to express my gratitude with the liache school to that they have helped my son beyond expectations. They gave my son something that nobody had gave him before attention care and quality of life. All his teachers, all his therapists and all the leaders and you need to know that the leachche school is needed. These teachers have shown that not only teach but they care. Now that my son is homebound, they keep contacting me, visiting me, and providing all that they can help with. If you close the leachch school, you will be destroying the community and my daughter's future. I want not only my children, but all the community to receive the same caring and integral help. Also, I close this letter by wishing you blessing and expecting that you understand that as a mother of a special needs son that requires to go to different medical services and a little daughter, the Leia school is the only one that fulfills the community needs. Thank you.

Our next comment card is from Elise Pek, then Wanda Roma. Good evening, members of the board. My name is Elise Patac. I live on Pritchard Place. I'm about one block from the Leia Chase School. I am here to support the Leia Chase School um as a neighbor. Um and I also just want to commend all the parents and and the whole community that's come out tonight. This is a really incredible evening. And I want to tell you I am not a stranger to this room. When my son was in elementary school, I was here in this room fighting to keep his school opened, which was closed. And I am here again tonight because I just found out over Christmas break that his school now, his junior in high school is closing. So, I want to give all my support to all of you. You are doing an incredible job, and I'm I'm honored to be here with you. Um, let me tell you my story real fast. Um, so, um, my son is now a junior at New Harmony High School, which is closing. I just found out. Um, this is the second time that my son's New Orleans Public Charter School has closed. The first time he attended Cypress Academy, and we found out through a Facebook post after the decision had already been made to close the school. This time, we received an email right before the holiday break. Again, the decision was already made without allowing us to give our input and perhaps use our community resources to support the school in a way that could keep it open. This puts all of the faculty, staff, families, and the entire community at New Harmony and also of course Leah Chase in a terrible position. And my son, with only one year left in high school, we are at a total loss. We don't have much time to figure out where to apply. The deadlines coming up for the first round. Um, Cypress Academy and New Harmony both accommodated my son who has a genetic disorder called William syndrome and who needs many types of accommodations. The very two schools that I feel had the right intention to accommodate students with special needs. And let me add Leah Chase school to that list from what I'm hearing tonight. These schools have now been ripped away students from students and families that desperately need them due to the failure of the New Orleans school system to provide adequately for kids with special needs. Thank you, ma'am. These schools need to support and be be supported and protected, not to be shut down and eliminated. Thank you.

Our next comment card is from Miss Wanda Roma and that'll be followed by Representative Sha Mina and then Lena Cordova. No, we're not going to make it to the end. Good evening everyone. My name is Wanda Roma. I live on Woodland Drive 70131. Before I start, to the Chase family. Hey, and to the Edmunds family who I would love to interview because I am a historian and I am a historian of these schools. So, I am going to not just echo the lovely Miss Gail's words about the eyes of history. May I present to you the eyes of the future. My granddaughter Skyler was born 2 days before Leah Chase school opened. And I just learned that while researching on the phone to address how many times we have to go around this vicious cycle. Do we keep community schools open? especially when on your own website it was held as a milestone. I specifically refer cuz Mr. Parker knows I can talk. I'm going respect this time. Those words by Dr. Everett Williams say I have tried to reshape this institution and redirect its resources so that the children so that New Orleans public schools can educate the children of poverty with the same ease that it educates the children of privilege. How many times do we need to ask you? Do you understand what that means? Because if in another two years we are here doing this, this lovely little one will be old enough to go to the Leah Chase school. Wow. And given that Miss Leah has fed more than a few of us in here, not just gumbo, which I could use right now, but civil rights history and resilience. It would be a dishonor to both Miss Chase, the families, and my future for to go through this. Please keep this school open. Representative Mena will be our final speaker for the evening. Bring it home. Representative say something before he goes up. He did give us a letter of support that I have that I can give to the board and so did uh uh Senator Jimmy uh Harris. Good evening, superintendent. Good evening board. First of all, I'd like to thank you all for your service. I do understand as a public official the uh long hours that you have to put into this. So I appreciate you all sitting here and listening to the concerns of the community. Secondly, I'd like to thank the community and the advocates for coming out. It is difficult to for those who of us who don't live on the West Bank to actually come over that bridge. So that shows a level of commitment and I truly do appreciate all of you all. They're supposed to have their meetings on the east bank. Oh, really? See? Well, I didn't even mean to open that bag of tricks, but anyway, I come here as the state representative for district 23, which is where the Leah Chase school resides. I too was there on the opening day, filled with pride. Filled with pride because my story, my American story would not be possible without the New Orleans public school system. I am the child of immigrants from Honduras. I am a first generation college graduate. I am an attorney. I am a state representative. The foundation of that was built a through my mother who was a teacher with the New Orleans public school system for well over 20 years until she was unfortunately fired after Hurricane Katrina. The foundation also was built by the teachers that I had in the New Orleans public school system. Teachers that taught me persistence overcomes resistance. Persistence overcomes resistance. And if we want this Leah Chase school to be the success that I know it can be, we are going to have to persist. And I truly believe that you all as the board will make the right decision to give the Leah Chase School the opportunity to thrive. Thank you all so much and I appreciate your service.

Okay, the one hour that was allotted for public comment on this action item has lapsed. Um I want to go back to where we are what is on the floor for board comment. Um just for clarity for the public understanding Mr. Parker phrase referred to his motion as a motion to amend it is a substitute motion. He's um substituting the language in its entirety for the original language of the action item. and Miss Em's motion was an amendment to that substitute motion. So that is where we are at um for clarity for the public and for the board. The amendment to the substitute motion is currently on the floor. Just because it has been a while for the clarity of the public, I will read the language again. Um, and that is uh a motion to keep the Leah Chase school open for the 2026, 2027, and 2027, 2028 school years with the following contingency that there is a minimum of 865,000 in the Leia School Sustainability Fund on or before January 15th of 2026. If the money is not in the TLC school sustainability fund by that date, the school will close for the 2026 2027 school year and all money will be refunded to donors and all students will receive closing school priority with an extension of the INCAP deadline until January 31st, 2026. So that is um the substitute motion incorporating the amendment from Vice President Emmes. Is there any board comment? Yes. Um I you know we deferred this vote to give us more time to fund raise and at great personal expense myself and Miss Emmes have been doing that. that we've been working with community partners and we have as we see in the two action items we have significant donations tonight but as we've spoken to them today um with speaking about this uh substitute motion they I do not believe that they would continue their donations if we were to take this so I do not believe that this is a wise choice we have on the table significant donations that may be taken away if we were to take these terms.

Further board comment. Um, yes. Let's see. Uh, Mr. Marshall, you know, I'd like to to clear the air on some things because there were a lot of comments prior to starting this school, that we should not open the school. and and I agree that there should be a process for opening schools that we did not have and we did not put in place prior to this. So it was we didn't open a school under the best circumstances. There should also be a process that we follow to close a school. But this is something that has come up and it is not a good process. How we have thought about this and how we have deliberated about this because we have listened to community saying keep it open. We have listened to communities saying close it. Although the those comments have not been those comments have not been public comments. They've been through phone calls and and conversations and things of that nature. So there is a a lot of comments and I would like to say that it is has become a very emotional topic. So I would like to look at this and take the emotion out of it and just look at this logically. Okay. We have it is a challenge to operate a school and give our kids an excellent education with the dollars that are provided by the state, the federal government and local authorities. It is a challenge but it is it is a challenge that we have given every charter school to operate with. It is a challenge that we have as a board to operate Leah Chase and we are saying in this conversation that that is not enough money to give our kids the excellent education that they deserve. Now, in saying that, we we are insinuating that because we want every kid to have an excellent education, we would want them to go to another school where they would receive this excellent education. Well, if they only have the same dollars that we have, how is that possible? So it is a challenge. Excuse me. It is a it is a challenge but it is not only a challenge for us. It's a challenge for every school. And the the thing that I would like to say is that things happen for a reason. We are here today for a reason. And I believe that there is a bigger picture that we need to focus on. and that is that at Leah Chase, yes, we do need the additional funds to give them the experiences, the programs, the curriculum, and the supports that they need to receive an excellent education and live up to the promise that we have created in our portrait of a graduate. That is a promise to create the citizens that we need. And we can't do it with the meager funds that are being allowed. And it is a challenge to the community to provide the additional funds to give them those experiences, programs, curriculum, and supports. And if we accept that challenge as a board to work with the community to do that, we can exemplify the deliverance of an excellent education and what that means. We can use the experiences that our superintendent has by having worked in districts across this country to bring those experiences to the to fruition in our district in our direct run school. The things that have been told to me by her predecessor was that she could not do these things because she could not tell charters what to do because the law did not allow it. So we could not have the flu the influence we could not exemplify what an excellent education would be. Now, I don't know if that's part of the reason why she accepted the challenge to run Leah Chase, but here we are today with that challenge. And the question is, the question is, are we going to meet it? That's the question. Not only are we going to meet it as a board, but are you going to meet it as a community? And from what I'm hearing from you is yes. Is yes. So I want to say give you a substitute motion for the substitute motions that we say we are going to keep Leah Chase open. Period. Period. With the legal order order with with the legal understanding with the legal understanding that anytime this board deems it is in the best interest of the students, the parents and this community that we close the school and we have a plan for how we going to give them a better education because of that. Because we have a plan, not because we don't have the funding. Not because we have not yet achieved the enrollment that we need because again we are educating kids all over this country with less than 300 kids in the school. It is a challenge but the question at hand is are we going to meet the challenge? What's Mr. Marshall? What's the language of the substitute motion? The subst the language of the substitute motion is today understanding that the community and everybody has spoken and that we are willing to accept the challenge that we here today confirm that we will keep the Leah Chase school open. Period. Mr. Marshall. Yes. I need a second. We're waiting for a second. I I want Mr. Mr. Marshall. I I want to You know, I want the Le Chase school to to remain open. It's It's just that the number one, if you read that on this amendment, made sense. It was just making sure that the money It was number two. It was number one. Just so I would second it with number one in place. Number one only with that. Can we just discuss the amendment to the motion that you made given that it's essentially the same thing? Do do we have let's It sounds like we have a substitute motion that we got to deal with. Okay. Uh uh you know uh I would say to you Miss Emmes that hang on one second. Let's let's make sure that we're in order right now so that I can follow where we are as well as I'm going with y'all. So there was a motion to amend Mr. Parker's substitute motion which would keep the school open for two years with the following contingency. The 865 in the bank by January 15th was it? Okay. Mr. Marshall has made a substitute motion to to keep the Leah Chase school open. Period. Okay. And Miss Okay. Do we have a second for that? Okay. So, there is no second for that. So, now we are back on the amendment to the substitute motion. Is there any further comment on the amendment to Mr. Parker's substitute motion? Yes, I have I have some comment. Thank you. Um I think I want to just clarify for my colleagues the intent of my original motion. It has been the it has been the intent it has been my intent throughout as the finance chair to be fiscally responsible to be mindful of our fund balance to be mindful of the financial position generally of our district. Um this has always been a math problem for me uh about can we operate this school in a way that is financially sustainable. My understanding from your comments, Miss Bureau, are that the only way to operate the school in a fiscally responsible manner would be to move forward with Miss Emmes's amendment. And and when I say that, you know, I'm talking about being financially responsible, Mr. All of the people who have uh offered their donations to this school seem like perfectly wonderful people who are trustworthy. But as the finance chair, if somebody is promising me money and I'm voting on a decision that impacts the lives of children, I would like some reasonable I would like I would like to have reasonable confidence that that money is real, which is why number one exists. I understand you all believe it's real. We have a fiduciary responsibility to everyone. I just want to make sure that the money is real. That's what item number one is about. My understanding is that if items 2 A through C would jeopardize receiving the funding, then we would no longer be able to run the school in a financially responsible way, which is why Miss Emmes, I'm fine moving forward with your amendment as presented. Okay. Is Mr. deserve a gun. And just to that point, later we are going to discuss as policy chair I put forward uh with the board council's recommendation and help looking for a way that we can receive these things in an expedited way without having to cause a lot of rigomearroll. So we're going to talk about it later to smooth this out. So yes, uh I am with you, Miss. Okay. Um President Bowdin, um I I too am supportive of the amended substitute motion. I just want to say we cannot forget about the long-term sustainability of this school and that does require adequate enrollment. So, um I don't So, I'm not I'm not saying it should be a condition this evening, although I would like to see it, but I I can see where things are going. I do not want us to forget that if we want Leah Chase to stay open year after year after year and to continue to grow and thrive, we need students in the building. And I just do not want to lose that fact this evening. That's all I have to say. And and President Bowwin, I agree with that one. I agree with that 100%. And we're going to be working in the community, the Chase family and Mr. Marshanne worked last weekend. Mr. Edmunds worked with them. I am going to be working. We're going to find bodies and we're going to make this school something very special that everybody in this room will be proud of if it passes tonight. Okay. Is there any further board comment bureau? I to to the community members. I think everyone knows where I stand on this. I am with you, but I want my fellow board members to come along with us and we may have to do things like like this amendment to do that. And so that is my that is my last comment. Okay. Seeing no further board comment. Um Oh, sorry, Miss Griffin. Not board comment, but if you don't mind because we've been back and forth, tell me specifically one more time what the motion is, if that's okay. Yes, I was going to do that next. Perfect. Okay. So, um what is before the board now? We are on uh Mrs. EMS's amendment to Mr. Parker's substitute motion which would remove number two A, B, and C from Mr. Parker's original substitute motion. Okay. Um there's been a motion and a second. All those in favor? I. I. Any opposed? Okay. The amendment has been approved. Now going back to the substitute motion um as amended or sorry uh so the substitute motion as amended would be just that the board would vote to keep the Leah Chase school open for the 2026 2027 2027 2028 school year with the following contingency that there is a minimum of 865,000 in the Leah Chase school sustainability fund on or before January 5th. 15 of 2026. If the money is not in the fund by this date, the school will close for the 2026 2027 school year. All money would be refunded to donors and all students would receive closing school priority with an extension of the encap deadline until January 31st, 2026. Okay, we are now voting. Is there Oh, sorry. Public I'm sorry, board comment from Miss Griffin. It's not necessarily board comment per se. It's more so guys, I really want to be able to hear what's being said so that way I know what I'm voting on and when you guys are talking I can't hear because we're on this end. If you don't mind if you could just let us hear so we can know what's we're actually voting on so it's not over and over again. Thank you. Okay. Um uh Miss Griffin, do you need me to read it again or are you good? Okay. Um Okay. So, so we are now voting on the um substitute motion as amended. All those in favor? I'm sorry. Sorry, board council. Do we have board comment on the substitute motion? Sure. Because we had board We have board comment on the amendment. Yes. I thought that I asked for that. I apologize if I did not. Is there any board comment on the substitute motion as amended? Yes, Mr. Parker. Yeah. So, um I do have some comment on the the now amended substitute motion. Uh as I said just a moment ago, this is and always has been a math problem for me. We have right now a significant deficit for the school and we have a fiduciary responsibility to the students in the community at large. I want to thank uh first off I want to thank Senator Duples and Representative Mayana for being here tonight. uh and I would ask that they continue to help us as we seek financial sustainability as a district. Um as I have said at many board meetings, it is my understanding that level one MFP in the state has been raised once in the last 16 years. So my hope is that the energy in this room will transfer not only from the people who are here but to Representative Maya to Senator Duplexus and all of their colleagues to increase level one MFP funding. We have just to go to go briefly into finances here. We have a stagnant level one of MFP. We heard from our CFO, Miss V, uh, over the last several months that we expect local revenues to go down because of tax collections. Uh, we had a settlement with the city that would bring us $20 million for our fund balance that was reneged upon. So we have all of these financial pressures on us as a district where we and I will point out that our district despite all those financial constraints is a B-rated district because of the work of the teachers and the families and the students in our schools. However, it would be much easier if those financial constraints were lifted in via help either from our state partners or our local partners. I also uh want to point out there are we as uh board president Bodwin you mentioned we will be back in this place in two years if we cannot address the enrollment issue there in addition to those budgetary headwinds that I mentioned there are also demographic headwinds we have lost 40,000 people in and we have lost 40,000 people in this city in the last four years if you look at birth rates Our birth rates are down over 800 uh just in the last five years. Those are future students for NOLA PS that will never be born because our birth rates are down. I'm just trying to explain to my colleagues and to our friends in the media and to the public here the pressures that this district is facing in terms of sustainability. So my point is we will be here. I I'm very grateful of everyone who has come forward with their time, with their talents, or with their funds for the continuation of this school, but we will be in this exact same place in December of 2027 unless we address the enrollment issue like you mentioned. We cannot run a school every year that loses money. It is not financially sustainable and it's not fair to the other 40 plus thousand students that we have. So, I want to I want to make sure that everybody in this room and Miss Emmes, you've mentioned it. I know other members that I've talked to who are in the audience are committed to continuing to grow the enrollment of the school. But I want to be very clear, unless we increase the enrollment of the school, we will be in this exact same place in November or December of 2027. Now I will we'll be in this exact same place two years from now because we won't have enough money to run the school is what I'm saying. So I entered this meeting I entered this meeting with the questions of do I believe that we can run the school in a way that does not impact our fund balance. I believe based on the comments from my colleagues that the answer is yes. Do I believe that we can run the school in a way where the community remains involved? Based on the conversations I've had with some of the folks who are in the room right now, I believe that answer is yes. Do I believe that Dr. Fulmore and her team can run a school that is deserving that our children deserve to attend. I I believe I believe the answer to that is unequivocally yes. We have the right people in place to make this school a success. But again, if this information or if this school continues to exist for the next two years, we will need this same amount of energy channeled into getting students into the building, getting the type of community involvement that Mr. Marshall has been talking about for years. We will need that for the ongoing sustainability of this school. Thank you. I just want to say board member Parker do not worry about that because one of the apherisms that was thrown out at the last meeting was if there's a will there is a way and there's definitely will and in that year my son will be enrolled at the school and I will make sure that parents my peers are enrolling their children as well. We will not be in this position in two years. I I want to I want to take I would be remiss uh if I didn't um commend Mr. Parker. he did a lot of work within the last few weeks trying to pull this stuff together uh for us. And um I appreciate what you did, but I also appreciate um uh board member Marshall and what he commented tonight. Uh those were very wonderful words to hear from him and I'm just glad that it looks like this entire board's willing to do the right thing and that is to make the amendment and to move forward. Thank you. Mr. Parker. Yeah, I did. I just want to add one quick very quickly because I know I've already spoken a lot. Um, in December, I mentioned that the reason to defer to a special meeting would be to give vice presidents, board member bureau, and other members of this board and of this community the time to run the school in a way that is financially sustainable. There was a lot of doubt when I brought that up as to my intent or as or to the board's intent, but I want to commend Vice President Emmes, board member bureau, and everyone for their work to make sure that we can get this school to a place of financial sustainability. And let's thank the uh Chase family and the Edmunds family for what they're doing because without those two families, we could not do this. And and I'll conclude by just I would like to once again as I've done at every meeting thank Dr. Fulmore, uh, CFO Naisha V, our chief enrollment officer, uh, Erin Savois, who have responded to all of the board's inquiries, who have, uh, diverted a lot of their time on other from other operations of the district to uh, make sure that we as board members have informed votes. So, Dr. Fulmore and your team, I want to thank you for your time on that as well. I'm gonna call for the question. Okay, seeing no further board comment. Okay, there's been a motion and a second. As a reminder, we are on the um amended substitute motion which would only have paragraph one of what is what I've read. Okay. All those in favor? I. Any opposed? Any abstension? Okay. The motion carries. Congratulations. Okay, moving now to our next action item. This is um resolution 01-26 regarding the TLC sustaining fund purpose and authority. It is recommended that the Orleans Parish School Board adopt resolution 01-26 concerning the TL school sustaining fund for the benefit of the Leah Chase school. Yes, so moved waving the reading of the resolution. Second. Okay, it's been moved by Mr. Zervagon, seconded by Mr. Parker. Um, is there any public comment on this item? Okay, seeing none, is there any board comment? No. Okay. Um, may I have a roll call, please? Miss Brown. Miss Bodwin. Yes. Miss EMS. Miss Biro. Yes. Miss Griffin. Yes. Mr. Marshall, I abstain. Mr. Parker? Yes. And Mr. Zervagon? Yes. The motion carries.

Okay, moving now to our next action item. This is um a donation from Mrs. Karen Azer Edmonds to the TL school school sustaining fund. It is recommended that the Orleans Parish School Board accept the donation from Mrs. Karen Azer Edmonds to the TL School TLC school sustaining fund in the amount of $2 million with the following restrictions. One, that the school board votes to keep the Leach school open for at least two more years. So the 2026 2027 and 2027 2028 school year that the donated funds can be used only to pay the operational costs of the Leah Chase school including but not limited to the salaries and benefits of teachers and staff, utilities, instructional materials, supplies, tutoring, and other existing costs. And three, that the school board shall provide to the public an annual accounting report detailing how these funds will be or have been spent. The first annual report shall be due May 31st, 2026. The second report shall be due May 31st, 2027. And the third report shall be due May 31st, 2028. May I have a motion to approve action item 2.3. So move second. It's been moved by Vice President Emmes and seconded by Miss Bureau. Um there are public comment cards on this item. Our first comment card is from Mr. Edmonds. And our second comment card is from Mr. Marshian. Chris Edmonds, 2029 South Carolton Avenue. My grandfather was Dr. Frank Oser. He grew up one block away from the Lechase School on South Carolton Avenue. He was an obstitrician who delivered thousands of babies across New Orleans. My mother feels very strongly that this school is working and she's prepared to write a check tomorrow, that we'll we'll go to the bank tomorrow. And thank you board members for all your hard work on this. Thank you, Superintendent, for all your hard work on this. Thank you to everyone here who's been speaking out in favor of this. Thank you to the Chase family. I want to do want to say one thing to Mr. Parker's point about enrollment. Between December 4th when there was all these concerns about enrollment and today, we have drastically boosted enrollment. We went from 87 applicants to 116 applicants and there's still two weeks left. We also learned that a lot of people that are supposedly applying out are actually people like my family who just have are creating backup plans in case the school closes. So the the the enrollment we're going to regardless of what happens we are going to people are going to come to that school. People know now the public knows that that these teachers are committed and that that school is working. We have the highest percentage of certified teachers of any school in the city. So, we we we're not going to be here in two years having this conversation because you're going to see you're going to see what happens in enrollment. Not just what's been happening over the past month, but over the next two weeks, y'all are going to see we are going to be here celebrating this school in two years. So, thank y'all for all your hard work and please vote to uh accept the money. Thank you. Our next comment card is from Mr. Percy Marchand. First of all, thank you guys for standing with us and voting to keep the school open. Uh, as a resident and a community leader at this point, I do have some concerns because every time I post about the Leo Chase school, every time we talk about it, you know, people say, "I had a half a million dollar deficit." Everybody's like, "So what? It just opened." Who are these people that are saying that we're not willing to pay for the our children's education? If it takes a deficit to go, we want it there. Here's the thing. We have a central office with over 200 staff. We have administrators making six figure

salaries. And I'm not trying to attack. I promise you I'm not trying to attack. I'm asking the question, if everything is charter, what is all this money being used for? And maybe you guys do a better job educating us and we'll understand why half a million dollars to educate over 300 students is too much, but millions and millions and millions of dollars to employ hundreds of staff members that we don't know what they're doing is not.

Okay, there are no further comment cards on this action item. Is there any board comment?

>> I would just like to uh thank the families. I've done that already, but again, I thank you very much and I thank you for your commitment to public education and to our first direct run school since uh Katrina.

>> Thank you.

>> Okay, seeing no. Oh, President Bowden,

>> I don't usually like to respond to comments, but I I I I don't want to disrespect the amazing work that's being done in this building every day by an incredible team of people who work really hard to make sure that every student in this city is getting the education that they deserve.

Okay, seeing no further board comments, there's been a motion and a second. All those in favor?

>> I.

>> Any opposed? Okay, action item

>> Oh, I'm sorry. one. Uh any abstensions myself? Okay. So the action item carries. Moving now to our next moving now to our next action item.

Um, this is a donation action item from the Edgar Dookie Jr. and Leah Chase Family Foundation to the TLC School Sustaining Fund. It is recommended that the Orleans Parish School Board accept the donation from the Ed Edgar Dookie Jr. and Leah Chase Family Foundation to the TLC School Sustaining Fund in the amount of $225,000 with the following restrictions. That the school board vote to keep the Leah Chase school open for at least two more school years, 2026, 2027, and 2027, 2028. That the donated funds can only be used to pay the operational costs of the Leia Chase school, including but not limited to the salaries and benefits of teachers and staff, utility bills, instructional materials and supplies, tutoring, or other existing costs. And three, the school board shall provide to the public an annual accounting report detailing how these funds will be or have been spent. The first annual report shall be due May 31st, 2026. And the second report shall be due May 31st, 2027. And the third report shall be due May 31st, 2028. I have a motion to approve. Um, this is newly numbered action item 2.5.

>> So moved.

>> It's been moved by President Bodwin and seconded by Mr. Zervagon,

>> I believe. Okay. Um, there is one public comment card on this item from U. Mr. Chase.

>> Thank you members of the board uh superintendent uh community. I really want to say thank you to all of you. Thank you for showing up when we ask. Thank you for showing up for these families. Thank you for showing up for these kids. But I want to make it very clear, today is just day one.

>> That's right. And we're going to address each and every obstacle and challenge as my grandmother would always dress them. We're going to overcome them all. Enrollment is just a small challenge. We're going to make sure there's more students that are on a waiting list to get into the school cuz we're going to address your concern that we're educating the whole student

>> and we're going to see the portrait of a student. We want to see a portrait of a student for New Orleans that not only represents the Lech school, but it represents our community. It makes us all proud. And I'll finish with a question. When we spoke at that school for my grandmother's birthday, this young man touched me. He said, "Would your grandmother be proud of the students at this school with this school being named after us?" And I said, "Would she not only be a proud of it, she would be right here fighting for each and every one of you all today?" Because this school represents who she was. A woman faced with so many obstacles. So many challenges, so many different diverse situations, but she overcame them all. And that's the values of the Leia Chase School. That's the values of this school system. So, we won't forget it. We're going to work hard each and every day to ensure that everybody, the families, the kids, and certainly the board members, and the superintendent are proud of us. Thank you.

>> Okay. Is there any board comment? Okay. Any board comment? Seeing none, there's been a motion and a second. All those in favor?

>> I.

>> Any opposed? Any abstensions? Okay. Action item 2.5 has been approved. Okay. Moving now to action item 2.6. Donation from the committee to elect Katrina C. Griffin to the TLC school sustaining fund. It is recommended that the Orange Parish School Board accept the donation from the committee to elect Katrina C. Griffin to the TLC school sustaining fund in the amount of $150. May I have a motion to approve action item 2.6?

>> Move.

>> Second.

>> I'll second.

>> It's been moved by Mr. Zervagon and seconded by Mr. Parker. There are no public comment cards on this action item. Is there any board comment, Mr. Parker? Just a quick point of clarification. We talking 150 or 150,000.

>> Never mind. All right.

>> We look at the chair.

>> Okay. Um

>> Miss B.

>> Uh Miss Bau.

>> Okay.

>> Um I I want to thank board member Griffin for her donation. Um and just for so the public is aware. So um I want to thank board member Griffin for her donation. And just so the public is aware, we're trying to wave policy so that we can more easily receive donations. So, I have a check in my purse written out today so that what once we wave this policy, we'll be able to receive donations and they won't have to be an action item. So, I have a check. Thank you, board member Griffin. And we will be able to receive more checks like Yes.

>> And I have already done my check.

>> Yes. And as I told board member Bro, my commitment was for a thousand checks in my pocket. Once we pass this policy, I'll be able to deliver it without us having to do a bunch of rigomearroll.

>> Okay. Anyone else? We're taking pledges while we're voting on the action item.

>> Okay. All right. Um, there's been a motion and a second. Um, all those in favor?

>> I.

>> Any opposed? Any abstensions? Okay. Action item 2.6 has been approved. Moving now to action item 2.7, temporary suspension of policy DFG, donations and gifts. It is recommended that the Orleans Parish School Board suspend policy DFG donations and gifts for the remainder of the 2025 2026 fiscal year and authorize the superintendent or their designate to accept without further board action gifts, grants, and donations in the following categories. Unrestricted monetary and inind gifts and grants and donations to the Leia School and the TLC school sustaining fund. Unrestricted monetary and inind gifts and grants and donations to the district that do not encumber a cost to the district. During the monthly finance update, the superintendent or CFO shall report on any and all donations received that month. May I have a motion to approve action item 2.7?

>> So moved.

>> Okay. Um Mr. Zervon, did you have a substitute motion on this item? You got to help me out because y'all were working on this for me to try to make sure we got everything procedurally right, legal, financially processed correct. So,

>> would you like me to read it?

>> Could you please do that for me now?

>> Okay. Um, OPSB for the public's awareness, OPSB policy DFG provides in part that the school board may accept and administer any donation that may be made to it for educational or literary purposes. And then goes on to provide that unrestricted donations may be accepted by the school board or any school subject to approval of the guidelines by the school board. OPSB does not currently have specific approval guidelines that it utilizes in place for administrative acceptance of unrestricted donations on behalf of the board and in practice the board approves each unrestricted donation regardless of the dollar amount. Given that there may be a ground swell of unrestricted donations in support of the Leah Chase school in the near term, it is the recommended uh this is a substitute motion of Mr. Observagant is recommended that the OPSB temporarily suspend through June 30th, 2026 the portion of policy DFG related to acceptance of unrestricted donations subject to the approval guidelines of the school board and authorize the superintendent or her designate to accept without further board action gifts, grants, and donations in the following categories: unrestricted monetary and inind gifts, grants, and donations of up to $5,000. to the Leah Chase school and the TLC school sustaining fund and unrestricted monetary and inind gifts and grants and donations to the district that do not encumber of up to $5,000 to the district that do not encumber a cost to the district. During the monthly finance update, the superintendent or CFO shall report on any and all donations received that month. Is there a second for the substitute motion?

>> Second.

>> Okay. Is there any There's no public comment cards for this action item. Is there any board comment?

>> Just uh for myself um submitting this. Yes. Anticipating we'd be here at this moment knowing that for example myself, Miss Bureau have contributions and why have to wait till our next meeting to approve it because we have to approve all kind of small donations and we don't have time for that. And so this sets the stage. We now have the resolution that provides that anything that goes to sustaining fund will only be used for the Leia school. We passed that tonight. That's now a certainty. And now we have that small donations can come in. The superintendent can collect them without further board action. The doors are open. Now we need everybody to contribute to the effort. We still need money to sustain the school. Even what we did tonight, what we have is about 300,000 short of the two-year projected potential deficit. What's more, every dollar we get can go to increased sports, arts, curriculum, support. So, it's not over. We need every contribution that any citizen would like to grant a personal meaningful amount. It's $10,10,000. So, I look forward to perhaps uh having that from everyone. Thank you.

>> Okay. Seeing no further board comment, um all those in favor?

>> I.

>> Any opposed? Okay. Action item 2.7 has been approved. Moving

>> before we move on to the next action item, um I'd like to give a point of personal privilege to Dr. Fulmore, please.

>> Thank you. I wanted to take this opportunity to say thank you to the Chase family, um to the Edmonds family, to all of the individuals in this room who have consistently showed up on behalf of the Leah Chase School and our children. Um to the incredible work of the staff that we are proud of every single day for all that they accomplish. Um to this board for working together on a decision that will serve our children well. Um this allows us to do so much more. Um I've always spoken from a place of vision and for what our children deserve and this is not the ceiling. Um we have things that we will do on this part. So, I'm not, you know, worried about, you know, the gap because we have um organizational efficiencies that we're going to do and that I have said from the beginning that I was committed to doing and will still do so that we can give the children um at the Leah Chase school the education that they deserve. And so, I thank the board for um supporting those efforts. And as I said from the beginning, I'm the superintendent for the whole district. And I show up every day for all 44,000 because every child in this city matters to me in the hopes and dreams of the family. So, thank you all for being part of that and thank you all for being part of our continued success at the Leah Chase School. Thank you.

>> Okay.

>> Thank you, Dr. Fog.

>> Moving now to action item 2.8, A closing school priority for New Harmony High. It is recommended that the Orleans Parish School Board wave the closing school priority language set forth in policy H that only includes grades K through 11 students without a guarantee due to a closure of an OPSB charter or direct run school to allow current New Harmony students who reside in Orleans Parish to receive closing school priority in the main round selections for the 2026 2027 school year. May I have a motion to approve action item 2.8?

>> So move.

>> But could you let them know that that's a

>> Okay. Um, it's been moved by Vice President Emmes and seconded by Mr. Parker. There is no public comment on this action item. Is there any board comment? Yes, Mr. Parker.

>> I just want Vice President Emmes. I think you're probably going to say the same thing. I just want to point out this is a type two charter school. It's not under the authorization of the Orleans Paris School Board. In the past, when a type two charter school has closed, we have extended closing school priority. I think it's the right thing to do, and I have no doubt that'll happen tonight.

>> Okay. Um, there has been a motion and a second. Um, seeing no further board comment, all those in favor?

>> I.

>> Any opposed? Okay. Action item 2.8 has been approved. Turning it back over to you, President Bodwin. I'm sorry. Um, I was just asking if there's um if Ed Navigator or anybody is helping with New Harmony with the parents and students with new Harmony. I don't know, but the sounds like the district is.

>> Yes, our team will have enrollment um we've been in contact with the leadership at New Harmony for enrollment engagement to support the families in Orleans Parish with selecting a new school.

>> Okay, great. Thank you. I know that's out of order. I was We were going fast. Okay. So, um the time is now 7:40. May I have a motion to move into executive session?

>> So, move second.

>> Second.

>> Um Okay. We will now all uh it's been moved and seconded. All those in favor?

>> I

>> I Any opposed? Okay. We'll now move into executive session. I don't know who moved Sorry. Um, okay. I am calling back to order the January 8th, 2026 Orleans Parish School Board Special Board Business Meeting. The time is now 8:31. May I have a roll call? Miss Bowwin,

>> present. Miss Emmes, Miss Bureau,

>> present. Miss Griffin,

>> Mr. Marshall,

>> Mr. Parker,

>> present.

>> Mr. Zervagon,

>> present.

>> Also present, Dr. Fatima Fulmore, Superintendent Ashley Harper, board council, you have a quorum.

>> Thank you. I will yield to board counsel to report on matters held in executive session.

>> Yes. Um the board had a status report in Orleans Parish School Board versus the city of New Orleans at all civil district court case number 2019-05174 injunctive relief.

>> Thank you very much. Um before we move on to adjournment, Mr. Parker has a point of personal privilege.

>> Yeah. Thank you so much, President Bodin. I'll go quickly because I know we've been here a long time and I wish that I had mentioned this when when the room was full, but I just wanted to extend our heartfelt thanks to the city council uh for their actions earlier today where they um you know they approved the funding, the Harris funding that comes to the school board for the Travis Hill School for students uh with significant challenges and for oh I always forget the third one. um uh truency our our our efforts to impact truency and so I just wanted to thank them on the record for that specifically council member King for his work uh liazing with Dr. Fulmore and with uh Mr. Mccoral and Miss Lond on this matter as well as our external partners. So I just wanted to say that uh it's you know roughly $4 million for kids who need it the most.

>> Wonderful. Here here. Okay, there are no further items on the agenda. May I have a motion to adjurnn?

>> So move.

>> Second.

>> It's been moved by Miss Griffin, second by Miss Bureau. All those in favor? I. Any opposed? The time is now 8:33. This meeting is adjourned.