Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Charter School for Sci Tech, an F-rated K-12 charter school in the Lower 9th Ward, is at risk of closure after it did not meet the school district’s standards for an automatic renewal of its charter.
The school, operated by Friends of King Schools, is the only public school in the Lower 9th Ward. It has an elementary campus on Caffin Avenue and a high school campus on North Rocheblave Street at the former site of Alfred Lawless High School.
Thirteen charter school contracts were up for renewal this fall, but all except King were automatically renewed based on academic, financial and organizational standards. Instead, the school was offered a “comprehensive” renewal, which includes a deeper data dive, a school visit, a school-wide survey and a public hearing, where the school can make its case to NOLA Public Schools.?
In 2021, then-superintendent Henderson Lewis granted the school a three-year “contingent” contract renewal. At the time, King had violated district policy by improperly completing employee background checks and failed to provide federally required special education services, district officials said. All of those issues have since been resolved.
Still, the school has low academic marks and dwindling enrollment. School leaders have said the lackluster academic performance was partially because of a wave of teacher retirements and student mental health issues.
NOLA Public Schools Superintendent Avis Williams will make a recommendation to the Orleans Parish School Board on the school’s fate at a meeting on Dec. 10. The Orleans Parish School Board will ultimately vote to approve or reject the recommendation.
Rafael Simmons, Chief Portfolio Innovation and Accountability Officer for the district, said King school leaders will be notified of the decision a week before the meeting and families will be notified three days before the meeting. If a school isn’t renewed, it continues operating as usual until the end of the school year.
Friends of King makes a case
At a public hearing on Monday evening, King's leaders made their case to Williams and the school board.
In 2023, the school received an “F” letter grade from the state, down from a “D” the year before. The state has not yet released grades for 2024.?
Simmons said the school’s high school students are performing well below the district average on state standardized tests, ACT scores and other measures.?
Steve Martin, King's test coordinator, cited nationally lagging test scores, student mental health crises, more rigorous academic standards set by the district and a “shift in student population."?
Martin said there have been academic improvements, including to the school’s progress index, which measures how students grow academically over time. The school also has a successful nursing program and the only e-sports school program in New Orleans. And NOLA Public Schools hasn't dinged King for any violations since its 2021 renewal.?
Williams questioned the school's low enrollment, particularly at the high school, which only has about a quarter of its seats filled. Almost 30% of students at the elementary school come from the Lower 9th Ward but only 15% of high school students come from the neighborhood, Williams said.
She noted that 469 total high school-aged students live in the neighborhood but most choose to attend different schools around New Orleans, including Warren Easton Charter High School, G. W. Carver High School and McDonogh 35 Senior High School.
Sylvia Arcenaux, King's operations manager, said parents choose other schools in part because of poor infrastructure in the neighborhood, including unreliable public transportation.?
School employee Marianne Lemle said that a wave of longtime certified teachers retired during the pandemic and the school has struggled to recruit replacements.
Community input
Several community members urged the board to renew the school’s charter.
Rev. Willie Calhoun Jr. praised the school’s criminal justice academy and forensic lab and said "there should not be any question of the continuation of this school in the community."
Valeri Bocage, a Lower 9th Ward native who runs a nonprofit called Powerful Women International Connections, said King's students are happy and polite during her visits to the school.?
“This staff, you walk in and they touch your heart,” she added.
Wesley Bishop, a former state senator who is director of policy and governmental affairs for New Orleans City Council member Oliver Thomas, noted King is the only school in the neighborhood and that there are ongoing efforts to rebirth the Lower 9th Ward.
"I don't think you can do that while having no school in the Lower 9th Ward," he said. "It's critical."