After lengthy debate Wednesday, the East Baton Rouge Parish School Board agreed to renew five charter schools in Baton Rouge, in two cases overriding the recommendations to close the schools.
The charters for all five schools were set to expire at the end of this school year. Now, they will continue another three years, through summer 2026, except in BASIS Materra, which was extended through 2027.
Renewals for BASIS and South Baton Rouge Charter Academy were easiest since BASIS has a state-issued academic letter grade of a B and SBRCA has a C letter grade.
The schools that were most in jeopardy of being denied were IDEA Bridge and The Emerge Center for Autism. In both cases, Superintendent Sito Narcisse recommended that they be closed.
Narcisse said he "expects successful schools, full stop" no matter the type of school. While he's willing to work to help schools, that has limits.
"Any time we waste is not ours. It’s our children's,” Narcisse said. “And it could affect their future."
The charter school leaders, however, pointed to learning loss during COVID as key factors in their lagging academic performance.
Clifford Wallace, IDEA's executive leader for Louisiana, said IDEA Bridge was growing academically before the pandemic.
"(A renewal) will allow us to regain the momentum we had before the pandemic,” he said.
IDEA Bridge was ultimately renewed for three years as was its sister school IDEA Innovation. Both opened in 2018 and have grown fast. Innovation has almost 1,000 students and Bridge has almost 1,300 students, making them among the largest charter schools in the parish.
At the same time, both have struggled academically, especially during the pandemic. This past school year, they had almost identical school performance scores, but Innovation was 0.7 of a point higher, giving them a D, while Bridge remained an F.
“It’s a small numerical difference and for that reason I think a renewal (for both) is appropriate,” argued board member Patrick Martin V.
In the case of the Emerge School, Narcisse had a last minute change of heart and came out for a three-year renewal.
"There is a discrepancy of what is in their contract and how they assess their children," Narcisse said.
"With that metric, they will never see success,” he continued.
Deanna Whittle, chief executive officer of the Emerge Center, which oversees the school, said the district’s measurements contrast sharply with how it measures itself.
“Our children are progressing,” Whittle said. “It’s a data interpretation that is the issue.”
Emerge is a small school with less than 50 students in grades in kindergarten to three, so small that it doesn’t receive a school score. Instead, Emerge’s academic progress is based on special measures outlined in its contract.
Differences in interpretations were common Wednesday to the point that board member Mike Gaudet persuaded his colleagues to bring all five charter schools back in April to report on their progress in resolving their various disputes with the school district over where they are in compliance and where the district say they are not.
Lots of parents and faculty spoke Wednesday about the great things their school is doing.
“They entrust our kids because they know our mission is to get our kid to and through college,” said Brian Collins, a coach and teacher at IDEA Bridge, where he has been since the school opened.
Many of the faculty and leaders who spoke Wednesday, however, were new to their schools.
IDEA’s Superintendent Jeff Cottrill’s got an earful.
Board Vice President Carla Powell urged him to get his team in place and not bring new faces the next time.
"Superintendent, we still want to see you,” Powell said. “Principal, we still want to see you. Executive directors, we still want to see you. That’s how you grow your school."
Board member Cliff Lewis also addressed Cottrill.
“Both of your schools are on life support from where I am sitting,” Lewis said.
Board President Dadrius Lanus had similar sentiments.
"If you come back in three years and we have the same issue, for me it’s not even a discussion,” he said. “I’m voting no. Because our kids don't have time to figure this out."