New Orleans school officials will have more authority to shrink the school system in response to low enrollment under newly passed legislation that allows the district superintendent to shutter charter schools before the end of their contracts.
House Bill 1003, authored by state Rep. Aimee Adatto Freeman, D-New Orleans, also nixes the requirement that the district offer vacant school buildings to charter operators before selling or repurposing them, which should make it easier for the district to offload empty facilities. Gov. Jeff Landry still must sign the bill into law.
The New Orleans school system is comprised almost entirely of public charter schools, which have contracts allowing them to operate for three-to-10-year terms based on academic performance and other factors. The legislation gives the NOLA Public Schools superintendent legal authority to close the schools before their contracts expire if the school system has more seats than students. Some school board members felt that charter contracts prevents the superintendent from taking steps to right-size the district…