Orleans Parish school leaders address declining enrollment, which could lead to school closures or consolidations, with decisions expected later this year.
Larry Jackson, a 1980 graduate of Walter L. Cohen High School, shared his concerns about the potential impact on his alma mater.
“High schools are more than schools. They’re community. It’s the hub of that community. It’s where everything has taken place,” Jackson, of Walter L. Cohen Alumni & Friends, said. “It’s unfortunate. We’ve gotten to the point where now it’s transactional. We can dismiss it and erase it, but when you’re erasing and dismissing it, you’re erasing and dismissing the entire culture and community.”
While no official announcements have been made, analysis presented to the Orleans Parish School Board in February and comments made since have left him uneasy.
“It’s unfortunate we don’t have full transparency,” Jackson said. “This is something that’s been brewing for quite some time. You don’t have to wait till Nov. 15 to come out and say that ‘I’m going to recommend this school for closure. I’m going to recommend that school closure.'”
District 6 School Board Member Carlos Luis Zervigón said the district is following its policies and legal requirements, with enrollment numbers set to be finalized in October.
“It’s within the realm of possibility that the superintendent can find that we are not in a state of overcapacity based on the criteria we set in the policy,” Zervigón said. “I don’t think that’s going to be true. I think that we are, but I can’t speak for sure.”
Zervigón said this is about setting the district up for success in the future.
“You have to make the hard decisions now if you expect to have prosperity later, or we’ll end up like we did before Katrina, where we don’t have enough money to maintain our buildings and to support school success,” Zervigón said. “I, for one, will never allow that to happen.”
School Board Vice President Olin Parker said at a meeting Thursday this is largely a population issue.
“It’s not that students are leaving for other options, it’s that students simply were not born, and you cannot educate a kid who’s never been born,” Parker said.
Jackson said if his school’s future is at stake, he won’t go down without a fight.
“We’re talking about young people’s lives,” Jackson said. “We’re talking about families, uprooting families.”
If the superintendent confirms in November the district has too many seats and not enough students, a list of potential school closures or combinations will be presented to the board in December, with a vote to follow.
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