NOLA-PS Superintendent’s Facility Renaming Recommendations Will Head to OPSB for Final Vote Thursday
(New Orleans – June 8, 2021) – Today, NOLA Public Schools (NOLA-PS) Superintendent Dr. Henderson Lewis, Jr. presented his list of recommendations for the renaming of several public school buildings to the Orleans Parish School Board's (OPSB) Committee of the Whole for consideration. The committee unanimously voted to accept the list and placed it on the board's business meeting agenda for Thursday, June 10, for a final vote.
The recommended names were presented as follows:
After the initial list was presented to the public, two more facilities were identified as being named for slave owners. These are Fisk-Howard Elementary School and Bienville Elementary School, both of which have been closed since 2006.
Additionally, NOLA-PS is recommending that OPSB assign numbers to three surplus or vacant facilities until it is determined how the buildings will be used.
Dr. Lewis' recommendations took into consideration three months of public input through email, mail, and virtual public meetings.
Public input during this effort also brought attention to six more facilities that do not violate the School Board policy, but may benefit from renaming. These recommendations will be presented for consideration during the July OPSB Meeting. The administration welcomes public feedback on the proposed list below through July 29. Feedback can be provided via: https://nolapublicschools.com/renaming and during the OPSB's board meeting July 29.
Nearly a year ago, NOLA-PS outlined a plan to rename school facilities in response to recent public requests and in accordance with policy approved by the OPSB to ensure school facilities do not have names honoring figures from our painful past. The board believes all schools should be welcoming, inclusive, and inspiring places for all students. Our goal is to ensure the names of these physical school facilities and the people that we honor reflect the values of the school district.
As their policy states, the OPSB is fundamentally opposed to retaining names of school facilities named for persons who were slave owners, confederate officials, or segregation supporters.
The OPSB shall have sole authority to name or rename any school facility (i.e., school campuses, individual buildings, athletic fields, stadiums, gymnasiums, libraries, fields, tracks, and multipurpose rooms) private drive, or street it owns. Public input has been a vital part of this process. The full Naming of Facilities policy can be found here.
It's important to note NOLA-PS has the authority to change the outward facing name on any of its buildings. However, it cannot change the program name designated by a Charter Management Organization (CMO). CMOs are autonomous and are governed by their own boards and leadership. Therefore, for example, the OPSB could change a school building's physical name to read Nelson Mandela School. But, if the CMO chooses to keep its program name, the school's official name would be titled as follows: "McDonogh 7 Charter School at the Nelson Mandela building."
The renaming process was guided by a Renaming Committee. In accordance with OPSB policy, this committee consisted of a school board member appointed by the OPSB president; a representative of the NOLA-PS administration; and community members approved by the superintendent.
For more details about the renaming initiative, visit: https://nolapublicschools.com/renaming
###
About NOLA Public Schools: NOLA Public Schools is the public school district for Orleans Parish. It includes the district's administration and elected school board, known as the Orleans Parish School Board. NOLA Public Schools currently oversees 76 public schools and is led by Superintendent Dr. Henderson Lewis, Jr.
For more information, visit www.nolapublicschools.com. For updates, follow NOLA Public Schools on Facebook @NOLAPublicSchools, Instagram @nolaps and Twitter @NOLAPSchools.