An all-boys charter school in New Orleans will shut down at the end of December, forcing about 100 students to change schools mid-year.
Nola.com reports that the Delores Taylor Arthur School for Young Men will close on Dec. 31 after the school’s leadership agreed to stop operating the school, which the Orleans Parish School Board had sought to close because of serious financial challenges.
In a separate decision, the board also voted to close the Dr. Martin Luther King Charter High School for Sci Tech after the academic year ends in May. Operated by Friends of King, it is the Lower 9th Ward’s only public high school and has struggled with low enrollment and poor academic performance.
The board is allowing Friends of King's K-8 campus to remain open on a three-year contingent contract.
Two other charter schools in New Orleans will close at the end of the academic year: The International High School of Louisiana, which received a D grade from the state, and Noble Minds Institute, an F-rated K-8 school. The schools, which are overseen by the state Board of Elementary and Secondary Education rather than the Orleans Parish board, said they will voluntarily turn over their charters to the state.
The Orleans Parish School Board was ready to consider an “emergency suspension” of the Arthur School and force it to immediately cease operations. However, the Arthur School's board took action first and voted to turn over its charter on Dec. 31. The move follows months of financial struggles because of declining enrollment, the end of federal pandemic relief funds and a reduction in state funding,
The school’s founder and CEO, Byron Arthur, said the school’s board had explored several options to keep the school open, but each would involve layoffs and would “ultimately hamper, not help, the educational development of our young men.”
