Petition the Plan

Jean Gordon Elementary School, originally uploaded by regional.modernism.

Eli Ackerman has been blogging the School Facilities Plan here. He writes:

As of this moment, the Orleans Parish School Board and the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education are scheduled to vote on the master plan within days though the plan was released in the midst of Gustav panic and is close to 2000 pages. The case for extension of the public comment deadline based on the insufficient amount of time the public has had to review and provide comment would be plenty compelling by itself. Yet, disturbingly, we've learned that some members of the Orleans Parish School Board, who are, and I can't stress this enough, directly responsible for the approval or rejection of an absolutely critical guiding master plan, HAVE NOT READ IT THEMSELVES.

The public comment period on the plan currently ends October 1, 2008. Save Our Schools New Orleans has created an online petition to extend the public review period to January 1, 2009. Please sign this petition.

We the undersigned urge you as our local and state public education leaders to extend the Orleans Parish Schools Master Facilities Plan Public Review & Comment Period for an additional 90 days to January 1, 2009.

There is magnificent descent and confusion within our community regarding this recently released document and we citizens must have the extended period in order to hold meaningful conversations within our own groups and with planners so as to make informed decisions regarding our thoughts on the plan. Furthermore, the current sitting OPSB only has 2 members seeking reelection, therefore we feel that the newly seated OPSB members will need to hear our well thought out concerns and suggestions regarding the plan as they will be the body that we will hold accountable for the implementation in the years to come.

In closing, we urge each member of the Orleans Parish School Board and LA Board of Elementary & Secondary Education to postpone your vote to approve the current Orleans Parish Schools Master Facilities Plan until after January 1, 2009. Thank you in advance for your support regarding the concerns of New Orleans citizens.

OUR Schools. OUR Future. OUR Plans.

Rabouin High School (LAND BANKED by SFMPOP)

Rabouin High School, E.A. Christy, architect, 1936, photo: Mara Saxer. Originally uploaded by regional.modernism.

What is land banking? In the case of the School Facilities Plan for Orleans Parish, the term has not been adequately defined. Generally, a "land bank" is the land that a builder or developer has that is available for development.* Over fifty school facilities are slated for "land banking" in the plan, although the fate of the facilities is not specified, some may be sold to developers for adaptive reuse, others may be demolished. What is the fate of Rabouin? McMain? Audubon Charter Extension? Green? McDonogh City Park? All of these schools (and more) are slated to close in later phases of the plan. Will they be demolished? Converted into condos? Why do the planners want to close these schools?

Tonight's the night. The first of only two public meetings on the plan will be held Thursday 9.18.08 at 5:30 pm at McDonogh #35 Auditorium, 1331 Kerlerec Street. The public comment period has been extended to October 1, the date of the second and final public meeting.

email comments to: masterplan@rsdla.net

Farnsworth House Flooded

farnsworth house 2, originally uploaded by 33 and a Third.

Unreal. So absorbed in our local natural and political disasters, I almost missed this story. Mies van der Rohe's Farnsworth House was inundated with floodwater from the Fox River due to Hurricanes Ike and Lowell. See: Preservation Nation and http://www.farnsworthhouse.org for more details.

ATTN :: Architects

Phillis Wheatley School, originally uploaded by regional.modernism. Photo: Frank Lotz Miller

You have until October 2, 2008 at 2pm to submit a Statement of Qualification to the Recovery School District to participate in the first $700 million phase of the School Facilities Master Plan.

see: Louisiana Department of Education Bids (LaPAC)

Public Notice-Invitation for New School Design Services

The Recovery School District is seeking Statements of Qualifications (SOQ) from highly qualified Architecture and/or Engineering Firms interested in providing complete Design Services for:

NEW SCHOOLS IN ORLEANS PARISH; NEW ORLEANS, LA
FOR THE NEW ORLEANS RECOVERY SCHOOL DISTRICT
Solicitation No. 2008-05

Statements of Qualifications shall only by submitted on Recovery School District Standard Qualifications Form RSD-AE dated 08-08. A sample form is attached and an electronic file is available on the Department of Education’s website at:

http://wwwprd.doa.louisiana.gov/osp/lapac/bidlist.asp?department=14

In addition to the above website location, interested firms may obtain an official Request for Qualifications (RFQ) package from:

Recovery School District
c/o JACOBS/CSRS Program Managers
Attention: Stacey Rayford
909 Poydras Street, Suite 1200
New Orleans, LA 70112
(504) 592-0155
rayford@csrsonline.com

Only those firms that have obtained the official RFQ package for this solicitation from the Recovery School District or from the Department of Education will be considered by the RSD A/E Selection Committee.

The original and five (5) copies of the Statement of Qualifications Standard Form RSD-A/E, dated 08-08 shall be delivered to Ms. Patti J. Wallace; Director of Purchasing and Contracts; 1201 North 3rd Street, Room 5-242; Baton Rouge, LA 70804.

Prime consultants must use the Standard Form RSD-AE Prime dated 08-08. Only Prime Consultant forms will be required for submission. Statements of Qualifications for this project will be accepted until 2:00 P.M., Central Standard Time, October 2, 2008.

Statements of Qualifications that have not been received by the above aforementioned deadline date and time will be rejected. Additionally, failure to submit all of the information on Standard Form RSD-AE dated 08-08 shall be considered non-responsive and may result in the Qualifications Statement being rejected.

The Recovery School District is an Equal Opportunity Employer. Therefore, all respondents are encouraged to utilize minority participation to the extent possible through the use of small, disadvantaged, and women-owned businesses as suppliers or sub-consultants.

Updates, changes, amendments, and answers to questions to this Solicitation will be posted to Department of Education website listed above.


Lest we forget, the School Facilities Master Plan is still under review. We just lost a solid week due to Hurricane Gustav. The Governor has declared another state of emergency due to the threat of Hurricane Ike. One would certainly hope the Orleans Parish School Board will extend the period for public comment, which currently ends September 19.


Please email your comments on the plan to masterplan@rsdla.net

Save Neighborhood Schools

francis t nicholls public high school, originally uploaded by anthonyturducken.

Douglass High School, 3820 St. Claude Avenue, E.A. Christy, architect, 1940. Non-federal PWA Project. Currently open. Scheduled to close in 2011.

The School Facilities Master Plan for Orleans Parish is available online, but since it encompasses over 2000 pages, I've had trouble assessing the plan in digital format. There are supposedly copies in the libraries, but not at the branches Uptown. Plus, I'd like to have my own copy to really dig into it. So I was initally pleased to hear the plan was available for purchase at Letterman's Printing. (504) 821-9997

But I was not prepared for the sticker shock. The Blueprint ($118) requires color printing, as it includes maps of the current situation and phases of the plan. The supplementary material printed in in black and white more than double that cost (Educational Program Requirements $18, Building Standards $23 and the 1400 page Building Assessments $97).

A $700 million plan in phase one. Fifty-sixty-something schools landbanked. And they can't give every neighborhood group and school that requests one a copy of this plan?

from today's Times-Picayune. Letter to the Editor

Re: "Mid-City residents criticize school plan," Metro, Aug. 23.

The Recovery School District plans to close and "landbank" Dibert Elementary School in Mid-City and leave Morris F.X. Jeff closed. I urge the RSD to reconsider their decision.

Both school buildings are very similar to the Andrew Wilson School building in Broadmoor, which is being renovated. They are no more obsolete than the buildings that house the Lusher charter schools, Audubon Montessori, Arthur Ashe and other schools Uptown.

Paul Vallas, the RSD superintendent, was quoted as saying that the RSD wants "to build a brand new school on a larger site that can serve more kids." Smaller schools may be a better option, though, because they provide a close community of students, parents, teachers and support staff.

My children attended Dibert Elementary School in the 1980s and early 1990s. Children from the neighborhood as well as those from other neighborhoods benefited from the strong academic program, the emphasis on the arts, the proximity to City Park and the close and diverse community that developed at the school.

The RSD should let Dibert remain open and renovate Morris F.X. Jeff.

Patricia Roger

New Orleans

Banksy's in the House

gray ghost, originally uploaded by toaminorplace.

and here and here and here

Eleanor McMain High School (THREATENED)

Eleanore McMain Secondary School, originally uploaded by anthonyturducken.
5712 South Claiborne, E.A. Christy, architect, 1930

At the Orleans Parish School Board meeting last week, Una Anderson questioned the logic of a plan which would close both Cohen and McMain High Schools uptown.

"That's all of Uptown without a single high school except for Lusher High, " she said.

The School Facilities Plan calls for shrinking the number of high school sites, but increasing the size of the new campuses. The plan aims for sites of at least 10 acres for high schools.

School Facilities Master Plan:
Currently: Open (7th to 12th).
Phase 1 proposal: Will close in 2012
New location undetermined; possible location is site of renovated Booker T. Washington.

To comment on the school plan email: masterplan@rsdla.net