OneApp program still riddled with challenges, parents say
30th July 2018 · 0 Comments
By Ryan Whirty
Contributing Writer
With the new school year starting and the July 1 deadline for completing the historic merger with the Recovery School District and the Orleans Parish School Board passed and in the books, OPSB officials say parents, students, families and other concerned members of the community can enter the new era of unification with peace of mind.
However, at least one community advocate and parent asserts that the problems that traditionally have plagued New Orleans public schools still linger, often painfully for many families.
“People are not happy,” said Ashana Bigard, a local writer and community organizer. “Things are not changing. Things are staying the same.”
Still, even with all the controversies that have dogged the School Board as unification approached – including problems with the OneApp school registration process, uncertainty about settling on faculty and staff, and a belief held by some in the community that the OPSB has been unresponsive to concerns from the public – the OPSB believes that everyone involved can move forward with confidence.
With unification completed, officials say, the future is now.
“Parents and families do not need to worry,” the OPSB said in a statement to The Louisiana Weekly. “Unification establishes the OPSB as the primary governing authorizer for public education in Orleans Parish. This role allows the Superintendent to recommend and implement charter approvals, extensions, renewals, closures, monitoring and intervention. “While there has been a ton of work going on behind the scenes, the transition for families and students will feel seamless. The Superintendent and Administration will work together to ensure families have access to a diverse set of school options through a clear and fair process.”
After the devastation of Hurricane Katrina nearly 12 years ago, the Recovery School District was tasked with handling the education and administrative crises that resulted from the storm and ensuing flooding. The RSD assumed control of dozens of OPSB facilities to assist in the recovery after Katrina, a move that established the RSD and OPSB as two linked but parallel agencies governing New Orleans public schools.
A deadline of July 1 of this year was established to cap off and complete the unification between the two systems and OPSB’s assumption of complete control of all schools and facilities.
Before the merger, the OPSB oversaw 41 schools; now that unification is complete, the School Board governs 78 facilities – including 75 charter schools, two direct-run schools and a school with two educational programs for students in secure care facilities – across Orleans Parish. The OPSB is a locally-elected board that now oversees a sprawling system of schools within the Orleans Parish school district; the facilities are varied in their mission, focus and strengths.
“Unification is a major milestone for the New Orleans community and we at the school board are ready,” OPSB President John A. Brown Sr. said in a recent press release. “Now, the district will be the key government institution with an elected board that will serve as an honest steward of public money, overseeing a unified system of schools.”
The merger of the two systems has earned the confidence of many state officials as well, including State Sen. Karen Carter Peterson, who authored the 2016 legislation that, upon successful adoption, re-established OPSB oversight over all Orleans Parish public schools.
“I am very excited about the return of schools to local oversight,” Peterson said in a statement. “I am confident in the Orleans Parish School Board and the administration, under the leadership of Superintendent [Dr. Henderson] Lewis [Jr.]. “I know they are working hard every day to provide our children and families with an equitable and innovative system.”
A key facet of, and source of public concern during, the unification process has been the implementation of OneApp, a common enrollment process in which all Orleans Parish students are able to apply to attend all participating schools.
Under unification, OPSB assumes all responsibility for running OneApp from the RSD. The recently-created Office of Student Access manages the OneApp program and, OPSB officials say, will assist parents as they proceed through the application and enrollment process. However, glitches with the OneApp program – including user problems with accessing and completing the process, and parental and student dissatisfaction with the fairness and equitable distribution of the enrollment methods – have been a thorn in the sides of many parents and families, some of whom have been vocal in voicing their concerns.
However, OPSB told The Louisiana Weekly in a statement that parents can be assured that OneApp and the EnrollNOLA school sign-up program are functioning smoothly and working to maximize parental and student choice, which has been one of the primary goals of the unification process.
“Under a unified system of schools, the OPSB will work to protect parental choice and ensure that the enrollment process continues to improve,” OPSB said. “The EnrollNOLA system is data driven, with equity and student safety as our top priorities. We know that the demand for certain seats significantly outweighs the supply, and we are working hard to improve the quality of all schools.”
To that end, the OPSB on July 2 released the results of the second round of applicants for placement in a school. Round 2 followed a Main Round of application and resulted in 90 percent of applicants being either assigned to a preferred school or returned to the school seat they held after the Main Round.
According to OPSB figures, a full two-thirds (67%) of Round 2 applicants received an assignment to a new school they listed on their application. Many facilities had filled all available seats during the OneApp Main round, leaving the schools with very low match rates during the second round.
OPSB officials say the Web site EnrollNOLA.org helped applicants find out the seat availability of their preferred school.
But Bigard said her own experience with her children, as well as the issues other parents have faced, show that the OneApp system – as well as OPSB officials’ alleged lack of responsiveness and transparency – is still flawed, despite official school district statements to the contrary.
Bigard said she’s applied for her daughter’s placement in Audubon Montessori for three straight years but remains unable to secure her daughter a spot at the Gentilly charter school.
Bigard also related the challenges of several of her friends, including one who’s been unable to transfer all three of her kids together to a better school, and another friend who’s gone around in circles attempting to place her kids in a quality pre-K. Bigard said pre-K placement has been a particularly difficult challenge for parents she knows.
Bigard asserted that many of the highest-quality schools either filled up quickly or have been separated from the OneApp program, often requiring families to apply for preferred schools a year or more earlier.
She cited the experience of one friend in particular, who says she was assured by OPSB officials that her two kids, who were unable to find a school during the Main Round of the OneApp program, would be able to get placed during the second round. That didn’t happen, Bigard said, leaving her friend’s children still without a school in July, with the academic year rapidly approaching.
Such a case is far from unusual, Bigard said.
“It’s almost the start of school,” she said, “and we’re basically just gambling [on placement].” She added that many families effectively have much less school choice than board officials are letting on. Often, she said, students are turned away by already-filled, top-quality facilities – especially high schools – and are forced to attend lower-quality schools that frequently lack quality music or art programs, adequate busing systems, full-time nurses, effective pre-K classes or even fully-representative racial ratios.
“The majority of parents,” she said, “myself included, would like to send our children to a quality school in their neighborhoods, but we can’t. “How much choice do we really have?” she added.
In addition, she charges that OPSB officials have been unresponsive to or deflective of people’s concerns, saying a lack of official accountability still plagues the system.
“They’re about impossible to get ahold of,” she said. “I’m so tired of people giving us sub-quality schools but telling us it’s all quality,” she said.
Families who need help accessing or understanding their Round 2 results may call or visit a Family Resource Center (FRC): 877-343-4773 | oneapp@opsb.us | www.En-rollNOLA.org. Monday through Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m.
For each school’s applicant priority information: https://enrollnola.org/k12. For more information on how OneApp works: www.enrollnola.org/about/enrollnola-oneapp. For additional general information about New Orleans school, visit www.opsb.us and OPSB Facebook and Twitter (@_OPSB).
This article originally published in the July 30, 2018 print edition of The Louisiana Weekly newspaper.
