Uh, roll call, please. >> Roll call. Mr. Appel. Mr. Appel. Present. Dr. Armstrong. Dr. Armstrong. Present. Mr. Berkin. Mr. Berkin. Present. Mr. Gal. >> Mr. Gal. Present. Mr. Castile.
>> Here. >> Mr. Castillo. Present. Miss. Champ. >> Here. >> Miss. Shapon. Present. Dr. Clark. >> Dr. Clark. Present. Mr. Harris. here. >> Mr. Harris, present. Mrs. Holloway. >> Miss Holloway absent.
He's coming back. Okay. Miss Meering. Miss Meering absent. Mr. Harris, I'm sorry, Mr. Mars. >> Mr. Mars, present. We have a quorum. >> Great. Thank you. Our next item, please. Your first item is on page three, item
2.1, consideration of educational choice and key performance indicators. The recommendation is to receive. >> May I get a motion, please? Mr. Harris moves. Mr. Appel seconds. Uh, and I think we have a presentation. >> Presentation. Thank you, Mr. Castile.
Good afternoon. Mr. Bradford and board member. Move >> that microphone real close to you. >> Real close. There we go. And is this presentation Thank you. Good afternoon, Mr. Bradford and board members. This afternoon, I am
happy to share the key performance indicator update from the Office of School Choice focused on educational choice for students and families. As a body, you believe educational freedom opportunities in Louisiana should be abundant for families and your
policy seek to expand choice options and remove barriers to accessing innovative learning environments and models that make the most sense for families. The key performance indicator is to reduce the percentage of students attending
failing schools by one percentage point annually. As we discuss the key endeavors driving our work, remember to take into account the relationship between all of our KPIs and the historic education progress
across our state. our early childhood, educator effectiveness, diverse learners, assessment, accountability, analytics, federal programs, recovery school district, and of course, teaching and learning work to continue the story
of excellence and reduce the number of S schools across the state. Bringing your attention to the two 2026 office of school choice KPI grant. The first data metric focuses on the continuous decline of students enrolled
in F schools. During the 2223 school year, 6.7% of students were in F schools. There have been consistent reductions each year. A remarkable 4.7% reduction over the last four years
brings us to 2% for the 25 I'm sorry. Yes. Good. All right. A remarkable 4.7% reduction over the last four years brings us to 2% for the 2526 school
year. Though we celebrate meeting our goal, we are nowhere near satisfied. So now let's focus on our key endeavors. The work being done in the office of school choice and the measurable goals associated with the endeavors.
Increase the number of high quality charter seats through the CSP grant. Continue to provide tools, resources, and webinars to help local authorizers become high quality authorizers and experts in charter school governance.
Support schools and vendors participating in the LA Gator program through webinars, site visits, and the non-public council. Offer additional application periods for Bessie approved non-public schools. Collaborate with
partners to facilitate the launch of new charter schools in districts or communities with low performing schools, limited options, or with an interest in specialty charters. and to continue to
offer mid-year RFA process in order to increase the number of highquality charters in a state's portfolio. Endeavor one. Endeavor one is to increase the number of highquality charter seats through the CSP grant. The
charter schools program grant provides funding to assist the establishment of new charter school seats and in districts with communities with low performing schools, limited options, or an interest in specialty schools. As you
know, in September of 2023, the department secured $55.5 million CSP grant. Over a five-year period, we aim to add 5,000 seats at new, expanding, or replicating charters. So, let's take a
look at our progress thus far. In year 1, the grant established a goal of two awards and 400 seats. Our year three goal was to add an additional 1,200 seats. The department exceeded the goal
by 407% and added 2,950 seats. Endeavor two is to support charter schools in their execution of Louisiana's education priorities through the charter schools program supplemental
grant. The department successfully secured addition an additional $13.5 million to provide charters funding to focus on what matters most literacy numeracy readiness for college and
careers and consistent student attendance. The department held informational meetings and webinars prior to the release of applications and set a goal of 75% of charters applying for supplemental awards.
Of the 144 charters, 119 applied and received funding, reaching our goal of 110% of our goal. This chart provides the number of schools directing funds toward each initiative. Key focus
areas include the purchase of supplemental literacy and numeracy materials, the hiring of key personnel focused on literacy, numeracy or attendance, dual enrollment fees, and student internships.
Endeavor 3 focuses on the tools, resources, and webinars to help local authorizers become high quality authorizers and experts in charter school governance. The department set a goal to train 25 board presidents of
type 2 charters. The department met the goal and will train an additional six board member, six board presidents at its June 15th training session. In addition to board training sessions, the department continues to partner with
the National Association of Charter School Authorizers and local experts who provide charters with resources, professional development, and collaboration among opportunities targeted toward charter authorization.
Participating systems are eligible for micro grants and of course all are encouraged to participate in our monthly calls and technical assistance offerings. Finally, Endeavor 4 focuses on our
efforts to engage families and schools participating in the LA Gator program. The Louisiana Giving All True Opportunity to Rise LA Gator Scholarship Program provides eligible families with
educational scholarship accounts called ESAs. These accounts allow families to personalize their child's education using state funded accounts for school tuition and fees, tutoring, educational
therapies, textbooks, and curricula, dual enrollment courses, and uniform. Two key indicators of effectiveness in an ESA program are student retention and parent satisfaction.
The department set a goal of 90% of existing students reertifying to return during the 2627 academic year. We had 5,049 students reertify which
exceeded our goal of 5,500 5,27 students certifying. This slide provides a progression of the ESA program. As we transitioned from the Louisiana scholarship program to LA
Gator, you will find the number of applications received during the 2526 and 2627 year. The next slide breaks down the federal poverty levels of all eligible applicants for the 2627
year. As it relates to participating families during the 2526 school year, 96% of all students are at the 250% or below federal poverty level.
With respect to parent satisfaction, 2,77 families responded to the department survey. Key takeaways. 94% of families responded they were very satisfied or satisfied. The setting they
selected offered a high quality education. 90% of families responded they were very satisfied or satisfied. In the settings ability to support their child's unique needs, 96% were satisfied or very satisfied.
the setting provided safe and secure environment for their child. The department remains committed to high quality choice options to families and reducing the number of students in F schools. With the shifts to our
accountability system, we will monitor and reset our baseline as needed. Again, we are extremely proud of our growth as a state, but never satisfied. And at this time, I'll take any questions that you might have.
>> Great. Any questions, Mr. G? >> Uh, yes. I've been uh speaking to a number of superintendants as well as uh school administrators and uh the fear is the uh LA alligator
program will take money away from the public school system. Um how would you respond to that? I would say that the LA Gator program again is a choice option for families. And so families as as I mentioned in the
survey are looking for uh schools and settings that meet the unique needs of their students. And so what we would want to do it is not a public school versus a private school. It is meeting the need of the family. And if the
family is eligible and they make the determination that a particular school meets their child's needs and their child is going to be successful, then I think you have a happy constituent. >> Great. Thank you. Any other questions or comments from the board? We have one
public comment. Miss Corley, would you come back up, please? Good afternoon, Mr. Cwley. Please state your name and got three minutes. >> You going to limit me to three minutes, Mr. Castill? >> No, I will.
>> Okay. But thank y'all thank y'all for leaving me out of the memo for uh to wear my Sears sucker uh stuff today. Um, I think I think me and Miss uh Caroline Roman, we would have looked good in our sales sucker stuff today to represent with y'all. Oh,
I didn't get the memo. See, now I'm jealous. But, um, in all honesty, um, I believe in school choice and and I am, um, a person that believe that parents should have the right to choose. At one point, um, as a parent, at one
point, being totally honest with you, um, I used to wholeheartedly just want every child to go to a traditional public school system until I ended up having a nice conversation with Miss Caroline Roma and, uh, many other charter schools and started seeing the
work that some of them was doing and how it can actually benefit some of the children um, where they may not have been receiving services. Um, but the thing that I do see is with we're talking about the KPIs and the private schools. Um, a lot of our private
schools actually have a discrimination policy where they're open to discriminate against our children with disabilities from actually being able to attend their school um, and stay there. And and so um when I listened to her
speak about almost 17th um of the individuals that applied for LA Gator being awarded a scholarship. I did not hear how they actually came to the determination of who was selected to be
able to receive that scholarship to be able to go. Um also we did not talk about the duration of the time frame that the scholarship is actually open. As you know, the LA Gator scholarship portal is only open roughly about two weeks um for a family to apply. And that
information is not um disseminated out um in a very effective way considering that we still have parts of our state that do not have access to internet. So when I ask these questions, I ask them because there's nothing that I would
love to see more than to see the traditional public school systems be able to receive everything that's outlined in these KPIs for their underperforming schools, if not more. Um because there are parishes in our states that do not have a private uh private
school choice. They do not have a charter option. And so when we talk about underperforming schools, sometimes they're underperforming because they don't have a art teacher and that is being and they're being critiqued for that or because they're not having
access to music. And so I I just think that we need to really look at what those KPIs um and and how are we judging a school and and coming to the uh the decision on them being underperforming. Is it it? Because it's most of the time some of these underperforming schools
have certified teachers that are doing their absolute best and trying to help the children, but the children just not being provided the accommodations. And so I just hope that we can come to a meeting of the minds where we can actually provide the same resources
equitably and equally to all of the schools in our state. And I yield to the board. >> Thank you, Miss Corway. >> Thank you, Mr. Castillo. >> You're welcome. All right. Uh, there was a motion. Uh, there's no opposition. That motion
passes. Next item, please. >> Your next item is on page 21, item 3.1, consideration of a report report regarding types 2, four, and five, charter contract, and request for amendments. The recommendation is to
approve. >> All right. Um, and I get a motion to approve. Uh, Mr. Sam Morris moves. Dr. Clark seconds. Um is there a presentation with respect to this? We have one, two, three, four, five schools. Sh Clark, uh Academy of
Collaboration, Educ Collaborative Education, uh NMA, JCFA East, Academy of Classical Education at Cington. Uh we have a number of comment cards wishing to speak in favor if necessary. Um I
will call those names. Uh but I don't see any comment cards in opposition. Um is there any opposition to the board from the board? All right, I'll call these items for the record and when I call your name, if you wish to wave, let
me know. Otherwise, please come forward. Uh Dr. Cook uh supports the recommendation uh for Lafayette Charter Foundation, does not wish to speak. Laney Gamble supports the re recommendation, does not wish to
speak. Dr. Melissa How um supports the recommendation, will speak only if there are questions. Uh Mr. Carlos Sam, same thing, supports the recommendation, will speak only if there are questions. Miss Ashley Chavis, same thing. Supports the
recommendation. Miss Bridget Neland supports the recommendation. Uh wishes to speak. Do you want to speak? She waves. uh Miss uh Millie Harris O'Quan uh supports the recommendation as it relates to JCFA and will speak if
necessary, but she looks like she might uh wave. Uh Anna Katherine uh Laney um as it relates to JCFA supports the recommendation will speak if necessary. And Nicole Guadia
uh same thing will speak if necessary. Uh, everyone waves. Any objection from the board? That motion passes. Next item, please. >> Your next item is on page 61, item 4.1, consideration of overview,
presentations, and public input regarding Bessie authorized charter application proposals submitted in response to the 2026 charter school request for applications. The recommendation is to receive. >> All right, folks. Uh we have uh this
report to be presented. Uh Miss Gillson. Um I I'll entertain a motion first. Uh Dr. Armstrong moves. Mr. Harris seconds the motion. Uh Miss Gillson, you have the floor. >> Thank you, Mr. Castile. This uh
satisfies the requirement in bulletin 126 that for any charter application that we have, there's a presentation. This is a presentation that the two applicants will provide to you. This is not the Q&A uh part of the process.
However, if you have any questions, please reach out to us and we will connect you with the applicants. And we have two um applicants today, Great Hearts Lake Charles and Slaughter Community Elementary School. And we'll
begin with Great Hearts Lake Charles. Thank you very much, Mr. Castile. Thank you, Mr. Brumley. And thank you, board members, for letting us be here today for five minutes to talk about the Great Hearts Lake Charles charter application. I want to thank Miss Gillson um uh and the team for their support, technical
support in our application. Um and Great Hearts currently has a type one charter serving the Baton Rouge community. We're in partnership with EBR, Great Hearts Harvest. We're in our third year of operation and Great Hearts is the first
classical education charter model in in Baton Rouge and we want to take that model uh to Lake Charles for very distinct reasons. I can mention um my background. I'm the co-founder of Great Hearts. I was the principal of the first great heart school 30 years ago, a middle school basketball coach, teacher
of literature, philosophy, and history. and we just like to share a little bit about Great Hearts with you. Greatarts is a a nonprofit organization at every level committed to educating students for the lifelong pursuit of truth, goodness, and beauty as a classical
education provider. Truth. The goal of clear thinking is objective truth. The goal of a a life well-lived is goodness. Serving a goodness greater than yourself. The goal of our aesthetics, our relationships, and the arts is
seeking beauty, which unifies us all around those things that are lasting and true. So, this is the classical education we're offering in Baton Rouge. It's wellreceived. Uh we're offering it at 52 sites around the country as a nonprofit. We want to take it to Lake
Charles. There's no classical education provider in Lake Charles. And classical education should not just be for private school kids. It should be for all kids. inclusive, serving them all to the highest ability that we can. The Roosevelt said to educate a man's mind
but not his morals is to produce a menace to society. So great hearts, we're called great hearts because academic excellence combined with shaping the heart for things that are lasting and true. Moral education, we're not trying to just produce little
computers that can pass tests. We want to do a great job at that, but to serve the greater good with all their gifts and find their calling as young men and women as heroes. So that's why we're called Great Hearts. We're the fastest growing and largest provider of
classical education in the country, serving 52 schools and 30,500 students around the country. We're delighted to be in Louisiana. Uh classical education is one of the fastest growing market education reform sectors in the country.
20,000 kids in 1994 were getting a classical classical class education in this country. Today, it's 700,000 kids. Families want classical ed because of this digitized fast-paced world that covers up wisdom. Doesn't teach students to think and reflect. Not teaching them
what to think, but how to think. the earlier presentation on AI. In this generation, we need to teach kids to think clearly, to listen as well as they speak, to reflect deeply, to be wise. That's what families want. And they want
that character education to go along with academic excellence. So, that's why we're called Great Hearts, Shaping the Heart as well as the mind. It's a rigorous college education, collegebound education. Uh the great books we do that reading list. I can't wait to to share
our reading list with you. Our students read 100 underbridge classics of the western tradition before they graduate. A strong STEM focus. 60% last year of our high school graduates around the country went to STEM majors. Classical schools are great math and science
schools, not just the arts, not just the great books. Uh Latin, Greek, as well as modern European languages are offered. Tons of different differentiated support. We love being special education schools. We love having MTSS supporting
students that need to catch up so they can access this model. We teach Socratically at every grade level because students need to be able to converse, lead, and represent and defend their ideas with confidence. Every senior at our schools defends a senior
thesis before graduation. I've already talked about character education, but we're in close partnership with our families at every level. our target population in Lake Charles. By the way, Lake Charles is a fast growing market. Tons of industries moving there. Mr. Burkin knows this
well. It's a very dynamic place. They've added 5,000 kids in Lake Charles and Kaukashu Parish in the last six years. Kids are going there and growing there. Um, people are moving there. It's the highest percentage of homeschool population in the country. Typically, families after mom and dad get tired of
homeschool, they choose a classical school as their next choice. So that homeschool affinity in Kushu Parish tells us it's a good place to go. No classical education provider in Kushu Parish and there's very few charter schools. There's actually only one provider currently at three sites in
Kushu Parish under reppresented for school choice. Um we're going to mirror the parish uh and who we serve just like we do here in EBR. Um, and there's over 10,000 students who attend C, D, or F
ranked schools in Kushu Parish. Um, our teaching model will be wellreceived. We already have 400 students on our interest list. Just to close out here, a little bit about our model. Um, students read, uh, the great books, thousand hours spent in seminar before they
graduate. Uh, from Plato and Aristotle all the way through Doseski, Shakespeare, the founding fathers. And just to close with our academic results across our 783 seniors last year at GreatArts, an average ACT score 24.6.
These are not private school students. These are students from all backgrounds receiving these types of results. Academic excellence combined with character. Great hearts. So please consider our application in August if we make it to that point. And we want to come to Kashu Parish and do our very
best for families there. Thank you very much, Mr. test. >> Great. Thank you. Thank you for your presentation. Um, and we have one more presentation. And again, as a reminder to the board, this is not where where we ask
questions, but we just simply receive the presentations today. >> Good afternoon, Mr. Castile, Superintendent Brumley, board of members. We appreciate this opportunity to give a presentation on our proposed charter.
I am Deborah Chandler. I am the board chair at Slaughter Community Charter School. Every year that we wait to improve elementary income outcomes. Another group of children enters middle school already behind. At Slaughter Community
Charter School, we have proven that students can catch up and succeed. Today, only 37% of students entering our model at seventh grade demonstrate mastery in ELA and math. By 8th grade, that number grows to 49%.
Our school is A-rated. Our graduation rate is 92%. And our economically disadvantaged and minority students outperform state averages. But here's the problem. By the time many students arrive to us, years of opportunity have
been lost. And that is why we're here today. We are not asking Bessie to approve a new idea. We are asking you to allow a proven school to begin earlier where research tells us it matters most. Slaughter Community Elementary School is
designed to ensure that students achieve master mastery in literacy and numeracy before those achievement gaps become entrenched. We believe the most effective intervention is not remediation in middle school. It is prevention in elementary school. Today,
we'd like to show you how will build on a proven model, expand educational freedom for rural families, and create stronger outcomes for Louisiana students. The values that have driven SECS's model will build and expand
educational freedom for rural families and create stronger outcomes for Louisiana students. I apologize. The values that have driven SECS's success will guide SCES as well. Strong relationships, high expectations, family engagement, accountability, and a
commitment to ensuring that every student grows every day. Our proposal is also directly aligned with Louisiana's priorities. It supports the state's back to basics initiative, expands educational freedom for families, and increases access to highquality public
school options in a rural community where those options are limited. I'll turn it over to Stephanie Goodo, our administrator at SECS. Slaughter Community Elementary School is uh aligned in enrollment priorities
according to the racial, socioeconomic, and subgroup compositions of both East Fishana Parish and the state. We are committed specifically to enrolling a minimum of 54% economically disadvantaged, 44% minority, 10.9%
students with disabilities, and 1 and a.5% students that are English language learners. The anticipated impact is tremendous. As Deborah mentioned, 37% of the students come to the current charter school at a mastery level. Yesterday,
LDOE released the statistics for the K through3 literacy screening. East Fishana was at 60% benchmark and above. That's below the state average and below all of the parishes that surround us. There's clearly an academic need and we have 15 years of success and a proven
model. Our model is rooted in a community structure, which is why community is a part of our school name, personalized instruction, and close-knit relationships with our students. We have years of success, most recently,
three years of an A school rating. Our graduation cohort rate is 92% of the tops diploma path. That's nine points higher than the state average and seven points higher than the district. Additionally, our students are
outperforming state averages in math and ELA mastery at 15%. Our economically disadvantaged and black students are also outperforming state averages at 15%. We believe in what we're doing and we're confident that we can take this model
and apply it to the elementary level. And in doing so, we plan on using the same type of tier one curriculum that we have currently and a block schedule. These longer periods of time will allow us to have project-based learning, daily
instruction in all core subject areas with specific science of reading and phonics blocks. We also will have daily art, physical education, and what I believe is going to be the core of of this is a daily intervention model where
we will put together with our core teachers, a reading interventionist, a math interventions, and a robust special education department to use data-driven instruction from Mastery Connect, curriculum assessments,
and all of the metrics that we use to make sure that those remediation and intervention periods can both remediate and accelerate students where they are in that moment. And we can do that confidently with uh scaffolding,
flexible teaching, strong leaders, teachers, and a committed staff. Um in addition to all of these things, we'll have behavior supports, we will have family engagement, and again 15 years of community support behind our current school. We thank you so much for
the opportunity to share our vision with you to invest in students in East Fiana beginning in kindergarten so that we might impact them throughout high school and beyond. Thank you very much. >> Great. Thank you both. Uh we do have a
number of public comment cards, but first I'll uh yield to the board. Any uh questions or comments? And not necessarily of the presenters, but just making sure. Uh let me go through. I don't see any uh first and we'll have
because we have several I'll ask uh four of you to come up at a time. Uh the first is Tesha Neville uh representing East Louisiana Public Schools opposes to recommendation wishes to speak. Uh Richard Terrell opposes to
recommendation wishes to speak. Please come up. Dr. Toby Daspit opposes to recommendation. Uh wishes to speak and Elizabeth Arnold uh opposes to recommendation
uh wishes to speak. Good afternoon. My name is Kesha Neterville and I serve as a superintendent for East Luciana Public Schools. I am here with members of our board, staff, and community today to share our success story with you and to ask you to reject a charter proposal
that does not expand educational opportunity in our community. I am proud to lead a growing and successful school district. We earned a B- letter grade for the first time in the history last year and have maintained that B-letter grade this year. We have done this through a visionary school board,
intentional financial planning, and a shared commitment to executing the priorities of our district strategic plan. The purpose of each of these priorities is to expand high-quality choices of opportunities for families at all grade levels. But what I really want
to focus on today are our elementary schools that are laying the foundation to make this all possible, particularly Slaughter Elementary School. This is a growing school with visionary leaders, strong teachers, and supportive and satisfied families, which you'll hear from today. They are providing
highquality instruction and literacy and numeracy and individualized targeted small groupoup remediation and acceleration for all children starting in preK. This is a school community driven by their mission to meet the needs of each and every child. Let's be
careful about the context in which you are receiving this application. Last year, our locally authorized charter school that serves grades 7 through 12 requested a material amendment to begin to serve sixth grade. After a robust and positive discussion about how our district could offer that choice in a
way that would be sustainable for both parties, I exercise my authority as superintendent per board policy to approve this material amendment. Our locally authorized charter school declined this opportunity. Instead, they offered our school board an unsustainable and unfeasible proposal
for a charter school that would serve approximately the same number of students as our current Slaughter Elementary School without a clear commitment or track record of serving every child. After careful review, our locally elected school board unanimously rejected the charter proposal. Our board
did so because it did not expand opportunity. It does not prioritize interests of our students with the highest level of need and it threatens the financial sustainability required to continue to offer meaningful choice in our rural community. Now, you have a similar proposal before
you this this afternoon, a proposal to open a school with 490 students in a small town of only 1,035 people. And let's be clear about the practical consequences for our families that be if Bessie authorizes another charter right down the street from the current
elementary school. you would be diverting our community's tax dollars from a successful, locally governed school to a school that our community has not asked for that that our community would have little influence over and that would not have an
obligation to serve every child in the community. This would not be sustainable for either school and it would be our children who would pay the the greatest price price. I ask you to carefully consider the risk of our community. If you override our elected school
board's thoughtful decision, our community trusts us to be good stewards of our financial resources. As indicated by our recent renewal of sales and property taxes benefiting our schools, it would be unprecedented for Bessie to make a decision that would by 2028
divert about 43% of funding from the locally elected school board of a successful and growing district. By authorizing this school, you would be fracturing our community's limited resources without expanding choice and quality for our families.
East Shana Public Schools is a model of how to expand opportunity in rural communities. By approving this application, you are at best interrupting and at worst devastating East Public Schools success story. A success story that has created meaningful opportunity and choice for
every child and every family. Please let the people of East Luciana Parish continue to write our success story. Please reject this proposal and thank you so much for your attention and your time. >> Mr. Castile, >> could I ask a question? >> Yes.
>> Yeah. Superintendent, I appreciate your testimony and frankly impressed you have a B school district. Um but my question is um you have a B school district. The the application as you said is for 400 seats.
Why do you have a concern that the parents would leave your school system and go to another school system and those 400 seats would actually be filled? >> So, my concern is not that the parents would leave. My concern is that there is choice being provided to families that did not request that choice. These families, as you'll hear from a couple
of parents today, are happy with the school that we have in that community. And we are now considering a proposal for a school that is right down the street. It's literally less than a mile away. Um, it really just creates controversy in the community and
uncertainty in the school system. It creates questions where there are no questions. >> So, you have no reason to think that they would leave them. >> I don't unless there is something that is shiny and glittering like a new building um that is being which is what
is being proposed. Um, people jump to things that um are new that are shiny. Would you take a 1975 Buick or over a 2000 car? some people would. Um, and that's that's what I think the reality of this is in a small community. Um,
people have limited resources. We have limited resources as a as a as a school system, and we're trying to do the best that we can with what we have, but this does create confusion and controversy in our rural community. >> Yes, sir. Thank you. >> Mr. Brook,
>> how many children are in your there? I'm assuming there's one elementary school. So we have three elementary schools for the the community that this particular charter proposal is for. There are about 4 the same amount of students that this proposal is requesting. So it's about
even about 475 students currently that we serve at that school and they're requesting or are creating a proposal for 490 students >> for K through five is their proposal >> for K through six. >> K through six. >> Correct. >> And you your K through six has 400 and
something kids. >> So yes, correct. Our school is actually pre-K through sixth grade and we have uh approximately the same amount of students >> and that's the only school elementary school in the district right now. >> That is not We have three elementary schools in our district in that community. That's the one elementary
school community where they want to >> Yes, sir. >> Okay. >> Yes, sir. So, we have three elementary schools currently >> in the school district but not in Slaughter. >> Correct. Just one in Slaughter. >> Yes, sir. >> Yes, sir. >> Mr. G. So, uh, are you saying that your
community does not have the, uh, population density to support another elementary school? >> That's absolutely what I'm saying, sir. And currently, right now, we have about a thousand residents, just slightly over a,000 residents in that particular community, 490 of which are our
students. And this particular proposal is requesting to open an elementary school to serve that the same amount of students. >> Thank you, M. Morris. >> Yeah. Just one more point of clarification. You you shared with us that the district is a B district. Um but also I think I heard there are three
elementary schools within the district. >> That is correct. >> What what's the SPS for the elementary school that's going to be on the same street as this proposed school? >> That school is a seat. >> Okay. >> Yes, sir. Thank you. >> Right. Uh thank you. >> Thank you so much. Thank you for that. That's
>> uh we have three others. Mr. Tar, Dr. Jasper, Miss Arnold, >> uh, please introduce yourself. You may make three minutes, please. >> Thank you, Mr. Castile. Good afternoon. My name is Richard Terrell. I serve as a president of the East Parish School
Board and I am speaking today on behalf of my fellow elected board members to urge you to reject the charter application that you have received. I'm a proud graduate of the school system. I have served on our board for 33 years and I can tell you that each member of
our board is driven by one thing. What is best for the children of East Feliciana Parish. Sometimes we disagree on how to accomplish it. But this but we take this responsibility very seriously. When we received a charter application
this year, we listened care very carefully to our external charter reviewer as well as our district and school staff so that we could concern discerned if opening a new school was best for our children. Our members
unanimously rejected this proposal and we are here today asking you to not to not override the decision that our locally elected school board made on behalf of our community. Having served on our board for 33 years, I can tell you that the progress is
historic. As a board, we have accomplished this by remaining focused on our strategic plan and making difficult financial decisions, focused on what is best for all our children. The charter proposal
would not expand opportunity for our children and we will put the financial sustainability on our entire district at risk. As a longtime board member, I must also remind you that East Lana Parish remained under a disegregation order. As
part of the terms of this disegregation order, our district has a clearly outlined process that allow transfers between schools in order to promote school integration and increase family choice. Through this transfer process, many families opt to send their children
to Slaughter Elementary School. A state authorized charter elementary school in the same slaughter community that is not accountable to our local school board makes it harder for us as an elected board to ensure everyone in our community has access to an elementary
school of choice. As board president, I hear frequently from our community. I cons consistently hear from families who are proud of our elementary schools and grateful for our continued investment in them. Outside of the limited letters of
support for a new school we received in this charter application, I have not heard from families who want a different elementary school. I have invested 33 years of service on the East Village Parish School Board and I'm proud of the legacy this board is leaving for our
children. I'm asking you not to override the thoughtful and prudent decision our elected board made unanimously on behalf of all children of Eastman Patch. Thank you. >> Thank you, Mr. Terrell. Dr. Daspid.
>> Good afternoon. I'm Dr. Toby Daspit. Um, by day I'm a professor at University of Louisiana Lafayette, but in this capacity I'm serving as the independent evaluator of the type 1 application for East Feliciana Parish and my final comment will just be as a concerned citizen of the great state of Louisiana.
Um, I have a over a decade of experience reviewing type one applications for local districts and uh my primary area of of focuses on curriculum theorizing, educational philosophy and and pedigogy. Um, East Felicia asked me to use the state rubric for evaluating the charter
application. So, I did and found that there were five unmet standards. And then one sort of holistic concern that I had in my review. I know you'll be able to review that before the August meeting. Um, first, no coherent innovative elementary school educational
model proven to meet the needs of the targeted population is provided in the application. It's unclear what the central focus of the school's educational model is. We just heard a clear focus, for example, with a classics curriculum. Um, it's untested at the elementary level,
which I think is my primary concern. So, what would it look like in practice? We just don't know. Secondly, no clear rationale for a K6 educational model is outlined in their application. It's grounded on assumptions that the success
of the 712 model can be replicated, but no clear evidence is provided that will serve the best interests of the targeted grade level population, which is of course what bulletin 126 calls for. Perhaps most important, third, little evidence is provided that it will better
serve East Feliciana students than existing schools. Most of the instructional methods proposed are not substantially different from current district practice practices particularly in literacy and numeracy initiatives. Fourth, while the applicant's overview
is clear and concise, it fails to establish a genuine educational model for elementary students. Fifth, there's an intent to identify a new school leader by year two, but um the rubric
clearly calls that we should know who the school leader is going to be, what their previous experience is and their capacity to lead a school and improve student outcomes. I think we can all agree being a principal of a secondary school is much different than being an elementary school. And in that first
year, that's who'll be um leading the school. They cite in their response to my recommendation um innovative precedents that Bessie has previously authorized and I just want to draw some attention to that in that um they noted five
Bessie approvals and one Bessie renewal for things that they picked in their application. The problem is that two of those charter schools no longer exist. uh New Orleans College Prep and IDEIDA public schools and the other combined schools that they site only have a C
average. So the schools they pick as their models have not had proven success even though they were authorized by Bessie. And finally, just as a citizen, um overturning a local school district's
decision I think should be taken very seriously and only very rarely in extreme circumstances. and I just don't see that for this situation. Thank you all. >> Great. Um, thank you, Dr. Dasper. Uh, as Miss Arnold approaches, I'll invite a few others to come up as well. Uh, Miss
Carolyn Glazoff. Uh, and just to clarify, I know a number of folks said oppose or support the recommendation. There's no recommendation one way or another at this juncture, but uh, we certainly understand. So, uh, Miss Glascock, uh, Miss Britney Morgan,
um, and Miss Terara Katherine Miller, if you would come up, and Miss Tommy, Mr. Tommy Leon, if you would come up as well. Miss Arnold, you have, uh, three minutes, please. >> Right. Good afternoon. My name is Elizabeth Arnold, and I am honored to serve as the master teacher at Slaughter
Elementary School in East Lana Parish. Today I am speaking on behalf of our principal, our instructional leadership team, our faculty, our community in opposition to the approval of a charter elementary school located just one quarter mile from our campus. I ask that
you consider not what is being proposed, but what already exists. Slaughter Elementary is not a school that's struggling to find its footing. We are not a promise on paper. We are a proven public school serving children successfully every day. For more than 13
years, Slaughter Elementary has led the way in implementing instructional best practices through our partnership with NIT. Our teachers and leaders have built a culture of excellence that's been recognized at the state and national levels. We were named an NIT Founders
Award finalist in both 2020 and 2023, placing us amongst a select group of schools nationally recognized for boosting student achievement through educator excellence. We are proud that one of our former teachers received the prestigious Milin Educator Award. We are
equally proud that two of our current teachers have been recognized by LDOE as excellent educators. Our commitment to educator effectiveness is reflected in both our teaching and our results. This year, 100% of our kindergarten through third grade
teachers earn highly effective ratings, demonstrating the strength of instruction taking place in classrooms every day. The impact of that instruction is evident in our student achievement data with 89% of our kindergarten students performing at benchmark or above in
literacy by the end of this school year. This year we expanded intervention and acceleration opportunities by implementing high dosage tutoring beyond state requirements which resulted in 90% of our third and fourth grade students meeting their endofear learning targets.
In addition to academics, we strive to educate the whole child. Our students have access to arts, STEM, coding, robotics, and enrichment opportunities that prepare them for future success. These accomplishments are not accidental. They are the result of years
of intentional investment, collaboration, leadership development, and unwavering commitment to the children of our community. The decision before you is not whether our community needs a high-quality school. we already have one. Your decision is whether to
risk destabilizing a school that's already producing strong outcomes and demonstrating measurable growth. Approving an elementary charter school located essentially next door to Slaughter Elementary does not expand opportunity. It duplicates services,
divides students, and fragments resources. Our students deserve stability. Our teachers deserve support. and our community deserves thoughtful stewardship of public resources. I respectfully ask that you recognize the success already present at Slaughter
Elementary and consider the impact your decision will have on the students and families we proudly serve every day. Thank you for your time, your service, and your consideration. >> Great. Thank you for your comments. Uh, next, please.
>> Good afternoon. My name is Katherine Glascock and I teach first grade at Slaughter Elementary. I'm proud to speak about my school and the positive impact it has on our students and community. Currently, our students are thriving and excelling. One of the things that makes
our school special is its strong sense of community. The support from parents, families, local businesses, and community members creates an environment where students can succeed both academically and personally. That community involvement is a big part of
what makes our school so successful. My concern is that placing another elementary school within walking distance could divide that support and weaken the close-knit atmosphere that has helped our students flourish. I do not believe that is what our community
needs. As someone who is a product of a public school education, I firmly believe in investing in and strengthening our public schools. When we support our school, we support our children, our families, and the future of our community. Thank you.
>> Thank you. Uh, next, please. >> Good afternoon, members of the board. My name is Britney Morgan, and I'm proud parent of a child at Slaughter Elementary. I'm speaking today on behalf of majority of the parents and all of our staff who strongly oppose the proposed new elementary charter school.
Excuse me. I grew up close to Slaughter and have personally witnessed the incredible dedication that has gone into making our school what it is today. I personally got to witness Miss Kim Glascock's hard work and dedication over the years growing up. I've seen the tremendous work she put into she put in
to turn Slaughter Elementary into the thriving school it is now. Under her leadership, Slaughter Elementary was named 2020 NIET Founders Award finalist, one of just five schools selected nationally. The NIT Founders Award recognizes school for exceptional
implementation of instructional excellence, ongoing teacher coaching and collaboration, and measurable student success. Miss Glascock was also recognized as East Fleiana Parish principal of the year. Her opinion and the opin opinion of the staff that she
has led so effectively, I believe, should weigh heavily with the board. I've also watched with admiration as Jenny Thornton has carried on this important legacy with the same passion as care and care. As a master teacher and now principal, Jenny has helped S
has helped lead Slaughter Elementary to continued national recognition, including being named a 2023 NIT Founders Award finalist. As a mom putting my oldest child into a school for the first time, that decision was an emotional one. A conversation with Miss
Glascott put me completely at ease and confirmed it was the right decision. I felt confident sending him to Slaughter Elementary because of the strong program they had built and because I knew a large majority of the staff and administrators on both a professional and personal level. The only reason I
chose Slaughter is because of the strong relationships and because I had seen how well the school had done over the years. after he finished his first year there. His success in the amazing environment convinced me that I will send my three younger children there as well when they are old enough to attend school. Our
school is already an awesome, stable, community rooted elementary program that our children love and succeed in. We see no need to divide our little town by opening a second elementary school right down the road from us. We fully support the Slaughter Community Charter School continuing to serve the older students
or the big kids. We want to keep our babies at the school we already have and trust. It is simply does not make sense to a school that is earning national recognition recognition for instructional and excellence and student success by splitting its students and
draining its resources. As I'm sure all of you know, Louisiana funds public schools through the minimum foundation program or NFP. This is a per pupil funding formula where the money follows the child. If a student leaves Slaughter Elementary for the proposed new charter
elementary school, the full per pupil MFP allocations, both the state share and the local revenue portion goes with them to the charter school. In a small rural district like Eastley Shana Parish, this has serious consequences for the students who remain at our
existing elementary school. Our school loses significant significant revenue while many of its cost facilities, utilities, administrations, transportation, and specialized staff stay largely the same. This creates a fiscal squeeze where fewer dollars
support the same or very similar number of remaining students, which can lead to larger class sizes, reduce programs, fewer teachers or support staff, and diminish resources overall. Adding another elementary program in such a small community risk splitting our
limited student population and draining critical funding. In a small rural town, we do not have enough students to s sustainably support two separate elementary schools without weakening the one that is already succeeding. This proposal is being framed as school
choice, but in reality, it would create unnecessary duplication and competition with the school that has laid the foundation for the very charter program now seeking to expand downward. We believe this is not genuine choice. It is a fragmentation of our community's
limited resources. The majority of our parents and every member of our staff are in opposition. We want to keep our little ones together in a strong neighborhood school we already have rather than dividing them. I respectfully urge you to deny this proposal and protect the successful
elementary school our children already attend. Investing in and strengthening what we already what is already working is the best path forward for our students in our town in my opinion. Thank you for your time and considering and considering the voices of the
families most directly affected. >> Great. Thank you, ma'am. Next, please. >> Good afternoon. I am Tara Miller. I'm a lifelong resident of Slaughter, Louisiana. I'm a product of East Feliciana Public School and I am
currently a dedicated parent to two awesome Slaughter Elementary students. As a mother, I appreciate the excellence that reigns through our school. I have a daughter who has dyslexia and thanks to the SCES educators in this public school
system who offer a great dyslexia program, she is soaring. This is evident by her standardized test scores and her maintaining AB honor roll from prek up until now. I also have a
first grader and he is a awesome reader who maintains AB honor roll all school year long and he has scored mastery on his dibbles. In this community there are many similar stories to mine from the parents and the students. As a
professional with 12 years in the education system I can say at Slaughter Elementary our teachers are highly qualified. They align their lessons based on the standards they are teaching and the school is providing all
resources and services that are needed for our students in this community. We have services such as intervention afterchool programs summer enrichment and the list goes on.
Now we are in the age of technology. So I asked Siri, I utilized her for a little bit of um assistance and I asked Siri, "What would happen if a car if if a charter school opened next to our
thriving elementary school?" I was given a list of things like cream or skim. That is when the parents who might like the shiny things or may just want to do something different takes their child and the resources and move over to that
charter school. That will then create funding loss for our public school. And that in return causes a cost strain because regardless of whether those children stay or go, the amount of money
that it takes for this public educational school system to continue to maintain that cost doesn't decrease. They still have to have the funding whether they lose the funding from those children being taken away. All of these things which will
negatively impact and hurt our students, our community, and our public school. The current Charter High School is less than 3 minutes away from Slaughter Elementary. I pass by it every morning dropping off my children.
And after all that has been stated here today and knowing all the great gains and success in this school system, them trying to add the elementary aspect is seems very egregious, self-serving, and would be truly unproductive to our
students, our community, and our public school as a whole in the East Feliciana Parish School System. In closing, while I do believe charter schools have their place, it is not always the answer. I believe that great
leadership, clearly defined goals, and plans that are implemented and executed still yield great results. These things are all taking place right now in the East Feliciano Public School System. I ask along with the majority of our
parents in our community that you deny the charter elementary school aspect from opening in our area. Thank you for your time and thank you for your consideration. Have a great day. >> Great. Uh thank you. Uh Mr. Ljun, as you come up, I'll ask the next five people
to come up as well. Uh Miss Trish Ford Anderson, Miss Kimberly Glascock, uh Dr. Summer Whitmore, uh, JD Danler Jr., and Paul Kent,
you have >> Thank you, Mr. Castile. >> You're welcome. >> Um, my name is Tommy Learner. I'm a CPA and, um, a managing partner of my firm here in Baton Rouge, Faulen Winkler. Um, I work with the district. I was hired in 2007, and I've been with them close to
20 years. Um I I serve the district in both a financial budget from a financial budgetary and a um accounting support point of view. So I work with the numbers pretty closely. What I wanted to do today is just share with you what it what the decision looks like for them monetarily.
Um looked at our fiscal year that ended in 2025, the year that's about to end in 2026, and then what we're projecting for 2027 since we just completed our budgets that we plan to adopt tomorrow night. um our total revenues for money that would
be available to fund this application, which is really made up of state MFP dollars and local taxes, our property and sales tax. Um out of those three years, we're average about 25 million a year in and available resources.
um of that as we look at our surpluses, what's left. So, we have big commitments relative to personnel, um facilities, other things that you do to operate a school district. Our our district governed surplus is about $200,000. So,
we spent a lot of money on our personnel and have done that and that's been one of our uh strategic objectives over the last few years to bring our salaries up to a more competitive um place. And so doing that, we've dedicated a lot of the dollars that come in to the district. Um
included in that to get from our revenues of 25 to a surplus of 200. Um we have a charter school current commitment of about 4.7 million. So we we presently have that um embedded in our budget. Looking at the application,
the way the way the dollars are shared between MFP, which is about 4,000 a student, and our local taxes, which is just north of 8,000 a student. So we currently share under that uh current commitment I mentioned around 12,200 a
student and as a conservative um person who budgets I I sort of assume the worst things. Um looking at 490 maximum students of enrollment that's about just shy of $6 million. Um so when you couple that with the current commitment we
approach um $10.8 million out of a $25 million budget. So from my point of view and whatever your decision is, I'll be the one managing the district side of things. It it's very overwhelming from my my standpoint.
>> Right. Thank you, sir. Next, please. >> Good afternoon. My name is Trish Ford Anderson and I supervise early childhood and elementary programs in East Felana public schools. I also serve as our supervisor of assessment and accountability. I'm here
to share with you about the outstanding growth and performance of our students at Slaughter Elementary School and the intentional leadership and instruction behind this performance. My goal in sharing this information with you is to help you understand that a Bessie
authorized elementary school will not help us continue this growth in performance. Slaughter Elementary School's outstanding performance begins in preK, a grade level that this proposed charter school will not serve. PreK classrooms across Louisiana are
evaluated for quality through the rigorous class observation suit. Last year, preK classrooms at Slaughter Elementary School earned a score of 5.76 or highly proficient, exceeding the state average by nearly a quarter of a point.
The quality of this instruction extends into K3 literacy classrooms at Slaughter Elementary. At the beginning of this year, the percentage of students performing above level on the Dibbles literacy screener was below the state average, but by the end of the year,
that number exceeded the state average. What I know the team at Slaughter Elementary is most proud of is the way that they are helping our students with the highest level of need. From 2024 to 2025, the percentage of students with disabilities showing top growth on Leap
State assessments grew by 8%. The bottom line is this. Whether you start behind, on level, or ahead, our teachers and leaders at Slaughter Elementary School are pushing you forward. The reason for this is fairly simple, but it requires a lot of work. High quality curriculum for
all students and high quality small groupoup interventions for each student. Slaughter Elementary School is on the leading edge of the state's high dosage tutoring initiative. While the state requires students who are below level in literacy and numer numeracy to receive
intensive small groupoup tutoring, Slaughter Elementary is working to provide this to every student. Every student at Slaughter Elementary has individual goals and every leader, teacher, student, and family is invested in those goals. We are growing in East
Fully Santa Public Schools. Slaughter Elementary is an important part of that growth. We have a strong strategic plan that is working because our entire community is invested in that plan. Bessie, authorizing a new elementary school in our community will not help us
achieve the goals of our strategic plan. I urge you to reject this application. Thank you. >> Thank you, ma'am. Next, please. >> Good afternoon. My name is Kimberly Glascock. I currently serve as the supervisor of curriculum and instruction
for East Louisiana public schools where I also served as the longtime principal of Slaughter Elementary School and the founding principal of the East Louisiana STEM Academy. I'm speaking today because I have spent my entire career expanding highquality educational opportunities in
East Feliciana Parish and it's very important to me that we continue to do so. Based on my experiences in leading an elementary school and founding a middle school, both of which demonstrated significant and continued student growth, I do not believe that
the school proposed by this charter application will expand high quality instructional and educational opportunity in our parish. First, this application doesn't propose to do anything significant differently than our other three
elementary schools are already doing. From high quality curriculum to professional learning communities, we have made meaningful investments in ensuring that we build literacy and numeracy expertise in our leaders and our teachers. As a result, our students
at all of our elementary schools are continuing to grow every year. Secondly, I know firsthand how much work goes into providing a strong foundational literacy and numeracy program. It requires specific expertise and specific leadership. This
application does not identify leaders who have that kind of expertise and experience. As someone who is has the experience in growing a new school one grade level at a time over the course of three years, I'm very concerned about the capacity of any school leader to
newly serve seven elementary grade levels while developing their understanding of how to grow students in early literacy and numeracy. Finally, a new elementary school is not what our community has asked for and not what our community needs. All of our
families across East Louisiana Parish deeply care about our children's education and Slaughter Elementary has been a special light in the slaughter community. Right now, we need to continue to come together to create even more opportunity for our children. We do
not need an unproven school that doesn't offer our families anything new or better. Thank you for your time and thank you for your commitment to Louisiana's children. >> Great. Thank you, ma'am. Next, please. Hi, good afternoon. Summer Whitmore,
coordinator of pupil appraisal. There are several concerns regarding the impact that this transition could have on students with disabilities. Number one, individualized services may not be based on student needs. There are
records that suggest that some students received identical service minutes despite having different disabilities and support needs. Every IEP should be individualized and not based on a standard model. Point number two,
reductions in services should be supported by student progress. Some IEPs were amended to reduce specialized instructional minutes and related services. There is concern that reductions occur without documented evidence that students had made
sufficient progress. Students should not lose support unless data clearly demonstrates that it is appropriate. Number three, students deserve full access to required supports. Enrollment
practices, student records, and parent complaints and concerns made to the exceptional student service department indicates concerns regarding admissions and retention of students with disabilities, significant disabilities.
And information during the review suggests that students requiring substantial specialized instruction, behavior supports, related services, or more restrictive special education placements were frequently advised to
enroll in or return to district schools rather than being served by the charter school. Students requiring intensive support such as self-contained services or specializing program may not have
access to the same continuum of services available through our school district. Every child deserves the opportunity to be educated in a setting that meet their unique needs. Which leads me to my last point. The impact of students with
disabilities can be significant. When students do not receive individualized supports, they experience slower academic growth, reduced progress toward their IEP goals, increased behavior challenges, and limited access to
specialized instruction and qualified personnel. decisions should always prioritize student outcomes and compliance with special education law. I ask you all to consider before any transition is
approved that there should be clear evidence that every student with a disability is receiving individualized services that support meaningful education progress to ensure a free
appropriate public education. Students deserve nothing less. Thank you. >> Great. Thank you. Um Mr. Dancler. Mr. Kent, you still here? Just waving. Okay. Um, next we have
Rufus Nesbet. Uh, wave. Not wishing to speak. Ah, Patricia King uh does not wish to speak also. Um, and I'll state not necessarily opposing the recommendation, but opposing the application I think is what the
appropriate reference would be. Lillian Drake uh likewise uh is in opposition but does not wish to speak. Uh Maria Newman uh does not wish to speak. Um I think is
Anderson but also opposes the application but does not wish to speak. U again this was simply a motion to receive uh the reports. We've now received those reports as well as all public comments. Uh any objection to the
motion to receive. Uh seeing no objection that motion passes. Next item please. >> That concludes the agenda. >> Thank you everyone. We are ajourned. We're done. Always. Always.
Keep >> trying. today. >> Oh, you know what? That was my um Yes. Are you got it? Thank you. >> All right. Thank you.
Awesome.