Docs 4 U

A reader passed along a file from a lawsuit during the early '90s in which Concordia, the architect behind the pending New Orleans school facilities master plan, was sued by the DeSoto Parish School Board for various alleged failures involving a high school project there.

Page: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16

Of note, if relevant:

"Failed to design all project parts for a construction cost within the adjusted fixed limit of $12,154,212.60 including the failure to provide statements of probable construction costs in a generally accepted format while providing unreasonably low estimates of probable construction costs..."

"Failed to provide and coordinate the mechanical and electrical design in compliance with good practice and with generally applicable codes and standards for a public school in the Parish of Desoto..."

"Provided confusing, uncoordinated, and difficult to read construction documents including the architectural drawings and references in the electrical and mechanical specifications to codes for the State of Washington, together with nonrelevant plan information , for example items pertaining to hospitals, garages, and elevators..."

Independent Groups' Concerns Over Master Plan Increase as Vallas and RSD Play the Fear Card

....This just in from the Times Picayune:

Two independent groups raised red flags about the long-term financing behind the city's ambitious and unprecedented school construction plan, and probed school officials for more details about the costs of individual projects at a meeting of the state Board of Elementary and Secondary Education Wednesday.

Representatives of Tulane University's Cowen Institute and the Bureau of Governmental Research argued that if money can not be found for later phases of the plan - which they agreed is a likely scenario -- it would exacerbate existing inequities in a city where children have long had unequal access to quality school programs and buildings.

Specifically, they said it would lead to a situation where some students attend school in state-of-the-art buildings while others remain in decrepit, outdated buildings.

There seems to be a developing consensus that this school facilities master plan is unacceptable. Wanna know why?

It's because people are using their skills of observation and logic to inform a factual reality.

And the reality is that this master plan is seriously deficient.

We close more schools than we build. The financing beyond phase 1 is nonexistent and increasingly unlikely to ever materialize. We concentrate limited resources into masturbatory wonders for the architectural class instead when the times call for a prudent allocation of resources that will get our kids into sustainable facilities as soon as possible.

But I want to discuss Paul Vallas' current talking point to the media. The company line is that we need to improve this plan as soon as possible and that any problems in the document can be fixed after the fact. Why can't the changes be made BEFORE we have to vote on the thing?

Vallas says it's because delays could result in our already-pledged funds being pulled.

"At some point we have got to start building," said RSD Superintendent Paul Vallas.

Unfortunately, I can't find a direct quote in a mainstream source but Mr. Vallas has explicitly explained that master plan approval delays could result in the loss of already-pledged monies. He made this point at the master plan public hearing at City Council.

A few points about this argument.

First, it is a typical post-K line we've all heard before about why we need to approve poorly contrived pet projects without question or debate. "WE'LL LOSE THE MONEY/REIMBURSEMENT COMPLETELY WE HAVE BUILD NOW WE HAVE TO KNOCK IT DOWN NOW SPEND NOW NOW NOW."

Second, if indeed there's a risk we might lose funding, guess who's fault it is?

The community has had this plan for less than sixty days. The RSD has been working on it since June of 2007. It was supposed to have been released last spring, then early last summer. It was finally presented to the public the week Gustav hit.

So don't feed us this BS about the delays caused by community concerns. How about the RSD planning team? How about the fact that when Pastorek saw his preliminary draft last May, he had to send the team back to the drawing board? How about the fact that even after that, Concordia-Parsons ultimately produced a document that is being widely criticized for a broad swath of structural and ideological flaws?

It ain't us that have been holding up this process - it's been them!

Third, and I think this is the real reason Paul Vallas is in such a hurry - not this empty lost funding threat - is that the deeper we get into this inevitable economic recession, the less realistic the master plan becomes. If we don't approve this thing right now, the master plan will go from being perceived as misguided, flawed, and unrealistic to being perceived as a parody of a fantasy.

This to me all seems like a bunch of 'let's move money around' horse crap. It's like how Vallas spends millions of dollars on high-tech Promethean boards for RSD classrooms when children aren't being provided with the basics, you know, like TEXTBOOKS TO TAKE HOME.

When Paul Vallas runs for governor of Illinois in 2010, as rumored, he'll get to say sexy little things in his commercials and pamphlets like:

"Spent x million dollars on state of the art classroom technology for New Orleans."
"Spent x million dollars on brand new school facilities."

Because he won't ever have to actually describe what we didn't get for expenditures that were, in reality, wasteful, premature, mis-prioritized, or worse.

Never mind that the economic crisis ensures incredible disparities in our public school system should we adopt a master plan crafted in an imagined economic vacuum. Never mind what happens when New Orleans is stuck in 2013 with what I compelled them approve in 2008.

JUST SPEND THE MONEY SPEND SPEND SPEND NOW NOW NOW NOW. YOU'LL LOSE IT IF YOU DON'T APPROVE. DON'T RISK IT. NOW OR NEVER! YOUR CONCERNS ARE UNWARRANTED. WE'LL FIX 'EM. I KNOW HOW TO FIX 'EM. JUST TRUST US. APPROVE NOW NOW NOW.

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The Carver High School alumni association has issued a statement condemning the master plan.

Transparent Bias by Times-Picayune Editors [Updated]

I was looking forward to see how Darran Simon's recap of yesterday's contentious hearing at City Hall in today's paper.

I found it, eventually.

Hidden all the way at the bottom of page B-1.

School-closing plan fuels council anxiety

I don't think I'm just too close to the story when I say that the upcoming vote on the facilities master plan represents the most important event involving public schools since Katrina, or at least since the decision to create the Recovery School District itself. The plan will determine the capacity of New Orleans' public school system for decades. Nobody disputes that. Nobody disputes that funding does not exist for anything beyond the first phase ending in 2013. Nobody disputes that 'landbanked' schools will likely mean demolition and/or resale. Nobody disputes that 'landbanking' is certainly synonymous with closure, even if planners allude to maybe possibly some of the closed schools one day perhaps being considered to be brought back as schools through third party operators.

Those are facts, those are the stakes. Read the article and see for yourself.

Yet, the Times-Picayune determined that this was not a top story today. In fact, the Times-Picayune made the decision that this wasn't even the top education story today. On the front cover of this morning's paper was another story about the RSD, this one about the possibility that four more schools may be turned over to charter operators. Now I'm not arguing that this doesn't merit coverage, as there are certainly people critical of the operator selection process and the ubiquitous involvement of Steven Bingler's sister-in-law's New Schools New Orleans in anything involving charter schools. But is this story nearly as important as the poorly-conceived master plan for school closure?

ABSOLUTELY NOT. It's not even close.

But let's argue for a moment that both stories are important and deserve front cover attention. The T-P could have included both stories, the one about charterization and the other about school closures, but then they would have had to bounce this life-changer that was included amongst the day's top stories instead:

Groom gets feds to snap to attention

That breaking news headline is in regard to some asshole who wore a Navy uniform to his wedding even though he'd never served. Something to note in the third hour of your midday talk radio program? MAYBE. Something for the front page of a major metropolitan newspaper on a day where the city's public school system teeters on the brink of catastrophic planning? HELL NO.

Really bad, Times-Picayune. Really bad.

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I'd also like to challenge an assertion by Paul Vallas included at the bottom of the closure article:

Vallas pointed out that only one existing occupied building -- Audubon extension -- is scheduled to be closed in phase one.

That's simply false. Even if Mr. Vallas is trying to make the point that all of the currently-occupied schools to be lanbanked under Phase 1 won't close until the end of the phase, he's still making a false claim. Phase I of the master plan runs from 2008-2013.

Let me count them all for you.

(AND REMEMBER, THESE SCHOOLS ARE CURRENTLY OCCUPIED)

Elementary Schools - from page 90 of the official master plan.

McDonogh 07 - 2012
NO Free School - 2012
Arthur Ashe - 2012
Audobon Extension - 2012
McDonogh 28 - 2012
Dibert - 2012

High Schools - from page 94

Rabouin - 2012
McMain - 2012
Douglass- 2011

Vallas is right if he really meant that Audubon extension will be the first to be closed within phase 1 in 2010, but the currently operating Frederick Douglass High School will close soon after, in 2011. The reality is, however, that FDHS could close after this school year if doing so strikes the fancy of the school district. They are under no legal obligation to keep the school in operation and in fact, had not decided to keep the building open for this year until last May or June.


UPDATE:

But perhaps nothing reflects the editorial bias of the Times-Picayune better than their absolutely ridiculous endorsements for this Saturday's Orleans Parish School Board Race. They pick the conservative establishment choice in every instance such a choice is available. Woody Koppel over Percy Marchand? You've got to be kidding me. Brett Bonin over either Amy LaFont or Davin Boldissar? A bad joke. Seth Bloom over Avis Brock? Totally ill-informed.

The Times-Picayune pretty much endorses the most conservative Board possible, the whitest Board possible, the most anti-union Board possible, the most pro-master plan Board possible.

Percy Marchand in District 6 and Amy Lafont or Davin Boldissar in District 3 are the only OPSB candidates that have taken the time to inform themselves about the consequences of this master plan document and have been brave enough to speak out forcefully with their concerns. Woody Koppel and Brett Bonin are opportunistic insiders looking to climb the ladder. It is imperative that they be defeated.

Times-Picayune editorial board: You're hurting the recovery of this city.

Absolutely infuriating!

Schools Master Plan Hearing at City Council

According to Councilwoman Hedge-Morrell, today's crowd was likely the largest to have ever attended an council education committee hearing. There was indeed pretty substantial turnout, considering the relative lack of attention called to the event and the fact that it was called at 10 AM on a Wednesday.

Comment was 100% in opposition of the master plan and came from groups representing schools from all over the city. Councilwomen Head and Hedge-Morrell each expressed pointed criticisms of their own.

State Senator Cheryl Gray came to speak out against the closure of schools in her district. Our BESE representative Louella Givens came to speak out as well, and introduced her BESE colleague who was also in attendance. This other person mostly stood awkwardly on the side of the room. His name is James Garvey and he recently refused to condemn LaBruzzo's eugenics bill to the Times-Picayune. (Just so you know)

Unfortunately, the public was grouped by school affiliation so educational advocates wishing to express concerns with the very structure of the master plan, including OPSB candidates Percy Marchand and Amy LaFont had to wait until the end of the hearing, by which point the room was largely empty.

The deadline for the public comment period remains midnight tonight. OPSB President Torin Sanders went on the record pledging to introduce a motion at tomorrow's OPSB meeting that would allow for more public comment, but he is under no legal or political obligation to do so, as he is not running for reelection.

Paul Vallas was there today and repeatedly made the ridiculous claim that Congress would pull funding for New Orleans schools if this were not approved quickly. But remember that the master plan was delayed for months by the consultant planners themselves.

(Also, I'd always thought that Vallas was not really involved in the master planning process, that this was Pastorek's thing. Pastorek was not present. Steven Bingler, the man hired to put together the master plan did not speak.)

Ultimately, there was no resolution of any particular grievance - either with the master plan or with the voting timeline.

So it appears as though the rubber stamp freight train remains on schedule.

That's sad. This is a bad document.

So How Many Master Plan Phases Do We Have Funding For?

Please, please, please read Sarah Carr's piece that profiles the proud history of Frederick Douglass High School on St. Claude Avenue. Douglass faces certain closure under the school facilities master plan.

How many snake oil salesmen have to come storming into town before we recognize the pattern?

Installed about eight years ago, the pipes might have brought cool air to the once-magnificent, now-decayed auditorium, but the school system never found the money to complete the second phase of the project.

The unfinished effort is emblematic of scores of well-meaning attempts to breathe life into the struggling academic program in recent years. Officials have repeatedly launched reform efforts, only to abandon them before they effect lasting change.

And there are scores of other unfinished projects, even if we're limiting our discussion to the facility itself. I'm lucky enough to have gone on a tour of the building and despite the appearance of decay, it is actually quite beautiful - not so far behind most other urban schools I've ever seen. The problem has been that on countless projects both before and after the storm, crews sent out to install things like light fixtures, intercoms, air conditioning systems, and ceiling tiles don't finish the jobs. They'll do things like only connect intercoms to some parts of the building or install outdoor light fixtures but not supply replacement light bulbs. Or as Ms. Carr reports, they'll install AC pipes but no AC unit.

Teachers, principals, students, parents, and community stakeholders operated under this neglect for years and years believing that - if they could just be allowed the stability and continuity to implement a strong academic program, if they could get the confidence and support of the school board, if they could just get basic facility maintenance - they'd be able to help our children succeed.

School communities like Frederick Douglass never quit on the kids. Instead, the city quit on the school communities. How else could a nationally acclaimed writing program like Students at the Center be discouraged from returning to Douglass? Instead, Paul Vallas and the RSD are implementing an experimental "theme" school at Douglass, a police academy, for the next year before the facility will likely be shuttered.

That's not change, it's more of the same failed slash and burn policy.

When you hire visionary principles who are well qualified and highly motivated and provide them a core of career teachers committed to the program, you can slowly but surely implement a healthy learning environment, a school culture - but only if you allow that community the stability, continuity, and basic resources necessary for parents and students to buy in.

When the district threatens schools with closure, castrates maintenance budgets, and constantly shuffles principals in and out, it is only natural for a school's academic and cultural fabric to unravel.

The RSD is sitting on $1.8 billion with the promise of a few "21st century schools" to replace the scores upon scores we'll be "landbanking" for other purposes.

Amongst other things, it's installing the pipes without the units. To play with Sarah Carr's characterization of the history of Douglass, it's yet another "launched reform effort" scheduled to be "abandoned before it effects lasting change."

'Scheduled' in the sentence above is my word and I choose it for a few reasons. First, in the case of Douglass, the brand new experimental police academy program is literally already being threatened with extinction after this school year (not that I care for that experiment anyway) AND the Douglass building is slated to be closed. Second, in more general terms, there is NO MONEY for any new facilities construction projects after the completion of the first phase of the master plan in 2013.

It is very easy to anticipate that this city may need facilities expansion after 2013. First, it is almost impossible to forecast the local and national trends that may contribute to population growth accurately enough to inform binding policy. Second, Concordia-Parsons has drawn up phases 2 through 5 in the master plan, admitting that phase 1 will drain every last cent but not finish the job. Spending every last penny to do half the job? Sounds sadly familiar, no?

BESE and the OPSB are seriously considering approval for the school facilities master plan. At a time when a traumatized community of children badly needs continuity and stability from their schools, we may be about to witness the blind rubber stamping of another poorly constructed, half funded, and experimental upheaval. The master plan abandons the neighborhood school model at the high school level in favor of a system that forces kids into the unfortunately sometimes hostile territory of a neighboring ward. Ask any teacher working in the RSD about the prevalence of geographic conflict but I'm sure you don't have to.

I don't have the stomach to continue this same pattern of half-assed and poorly-informed revolution followed by yet another yawning retreat in which nobody is held accountable.

Are people as mad about this as I am?

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RELATED:

In May, I looked at a small piece of the Parsons Corp. preliminary site assessment of Frederick Douglass High School and compared it to the school as it stood.

Liprap Leigh recaps Thursday's community testimony in front of the OPSB.

Did you know that OPSB member Jimmy Fahrenholtz, who expressed his "100% approval" for the master plan without having even read it, didn't bother to show up? He's not credible to vote on this. A lot of people tell me he's a good guy at heart but he's got no business making such a critical decision for this community if he's going to be so close minded as to not even read the document and not even pay lip service to divergent opinion. It violates public trust. We know that he is close to Steven Bingler's sister-in-law via social network and campaign contribution.

How pathetic is it that none, NOT ONE, of the OPSB members that did bother to attend was engaged enough to ask a question of the planners?

Here is the current schedule for regional master plan comment opportunities as hosted by individual OPSB members in their home districts. Two of them were today. The big event is the hearing at City Council on October 1st.

I'm still looking into how to support SOSNola's petition to extend the public comment period to January, lemme get back witcha on that.

Jimmy Fahrenholtz Sure Does Read Fast

OPSB member and perpetual candidate Jimmy Fahrenholtz was presented the school facilities master plan at a regular Orleans Parish School Board meeting this evening at McDonough 35 High School.

After looking it over for no more than the length of the meeting he proudly proclaimed to the Times-Picayune that he is "100 percent in support of the master plan."

That's rich because it was Jimmy Fahrenholtz who cut short Una Anderson's surprisingly strident questions regarding high school distribution uptown supposedly because tonight's meeting was only to be about determining procedure, not about expressing reservation or support.

While Mr. Fahrenholtz clearly isn't interested in hearing any public concern regarding the master plan or displaying any kind of his own healthy skepticism before taking one side over another, you'd still think he'd at least have the respect to at least sleep on the damn thing before expressing his undying enthusiasm.

Just for the sake of everyone's memory, let us recall that Jimmy Fahrenholtz is a frequent violator of campaign finance law and was very recently barred from running for Congress in District 2 due to outstanding penalties levied by the Louisiana Board of Ethics. Because those fines were levied as a result of his failure to follow the law during his race for Orleans Parish School Board, he has no business leading any kind of debate on the facilities master plan and his opinion shouldn't really be printed in the paper without the context I've provided here.

Let me mention that I can't seem to find where Mr. Fahrenholtz has filed a financial disclosure report since the storm. Also, I'll say that Steven Bingler's sister-in-law Sarah Usdin, a big education policy stakeholder in her own right, contributed to Mr. Fahrenholtz's 2004 race for OPSB. Also when Ms. Usdin was named to the Gambit's 2004 40 under 40, Fahrenholtz claims that he'd "trust her to back me up in a knife fight."

Now this simple contribution from four years ago, nor Mr. Fahrenholtz's closeness to members of the Bingler family would be a major problem except that, again, Mr. Fahrenholtz just pledged 100% approval for a plan he barely had a chance to look over.

Mr. Fahrenholtz should be excused from all debate related to the master plan and should also abstain from voting on any related binding or nonbinding recommendations. If he does not, the OPSB will have a hard time credibly passing judgment on this critical matter, particularly as voters elect replacements potentially poised to trumpet entirely different views.