NEW ORLEANS — The last remaining school in the French Quarter, Homer A. Plessy Community School, is moving to the 7th Ward, according to our partners at NOLA.com.
This is the last academic year students in kindergarten through fourth grade will attend classes in the historic red schoolhouse.
NOLA.com reports the New Orleans Public School System administrators say the charter school must move for the 2023-24 academic year, and they chose not to pay for building repairs. Superintendent Avis Williams says the current facility does not meet "the high-quality facility standards our scholars deserve."
Starting in the fall, they will be attending classes at Leah Metoyer McKenna building at 1651 N. Tonti Street.
"We understand this is difficult news for our school family to hear," Williams said. "Siting school facilities is not an easy decision, but it’s a necessary process and one that ensures students learn in a safe, healthy environment where they have room to play, grow, and learn."
The charter school sitting at 721 N. St Philip Street, was the first school established by Ursuline nuns in 1727. It is now the last to leave the French Quarter.
"Plessy French Quarter is deeply saddened to be marked in history as the last," said Meghan Raychaudhuri, head of the two-campus charter school.
The public school system originally made a $3.5 million plan to repair the historic schoolhouse. However, Williams says it was not enough to meet the building's needs, and that they needed at least $5 million to complete. Nevertheless, Williams said the facility still isn't suitable to hold 500 or more students.
Our partners at NOLA.com report Plessy had previously applied to relocate to the Bywater in 2022. They received a lot of backlash, so they decided to stay in the French Quarter.
At the new location on Tonti Street, Williams says students will have a chance to enjoy a kitchen, cafetorium, more green space and space for programming. The building does not have lead or asbestos, according to NOLA.com.
Students currently enrolled at McDonogh 42 Elementary Charter School on Tonti Street will move to 5800 St. Roch Avenue, along with those at Pierre A. Capdau Charter School. Both institutions have seen a decrease in enrollment.
Parents of Homer A. Plessy Community School are invited to a virtual meeting hosted by the public school system on March 14th at 5 p.m.
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