NEW ORLEANS — Widespread negligence and misconduct by school officials continues to have a devastating impact on members of Kennedy High School’s Class of 2019.
John Ross is just three days from losing his football scholarship at a Kansas community college.
Amber Brown could lose a free ride to the University of Southern Mississippi.
Jessica Young has a full band scholarship at Stillman College in Alabama on the line.
All three New Orleans teens overcame massive administrative failures to complete their coursework and qualify for diplomas. But two months after they walked across the stage at graduation ceremonies, and after 53 seniors went back and completed coursework a second time in summer school classes, they are all still waiting for their diplomas and transcripts.
Now, a class-action attorney is asking a judge to issue an emergency order demanding that New Beginnings Schools Foundation, the charter organization that runs Kennedy, release transcripts and diplomas for the entire senior class immediately.
“With each passing day that the students are denied their diplomas and transcripts, they are losing opportunities for advancement at technical colleges, community colleges and four-year universities,” states an emergency writ application filed in Orleans Parish Civil District Court on Wednesday by attorney Suzette Bagneris.
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The Kennedy grade-fixing and mismanagement scandal has already rocked the charter school community. New Beginnings’ CEO Michelle Blouin-Williams was forced to resign after WWL-TV exposed allegations that she was doctoring public records. The charter board hired outside investigators and fired five members of Kennedy’s leadership team, including the principal and two assistant principals. And this week, the board chairman acknowledged to WWL-TV that law enforcement agencies are now looking into the findings of misconduct.
RELATED: New Beginnings Schools Foundation surrenders charters after WWL-TV investigation into grade fixing
New Beginnings board chairman Raphael Gang openly acknowledges the problems are not the kids’ fault.
"Students and families have been harmed by the actions of adults, both through negligence and through malfeasance,” Gang said in an interview last month. “The board is committed to ensuring that every family and student gets what they need in order so that they can graduate from JFK and be successful as they move forward in their lives.”
But the mismanagement was so deep, that ministerial task has proved much more difficult.
Tayler McClendon’s mother, Darnette Daniels, is the named plaintiff in the lawsuit that seeks damages for the entire class. McClendon said her senior year was chaos, especially in the second semester.
“It was so many teachers all over,” she said. “Some quit, and they had to fill in these spots, and you had coaches who coached baseball and basketball filling in for GradPoint that weren't certified to teach that class.”
Amid that chaos, some students’ grades were improperly changed. Others were taking remedial classes using an online program called GradPoint without the required supervision of a certified teacher. Few, if any, of their parents were informed that their children had to address issues before they could graduate – even though that’s a right guaranteed to parents by state law.
It appears parents weren’t notified because the school employees, themselves, didn’t know until it was too late. Just two days before graduation, McClendon was told she had to re-take an old chemistry class using GradPoint. She pulled all-nighters to complete the coursework in time, only to learn it didn’t count because she was required to take many more days to do it.
Another set of courses she took with GradPoint didn’t count because Kennedy didn’t have the required certified teacher in the classroom with the kids during the whole second semester.
McClendon and 68 other students walked in the graduation ceremonies thinking they had graduated, and later found out they didn’t. In all, 87 of 177 seniors did not meet the graduation requirements, mostly through no fault of their own.
McClendon now must re-enroll for her senior year at Kennedy in a few a weeks.
“It’s embarrassing. I have to go back. I have to be labeled a ‘super-senior.’ I was already a senior and I have to be back in a blue shirt,” she said, referring to the school uniform.
Ross and McClendon are friends and took a GradPoint chemistry class together that they later learned didn’t count. Ross’ mother, Kena, filed an affidavit in court this week stating her son made up the GradPoint work at summer school, qualified for his diploma, but still doesn’t have it or his school transcript.
Kena Ross said the football coach at Highland Community College in Kansas offered John a football scholarship, but told him he must present a transcript and report to practice by Monday or he’ll forfeit that scholarship spot.
Brown’s mother, Anusica Banks, also filed an affidavit saying her daughter could lose her scholarship at Southern Miss if she can’t get her transcript before classes begin Aug. 19. Banks said in an interview that Brown finished 9th in her class, didn’t have to make up any credits and still couldn’t get her diploma and transcript.
Even the class valedictorian had to go to summer school to re-take classes. Trinity Barnes told WWL-TV she had to re-take a class from junior year using the GradPoint software because of a problem transferring environmental science credits from a school she attended in Vermont. That GradPoint work didn’t count because of the lack of a certified teacher, forcing her to do it essentially a third time in summer school.
“It's embarrassing for all of us. Not just for me, but for all of us,” McClendon said. “We're all hurt behind this. We worked really hard for this and now it’s all gone.”
New Beginnings board chairman Raphael Gang says their team is working with the state Board of Elementary and Secondary Education as fast as they can to get students their diplomas and transcripts.
“We are supporting all of the students who were affected by this situation and our team is working tirelessly to make sure each student can maintain their plans for the upcoming school year,” he said. “In each instance that a time-sensitive issue has been brought to our attention, our team has responded and the issue has been addressed immediately.”
He said if anyone hasn’t brought a time-sensitive situation to their attention, that person should email new CEO Kevin George immediately at kevin.george@newbeginningsnola.net.
We will continue to do everything we can to expedite the process,” Gang said. “Our goal is to make this situation right for these students as soon as possible.”
But emotionally, at least, the damage is already done, McClendon said.
“We had to spend our summer in school, when we're supposed to be celebrating our graduation and moving on to a new chapter in our lives,” she said. “So, everybody’s getting ready for decorating dorm rooms, saying good-bye to their parents, having going-away parties. We don’t get to experience that right now. We are experiencing dealing with the news, dealing with trying to complete extra courses so we can get our diplomas.”
If you need your diploma or transcripts as soon as possible, email new CEO Kevin George immediately at kevin.george@newbeginningsnola.net.
CORRECTION: An earlier version of this story incorrectly reported 155 students in Kennedy's Class of 2019. That's the number of seniors invited to walk in graduation ceremonies. The total number of seniors is 177.