After a 5-2 vote by the Orleans Parish School Board, McDonogh 35 will begin its transition to a charter school next year.
Parents and students were furious, chanting "we don't want it, we don't want it." Still, the Orleans Parish School Board voted to transition New Orleans last non-charter school, McDonogh 35, into a charter run by InspireNOLA starting in 2019.
"What is going on academically in a charter school that can't be done in a regular school?" one woman asked.
The board passed a management agreement which will phase out the board's over site of the school over the next two years. However, beginning next school year, OSPB will no longer run McDonogh 35. InspireNOLA will run day to day operations. Parents and former students were furious to learn of the privatization of the historic school, which was founded in 1917.
"The charter school system failed us," former McDonogh student Antonio Travis said. "These are people coming from all across the country implementing policies, who don't speak the same language I do, who don't look like me, telling me what works best for me."
The board says McDonogh 35 is currently an academically struggling school and the board hopes InspireNOLA will be able to turn things around. Parents disagree.
"We have a whole bunch of F and D charter schools, so we know not that's not true," Ashana Bigard said.
Several former McDonogh 35 students say the school is in need of outside intervention.
"They just need help, they need work," Durrell Braud said. "InspireNOLA could possibly help them bring their grade up."
But the majority of parents at the meeting didn't want to see over site of the school fall into the hands of an outside company. As part of this agreement, all Mcdonogh 35 teachers will need to reapply for their jobs for the 2019, 2020 school year.