22 December 2025
By Safura Syed
Contributing Writer
(Veritenews.org) — Teachers, students and supporters of the Leah Chase School packed Thursday night’s (Dec. 18) Orleans Parish School Board meeting to ask that board members vote to keep the school open as the district’s only traditional, direct-run school. Underenrollment and a deficit that is projected to grow in coming years have prompted the board to question the viability of the school’s future.
The board had been scheduled to vote on one of three options for the school for the 2026-2027 school year, one of which was to cease operations altogether. But board members ultimately decided to delay the vote. Six of seven members voted to put off the decision until early January, with board member Gabriela Biro abstaining. No board meeting date has been set yet. The vote came despite community outcry against delaying. A vote in January to close the school would have families scrambling to find a new school since the district’s open enrollment process closes on Jan. 23.
As for how to fund the financially struggling school if it’s kept open, the board was split on using the money from the district central office budget to subsidize its operations, and members failed to secure an internal funding solution for the school. However, board members unanimously voted to establish a separate sustaining fund for the Leah Chase School, which can accept private donations.
During an hour-long public comment period, supporters, including family members of late chef and civil rights activist Leah Chase, expressed their support for keeping the school open. They expressed their distrust towards district leadership, and emphasized the happiness of students in the school. Erica Lara, an English-language learning teacher at Leah Chase, said the school provides high-quality education for students with special needs and English learners. Lara and the other teachers in attendance wore black shirts that had slogans like “Save our school,” “Don’t be a quitter,”and “TLC strong!”
“Our children in the Leah Chase school were hurt academically,” Lara said. “And every single one of our teachers there are caring about them.”
NOLA Public Schools district Superintendent Fateama Fulmore brought forth three possibilities for the future of the Leah Chase School to the Board. In the first option, the school would remain open as it is now, with slow integration of additional programming funded through donations. In the second, the district would expand the school’s full-time arts programming to attract parents. Fulmore has said in previous board meetings that funding the school’s long-term future would lead to layoffs at the district level. And the third option would close the school at the end of the current school year.
At the beginning of the meeting, Biro made a motion to amend the night’s agenda to add a $1.5 million donation to the school for board consideration. The motion needed a unanimous vote to be considered, but board members Carlos Zervigon and KaTrina Chantelle Griffin voted against considering it. The donation would have come from Karen Oser Edmunds, whose grandchild attends the school. In a letter of intent, the donation would come with the restrictions that the Board vote to keep the school open during its and that the funds only be used for Leah Chase school operations.
The failure to consider taking a vote on the donation prompted anger from those in attendance. The school is in Zervigon’s district. Eames and Biro, who have said they are working on fundraising for the Leah Chase School, said they have alternate sources of funding that they will bring to the board at a later date.
Board members butted heads throughout the meeting in regards to what they should do surrounding fundraising and determining the future of the school. Zervigon said he voted against the motion to consider accepting the donation because it came with specific restrictions, and that he doesn’t consider it to be “an honest contribution.” Later, after becoming the subject of the crowd’s frustration, Zervigon introduced a motion to consider accepting the money without restrictions, which passed unanimously. Board members then voted unanimously to accept the money. But because the offer was contingent on the prospective donor’s restrictions, it does not appear that the vote will amount to anything.
“You can’t accept an offer that was not made,” said Chris Edmunds, Karen Oser Edmunds’ son, whose child is a Leah Chase student. “This is free money, and y’all not taking it.”
During a budget and finance committee meeting on Tuesday, December 16, the district’s chief financial officer Nyesha Veal said that around $2.9 million of the $3.8 million start-up costs to operate the school expired in June 2024 without being used, and that the board would need to vote again to reallocate them to the school. Board member Leila Eames, who has been a vocal proponent of the school, introduced an agenda item to change board policy and transfer the $2.9 million from the general fund back into the Leah Chase School.
“These were funds that were allocated to the school,” Eames said. “I am simply asking that we get the money originally allocated for the school back.”
Board members Biro, Eames and Nolan Marshall voted in favor of the resolution, while Parker, Katherine Baudouin, Griffin and Zervigon voted no. The resolution needed five votes to pass. Griffin said the funds were intended to be used as start-up costs and should only be used to add more grades for the school, not for current operating costs. Parker said there was only $3.1 million in district-wide reserves, and that pulling out $2.8 million would leave an inadequate amount in the reserve fund.
The lack of board decision regarding the future of the school and securing both internal and external funding sources during last Thursday’s meeting prompted outrage and frustration from those in attendance.
“It’s very disappointing to leave here tonight and not have peace of mind to a solution for all of us who deserve it,” said parent Negette Valcour during public comment. “It’s not fair to us, it’s not fair to the teachers who show up like a village that we need.”
This article originally published in the December 22, 2025 print edition of The Louisiana Weekly newspaper.