Elite Charter Academy was denied its application to become a Charter One school for a third time by the Calcasieu Parish School Board at its regular meeting last week.

Thrive Community Enrichment and Development Corporation Board Chair Darthester Hall, board chair said the mission of Elite Charter Academy has remained unchanged.

“For three years now we have presented a vision and mission that was birthed out of a higher desire to see all children who are in a student’s role to succeed at the highest level possible for that child, and our mission has not changed. … Our mission is where average is not tolerated, but superior is the standard.”

The application request came from Thrive Community Enrichment and Development Corporation on behalf of Elite Charter Academy. They applied for the Spring 2024 Charter Cycle as a Type 1 Charter – a new school that is authorized and overseen by local school boards. Type 1 charters’ school finances, operations and administration are governed by a board of directors.

Hall said they believe Elite Academy is needed to provide the “framework” for “students who are falling through the cracks academically, emotionally and socially.”

“As improved as the overall ratings may look for Calcasieu Parish, there is still much improvement needed to get all students. There are still many subgroups who are not performing at their school level or grade level, where urgent intervention is needed.”

As part of the application process, Elite Academy’s charter application had to be evaluated by a third party. Neil Faulk, assistant professor of educational leadership, Lamar University, and Brett Welch, associate professor, Lamar University College of Education, conducted the evaluation.

They stated that while Elite Academy made efforts to address the standards of the state’s application rubric, there were still items of concern.

In the review, it was determined that CPSB has “addressed the areas cited as being deficient within the proposal.” In their application, Elite Charter was required to summarize how the school would more effectively serve its student population, especially in regards to school performance scores (SPS), students resources and class size.

They stated that while the philosophical educational approaches of CPSB and Elite Academy are similar, Elite Academy did not “delineate areas in which the proposed charter schools would provide improved services compared to current CPSB schools.”

Overall, the report determined that the education that CPSB offers students in Calcasieu Parish is sufficient. It noted that CPSB’s SPSs exhibited growth, with 94 percent of CPSB schools being labeled an A, B or C campus, and that CPSB has an elementary Magnet School and two STEM Learning Academies that every K-5 student can apply to.

One of Elite Academy’s focuses was class size. The report determined that CPSB addressed this issue; 11 elementary schools have reduced class sizes to under 20 students per class.

“Students are encouraged to create, build and think ‘outside the box’ as they learn 21st century skills vital to success in life. … Communication, collaboration, creativity and critical thinking skills are incorporated into the curriculum daily in all CPSB schools.”

They also stated that there was a “gap in the finances provided in the Excel spreadsheets and the narrative within the report,” making it unclear how money would be spent for different services.

Additionally, Elite Charter failed to address multiple rubric items, including proposed policies and procedures for financial processes, management of non-academic services, explanation of revenue sources outside of state and federal funds and a description of the efforts to secure a facility for the school.

When speaking to the board, Hall said that they had considered some space of the property at 1701 Ryan St. and 1638 Ryan St., which is owned by Liberty Plaza Properties.

Both the third-party evaluation and CPSB staff recommended that the board deny the charter application. The board’s vote aligned with the recommendation with a vote of 13-1. Mary “Sister” Fontenot, District 4, voted in favor of the application.

Aaron Natali, District 1, was not present for the meeting.