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School Loses Charter And Administrators, So Teachers And Staff Take Helm

Mallory Falk
/
WWNO

Last month, Lagniappe Academies lost its charter due to allegations that it wasn't serving students with disabilities. The school will close this spring. Its leaders have stepped down — including the CEO and acting principal. Now a group of teachers and staff will take the helm.

About a dozen teachers and staff attended the school's board meeting last night and made a proposal: allow them to run Lagniappe. They laid out a detailed plan for closing out the year and closing down the school.

The board accepted their proposal. Now six members of the staff will manage everything from academics to parent support.

Thomas Mickley-Doyle is a science teacher at Lagniappe and now, one of its leaders. He says it didn't make sense to bring in outside leadership.

"We are just the ones that understand the situation the most and it would be difficult for other people to come in and learn and then adjust to the needs of these students," he says.

He hopes students will learn from their teachers' example — banding together and presenting a vision for themselves.

"I think this whole process of seeing the teachers be able to come together and have a unified voice is gonna show them that they too can have a unified voice," he says.

The new management plan goes into effect today. Lagniappe's board will maintain oversight.

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