NEWS

Superintendent Fateama Fulmore told a packed Algiers audience that the district's decision will come by mid-December. Speaker after speaker, many of them Landry graduates, asked for a plan that keeps the school running.

By Kim M. Braud | September 28, 2026

NEW ORLEANS - NOLA Public Schools Superintendent Fateama Fulmore told alumni, parents and neighbors at L.B. Landry High School on Monday night that the district has made no decision about the school's future. She also told them the district faces more closures across the city as enrollment falls.

"We're not there yet on a decision," Fulmore said near the end of the two-hour community meeting in the school's building auditorium.

The meeting came four days after the Algiers Charter board voted not to seek renewal of its contract to run Landry, which expires in June. Fulmore said she had not yet received the documents from that vote. Once she does, she will present the charter board's decision to the Orleans Parish School Board. The district will then assess whether the school can continue under a new operator, or whether it should close. Decisions are due by Dec. 15.

About 30 people spoke during public comment. Most identified themselves as Landry graduates, from the classes of 1958 through the 2000s. Nearly all asked the district to keep the school open or to include the Landry community in whatever comes next.

The district's case: fewer children, too many seats

Fulmore opened with a presentation on what the district calls optimization: reducing the number of schools as enrollment declines. She said she would speak from facts and publicly available data, not personal feelings.

The district reached its peak enrollment of 46,554 students in 2019, she said, and has declined since, apart from a small increase in 2024. By her latest check, enrollment is down 985 students from last year, ahead of the official count on Oct. 1. In 2021, the district had roughly 3,000 more seats than students. Recent rough projections put the surplus at about 3,700 in kindergarten through eighth grade alone. She attributed the decline to lower birth rates and people leaving the city.

Fulmore said each student who doesn't show up costs a school nearly $12,000, while fixed costs like electric bills stay the same. She walked through a hypothetical budget in which falling enrollment forces a school to cut a social worker, tutoring, reading intervention and teacher raises.

The district has already shrunk, she said. Since the 2021-22 school year, it has gone from 55 K-8 schools to 47 and from 31 high schools to 26. If the decline continues, the district expects to downsize three to five more K-8 schools and one to two more high schools by the 2029-30 school year.

Fulmore described four changes taking effect this year. The first is Act 687, passed by the Legislature in 2026. It allows the Orleans Parish School Board to end a charter contract before it expires if the district is declared to be in a state of overcapacity. Under the law, Fulmore must report to the board by Nov. 15 on whether that state exists, Verite News has reported. The board can reject her recommendations only by a two-thirds vote.

The other three changes are a revised school board policy on district optimization, a tougher state accountability system, and a new district framework for charter schools that are persistently underperforming. Under the state's new system, Fulmore said, a school rated A last year could be rated D this year.

A district official, walked through the charter renewal calendar. Nine schools are up for renewal this year, with contracts expiring June 30, 2027. No renewal decisions can be made until the state releases school performance scores, usually in mid-November. Schools that fall short of renewal standards can present their case at public hearings on Thursday, Nov. 5, at 5:30 p.m. The board meeting on renewal decisions is set for Wednesday, Dec. 9, at 5:30 p.m.

Alumni: 'We are now in hospice'

Public comment ran longer than an hour. Speakers had two minutes each and alternated between two microphones.

Ms. Grace, who said she graduated in 1958 and later led Landry's science department, called for an audit of how money has been spent at the school. She said her department once received $500 a year to divide among four teachers. "We are now in hospice," she said.

Mr. Jay, class of 1968, said Landry once had excellent teachers and pride in the school. He asked whether anyone had approached other charter operators that work with low-performing schools, and named Crescent City. He said he believed the decision had already been made.

Mark Perry, president of the L.B. Landry Sr. High School Alumni Association, asked whether alumni would have a seat at the table if the district looks for a new operator. He noted that the school will reach 90 years in two years.

Melissa Francis asked the district to publicly identify a plan that keeps the building serving students and families. "A change in operator does not have to mean the end of the school," she said.

Several speakers pointed to what they described as the school's record. Davidson Williams Scott, class of 1970, said Black community leaders provided the land the original school was built on. He said the school had produced doctors, lawyers and educators, and that one of his classmates later came back to serve as Landry's principal. Mr. Gallo, who said he was the school's drum major in 1972 and lives three blocks away, said alumni have started a tutoring program at the school.

A 1976 graduate who did not give his name said that after the charter took over, he was told alumni were not wanted at the school. He said he had offered to pay to use the gym for a basketball league and was turned down.

Other speakers raised concerns about the system itself. Several criticized the citywide OneApp enrollment system and asked for a return to neighborhood or district-run schools. Parents described early-morning bus pickups for students traveling across the city. A 1996 graduate named Sean asked the district to publish what it costs to sustain Landry, its current enrollment, and how much state funding it will receive after the Oct. 1 count. Brandon McIntyre said he had heard Landry students might be sent to a school across the river. He said his family would not send its children there. The district has announced no such plan.

Councilman King: 'Whatever decisions need to be made'

Before Fulmore responded, Councilmember Freddie King III, who represents Algiers, spoke. He said his grandparents graduated from Landry in the 1950s and called the school an institution for the West Bank and the city. He urged leaders to do what they can to keep it open and asked that everyone be included in any decision.

Fulmore's response

Fulmore said the love in the room for Landry was clear. She said the enrollment decline was not a reflection of the school's teachers, leaders or students.

On OneApp, she said every family that has chosen Landry has been given a seat there.

She repeated that neither NOLA Public Schools nor the school board has decided to close the school. Finding another operator is one option, she said, but it would have to be one that could afford to run a school with low enrollment. She did not want to install an operator who would be back in the same position a year later. She noted that a small school in the district had just lost about $200,000 in state funding cuts.

"We serve children, and children have to be in schools for us to serve them," she said.

Fulmore encouraged the audience to support Landry's current students by attending games and events. She said the district would post responses to the main questions raised at the meeting on its website. She also said she would attend an alumni meeting if the association holds one.

The meeting ended at 7:03 p.m.

How to follow this

• Who decides: The Orleans Parish School Board acts on Algiers Charter's decision. The district then decides whether Landry continues under a new operator or closes. Decisions are due by Dec. 15.
• Next community meeting: Thursday, Oct. 1, 5:30 to 7 p.m., at MLK Elementary, 1617 Fats Domino Ave., as WWL Louisiana reported. Fulmore said it covers the same topic and anyone may attend.
• Charter renewal public hearings: Thursday, Nov. 5, at 5:30 p.m.
• Overcapacity report: Due to the school board by Nov. 15 under Act 687.
• Renewal decisions: School board meeting on Wednesday, Dec. 9, at 5:30 p.m.
• Agendas: Posted on the district's Simbli eBOARDS portal.
• District responses: Fulmore said answers to questions raised Monday will be posted on the NOLA Public Schools website.
• Council representation: Councilmember Freddie King III, District C

Kim M. Braud is the Founder & Editor of Evans Cutchmore Press, an independent newsroom covering Louisiana and the Gulf South. Her reporting focuses on government accountability, infrastructure, business, culture, and the public policies that shape communities.

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