Extra students show up

• By KORAN ADDO
• Advocate Westside bureau
• Published: Aug 12, 2008 - Page: 2B - UPDATED: 12:05 a.m.

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MORGANZA — In its first day operating as a charter school, Pointe Coupee Central High opened its doors Monday to about 100 more students than expected.

Representatives of Advance Baton Rouge, the nonprofit group running the school, said 414 students were registered to attend when school opened at 7:30 a.m.

As the morning went on, dozens more students began trickling in, to the tune of about 100 extra bodies by 9:30 a.m. — with officials expecting enrollment to reach 520 students.

By late morning, LaMont Cole, Pointe Coupee Central’s chief academic officer, said it was too early to know how many of the previously enrolled 414 students actually attended the first day, making it difficult to get an accurate enrollment count.

The extra students presented some logistical problems for the school’s staff, who had to scramble to get students situated with class schedules. Other than that, Cole said, the morning ran very smoothly.

The school opened its doors at 7:30 a.m., students ate breakfast, attended an assembly and were seated in their homeroom classes by 8:30 a.m.

The school has been at the center of controversy for much of the summer, with many parents opposed to Advance Baton Rouge running the school.

The group took control of Central after it was turned over to the state following several years of poor academic performance in the state’s accountability program.

At recent School Board meetings, parents expressed concern that Advance Baton Rouge does not have a proven track record of turning around failing schools. For that reason, several parents vowed to enroll their children at Livonia High.

There were 567 students enrolled in middle and high school grades at the Central campus last year, slightly more than the 520 officials said Monday they now expect this year.

Enrollment at Livonia did not spike, either, as some parents had predicted. Pointe Coupee Parish School Superintendent Dan Rawls said Livonia’s enrollment is near 700 — as he expected — compared to 635 students enrolled at the school last year.

Parents also questioned the nonprofit group’s hiring of non-certified teachers and said they have been left in the dark about how Advance Baton Rouge plans to improve standardized test scores at Pointe Coupee Central.

Last week, representatives of Advance Baton Rouge said all teachers working at Central are either certified or will be working toward certification while on the job.