School signs replaced

• By CHARLES LUSSIER
• Advocate staff writer
• Published: Jun 11, 2009 - Page: 4B

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Supporters of the new Capitol High Academy were surprised Wednesday morning when they found that the yard signs they had put up promoting the school had been stolen and replaced with negative ones.

Capitol High Academy is about to enter its second year of operations. The school is chartered by 100 Black Men of Metro Baton Rouge and operated by EdisonLearning, formerly Edison Schools, a large for-profit school management company. They took over Capitol girls and boys high schools after the Louisiana Department of Education declared them academically failing schools.

John Smith with 100 Black Men said only four of 24 yard signs school officials put out promoting the school, including one about an open house at 5 p.m. today, remained Wednesday morning. Someone replaced many of the school’s signs with red-and-yellow placards that read “The state can take our schools but not our children!”

The state takeovers, which began in spring 2008, are still provoking controversy. In takeovers, the state seizes control of a low-performing school and gives out charters to private groups to run them instead.

East Baton Rouge Parish School Board member Darryl Robertson recently urged parents to boycott the 12 schools the state has taken over for low academic performance.

He said he doesn’t know who is responsible for the yard-sign incident.

School system spokesman Chris Trahan said in an e-mail Wednesday that he was not aware of the vandalism and that the school system does not promote it or condone it.

Smith said he’s suggesting that Capitol supporters wait for things to calm a bit before putting out more signs. “I don’t want to get into this they-take them-up and we-put-them-up sort of thing,” he said.

Most of the school system’s conflicts have been not with Capitol High but with the nonprofit group, Advance Baton Rouge, which runs Prescott and Glen Oaks middle schools and this fall is taking over Dalton and Lanier Elementary schools.

Smith pointed out that the 100 Black Men are locally based and committed to the community having a say in this high school.

“People don’t know what we’ve done is put parents on our board, and that’s what people have wanted for a long time,” he said. “Not sure if other charter schools are doing that.”