The Board of Elementary and Secondary Education this week unanimously approved the renewal of the charters for all three charter schools in Lake Charles.

Lake Charles College Prep Interim Superintendent Henry Mancuso said Lake Charles Charter Academy and Lake Charles College Prep were given four year renewals and Southwest Louisiana Charter Academy was given a three-year renewal.

All three renewals were without conditions and will become effective July 1, 2022, Mancuso said.

He commended school leaders, teachers, staff, parents and students for rising above personal circumstances to assure school programs were fully implemented on the first day of school.

“The renewal of our charters is both an opportunity and a challenge,” said Ulysses Gene Thibodeaux, president of the Board of Trustees for all three schools. “We can focus completely on strengthening and expanding our programs. We must also meet the challenge of overcoming the ‘lost learning’ experienced during the interruptions of in-person learning. We are ready to build on our success.”